Gone with the Wind: A Legacy

Perhaps one of the most ambitious films ever made, the four hour long 1939 film Gone with the Wind probably defines the term "American epic". Produced by the legendary David O. Selznick at Warner Brother's studio, the I am not going to detail the long plotline, or the amount of awards the film recieved, including its ten Oscar wins that were not to be outdone for twenty years. Everyone knows of the illustrious cast of Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Ann Rutherford, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Fred Crane, George Reeves, and so many others. I want to talk about the legacy of the film and all of the fan worship that his risen up from it.

The original book Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was originally published in 1937 and won a Pulitzer Prize. Mitchell did not approve of or condone much of the making of the film, she did approve of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. Her book became one of the best selling books in history and was listed by time as one of the Best 100 Novels ever written. Recently, writer Alice Randall released a parody version of the book entitled The Wind Done Gone, which is the same story told from the perspective of a slave at Tara. For more information on the history of the book and film, you can look here at the official fan site and at this article, from the historyoffilm.com.

Both the film and the book have become an American icon, as evidenced by this article. An entire industry has been built around Gone with the Wind and Scarlett O'Hara. The Scarlett O'Hardy Museum in Jefferson, Texas offers a museum memorabilia, a Scarlett O'Hara bed and breakfast, and souvenir. The Scarlett Online fan site offers everything Scarlett from costume made clothes to dolls to look-a-likes. The University of Texas at Austin even has a Gone with the Wind exhibit online, providing history, biography, costuming, and more.

Atlanta and the state of Georgia have even developed an entire segment of their tourist industry devoted to the film, book, and characters. You can visit the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, where the story had its inception or the official Gone with the Wind exhibit in the history museum at Marietta, Georgia. In fact, Atlanta has even set up this official trip guide for those of you who would like to take a GWTW themed trip, including sites connected to the film like the real Twelve Oaks, Tara, the GWTW tour, battlefields from the movie and more.

Gone with the Wind has infultrated so much of our culture in parody, history, and society to become an American icon. From the lines to the costumes to the actors to the vacation plans, this is truly an immortal film.

Traitor or Patriot?

Imagine that the country is at war and you are a humble worker at a Los Angeles aircraft factory, who one day witnesses your own best friend burn up in flames during a freak accident at the plant. Suddenly, the accident grows more suspicious and you find yourself fleeing from the law, your patriotism challenged, and being unjustly accused of a treasonous crime of sabotage which you did not commit. It could be a modern suspense melodrama playing out with the latest action star at your local theatre, but this movie is set during World War II and deals with many issues of loyalty, patriotism, trust, and scapegoating, which we still deal with today.

This is the exact problem faced by Barry Kane, played by Robert Cummings, in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1942 film Sabotuer. The film was on Turner Classic Movies earlier today and sinc I had already seen it, it was a little easier for me to jump right in thirty minutes into the film. Cummings is better known for playing Hitchcock’s leading man in Dial M for Murder. Still, Saboteur, which is not exactly one of Hitchcock's most popular, is an amazing movie that had me on the edge of my seat the first time I saw it. This is truly a film that is as relevant today as when it was first released.

Picking back up with the story, Kane must track down the elusive Frank Frye (Norman Lloyd) who actually committed the act of sabotage to clear his own name. Kane finds himself going against a powerful group of fascists attempting to undermine the US war efforts, most of whom are the wealthy, powerful and last people you would suspect. When Kane crosses with Charles Tobin (Otto Kruger) his safety becomes even more in jeopardy. He meets beautiful blonde model Pat Martin (Pricilla Lane), who cannot trust him though her blind uncle has no problems. Pat gets involved with Kane in more ways than one and they must make their way through New York, through deserts, being kept safe by a group of "freaks" from the traveling circus, who understand what it is like to be accused of things you are not. Eventually, Kane makes it to New York but he must stop Frye before he commits another act of sabotage, endangering more lives.

This is truly a suspense film in every since of the word. I was hanging on the edge of my seat until the very end and Hitch keeps throwing so many new twists and problems in your direction, the constant thought through the movie is "How is Kane going to get out of this one?". The acting has just the right amount of intensity and the themes coursing throughout the movie still ring true in the modern day world. The script is very intelligent, since it was written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison, and the great wit herself, Dorothy Parker. Filming began two weeks after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, making perhaps adding to the very pro-American sentiment of the film.

This was one of the first films Hitch made during his tumultuous time working under the legendary David O. Selznick. The footage of a capsized ship in the film is actual newsreel footage from the USS Lafayette, which was believed to have been sabotaged by the Germans during the war. When Norman Lloyd smiles at the ship, giving a creepy, frightening feel to the scene, he was improvising, showing you how Hitch's splicing of various scenes together can create just the right eerie effect.

Additionally, no music adds to the climax of the movie, only allowing the actors to build up the terrifying tension that has you wondering what is going to happen next. The visual effects in the final scene, though I won't give anything away, are amazing for the period and very ahead of their time. If you ever get a hold of the DVD of this, I recommend you check out the special features where they explain how this shot was captured. If you want another analysis of the film, you can read one here on the blog Film Epidemic. For a great Hitchcock gem that isn't one of his more popular or talked about film, I highly recommend Saboteur for a good suspense.

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."

Turner Classic Movies this evening pulled another Hitchcock classic out of the vault. Rebecca, a murder mystery suspense-thriller based off of Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name. The film is a masterpiece and perhaps one of the greatest romantic thrillers ever made. The film was Hitchcock's first under his stormy partnership with David O. Selznick. It also won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1940, although, in a moment of Oscar history, Selznick snatched up the award before Hitchcock could get to the stage. This is the only film Hitchcock ever won Best Picture for.

The story of Rebecca is a twisted romance which begins with Joan Fontaine's character (known simply as The Second Mrs. de Winter) being the companion to a rich matron on a trip to Monte Carlo. There she meets the wealthy, intriguing, and handsome Maximllion de Winter (Laurence Olivier). The two fall madly in love and everything seems wonderful, but when Maxim brings her home to his estate of Manderly, the honeymoon period is over. The staff are bewildered by the new Mrs. de Winter, and some, such as the frightening housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) even go so far as to ruin the new marriage. The shadow of Maxim's first wife Rebecca loams large over the naive, ingenue second wife. The climatic end leads the new wife to discovering the truth nature of Rebecca's death and then her love for her husband is the only thing that can save him from Rebecca coming back from beyond the grave to ruin the new couple's happiness.

Hitchcock used black and white in this particular film because he thought it fit the mood better. The suspense built up at the end of the movie is trademark Hitchcock and absolutely frightening. As usual, the end has several twists and turns that even the most astute of moviegoers will have a hard time seeing ahead of time. Perhaps the full embodiment of everything a gothic novel should be, Rebecca is a suspense movie for any occasion.

All Hail the King

In the genre of Creature/Monster movies, perhaps none is more famous than the legendary King Kong.

Everyone knows the classic King Kong story of director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) hiring an unsuspected Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) to star in his latest exotic feature. Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), the handsome first mate of the ship Denham has hired suspects Denham is up to something, at the same time falling in love with the beautiful Darrow. When they come to the exotic island, Ann is used as bait to attract the monstrous Kong, and they bring the creature back to New York City. When Kong is put on display to be gaped at and entertain the wealthy citizens of New York, Kong breaks free, taking Darrow, and taking his climactic climb up to the top of the Chrysler Building, the tallest tree in the largest urban jungle of the world. When Kong is shot down, the audience starts to wonder who is more the monster: Kong or modern man. The last line of the film, "It was beauty killed the beast", speaks volumes as to its intent.

Perhaps the old claymation and inconsistency in Kong's size through the course of the film is very prevalent to modern audiences, but we must keep in mind that this is the movie from 1933, before the use of CGI and computer animation as in the recent version of the film by Peter Jackson. An article by AmericanHeritage.com details how King Kong is "the greatest special-effects movie was made with the simplest technology". If you want to know more about the amazing special effects used in this movie to create the monstrous Kong in the same frames as the actors, I would recommend reading this article which fully explores the filmography and effects used to make this movie one of the most memorable ever made.

In modern times, King Kong may not seem as relevant as it once did, especially considering the original audience had members running shrieking from the theatres in the fear that Kong would leap off the screen and abduct them too. Of course, any history of film is incomplete without exploring the effects King Kong had on film both in the time and its evolution to the medium it is today. Without the influence of the effects in King Kong, we would not have the techniques used in Star Wars or Jurrasic Park and creating the creature movie culture, enabling such films as The Blob and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

If you're a big King Kong fan, I recommend going to Kong is King.com, which bills itself as the ultimate Kong fansite, devoting itself to every aspect of the movie. If you're just a buff of creature movies and want to know more about Kong or any of his others monstrous companions, I would go to Silent Movie Monsters, which devotes itself to everything creature. Ultimately, everyone should see King Kong just to have the cultural experience of viewing the 1933 classic. Love it, hate it, or watching it again just for the laughs, Kong manages to remain culturally significant, even seventy years after it first was shown on the silver screen.