GoneWithTheWind Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Scenes We Love: Gone with the Wind
Filed under: Classics », Romance », War », Trailers and Clips », Scenes We Love »
Scott Weinberg is right -- in this day and age, there's no movie that can't be remade. While I don't necessarily believe in sacred cows (and I feel like if there's a novel at the source it can be excused), there are some films that got it right the first time -- and one of these is Gone with the Wind. First, I'll begin by saying that I know all the arguments against it and Margaret Mitchell's book. I've got history credentials, after all. In fact, I find the story even more fascinating because of its social and historical problems. At it's heart, Gone with the Wind is more about the Depression than the Civil War, and functions as historiography and American mythmaking.
But on a pure fluff level, I get sucked in by its costumes and loyalty to the source material. Every time I watch it (and my mom and I just indulged in it this week), I'm blown away. There are few books that seem to walk effortlessly and eerily to the screen, but this is one of them. I'm the gazillionth person to say it but Scarlett O'Hara was always Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable was always Rhett Butler, and no one could have played Ashley Wilkes but Leslie Howard. But more than that are the incredible details in the sets, costumes, and performances that were copied from the book, though no one but fans would notice.
So, here's just one of the scenes I love, precisely because its a nod to fandom before fandom existed. You'll notice the painting of Scarlett's grandmother is scratched by Union bayonets, the curtains are are faded perfectly, and the dress is a spot-on replica of what the book described, right down to the chicken feathers on the hat ... and oh yeah, the reunion between Scarlett and Rhett is pretty sexy, too.
But on a pure fluff level, I get sucked in by its costumes and loyalty to the source material. Every time I watch it (and my mom and I just indulged in it this week), I'm blown away. There are few books that seem to walk effortlessly and eerily to the screen, but this is one of them. I'm the gazillionth person to say it but Scarlett O'Hara was always Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable was always Rhett Butler, and no one could have played Ashley Wilkes but Leslie Howard. But more than that are the incredible details in the sets, costumes, and performances that were copied from the book, though no one but fans would notice.
So, here's just one of the scenes I love, precisely because its a nod to fandom before fandom existed. You'll notice the painting of Scarlett's grandmother is scratched by Union bayonets, the curtains are are faded perfectly, and the dress is a spot-on replica of what the book described, right down to the chicken feathers on the hat ... and oh yeah, the reunion between Scarlett and Rhett is pretty sexy, too.
Name a Movie That Will NEVER Be Remade
My inbox, Facebook, and Twitter page were semi-flooded with messages of support and condolence when this A L I E N remake gossip hit the wires, and that's because (as anyone in the universe can tell you), it's my #1 favorite film of all time. Mainly because it's just about the perfect horror film, but also because it's a movie that helped plant me on the road of movie freakdom, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Plus it has Sigourney Weaver in her underwear.
So if a film as undeniably flawless as A L I E N can be considered for a remake, it begs the question: What movie won't they remake? Keep in mind that Psycho, Halloween, The Manchurian Candidate, and King Kong have already earned remakes, which tells me that all bets are off. Not even Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, or The Wizard of Oz are safe. Therefore, clearly, remakes are a force of pure evil.
Then again, there IS the old Shakespeare argument, the one that says "Hey, the Bard's plays have been remade over and over for centuries, and surely you wouldn't call Casablanca superior to King Lear, would you?" To which I would respond, "Good point. And no, Casablanca is definitely not superior to King Lear. But A L I E N certainly is."
RIP: Reel Important People -- July 14, 2008
Filed under: Obits »
Evelyn Keyes (1916-2008) - Actress - Played Scarlett O'Hara's little sister, Suellen, in Gone With the Wind. She also co-starred in The Seven Year Itch, The Jolson Story, in which she also sings, Mrs. Mike, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Union Pacific, Before I Hang, A Thousand and One Nights, The Prowler, Johnny O'Clock, Enchantment and A Return to Salem's Lot and made a cameo appearance in the 1956 version of Around the World in Eighty Days, produced by her then-boyfriend Michael Todd. Her husbands included Artie Shaw, John Huston and Charles Vidor, who directed her in The Desperadoes, The Lady in Question and Ladies in Retirement. She died of uterine cancer July 4, in Montecito, California. (Variety)
- Henry Beckman (1921-2008) - Actor - Appears in The Brood, Niagara, The Wrong Man, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Marnie, Sweet Charity, Silver Streak, I Love You to Death, Death Hunt and Kiss Me, Stupid. He died June 17 in Barcelona. (Variety)
- James "Jimbo" Breen (1955-2008) - Greensman, Carpenter, Actor - Worked on M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable and The Village, appears in Lady in the Water and can be heard in The Happening. He also worked on Beloved, In Her Shoes, Two Bits and Annapolis. He died of cancer July 3, in Pennsylvania. (Philly.com)
Discuss: Movies to See ONLY on the Big Screen
Filed under: Classics », Fandom », Exhibition », Lists »
There are a few classic films that I simply refused to rent while growing up, specifically for the reason that I knew I should see them for the first time on a big screen. Of these, I managed to see both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner in a theater, while others, such as Lawrence of Arabia and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, were on television too often to ignore them on the small screen first. One film that I'm still dying to see in a theater is Terrence Malick's Badlands. A few years ago I actually went to a special screening of the film in Connecticut, but it was disappointingly (understatement) projected from a DVD copy. Then two months ago it played one show at NYC's IFC Center, but I had to miss it for another engagement.Last week Entertainment Weekly presented an article/photo gallery titled "23 Movies You'd Like to See on the Big Screen," which lists these kinds of films (there's actually many more than 23 cited), most of which should ONLY be seen on the big screen, as they were originally meant to be. The list includes obvious epic choices like 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With the Wind, The Greatest Show on Earth and The Ten Commandments, as well as other classics, like Malick's Days of Heaven, Casablanca, Once Upon a Time in the West, Star Wars, High Society, Halloween, Singin' in the Rain, To Kill a Mockingbird, Psycho, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Searchers, Stagecoach and The French Connection.
Premiere Gets Brave: Knocks 20 Classics as "Overrated"
Filed under: Classics », Fandom », Newsstand », Lists »
I haven't picked up an issue of Premiere Magazine in quite some time, but a friend of mine recently recommended I visit the publication's newly refurbished website. So I did. Pretty solid content across the board, I'm happy to opine -- but one particular article caught my eye, tickled my fancy, and squatted in my brain long enough to recommend it here.Basically, a bunch of the Premiere writers were asked to come up with their picks for Most Overrated Film of All Time -- and while most of the sacred cows slaughtered here are pretty darn obvious ones, the opinions and explanations as to why each film was chosen, well, I thought they were fairly compelling. Frankly, I'm thrilled to see someone call Field of Dreams "just too on the nose," because it absolutely is.
Fully prepared for the onslaught of How Dare YE!! hate mail, the Premiere posse has wisely decided to add an equally pithy rebuttal in defense of each movie. So when someone has the audacity to impugn The Wizard of Oz, we sane people have a defender who'll say Dude, Please. I've placed the 20 titles under the jump, just to help spark discussion, but do not let that stop you from reading through the whole article. It might make you think a little differently about some of those Unquestioned Classics that everyone's afraid to admit they don't really dig. (Yep, 2001: A Space Odyssey is overrated; I said it and I'm proud.)
De Havilland to Make a Comeback?
Filed under: Drama », Casting »
Two-time Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland just turned 90 years old. She's well-known as the only surviving star (though not actor) of Gone With the Wind, and got a standing ovation for attending the 75th Academy Awards a few years ago -- but she's been in retirement since 1988. Now she's considering a comeback role as Brooke Astor, the 104-year-old philanthropist and widow of Vincent Astor who now suffers from Alzheimer's and anemia, and is currently the subject of a legal battle between her son and her grandson regarding her welfare.According to The Daily Express, a script has been written and Meryl Streep is interested in the role of Astor's daughter, Charlene. Now the production is just waiting on de Havilland. If she returns to the screen, it will be the first film role since 1979's The Fifth Musketeer (she did some TV work afterward and even won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy). Because the Oscars are obsessed with legends, I'm thinking that the role could get her another nod if she decides to do it.
Crowe, Kidman in Aussie epic
Filed under: Drama », Romance », Casting », 20th Century Fox », Newsstand »
Rumors have been swirling for ages about Baz
Luhrmann's next film, codenamed "Project Oklahoma." Though the director hadn't previously said a damn
thing about the movie, it's understood that Nicole
Kidman and Russell
Crowe will star, and the word "epic" has been thrown around a lot. Now, thanks to a series of interviews
Luhrmann recently gave the Australian press, we finally have some answers (and no, it's not a musical).The untitled film will be set in Australia, and will take place between the mid-1930s and the Japanese bombing of Darwin during World War II. It will focus on native Australian locations rather than relying on effects and, though Luhrmann gave no details about the characters that Kidman and Crowe will play, he compared his film - which he's been discussing with the actors for nearly a decade - to Gone with the Wind (it's just that romantic) and Lawrence of Arabia (it's just that sprawling and gorgeous). Additionally, the director put out a casting call for "an indigenous boy, aged 7-10," who will reportedly play a major part in the movie.
The film's rumored budget is about $40 million Australian (almost $30 million US), and both of its stars are expected to take major pay cuts in order to appear. In order to beat the rainy season in northern Australia, shooting must being by this August; rehearsals will start as early as March.
The strange tale of the missing Oscar
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Obits »
It seems that the Oscars haven't always been about handing out statuettes and incessant self-promotion. The awards actually have a deep, dark past that I must say I was not aware of until recently. Hattie McDaniel, who was the first black person to win an Oscar for her role of the slave "Mammy" in Gone with the Wind, passed the statuette on to Howard University before her death in 1952. However, while researching a book about the much celebrated and maligned actress, the author found out that officials at Howard University were unaware they were ever given the Oscar, which still remains somewhere in limbo today.
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