{"id":16801,"date":"2015-01-12T01:04:49","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T06:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=16801"},"modified":"2015-10-07T01:10:19","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T05:10:19","slug":"gone-with-the-wind-1939-75th-anniversary-blu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/12\/gone-with-the-wind-1939-75th-anniversary-blu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"Gone with the Wind (1939): 75th Anniversary [Blu-ray]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GWTW1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Director David O. Selznick\u2019s civil war drama epic about an upscale socialite is one of the many cinematic masterpieces I\u2019m not very fond of. Visually, it\u2019s a stunning work of art, with sweeping splashes of bold colors that help to establish the power of the love for the South, and character Scarlet O\u2019Hara\u2019s ability to take from her beloved land to rebuild her empire. But underneath the gloss and brilliance of the cinematography, \u201cGone with the Wind\u201d really doesn\u2019t garner much of a complex narrative beneath its seams, relying on very unlikable and vapid characters that serves their purpose all too well. While they could really complete a story about the inner turmoil of the wealthy in the war torn South, the characters of Scarlett and Rhett really offer nothing interesting to the narrative, and most of the interesting tidbits are handed over to character Mammy.<\/p>\n

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Despite the utterly distracting racist story elements involving slaves, and their treatment as pets on many occasions, Hatty McDaniels is fantastic as the long suffering servant of the O\u2019Hara\u2019s who witnesses every significant event, and stands by them in their roughest times. Her ability to put up with Scarlett also makes her nearly a saintly presence of the narrative. Despite being utterly one dimensional, Clark Gable\u2019s performance is spirited and masterful as the one man in the South that couldn\u2019t fall for the charms of Scarlett and realizes much too late that she\u2019s incapable offering anything of true worth to him.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hara is a stain on everyone she encounters in the narrative, so it\u2019s tough to really find any sense of empathy in her character. Vivian Leigh is beautiful and plays the role well, but I couldn\u2019t find anything in O\u2019Hara that made me want to see where her narrative ended, and how she endured. \u201cGone with the Wind\u201d is a breathtaking series of sights, but much too long in the tooth and lacking in interesting characters. For me it\u2019s a mixed bag of flaws and high points that makes it a movie I am very indifferent toward. I can understand why it\u2019s lavished with such praise, but it simply doesn\u2019t live up to any of it.<\/p>\n

For collectors that want something as a keepsake with their box, there\u2019s a hardcover book celebrating the film\u2019s immortal style and fashion that\u2019s managed to be even more famous than the film itself, in many instances. There\u2019s also a neat Monogrammed Handkerchief with the initials RR, and a very nice music box with a photo of Rhett and Scarlett that plays Max Steiner\u2019s Tara Theme. Disc One of the 75th Anniversary Edition features the main film with a commentary. Disc Two there\u2019s \u201cThe Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind,\u201d a two hour documentary often featured on TCM that chronicles the making of the film, the long and troubled shoot, and its production history. \u201cGone With the Wind: The Legend Lives On\u201d is a thirty minute companion to the aforementioned documentary focusing on the legacy of the movie, and its impact on pop culture.<\/p>\n

\"GWTW2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a focus on collecting and preservation of the film\u2019s legacy. \u201c1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year\u201d is an hour long look at what is arguably the greatest year of cinema, with the extra focus on MGM who packed a wallop with \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d and \u201cGone with the Wind.\u201d There\u2019s \u201cGable: The King Remembered\u201d an hour long biography that explores Clark Gable\u2019s life, as hosted by Peter Lawford. \u201cVivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond\u201d is a forty five minute look the actress, her personal life, and her legacy, as hosted by Jessica Lange. \u201cMelanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia de Havilland\u201d is a thirty minute exploration of the actress with interviews, and folks that knew and loved de Havilland. \u201cThe Supporting Players\u201d is a thirty minute look at the wonderful supporting players for the ensemble, \u201cResembling a Legend\u201d is an eighteen minute look at the lengths endured to keep this film preserved for future generations. There are two newsreels entitled \u201cDixie Hails Gone With the Wind\u201d and \u201cAtlanta Civil War Centennial,\u201d and \u201cThe Old South,\u201d an eleven minute documentary emphasizing the South, and the cultural significance of the plantation life.<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s \u201cInternational Prologue\u201d a prologue to the foreign release, there\u2019s \u201cForeign Language Versions\u201d a small glimpse at samples of the film\u2019s foreign versions, and \u201cMovieola\u201d a made for TV movie starring Tony Curtis as David O. Selznik. Finally there are five movie trailers for the original theatrical release and re-release. Disc Three features the When the Lion Roars three part documentary which looks at MGM without a detail spared. It\u2019s an exhaustive, masterful chronicle for movie buffs, as hosted by Patrick Stewart. Disc Four features a CD of Max Steiner\u2019s score, and a twenty six minute featurette called \u201cOld South\/New South\u201d which explores the history of slavery, issues involving the South. Finally, \u201cGone With the Wind: Hollywood Comes to Atlanta\u201d is a twelve minute look at the uncut footage of the movie premiere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Director David O. Selznick\u2019s civil war drama epic about an upscale socialite is one of the many cinematic masterpieces I\u2019m not very fond of. Visually, it\u2019s a stunning work of art, with sweeping splashes of bold colors that help to establish the power of the love for the South, and character Scarlet O\u2019Hara\u2019s ability to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[64,302,327,385,469,874,1087,1173],"class_list":["post-16801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","category-movie-reviews","tag-adaptation","tag-drama","tag-epic","tag-g","tag-history","tag-romance","tag-thriller","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16804,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16801\/revisions\/16804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}