The Answer's in "the Wind" (Part One)

So, friend, another day has come and gone, with it's own particular stresses, dangers (snow), and joys (such as everything that happened between 1 and 4 p.m., as well as 7-9 p.m.)

As I related last night, we began our "Classic American Films" course with Vic Fleming's 1939 masterpiece The Wizard of Oz; well, today we viewed Fleming's other masterpiece from the same year, Gone With the Wind.  I owe so much to this film: it's the film that "changed my life," in the sense that I never saw movies the same after GWTW; I loved it so much when I was younger, I was Rhett Butler for Halloween the last year I went trick-o-treating.   Yet, today was the first time in a good, long while I had seen the film (the first half, at least); I would say that it must have been at least since the 2007 DVD release.  Needless to say, this was the first time I had seen GWTW with more a more mature perception on films and film-making. 

The first thing that really surprised me was how quick-paced the film is; for some reason, I remember the film, especially the scenes up to the Atlanta sections, to feel slow.  Now, the whole first half seemed to be very well paced and flowed extremely quickly.

My views on the Vivian Leigh's "Scarlett" and Clark Gable's "Rhett" haven't changed; I've always been enamored with Scarlett, and I've always found the character's vivaciousness and spunk to be admirable qualities in a woman, while I've always wanted to BE Rhett Butler, and Gable still seems to be the perfect choice for Rhett.

However, I must admit, I cringed when Leslie Howard appeared on the screen as "Ashley;" Howard does not feel like a Southern gentleman, yet he is intended to represent the Old South.  While it's true Gable doesn't have that southern drawl (which Leigh perfectly emulated within her performance), Howard doesn't even sound like an American, much less a southerner.  I'll have to reflect on this more, see how his performance in the other half strikes me, but so far, not so good...

The biggest shift in my perception of the film's performances must be in Olivia de  Havilland's "Melanie."  During this viewing, her character felt so warm, so real; I was completely thrown by de Havilland's work here, as it seems so timeless, yet so grounded.  According to the actress, Fleming took her aside at an early scene, reminding de Havilland that "Melanie means everything she says," which the actress credits as the "key" to her performance.  Out of everything in the film, I cannot wait to see de Havilland's performance completed tomorrow afternoon.

Of course, I'm in awe over the extensive use of excellent character actors, all of whom are at the top of their game:  Hattie McDaniel, in her Oscar-winning role as "Mammy," who exudes homespun intelligence and wisdom, Butterfly McQueen as Prissy, Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara, Harry Davenport as Dr. Meade, Jane Darwell, and on and on....each of them brings their own sensibilities to their roles and each brings a certain stability to their parts.

It's getting late, so I'll save my remarks on the crafts for this weekend.  However, tonight, Professor Sragow gave an excellent talk on "What Does a Director Do," using Vic Fleming as his case study.  While the material wasn't too new for me, after reading Professor Sragow's excellent book on Victor Fleming this summer, I did learn some new insights on the role of the director in a film's production, and it was great to see clips from Fleming's films.

Well, good night all!  I'll let you know how the Wind goes tomorrow!


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