December 15
GONE WITH THE WIND DAY
The cinema spectacular, Gone With the Wind, premiered at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia on this day in 1939. It was the first movie premiere ceremony to be televised. The governor of Georgia proclaimed the day a state holiday in commemoration of the event and the holiday celebrations continued for three days. Earlier the same year on June 27th, a ‘wrap’ party was held to celebrate the completion of the major cinematography of GWTW. David O. Selznick had paid author Margaret Mitchell $50,000 for the movie, and ultimately, the TV rights to her novel. MGM then paid out $1.25 million to help finance the film, to convince Clark Gable to play the role of Rhett Butler, and to receive a fifty percent share of the movie’s profits. Two versions of the film were produced. One contains Rhett Butler’s famous farewell to Scarlett, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” For including the word, ‘damn,’ Selznick was fined $5,000. The other version had Gable’s Butler saying, “Frankly my dear, I just don’t care.”
Author Margaret Mitchell’s working name for her lead character was Pansy O’Hara. The final version of GWTW read Scarlett O’Hara. Among the many actresses considered for the role before Vivien Leigh was chosen to star were Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Miriam Hopkins, Susan Hayward, Paulette Goddard, Norma Shearer, Lana Turner, Jean Arthur, and Joan Bennett. Vivien Leigh earned $30,000 for the role that keeps on playing.
Ironically, Hollywood’s most famous, and possibly America’s greatest film, has resided permanently in Atlanta for some years. A theatre at the CNN Center Cinemas shows only Gone With the Wind. The famous flick plays continuously on a daily schedule. The movie is now owned by Ted Turner. He acquired the entire MGM film library for TBS & TNT. We figure MGM made its money back and then some.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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