Sidney Coe Howard (1891–1939)

Love has got to stop somewhere short of suicide. This drama of a successful man whose wife has suffered for 20 years in the midwestern city of Zenith and now on a journey to Europe fights as hard as she can against getting older by flirting with a series of men--Niven, Lukas, etc.--is disturbing on so many levels. In many ways it is sexist and out of date, but on the other hand, there are so many truths here as well--truths that hurt, and one can't help but reflect upon one's own show more relationships. I didn't know an ending like this would be allowed in 1936. As the wife, who is portrayed as the main villain here, Chatterton is appropriately maddening, but her performance is superb. As the husband who sometimes goes out of his way to remind his wife she isn't as young as she pretends to be, Huston is mostly sympathetic, but we can still see why after 20 years his wife needs something more, something he isn't able to give--at least to her. Well made and directed, but perhaps it looks better after a few days watching nothing but B movies and second features! (It's hard to believe this is the same Walter Huston in Treasure of the Sierra Madre! The man COULD act.) show less

This movie is a classic for a reason, though it could be pretty damn long! An ambitious project for its time, it's nonetheless a pretty solid film and has aged relatively well.

Scarlett is a woman who can deal with a nation at war, Atlanta burning, the Union Army carrying off everything from her beloved Tara, the carpetbaggers who arrive after the war. Scarlett is beautiful. She has vitality. But Ashley, the man she has wanted for so long, is going to marry his placid cousin, Melanie. Mammy warns Scarlett to behave herself at the party at Twelve Oaks. There is a new man there that day, the day the Civil War begins. Rhett Butler.
Produced before MP Ratings; Today's show more rating would likely be Rated PG show less

The manipulative daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a turbulent romance with a roguish profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods.