Frankly, My Dear: "Gone with the Wind" Revisited

I found myself trying hard to keep up with all the threads that the author picks up as she presents so much thought provoking material in this book about the book and the movie "Gone With The Wind" From a biographical sketch of Margaret Mitchell to a study of the Hollywood stars and artists that created the film to the society that has taken the novel and the movie to heart for so many years. The author points out the book is often described as not good literature but a page turner and a best seller, as those that is a vice. In the end she calls it a YA Masterpiece! Margaret Mitchell is not a prose stylist, she creates a one of a kind with Scarlett O'Hara and compares her to Becky Sharpe from "Vanity Fair"- unrelenting in her struggle show more to survive and unpunished in the end. Feminism and racism and Freudian psychology perspectives on the film and novel are presented; Molly Haskell has much to say and she says it in a very entertaining way. show less

Molly Haskell writes with the authority of a feminist scholar and knowledgeable movie critic, yet with the charm and simplicity of someone who is having tea with you on your back porch. As a southerner, she brings a unique point of view to her analysis of the author of Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell. Learning about her two marriages is one of the rewards of reading this book. There are others too: Selznick's passion for control, Vivian Leigh's passion for her husband (Olivier), Gable's relationship with Fleming versus Cukor who was fired after directing several key scenes.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. It brought back great memories of reading Gone With the Wind and watching this movie over and over again since my childhood. I also appreciated a look at the uncomfortable aspects of this book/movie such as the justification of slavery and the rape scene within the marriage of Scarlett and Rhett. Haskell spends a lot of time going through the creation of the movie, focusing on the roles of Margaret Mitchell, David Selznick, and Vivien Leigh. She also tries to put into words the attraction of this movie and of Scarlett O'Hara. Basically, it was very fun to relive the movie and fans of Gone With the Wind will enjoy this book.

A great Southern women's perspective on the book and the film that does not shrink from examining some of the more unsavory aspects of both (the rape scene, justification of slavery etc). Imminently readable while providing lots of food for thought.

Cool book, which made me want more. Molly Haskell, of course, wrote the seminal book on women in movies: From Reverence to Rape. (And whatever happened to her? What has she been doing since?). This book deals with the movie and the book, interpretations over time, a bit of Margaret Mitchell, a bit on the approaches of the main actors, the various directors.

I'm sure many will find it unsatisfying and will wish that Haskell had developed some themes more fully. OTOH, fanatical fans may know a lot of the background on the making of the movie already.

I've reread the novel fairly recently (Scarlet is a more complex character than I recognized as a child.) and watched the movie a couple of times in the past 5-6 years. I've got a good memory show more but still, I'm probably not the ideal reader.

I think what will be new to even the fanatical fans is Southern-born Haskell's insights on how Southerners (rich, poor, black, white) have regarded portrayals of the Civil War through time. But I felt she knew a lot more than she told here. show less

I'm glad Molly Haskell brought her southern woman's perspective to GWTW and Margaret Mitchell. It was a page turner for me even though the facts covered were not new to me except this gem: that Olivia DeHavilland said Vivien Leigh "brought more to the film than she ever received." How true. Haskell identifies the three main forces behind the film as Mitchell, Selznick and Leigh and muses on how their convergence was a fluke that easily could have not happened .

Interesting to film buffs and/or interested in Margaret Mitchell book791.433