Gone With The Wind (Special Edition Box Set) (DVD)

TITLE: Gone With The Wind (4-Disc Special Edition 65th Anniversary DVD Set)

DVD RATING: ***** (and I would give more if I could)

CAST: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Evelyn Keyes, Anne Rutherford, George Reeves, Fred Crane, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Polk, Butterfly McQueen, Victor Jory, Everett Brown, Howard C. Wilkman, Alicia Rhett, Rand Brooks, Carroll Nye, ...
...remembered. A civilization gone with the wind…

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FRANKLY, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE AGE
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One of my biggest regrets is that I never saw GONE WITH THE WIND from beginning to end the first time I watched it. My parents had recorded it when it had appeared on television ... more

TITLE: Gone With The Wind (4-Disc Special Edition 65th Anniversary DVD Set)

DVD RATING: ***** (and I would give more if I could)

CAST: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Evelyn Keyes, Anne Rutherford, George Reeves, Fred Crane, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Polk, Butterfly McQueen, Victor Jory, Everett Brown, Howard C. Wilkman, Alicia Rhett, Rand Brooks, Carroll Nye, Marcella Martin, Laura Hope Crews, Harry Davenport, Jane Darwell, Cliff Edwards, Isabelle Jewell.

DIRECTOR: Victor Fleming

STUDIO: Selznick International Pictures

DVD Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME: 238 min.

RATED: G (US); PG (UK); the film contains some violence, bloody war sequences and mature subject matter (including an implied rape).

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INTRODUCTION
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There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and Slave…Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A civilization gone with the wind…

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FRANKLY, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE AGE
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One of my biggest regrets is that I never saw GONE WITH THE WIND from beginning to end the first time I watched it. My parents had recorded it when it had appeared on television in the early 1980s, and for some reason I didn't know I had missed the entire first half. There is a scene where Scarlett is fighting some mean old Southerners on a bridge and Big Sam comes to her rescue and, unbeknownst to me, there was 2 hours of screen time I had missed. However, it may not be nearly as big as a regret to have not experienced what it was like in 1939 when America's most popular novel (and, to this day, it still is) opened in theaters all over the country.

And even after its premiere over 65 years ago, it is STILL the most popular film in the entire world. However, there has always been a debate if this popularity means it is the greatest film of all time. For the millions of fans everywhere it is…but to critics and film historians it is not. Even well-respected film critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his review on the film, "If not the greatest film ever made, certainly one of the greatest examples of story telling ever put on film, maintaining interest for 4 hours." I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Personally, I love this film as much as the next person. As much as I love the modern-day epics such as BRAVEHEART, SCHINDLER'S LIST, and DANCES WITH WOLVES, I think that GONE WITH THE WIND still leads them all. The Union's attack on Gettysburg, Scarlett O'Hara's swearing she will never go hungry again, Rhett Butler saying "Frankly, my dear I don't give a damn,"---all of these have all become moments of cinema folklore. The grand performances have become models for future actors and actresses to follow. However, probably the film's greatest accomplishment is because of one simple trait: timelessness.

I don't look at GONE WITH THE WIND as a classic film, a legendary film, and certainly not a film that was made over 65 years ago. Is it the glorious color cinematography that prevents the film being dated? Or is it the themes of the story? Whatever it maybe, nobody has ever really cared. Since its original premiere, there have been at least seven re-releases on the big screen, one for each generation that has passed since. It was in the mid-1980s when the film debuted on videocassette in a wonderful 70 mm color print produced by Ted Turner. In 1988, a documentary was made "The Making of a Legend," to celebrate the film's 50th anniversary. Then, in 1998, the film then arrived on DVD in pretty much the same format as the VHS version, still as glorious ever.

Finally, just last year, came the 65th anniversary Special Edition on four (yes, count 'em four) discs with more special features that would shock even GWTW's biggest fans (myself included). However, there is even more reason to discard your old DVDs and purchase the new one…it is without a doubt the greatest transfer of the film I've ever seen; not only is the colors crisp, fresh and perfect, they are actually layered to the smallest detail, as you will soon read about in this review of the DVD. I had previously written a review on GWTW already on Ciao, but I feel this super-packed new DVD deserves its own review, and now here it is, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

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HOLLYWOOD LEGEND, NATIONAL TREASURE
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Margaret Mitchell's Story of the Old South focuses on Scarlett O'Hara, a Southern Belle, and it begins at Tara, her family home. Scarlett is a vixen, a major flirt, and is the toast of all the men around her; to them, marrying her would be a dream come true. As the film opens, she is talking with pair of redheaded gentleman known as the Tarleton Twins, and they are talking about the increasing tension of war between the Northern and Southern halves of the United States. Scarlett refuses to even think that war is coming, especially when her mind is set on marrying the man she loves, Ashley Wilkes.

She receives a startling bit of news from the Twins that Ashley is planning to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton, which is a tradition of their family. However, she is convinced that Ashley really loves her and she goes to the Wilkes estate to do something about and, needless to say, she is disappointed that Ashley rejects her. Out of desperation she decides to marry Melanie's brother Charles, and right at the moment that the South is packing up to go to war. While at the estate, she meets "a visitor from Charleston" in the form of a charming, if ungentlemanly, renegade named Rhett Butler, who is the only one to learn of her secret love for Ashley.

After Charles is killed in action, Scarlett begins to spend more time with Rhett, looking at him as nothing more than another male pursuer. However, Rhett treats Scarlett much differently; he looks at her as spoiled hypocrite and feels that "she should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how." In other words, he is not a marrying man, though he does fall in love with Scarlett. With the Civil War becoming more violent and unpredictable with each passing day, Scarlett begins to fear for Ashley's safety…while at the same time, Rhett attempts to get Ashley out of her mind forever.

While I don't want to spoil for first time watches (god forbid if there are really any left), I think that this plot synopsis is pretty sufficient. Yes it's true, that this story has the all the ingredients of a Civil War soap opera, but believe me when I say that this is the closest that soap opera has ever come to being art. The film has every element in the book: action, comedy, romance, suspense, drama, and especially tragedy; Mitchell has carefully crafted a story reflecting on the South's condition before and after the War which can never again be equaled.

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ALL THE ELEMENTS FALL PERFECTLY INTO PLACE
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Since this is a DVD review, I will minimize praising everyone who worked in the film; what I will say, is that I think this one of the only films (there is only 7 or so on my list) that is too perfect that even a book as long as Mitchell's couldn't suffice in giving a satisfactory explanation. I do admit that this is not my personal favorite film of all time (that would be 1980's Best Picture winner ORDINARY PEOPLE), but I will say that this film has my favorite music score of all time, done by the legendary Max Steiner. Emotionally rich from the first note to the very last, I don't think any music score could surpass it. What is my other favorite element in which this film possesses?

The answer: Vivien Leigh. Can you think of a greater performance done by an Actress in a leading role? I certainly can't, and to think that when casting first began for the film, only one person (just one) in the entire country voted for Ms. Leigh. Whoever that gentleman was, I'm sure that when Ms. Leigh was cast, it gave him a huge warm fuzzy inside. Appearing only in a handful of British films, she was completely new to Hollywood, only going because her lover Laurence Olivier was going out to shoot a film. Everyone seemed to be unanimous with Leigh's interpretation of Scarlett; perhaps the most famous criticism of her casting was when the South said after she had been signed, "Better an Englishwoman than a Yankee!"

Clark Gable, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland and the rest of the cast are as memorable as ever; every single characterization and performance is as sharp as a razor and then some. Some of my personal favorites include Butterfly McQueen as Prissy ("I don't know nuthin' about bustin' babies'), Hattie McDaniel as Mammy ("You all behave yourself, actin' like poor white trash children!), Ona Munson as Belle ("I don't know what she has done to ya, but you're still in love with her!"), and Thomas Mitchell as Gerald O'Hara ("Land is the only thing worth fighting for, worth dying for…because it's the only thing that lasts!!!").

Screenwriter Sidney Howard was the first in history to win an Oscar posthumously, and I think it is more than deserving when you realize that he continued doing rewrites several times throughout the shoot, even until the very last frame was shot; sadly, he died at his New Hampshire farm in late 1938 in a tractor accident several months before the premiere. Director Victor Fleming (THE WIZARD OF OZ) was brought in to replace George Cukor shortly after filming had begun, and I think that producer David O. Selznick made a wise choice in doing that; the circumstances surrounding the replacement are explained in the 1988 documentary.

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DISC ONE AND DISC TWO: THE FILM AND COMMENTARY
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The first two discs include the complete, uncut version of GWTW in an all-new digitally remastered version from restored picture and audio elements. However, the look of the film is more brighter and layered than you can imagine, and the changes are emphasized in the documentary "Restoring the Legend," which is on Disc Three and I will get to in a minute. Unlike the previous VHS and PAL versions, the DVD includes the prologue, intermission and epilogue, which bathe you in Steiner's score, remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Stereo Surround Sound; I recommend that you listen to the score with that option rather than the original mono soundtrack, but that is entirely up to you.

The only special feature that is present on the first two discs, is the full feature length audio commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer. One of the biggest experts of film history I have ever come cross, Mr. Behlmer has been writing about film and the art of film for over 50 years. In 1972, he had written a career piece on David O. Selznick, which later morphed into a book "Memo From David O. Selznick," and, as you can guess, he talks much about Selznick and his mission to get Mitchell's novel adapted, though he gives equal weight to nearly everything else about the film…well, hell, what else are you going to talk about for four hours.

In addition, he talks about all the actors and crewmembers, including birthdates, death dates, and going extensively into all of their careers, onscreen and off; yes, he goes as far as he can go with showing tribute to EVERYONE who worked on the film. While this commentary may sound like too much to take in (I had doubts myself, fearing it would be overdone), though his voice is so persuasive that it makes you keep on listening, and you learn more than you ever could in a documentary on GWTW. So, this is all I'm saying if you can take the commentary, please give it a chance, especially if you are a die-hard fan of the film. However, like most commentaries, once listen would be more than sufficient.

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DISC THREE: THE MAKING AND RESTORING OF GWTW
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The cornucopia of extras on this disc is certainly impressive, starting with the 2-hour long documentary, "The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind," which I had mentioned earlier. Produced by Turner Entertainment, and narrated by the great Christopher Plummer, its primary discussion is on Selznick's endless search for the right actress to play Scarlett O'Hara, though it also emphasizes how the journey from the novel to film to international phenomenon was full of "chaos and confusion." It begins with the career and life of Selznick, and some of the other wonderful pictures he made in the 1930s, including his excellent adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."

Being the head of a production company at the tender age of 30, Selznick made many other films of top-notch quality, with major stars and production teams, including A STAR IS BORN and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA. Meanwhile, fellow romantic Margaret Mitchell had grown up in the South, and was an avid reader of Civil War stories; when she suffered a horse-riding accident she decided to begin a novel while she was recovering. The novel "Gone With The Wind," became a runaway bestseller…and would be the only novel she ever wrote; many of Selznick's assistants warned him that filming it would be simply impossible.

You could say that the rest is history, but in fact the film's production was constantly full of uncertainty and impending disaster. Changing directors was the least of the worries; Leigh and De Havilland loved George Cukor, though Howard and Gable preferred the replacement of Victor Fleming. The casting process was a nightmare, even a national obsession. Radio reports were made virtually every week in who was the in the running for Scarlett O'Hara; Clark Gable was the national choice for Rhett, though he had his own reservations on taking the role, mainly being he refused to ever cry on camera. Despite some dated elements, I was pleased with the amount of history detailed in this documentary, and I'm sure most of you will enjoy it.

The second documentary on this disc, which I found even more compelling, was the brand new "Restoring a Legend," which chronicles the photochemical and video processes used on this transfer. The Warner Bros. restoration laboratory has done more than a spectacular job, believe me. The major difficulty in restoring a picture like GONE WITH THE WIND is deterioration of the film negative; the picture had been re-released so many times, that every time they did it they had gotten rid of the original negatives, and thus causing damage to the prints.

The key to restoration, bear in mind, is based on proper storage; where do you think the film negatives in which are played in movie houses go after they leave? The answer is that they are put back in the canisters and put into a vault and kept at a specific temperature. The documentary goes into some technical details, which will no doubt seem incomprehensible to the average viewer, but the truth is that each frame has to be scanned and enriched by combining all the color elements. The result is a picture that is bright and crisp without being overbearing to the eyes; what you will see with the new transfer is first with the costumes; for example, you can clearly see the velvet color of Scarlett's dress when she goes visit Rhett in jail.

Discoloration is the major flaw when it came to the restoration of GWTW; the saturation and contrast are tricky elements because they have to be balanced. Many of the supervisors of the restoration are interviewed, and they explain the long process (this particular restoration took 6 months to complete) they went through to achieve their goal: be as accurate and faithful as possible to the original 1939 print. Of course, this may seem impossible, but since 1996, this has become the mission of many film historians; it started with the re-release of VERTIGO, which was released to theaters for the first time in 70 mm Stereo Surround Sound, and now they have finally done the same to GONE WITH THE WIND.

In terms of the sound restoration, Warner Bros. took great lengths to make the film sound as natural and convincing as possible; some subtle differences you may notice is that when the women are walking quickly you can hear the rustling noise of the dresses for the first time. Remember when Mammy reveals the red silk petticoat that Rhett bought her? The fear that the restoration supervisors have added new elements or overused computer graphics to "enhance" the picture is eliminated when you realize that Warner Bros. only ordered them to use the original elements, everything from the negatives to the original sound mixes. The documentary is only 18 minutes long and I encourage all of you to see it.

Also included in Disc Three is an original 1939 Atlanta Premiere Newsreel, which show the stars, along with producer David O. Selznick, attending the premiere; to complement that newsreel, we also have the original 1961 Civil War Centennial Atlanta Premiere newsreel, in which Selznick, Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland attend. There is a prologue that was included with the international release of the film, as well as scenes from the French, Italian, and German language versions; they are amusing, if a little pointless. Finally, there is a list of all the awards the film won, including the 8 awarded by the Academy, as well as a 1938 MGM short "The Old South," sort of a prequel showing audiences what life was like during the time.

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DISC FOUR: THE ACTORS AND ACTRESSES
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The one special feature in which I looked forward to the most is on this disk, and now I'm finally pleased to get to it. If you remember, at the 75th Academy Awards in 2002, Olivia de Havilland made a special appearance, and as they played Max Steiner's music the audience stood up and clapped for at least 2 minutes before she was allowed to speak. That's right: Olivia de Havilland is the only surviving member of the entire cast (aside from Evelyn Keyes and Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett's two sisters), and the irony is that she is the only one of the four major characters to die in the film. Miss de Havilland is turning 89 years old this year, and as she reveals herself in the documentary, "Melanie Remembers: Reflections by Olivia de Havilland," that getting the role of Melanie Hamilton was a dream come true for her.

We learn from her how exactly she got the part since she was under contract to Warner Bros. studio, which were very sensitive about loaning actors to other studios; she made a plea to Jack L. Warner's wife. It is very interesting to note that de Havilland was actually given a choice by original director George Cukor to play Melanie beautiful or plain; of course, she made the right decision in being plain. "Now, in those days, it was very critical as to your appearance…I chose plain because that is how Margaret Mitchell drew the character in her book." Even at only 51 minutes runtime, she manages to describe many memories of working with Cukor and Fleming, not to mention her co-stars.

In addition, she tells her initial dread of losing George Cukor, who she loved and respected very much; apparently, she and Vivien Leigh had pleaded with Selznick to keep him on as director. While she didn't know Victor Fleming personally, she didn't know if she could continue without George; it was only when she was dining with the aviator himself, Howard Hughes, in which she was reassured that Fleming was a competent director and just as talented as Cukor in every way. I don't want to give away everything she talks about while making GWTW, though I will say that it was great to hear her remembrances and, as I suspected, it is my favorite feature in the entire DVD set.

Included with Miss de Havilland's interview, is two documentaries: one is on Clark Gable, and it was produced in 1975, and there was also one on Vivien Leigh, which was made for television in 1991. Both documentaries are similar in detailing both Gable's and Leigh's career, although "Gable: A King Remembered" was quite grainy, considering it was made in 1975 for television. I enjoyed "Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond," more because I knew very little of Leigh's life when compared to Gable's. With excellent narration by Jessica Lange, the Leigh documentary talks extensively about the romance and bitter breakup of Leigh with her longtime husband Laurence Olivier, as well as her somewhat lackluster film roles after GWTW.

Finally, last but certainly not least, the rest of the cast are each given a mini-documentary (some lasting as short as 2 minutes others as long as 6) each telling of all their life and times. Now, here is my one small quibble: Miss de Havilland , Clark Gable, and Vivien Leigh were all given hour-long documentaries…what about Leslie Howard. Granted, his mini-documentary is one of the longer ones, though I think it's a shame that his three co-stars were seemed to be given "more credit," than him. Howard was an excellent actor, and while his role as Ashley Wilkes is his most well known, many of his other roles (most notably as Prof. Henry Higgins in 1938's PYGMALION) were even better. Maybe its because that Howard's role as Ashley has been the most criticized; even at the time, many people thought he was way too old, others even thought his performance was too "stiff" to be believable. We all must remember not to confuse the character with the performance; Ashley Wilkes, is a genuine wimp, and I think Howard does a great job of playing the role.

Some of the interesting facts I will mention after watching all the mini-documentaries (there are 16 in all):

1) Barbara O'Neill, who played Scarlett's mother, was only four years older than Vivien Leigh!

2) Butterfly McQueen fell into the unfortunate boiling pot of superb actors who couldn't find work because of racism; her last film (and the only one she made since 1946) was the 1985 Harrison Ford drama THE MOSQUITO COAST.

3) Humphrey Bogart may not have become a star if it wasn't for Leslie Howard's demand for Bogart to repeat his stage role in 1936's THE PETRIFIED FOREST; after Howard's death in 1943 due to a plane crash, Bogart named his daughter Leslie Howard Bogart in dedication of the great actor's unselfish act.

4) Rand Brooks, who played Scarlett's fist husband Charles Hamilton, was the last actor that passed away, on September 1, 2003 at the age of 84.

5) Beloved character actress Jane Darwell, who played the gossipy Mrs. Merriweather in GWTW would make her heartbreaking final performance as the bird woman in MARY POPPINS. She had only one line, "Feed the birds, Tuppence a bag!"

6) If you recognize the voice of Feline the Doe in Disney's BAMBI, then you are one hell of a film expert; that was the voice of Cammie King, who played the memorable Bonnie Blue Butler in GWTW.

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TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY TO BUY THE DVD
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I hope everyone out there that is fans of the movie will search out and purchase this Collector's Edition, and see exactly what I'm raving about in terms of the transfer. I hope you all will enjoy the extras, and learn so many things about the making of this masterpiece. And, remember, Mother's Day is just around the corner and this would make a wonderful gift. Needless to say, GONE WITH THE WIND will always be one of my favorite films, and I'm a proud owner of this Collector's Edition, which I think will be the zenith of the film's history.

Thank God it is still the most popular film of all time, because anyone that says TITANIC is, you are so wrong. Even with all the eye-popping special effects and computer animation in which today's films offer, GONE WITH THE WIND is still a film that is still more visual, more vivid, and more glorious than ever. Thank you very much for reading, and I look forward to all of your comments. My next 3 reviews will be posted within the next week, which include MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and HOUSE OF WAX, both to be posted in preparation of the (no doubt horrendous) updated HOUSE OF WAX, which will be released in theaters next Friday. Chris xxx

***You can obtain the DVD at many shops that sell films, though i recommend www.amazon.co.uk. The ASIN is #B0006GVK20 and the price is only 20 pounds. Enjoy!!!***

 

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