Gone With the Wind . Tucson Weekly . 07-06-98

Gone With the Wind

DIRECTED BY: Victor Fleming

REVIEWED: 07-06-98

While it may seem confusing at first why a film that doesn't star John Travolta is in re-release, it all makes perfect sense when you consider the long-movie madness that's afflicted Hollywood in recent years. (Anybody wish they had the three-and-a-half hours they wasted at Titanic back?) So it was only a matter of time until the four-hour, 1939 Gone with the Wind was recycled. It's a brand-new Technicolor print, but you can thank Ted Turner for less-than-spectacular results. Just in case you're very young or have been living with Nell your whole life, this epic film follows the Civil War-era adventures of feisty southern belle Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and the fall of her family's aristocratic empire. But, not to worry: Bourgeois bliss is restored as Scarlett discovers the economic advantages of a well-researched marriage. The man who tries hardest to tame this unruly entrepreneur is the fabulously dressed Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and his arsenal of pomade--though he's more successful at trimming his mustache and killing children. A note to parents: The film's "G" rating is not reflective of its horrendously stereotyped black characters; narrative support of drunken marital rape (which sure puts a skip back into Miss Scarlett's step); and Gable's creepy capped teeth. At the very least, we can take comfort in the fact that Hollywood is ecologically minded. My only hope is that a director's cut of Travolta's full-length exercise video, Perfect, is similarly pulled out of the recycling bin sometime soon.

--Polly Higgins

Full Length Reviews
Gone With the Wind

Capsule Reviews
Gone With the Wind
Gone With the Wind
Gone With the Wind

Other Films by Victor Fleming
The Wizard of Oz

Film Vault Suggested Links
The English Patient
Little Women
Oscar and Lucinda

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