The theater was at Forsyth and Peachtree, where the Georgia Pacific building now stands.
Posted on 12/10/2011 2:21:03 PM PST by BigReb555
“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 to be 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.”
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
“And, there was not a dry eye in the movie theater when Bonnie Blue Butler, the daughter of Rhett and Scarlett, was killed in a pony accident.”
I had some friends who saw the movie in a theater long before VCR’s, when they were children. This scene was quite traumatic for them. Their mother had to take them out of the theater because they were sobbing, “He shot the pony! He shot the pony!”
Kinda glad that “master and slave” thing went with the wind.
“...an 1855 gas light that survived Gen. Sherman’s 1864 Siege during the Battle of Atlanta.”
Damn, Gen. Sherman was not as diligent and effective as I thought.
“...an 1855 gas light that survived Gen. Sherman’s 1864 Siege during the Battle of Atlanta.”
Damn, Gen. Sherman was not as diligent and effective as I thought.
I have often said (tongue-in-cheek) that everything I need to know, I learned from Gone with the Wind! For people who think that the movie is too long and too boring, I always try to persuade them to actually read the book! Scarlett was a self sentered airhead in many ways, but she was also a doggedly loyal woman who gave up everything to fight for her family. That only comes out when you actually take the time to really delve into the book.
On a side note, the historical information regarding the Civil War, the various battles and the mood of the Old South is well researched and is probably more accurate than many history textbooks being used across America today!
Without a doubt, that's a memorable moment from the film. But what always triggers a "Yee Haw!" and Rebel Yell from me is when Scarlett O'Hara kills that rapacious drunken Yankee at the bottom of the stairs at Tara.
The theater was at Forsyth and Peachtree, where the Georgia Pacific building now stands.
Contrary to Mitchell's contention that the old families were destroyed by the War, their places being taken by adventurers like Rhett Butler and trash like the Slatterys, the majority of the old families bounced back and recovered their fortunes.
Some died out or were killed in the War, of course, and some left no male descendants and so married into other families. But if you look at the actual records (land records, tax records, wills, guardianships, trusts, etc.) you find that the same families by and large owned the land and paid the taxes in the 1870s and 1880s as did in the 1850s and 1860s.
My theory is that industrialization, especially the railroad, did a whole lot more to change things than the War. Historian Eugene Genovese, no conservative (he was actually a Communist) posited that slavery would have fallen of its own weight as a result.
It's true now as it was then -- prosperous people keep on doing the things that make them prosperous, and poor people keep on doing the things that make them poor. If you took all the money away and started over, in a few years everybody would be right back where they were when you took it. And so it was after the War. One gg grandfather had nothing left but an old blind mule, but when he died in the 1920s he was once again a wealthy man. Another gg grandfather was a lawyer and banker before the war, but since there was no money and no litigation he drove a delivery wagon using two of his artillery horses for a few years. But when he died in 1917 he was once again a lawyer and a banker.
My mom as a child had to be removed from the theatre because of the amputation scene in the hospital.
One of my favorite movies and my absolutely favorite book.
I have re-read the book several times over the years and found my perception of the characters changed as I gained more life experience and a deeper understanding of history.
Ten/fifteen years ago, I read that Margaret Mitchell downplayed her book saying something like ‘I just strung together a bunch of stories I heard growing up’. So I re-read the book for the individual incidents. Read that way, the book documents the way southerners of the 1930s remembered the War and the Reconstruction period.
So many grand themes in the novel! I love the idea of the poor and the rich ending up exactly where they were before the war.
You probably know that Mitchell was influenced by her mother who took her out of Atlanta one day and into plantation country. She pointed to the ruined homes and said: “one day your world will explode. You need to have skills and education to survive.” She then pointed out that some of the people in those grand homes had gone under because they did not know how to do anything. That’s where the character of Ashley, I guess, came from.
I was working downtown for GA Power in the 270 Peachtree building when the Loew’s Grand burned down. I was very new to Atlanta, having started at Tech Fall ‘77, and was working my first co-op quarter. It was quite a bit of excitement that day, not a lot got done that afternoon.
Oh, that narrows it down!
≤}B^)
That seemed to be the high point of the movie, as far as the audience went, although the audience would stand when 'Dixie' was played.
I had no idea Vivien Leigh was British until years after seeing the movie. Her role in “Streetcar named Desire” was also breathtaking. It seemed the stars were all aligned, so to speak, when that movie was filmed.
he has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them to slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportations thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrainhttp://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/rough.htmdetermining to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold
Thanks for the reply! I don’t disagree at all with your contention that Margaret Mitchell overemphasized the plight of the genteel Southern families, not because it was totally true, but because it was necessary for Scarlett’s story. When I said the book was accurate, I meant in terms of the battles, the dates, the Generals, the casualties, etc.
I guess when I talked about the “mood” I was more referencing the feelings of resentment that so many Southerners had regarding “The War of Northern Aggression” (Yes, I know the South fired first but that seemed immaterial to many people, even today! : )
By the way, have you ever read a book called “For Cause and Comrades”? It is a collection of letters written by soldiers on both sides explaining why they were fighting. My son is a history major and it is probably one of his all time favorite books!
“One of my favorite movies and my absolutely favorite book.”
Ditto. Saw the movie first, then read the book. Loved it. I think the first time I saw the movie was in the 1970’s and the scene with Clark Gable at the bottom of the stairs was breathtaking. He was so handsome. I didn’t know anything about him at the time. He certainly withstood the test of time!
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