[Restorer]

It nearly erased the memory of the 20th Century Fox executive who insisted no one would bother watching a Civil War film - and rejected first crack at making Gone With The Wind...

I strongly suspect this is an urban legend. Gone with the Wind was by far the biggest publishing event of the 1930s, and everybody in America was eagerly anticipating the movie.

[BluesDuke]

I strongly suspect this is an urban legend. Gone with the Wind was by far the biggest publishing event of the 1930s, and everybody in America was eagerly anticipating the movie.

To my knowledge, it's not an urban legend, it's a fact. Fox did reject Gone With The Wind despite the book's popularity, believing strongly that a best-selling Civil War novel was one thing but a hit Civil War film was something entirely different and unlikely to happen; they may also have thought the success of Gone With The Wind as a novel was nothing more than a fad that might well die by the time a movie could get made. Eager anticipation doesn't always mean box-office bingo. They wouldn't have been the first filmmakers to say no to a huge hit. And they won't be the last.

[Rebelbase]

"the 20th Century Fox executive who insisted no one would bother watching a Civil War film - and rejected first crack at making Gone With The Wind"

Sounds like the record producer who passed on the Beatles, as he said "guitar bands are on the way out".