Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind

Ben-Hur Ben-Hur scooped an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards® in 1959 and, unlike some later rivals, richly deserved every single one. This is epic filmmaking on a scale that had not been seen before and is unlikely ever to be seen again. But it's not just running time or a cast of thousands that makes an epic, it's the subject matter, and here the subject--Prince Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) and his estrangement from old Roman pal Messala (Stephen Boyd)--is rich, detailed, and sensitively handled. Director William Wyler, who had been a junior assistant on MGM's original silent version back in 1925, never sacrifices the human focus of the story in favor of spectacle, and is aided immeasurably by Miklós Rózsa's majestic musical score, arguably the greatest ever written for a Hollywood picture. At four hours it's a long haul (especially given some of the portentous dialogue), but all in all, Ben-Hur is a great movie, best seen on the biggest screen possible. --Mark Walker Casablanca A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. --Tom Keogh Gone with the Wind David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms of tickets sold), and in some respects he fell far short of the goal. While the first half of this Civil War drama is taut and suspenseful and nostalgic, the second is ramshackle and arbitrary. But there's no question that the film is an enormous achievement in terms of its every resource--art direction, color, sound, cinematography--being pushed to new limits for the greater glory of telling an American story as fully as possible. Vivien Leigh is still magnificently narcissistic, Olivia de Havilland angelic and lovely, Leslie Howard reckless and aristocratic. As for Clark Gable: we're talking one of the most vital, masculine performances ever committed to film. --Tom Keogh

Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Director(s): Victor Fleming
Production: Loew's Inc.
  Won 8 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 9 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.2
Metacritic:
97
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
G (General Audience)
Year:
1939
233
Website
7,158 Views

Gerald:
[the men are discussing the prospect of going to war with the North] And what does the captain of our troops say?

Ashley:
Well, gentlemen, if Georgia fights, I go with her. But like my father I hope that the Yankees let us leave the Union in peace.

Man:
But Ashley, Ashley, they've insulted us!

Charles:
You can't mean you don't want war!

Ashley:
Most of the miseries of the world were caused by wars. And when the wars were over, no one ever knew what they were about.

Gerald:
[the other men protest] Now gentlemen, Mr. Butler has been up North I hear. Don't you agree with us, Mr. Butler?

Rhett:
I think it's hard winning a war with words, gentlemen.

Charles:
What do you mean, sir?

Rhett:
I mean, Mr. Hamilton, there's not a cannon factory in the whole South.

Man:
What difference does that make, sir, to a gentleman?

Rhett:
I'm afraid it's going to make a great deal of difference to a great many gentlemen, sir.

Charles:
Are you hinting, Mr. Butler, that the Yankees can lick us?

Rhett:
No, I'm not hinting. I'm saying very plainly that the Yankees are better equipped than we. They've got factories, shipyards, coalmines... and a fleet to bottle up our harbors and starve us to death. All we've got is cotton, and slaves and... arrogance.

Man:
That's treacherous!

Charles:
I refuse to listen to any renegade talk!

Rhett:
Well, I'm sorry if the truth offends you.

Charles:
Apologies aren't enough sir. I hear you were turned out of West Point, Mr. Rhett Butler. And that you aren't received in a decent family in Charleston. Not even your own.

Rhett:
I apologize again for all my shortcomings. Mr. Wilkes, Perhaps you won't mind if I walk about and look over your place. I seem to be spoiling everybody's brandy and cigars and... dreams of victory.

Ashley:
Isn't it enough that you've gathered every other man's heart today? You've always had mine. You cut your teeth on it.

Scarlett:
Don't tease me now. Have I your heart, my darling? I love you. I love you.

Ashley:
You mustn't say such things. You'll hate me for hearing them.

Scarlett:
I could never hate you. And I know you must care about me. Oh, you do care, don't you?

Ashley:
Yes, I do care. Oh, can't we go away and forget we ever said these things?

Scarlett:
But how can we do that? Don't you... don't you want to marry me?

Ashley:
I'm going to marry Melanie.

Scarlett:
But you can't. Not if you care for me!

Ashley:
Oh my dear, why must you make me say things that will hurt you? How can I make you understand? You're so young and unthinking. You don't know what marriage means.

Scarlett:
All I know is that I love you! And you don't love Melanie!

Ashley:
She's like me, Scarlett. She's part of my blood and we understand each other.

Scarlett:
But you love me!

Ashley:
How could I help loving you — you who have all the passion for life that I lack? But that kind of love isn't enough to make a successful marriage for two people who are as different as we are.

Scarlett:
Why don't you say it, you coward? You're afraid to marry me. You'd rather live with that silly old fool who can't open her mouth except to say yes, no, and raise a passel of mealy-mouthed brats just like her!

Ashley:
You mustn't say things about Melanie.

Scarlett:
Who are you to tell me I mustn't? You lead me on, you made me believe you wanted to marry me!

Ashley:
Now Scarlett, be fair. I never at any time-

Scarlett:
You did! It's true! You did! I'll hate you till I die! I can't think of anything bad enough to call you!

[Scarlett slaps him. He exits and in her fury she throws a vase. Rhett rises from behind the sofa.]

Rhett:
Has the war started?

Scarlett:
Sir, you... you should have made your presence known.

Rhett:
In the middle of that beautiful love scene? That wouldn't be very tactful, would it? But don't worry, your secret is safe with me.

Scarlett:
Sir, you are no gentleman.

Rhett:
And you, miss, are no lady... Don't think that I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any charm for me.

Scarlett:
What are you doing?

Rhett:
I'm leaving you, my dear. All you need now is a divorce and your dreams of Ashley can come true.

Scarlett:
Oh, no! No, you're wrong, terribly wrong! I don't want a divorce. Oh, Rhett, but I knew tonight, when I... when I knew I loved you, I ran home to tell you, oh, darling, darling!

Rhett:
Please don't go on with this. Leave us some dignity to remember out of our marriage. Spare us this last.

Scarlett:
This last? Oh, Rhett, do listen to me, I must have loved you for years, only I was such a stupid fool, I didn't know it. Please believe me, you must care! Melly said you did.

Rhett:
I believe you. What about Ashley Wilkes?

Scarlett:
I... I never really loved Ashley.

Rhett:
You certainly gave a good imitation of it, up till this morning. No, Scarlett, I tried everything. If you'd only met me half way, even when I came back from London.

Scarlett:
I was so glad to see you. I was, Rhett, but you were so nasty.

Rhett:
And then when you were sick, it was all my fault... I hoped against hope that you'd call for me, but you didn't.

Scarlett:
I wanted you. I wanted you desperately but I didn't think you wanted me.

Rhett:
It seems we've been at cross-purposes, doesn't it? But it's no use now. As long as there was Bonnie, there was a chance that we might be happy. I liked to think that Bonnie was you, a little girl again, before the war, and poverty had done things to you. She was so like you, and I could pet her and spoil her, as I wanted to spoil you. But when she went, she took everything.

Scarlett:
Oh, Rhett, Rhett, please don't say that. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for everything.

Rhett:
My darling, you're such a child. You think that by saying "I'm sorry," all the past can be corrected. Here, take my handkerchief. Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief.

Scarlett:
Rhett! Rhett, where are you going?

Rhett:
I'm going to Charleston, back where I belong.

Scarlett:
Please, please take me with you!

Rhett:
No, I'm through with everything here. I want peace. I want to see if somewhere there isn't something left in life of charm and grace. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Scarlett:
No! I only know that I love you.

Rhett:
That's your misfortune. [turns to walk down the stairs]

Scarlett:
Oh, Rhett! [watches Rhett walk to the door] Rhett! [runs down the stairs after him] Rhett, Rhett! Rhett, Rhett... Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?

Rhett:
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. The bolded portion ranked #1 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.


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1 Comment
  • cashacat
    quote from Mammy about the Red Taffita petty coat you done bought me
    LikeReply2 years ago

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