Published: November 19, 2008 05:16 pm            

Those GWTW spin-offs

NEWTON — In 1936, Georgia author Margaret Mitchell’s monumental novel of the Old South, “Gone with the Wind,” was published. The novel gained immediate success partly because the country was still caught in the grips of the Great Depression. People were seeking to survive after many had lost their money and land just as Scarlett O’Hara had lost hers during the Civil War. Scarlett was a survivor, and people identified with her.

It has now been 72 years since the publication of Mitchell’s novel. The story of Rhett butler and the tempestuous Scarlett remains in print and continues to be read by members of each generation. In fact, the novel has developed into an ongoing business. It has been the inspiration for a motion picture, a musical, souvenirs, and two books which purport to be a continuation of the story.

As soon as movie mogul David O. Selznick realized the popularity of the novel, he bought the screen rights, and the film was released in 1939. The motion picture remains today one of the most-watched films ever made. Any list of the 10 most important motion pictures ever made will always include “Gone with the Wind.”

Those actors who appeared in the film represented some of the best acting talent of the time.

Each actor or actress had long and distinguished careers on the stage and in film. Hattie McDaniel had the distinction of being the first African American to win an Academy Award for her outstanding work in the film.

“Gone with the Wind” is often described as a milestone in motion picture making.

When David Selznick died, he requested that his tombstone carry the simple inscription “David O. Selznick the producer of ‘Gone with the Wind.”

In the 1950s, music was added to the story to create a Broadway musical. The show did open on Broadway but was not very successful. It is ironic that although the show was not successful in this country, it was a great success in Japan.

Souvenirs of “Gone with the Wind” are as popular today as they were when the film was released in 1938. Full-page ads appear periodically in magazines advertising figurines of the film characters. It is possible to purchase a set of plates painted with scenes from the film. Recently, I saw a hand towel with a picture of Scarlett and Rhett woven into the fabric.

The sound track from the film, particularly the score for “Tara’s theme,” is often played by symphony orchestras. The music did not originally have words, but lyrics have been added and with the title “My Own True Love,” the score to “Tara’s Theme” can now be sung. The music also has been arranged for ballet, and ballet companies often add it to their programs.

In 1992, Alexandra Ripley wrote a sequel to “Gone with the wind” and titled it simply “Scarlett.” The novel of more than 800 pages is an account of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara’s lives during Reconstruction. The novel which begins in 1873 eight years after the end of the Civil War, is set in Atlanta, Savannah, and Charleston, where Scarlett again finds Rhett Butler. In the novel’s second half, Scarlett travels to Ireland to find the places where the O’Hara family originated (True GWTW fans will remember that the O’Hara family was Irish.)

“Scarlett,” the supposed continuation of “Gone with the wind,” was, for the most part, panned by the critics. One critic said, “Ripley’s book is nothing more than a recycling of characters from Mitchell’s novel. In this new work, they appear as no more than guests on a TV talk show. The novel alternates between the comic and the pitiful.”

Now comes the second book directly related to characters in Margaret Mitchell’s novel. Saint Martin’s Press recently published a novel by Donald McCaig titled “Rhett Butler’s People.” In order to write the novel, McCaig had to have permission of the Mitchell estate. The estate granted permission, and in the novel McCaig works hard to cleanse Rhett Butler of the stains on is reputation.

Rhett’s past is only hinted at in “Gone with the Wind,” but McCaig takes these hints and develops them into actual events and situations. The novel makes a valiant attempt to rehabilitate Rhett. His connection to the Klan, the woman he dishonored, the rumors of a child fathered in New Orleans, and the money supposedly pilfered from the Confederate treasury are all explained away by McCaig.

The truth is that Rhett, as portrayed by McCaig, is a real person.

He is not the gallant blockade runner who is a larger than life character in love with a woman he is never able to control. McCaig insists that Rhett is actually a lot like everyone else.

“Rhett Butler’s People” is a good read. The only trouble is that it might be impossible to read “Gone with the Wind” ever again in the same way. Those who champion “Gone with the Wind” and see it as the great historical romance of our time will find it difficult to reconcile the Rhett Butler of Mitchell’s book with the more recent McCaig presentation of this gentleman from Charleston.

And is the world through with “Gone with the Wind”? Not on your life! Turner Classic Movies runs the film at least three times a year. The film can also be purchased on DVD, and tourists visiting Georgia continue to ask directions to Tara, believing it to be an actual plantation outside Atlanta.



Ovid Vickers, a retired East Central Community College professor, writes a weekly column for The Newton Record.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.