“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”

Well it has one of the most famous lines in film history and its the longest film I’m going to watch in this challenge. Luckily, it was not really boring so the almost 4 hours of film was not a struggle. It was actually a really interesting story about life in the South, during and after the American Civil War. It seemed to have a lot of dated ideas about women, and this wasn’t because it was set in the mid to late 1800’s, but more so the portrayal of women within the film (hence 1930’s ideas of women), but despite this it did manage to present an interesting love story, in that you wouldn’t expect a love story in a 1930’s film to present the main woman as a somewhat conniving and harsh woman, who essentially does not end up with the man. Similarly, the character of Scarlett O’Hara despite this conniving nature, is also a strong woman who has been successful and able to run a business. 

Stylistically, this film had a few interesting moments, in particular when Scarlett is nursing Melanie during childbirth, and we only see both of them in silhouettes against the amber colour of the outside afternoon sky. A similar moment occurred when Rhett is riding them out of town on his carriage and the carriage is silhouetted against the burning buildings. 

With this film I’ve now watched all of the top 10 on the list and I’m only two films away from finishing the top 20. 

Verdict: Great film, although long, the classic American story

Worthy of the AFI Top 100: Yes

Next Film: “The Godfather Part II”, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 1974