In 2009, Avatar surpassed Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time. Avatar held the title for a decade before Avengers: Endgame broke the record in 2019. All of these films raked in billions of dollars, but there is one important caveat to these sales: when you adjust for inflation, Gone With the Wind (GWTW) leaves them all in the dust (Box Office Mojo 2022). It turns out that GWTW is the true titan of the box office, ruling since 1939. For a film that won eight Academy Awards and is ranked #6 on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies, its legacy should come as no surprise (American Film Institute 2017).

GWTW was adapted from the novel written by Margaret Mitchell and published in 1936. The story follows Scarlett O’Hara, a Southern belle from Atlanta, who struggles to navigate love between Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler, while similarly trying to survive the Civil War. The Governor of Georgia proclaimed the film’s premiere a state holiday and thousands of people waited outside the Loews Grand Theater, hoping to catch a glance of Hollywood stars (Shearer 1947). GWTW is the highest grossing film of all time because it did what every marketing campaign aspires to achieve: hype. Gone With the Wind struck a zeitgeist of engagement that contributed to its success throughout the ages.

The Unexpected Bestseller

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta and did not know the South lost the Civil War until she was 10 years old (Lambert 1973). Before the release of her novel, a story-editor named Kay Brown picked up an unpublished copy. She faxed David O. Selznick, the head of Selznick International Pictures, with a synopsis. “I know that after you read the book,” she claimed, “you will drop everything and buy it” (Shearer 1947). Selznick bought the rights for $50,000, which was the largest sum ever paid to a first-time novelist at the time (Shearer 1947). GWTW’s publication was an instant success. It sold half a million copies within six months and received the Pulitzer Prize. Suddenly, Gone With the Wind mania spread across the States.

Everyone’s Rhett Butler

When Selznick International announced GWTW’s production, the studio was flooded with letters demanding Clark Gable as Rhett Butler (Lambert 1973). While Gable was ideal, the actor was under exclusive contract with MGM Studios (Lambert 1973). In a search for alternatives, Selznick courted other stars like Errol Flynn. However, fans vowed to boycott the film if Gable was not Rhett (Shearer 1947). Selznick was forced to accept a stiff bargain: MGM would lend Clark Gable for a limited term and invest over $2 million dollars into the production in exchange for distribution rights and half of the profits (Shearer 1947). Clark Gable, daunted by Rhett’s popularity, did not want to accept the role (Lambert 1973). Eventually, he relented in exchange for financial help with his divorce (Lambert 1973). The announcement of Clark Gable as Rhett Butler boosted an ever-growing fanbase.

Searching for Scarlett O’Hara

Once Selznick secured Gable, he faced the bigger challenge of casting Scarlett O’Hara. Scarlett resonates with women as a complicated figure. She is spoiled and selfish, but also independent and resilient; playing her requires serious acting chops. Selznick conducted a nationwide search and “infected the country with a new kind of Scarlett fever” (Shearer 1947). Over the course of two years, 1,400 candidates were interviewed and 90 were screen-tested for the role (Shearer 1947). Several leading women were considered, including Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Paulette Goddard. However, Selznick doubted Katherine Hepburn’s “sex appeal” and Bette Davis had refused to play opposite of Errol Flynn, which prematurely took her out of the running (Lambert 1973). Paulette Goddard was closest to landing the role, but her unmarried relations with Charlie Chaplin caused a controversial uproar (Lambert 1973). “Never before or since has the search for the right actress been carried to such extremes' ' and never did anyone expect a Brit to land the coveted role (Shearer 1947).

Vivien Leigh was a little-known English actress who arrived in the States accompanied by her lover and American actor, Laurence Ollivier. Ollivier’s agent coincidentally was Selznick’s brother, who brought Leigh to the film set. Upon seeing her, Selznick knew he found Scarlett (Lambert 1973). Her casting stirred up a fiery debate. “Scarlett O’Hara is southern, old southern, with traditions and inborn instincts of the South,” one reader wrote to the Los Angeles Times, “how in the name of common sense can an English actress possibly understand Scarlett, her times and the characterization is beyond a thinking American'' (Hagen 2014). Regardless, Leigh was given an accent coach and sent into hair and makeup. The legendary search for Scarlett was over.

The Result

It took approximately three and a half years for Gone With the Wind to premiere after Selznick purchased the rights (Ruppersburg 2004). It cost nearly $4 million, utilized three directors, and flaunted a star-studded cast. GWTW was unparalleled in its scale, with a run time of 222 minutes (almost four hours). Hype brought in the audience. Would it bring in the sales?

After its release, it was safe to say that the investment paid off. Variety described GWTW as “a great picture…poised for grosses which may be second to none in the history of the business” (Lambert 1973). It won Best Picture in one of the greatest years of Hollywood history (Pallotta 2014). Leigh won Best Actress and Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American woman to win an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actress) for her role as Mammy. Gone With the Wind would be successfully rereleased on multiple occasions, grossing a record-breaking $3.4 billion in today’s dollars (Box Office Mojo 2022).

Disclaimer

As a film set in the Old South, GWTW is heavily criticized for its portrayal of African-Americans. After its release, Melvin B. Tolson said it was “more dangerous than The Birth of a Nation” (Gajanan 2020). In the film, the South is “presented as a great civilization, the practice of slavery is never questioned, and the plight of the freedmen after the Civil War is implicitly blamed on their emancipation” (Ruppersburg 2004). The romanticization of the Antebellum South is insensitive and has dangerous consequences off-screen. According to the NAACP, “whatever sentiment there was in the South for a federal anti-lynch law evaporated during the GWTW vogue” (Silber 2020).

Furthermore, even though Hattie McDaniel was the first recognized African-American actress, she was not permitted to sit with the rest of the cast at the Academy Awards or at the Atlanta premiere (Stewart 2020). Segregation ironically prevented her from participating. Despite all the film has accomplished, there still remains a serious question about how much power we ought to give its legacy.

Hype Now

Gone With the Wind accomplished a marketing feat like no other film. It adapted a bestselling book with a star-studded cast that captured national attention for over three years. It delivered the iconic line: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” It is the highest grossing film and likely will be years from now. But, it is an unfortunate product of its time and the movie scene is ever-changing. With advances in technology, the game of hype looks very different now. The 2023 release of Barbie has pioneered a new form of marketing in the modern age. It surpassed all expectations and grossed more than $1 billion worldwide as “a marketing unicorn” (Madhani 2023). High-grossing movies continue to make waves each year, but Gone With the Wind proves this does not equate to a perfect film. Still, it is important to understand how Hollywood brings audiences into their dazzling fold again and again.

“Most of us have compromised with life. Those who fight for what they want will always thrill us.” -Vivian Leigh

References

“AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies — 10th Anniversary Edition.” American Film Institute, American Film Institute, www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movies-10th-anniversary-edition/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.

Gajanan, Mahita. “Gone with the Wind History: Historians on HBO Max Removal.” Time, Time, 25 June 2020, time.com/5852362/gone-with-the-wind-film-history/.

Hagen, Carrie. “How Gone With the Wind Took the Nation by Storm by Catering to Its Southern Sensibilities.” Smithsonian.Com, Smithsonian Institution, 15 Dec. 2014, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-gone-wind-took-nation-storm-feeding-its-southern-sensibilities-180953617/.

Lambert, Gavin. “The Making of Gone With the Wind (Part I).” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 14 Dec. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1973/02/the-making-of-gone-with-the-wind-part-i/306455/?single_page=true.

Lambert, Gavin. “The Making of Gone With the Wind (Part II).” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, Mar. 1973, web.archive.org/web/20131228053330/www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/73mar/wind.htm.

Madhani, Suneera. “Council Post: 4 Lessons from the ‘Barbie’ Movie Marketers Can Use.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Sept. 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2023/09/06/4-lessons-from-the-barbie-movie-marketers-can-use/?sh=65f856132e34.

Pallotta, Frank. “How ‘Gone With the Wind’ Became America’s Biggest Blockbuster.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 15 Dec. 2014, money.cnn.com/2014/12/15/media/gone-with-the-wind-anniversary/index.html.

Ruppersburg, Hugh. “Gone With the Wind .” New Georgia Encyclopedia, 22 Jan. 2004, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/gone-with-the-wind-film/.

Shearer, Lloyd. “GWTW: Supercolossal Saga of an Epic.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Oct. 1947, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/wind-ar6.html.

Silber, Nina. “Perspective | ‘Gone With the Wind’ Is Also a Confederate Monument, but on Film Instead of Stone.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 11 June 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/12/gone-with-wind-is-also-confederate-monument-film-instead-stone/.

Stewart, Jacqueline. “Why We Can’t Turn Away From ‘Gone with the Wind.’” Why We Can’t Turn Away from “Gone with the Wind” | Division of the Humanities, 13 June 2020, humanities.uchicago.edu/articles/2020/06/why-we-cant-turn-away-gone-wind.

“Top Lifetime Adjusted Grosses.” Box Office Mojo, Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/chart/top_lifetime_gross_adjusted/?adjust_gross_to=2019. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.