The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

• Director: David Hinton
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Film, TV & Radio
• Movie Type: Media Studies, Biography
• Themes: Filmmaking
• Main Cast: Christopher Plummer
• Release Year: 1989
• Country: US
• Run Time: 124 minutes

Plot

This made-for-cable documentary traces the filming of the imperishable classic Gone with the Wind, from its inception to its triumphant Atlanta premiere in December of 1939. Filmmaker David Hinton interviews as many survivors of the experience as he's able to round up, but the main attraction of this film is its precious "test" clips. We watch a montage of screen tests of the many actresses considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara, ranging from such front-runners as Paulette Goddard to such not-a-chancers as Lana Turner. The Goddard footage is particularly enjoyable as we watch her eagerly reciting the lines of all the characters as she auditions for Scarlett. The documentary also turns up several tantalizing bits of trivia, notably the fact that the film was shown to a preview audience with an entirely different musical score (portions of which are played on the soundtrack). There is, of course, very little suspense involved in Making of a Legend, but even those who've heard all the Gone With the Wind factoids from other sources will watch in fascination as the saga unfolds. This documentary was produced by David Selznick's sons, and written by iconoclastic movie historian David Thomson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Christopher Plummer - Narrator; Jean Arthur; Tallulah Bankhead; Joan Bennett; Ward Bond; Clark Gable; Fred Crane; Olivia de Havilland; Melvyn Douglas; Paulette Goddard; Hattie McDaniel; Evelyn Keyes; Carole Lombard; Butterfly McQueen; Margaret Mitchell; Ona Munson; Ann Rutherford; Lana Turner; George Cukor; Victor Fleming; Leslie Howard; Thomas Mitchell; Laurence Olivier; George Reeves; David O. Selznick; Sam Wood

Credit

David Hinton - Director, L. Jeffrey Selznick - Executive Producer, Daniel Mayer Selznick - Executive Producer, L. Jeffrey Selznick - Producer, David Thomson - Screenwriter