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It is often considered to be
the most beloved, enduring and popular film of all time. The
famous film, shot in three-strip Technicolor, is cinema's
greatest, star-studded, historical epic film of the Old South
during wartime that boasts an immortal cast in a timeless, classic
tale of a love-hate romance. Some have criticized the film for
romanticizing, sanitizing, or even promoting the values of the
South, in particular its reliance on slavery. Authenticity is
enhanced by the costuming, sets, and variations on Stephen Foster
songs and other excerpts from Civil War martial airs. Its opening,
only a few months after WWII began in Europe, helped American
audiences to identify with the war story and its theme of
survival. With three years advance publicity and Hollywood
myth-making, three and one-half hours running time (with one
intermission), a gala premiere in Atlanta on December 15, 1939,
highest-grossing film status (eventually reaching $200 million),
and Max Steiner's sweeping musical score, the
exquisitely-photographed, Technicolor film was a blockbuster in
its own time. A budgeted investment of over $4 million in
production costs was required - an enormous, record-breaking sum.
The film (originally rough-cut at 6 hours in length) was
challenging in its making, due to its controversial subject matter
including rape, drunkenness, moral dissipation and adultery and
its epic qualities, with more than 50 speaking roles and 2,400
extras. Rhett Butler's infamous farewell line to Scarlett O'Hara,
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", was voted in a
poll by the American Film Institute in 2005 as the most memorable
line in cinema history. In 2005, the AFI ranked Max Steiner's
score for the film the second greatest of all time. The AFI also
ranked the film #2 in their list of the greatest romances of all
time (100 Years... 100 Passions).
Isabella
Bogdain
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