Little-Known Facts From The Set Of Gone With The Wind That Will Make Fans Look Twice

Ever wondered what the longest film to win Best Picture at the Oscars is? Well, wonder no more, as we can tell you that it is none other than Gone with the Wind. Yes, the Civil War-era epic runs just two minutes short of four hours.

Not content with merely being the longest-running movie to win Best Picture, Gone with the Wind also holds another notable distinction in that category: it was the first color film to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

As you might imagine, penning the screenplay for an epic like Gone with the Wind wasn’t straightforward. The task of adapting Mitchell’s novel was given to Ben Hecht in the end, but it almost went to The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Clearly, Gone with the Wind has racked up a number of impressive records and firsts. One that might surprise you is that it is the highest-grossing film of all time. Yes, film fans have worked out that if inflation was taken into account, its box-office earnings would beat any other movie’s.

Did you know that the producers looked everywhere for their Scarlett O’Hara? Well, it’s true, and thousands of dollars were shoveled into screen testing wannabes. But some think that producer David O. Selznick deviously devised the testing process as a publicity stunt.

Gone with the Wind tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a young woman who is majorly impacted by the Civil War. So when the dynamic Southern Belle was played by the British Vivien Leigh, it was a controversial decision, to say the least.

Making Gone with the Wind was an arduous process, but with the improving technology, the producers were able to make more changes than ever before. They could even alter Leigh’s eye color in post-production, which must have seemed downright futuristic at the time.

Here’s something amazing about the O’Haras: Barbara O’Neil played Scarlett’s mom, Ellen O’Hara, in the movie. When filming, she was just 28 years old, so she wasn't at all old enough to be the 25-year-old Leigh’s mom!

In the history books, it says that Gone with the Wind is a Victor Fleming film. But in reality, three directors worked on the movie. Yes, Fleming replaced George Cukor, who had been dropped from the film because of "creative differences" with producer David O. Selznick.

When Gone with the Wind was first shown at Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, there were some special guests. Real veterans from the Civil War had an invite from the producers.

By the time the film premiered at Loew’s Grand Theater in Atlanta, another contemporary conflict had broken out. That was, of course, World War II, and with war raging in Europe, actor Leslie Howard — Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind — chose not to attend the premiere.

We'd have thought that every leading actor of the era would have wanted the role of the brooding Rhett Butler, but that's not actually the case. Before Clark Cable accepted the part, Gary Cooper, one of the biggest stars of the day, rejected it outright.

We already know how Gone with the Wind is a lengthy movie. But just how long is it in terms of actual film? The answer is a remarkable 20,000 feet long.

Leigh might have shined as Scarlett O’Hara, but did you know that the role almost went to Lucille Ball? Well, it’s true, reader. A young Ball auditioned and worked for six months on a Southern accent.

No one could accuse Gone with the Wind producer Selznick of dilly-dallying when it comes to securing the rights of the novel. Indeed, just a month after Mitchell’s novel was published, the producer coughed up an unheard-of $50,000 for the privilege of making the movie from the book.

One person who was absolutely devoted to Mitchell’s novel was lead actress Leigh. Indeed, Leigh was so enamored with the book that she carried it around on set with her.

We’ve noted that Leigh was a hugely talented actress; there's no denying it! She convincingly played an American from the South despite being British, after all. But one thing she struggled with, so much that she ended up not doing it, was dancing.

The musical score of Gone with the Wind is nothing short of iconic. But Max Steiner couldn’t relax when he was composing it. You see, Steiner was a man in demand, and his 1939 schedule was absolutely packed with projects.

There’s a clandestine superhero in Gone with the Wind. Do you know who it is? If you're waiting to see Batman swoop down, you'll be sorely disappointed. As it turns out, one of the Tarleton twins was played by none other than George Reeves.

Olivia de Havilland proved her commitment to the project early on in the process. The actress pulled out all the stops to get in the movie, even though she was signed to a rival studio, Warner Brothers. So de Havilland hatched a cunning plan.

Now, de Havilland played the prim and proper Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind, but the fun-loving actress was actually a notorious on-set joker. One prank involved a scene with Gable, whose Rhett Butler has to carry de Havilland’s Melanie to a carriage during the siege of Atlanta.

Gable could hardly complain about any gags on set, however. The famously suave actor was keen on a prank or two himself. For example, Frank Buckingham, a film tech, spotted Gable eating garlic before scenes in which his character Rhett Butler had to kiss Leigh.

When Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind, she based Ashley Wilkes on her real-life cousin by marriage, John “Doc” Holliday. He traveled out West, became a gambler, and was involved in the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral. Meanwhile, Melanie was loosely based on her third cousin, Mattie “Sister Melanie” Holliday. 

Speaking of Melanie, de Havilland’s character famously gives birth in the film. But the actress was unsure how to portray this accurately, given that she hadn’t had her own kids yet. So she decided to sneak into Los Angeles County Hospital in nurse’s attire.

So de Havilland went all-out to make the birth scene as realistic as possible, but the filmmakers made a real error with the timeline. You see, if Melanie’s pregnancy is placed against the historical events of the movie, it would last a preposterous 21 months.

There’s a famous scene in Gone with the Wind when the camera pans over thousands of wounded or deceased Confederate soldiers. Around 2,500 of them are in the shot... but only 1,500 of them are live actors.

Remember the scene where Rhett Butler weeps when Scarlett’s child dies in an accident on the stairs? Well, it nearly wasn’t in the movie, and all because of the actor’s hesitancy. This was the 1930s, remember, and for some reason, it wasn't usually acceptable for men to cry or express their emotions openly.

Another first for Gone with the Wind was the elaborate barbecue scene. In it, Scarlett moves out of a carriage and into the Twelve Oaks mansion. So what’s so great about that?

In late 1930s America, the gender pay gap was very real — and very wide. For instance, the two leads in the movie earned a considerably contrasting salary. Lead actor Clark Gable worked for 71 days and received over $120,000 for his efforts. Can you guess how much Leigh earned in comparison?

While the movie was in production, Gone with the Wind producer Selznick tried to convince the author of the original novel, Margaret Mitchell, to give her blessing for certain creative decisions he made. But Mitchell was a really private individual, so getting her two cents was easier said than done.

Mitchell wasn’t the only person whom Selznick would ask to help and then ignore, though. He pretty much did the same thing to Alfred Hitchcock. Hitch gave his view of how the raid of the Shantytown scene in which Melanie is seen reading David Copperfield should be done.

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn," Rhett Butler says in a famous retort that earned the number one spot on a 2016 Hollywood Reporter list of “Hollywood’s 100 Favorite Movie Quotes.” But it nearly didn’t happen at all, with censors initially demanding that the classic line be cut.

Novelist Mitchell praised certain aspects of the film, especially the casting and performances, but would detail her disappointment at the film’s sets in a letter to a buddy. She wrote, “I grieve to hear that Tara has columns. Of course, it didn't and looked nice and ugly.”

You don’t make something as elaborate as Gone with the Wind for pennies. In fact, it cost a whopping $3.9 million to make, which was a whopping fortune at the time (and still is for most people). But what would it translate to nowadays?

Lead actor Gable played a prank on his co-star Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy. When his character Rhett pours Mammy some whiskey, there was meant to be tea “acting” as the spirit. Can you see where this is going?

None of the impressive-looking edifices in the movie actually had ceilings on the inside. No, in reality, they weren’t buildings at all from the inside, but interior sets. This actually isn't uncommon, and can be found on most film sets even today.

Leigh could do most things as an actress — except, weirdly, cough and splutter. But the movie required her character Scarlett to do so in the scene where she eats rotten vegetables in the plundered fields. What was the star in the making to do?

Gone with the Wind features some truly memorable characters, but did you know that several of the main cast hated the roles they played? Gable was one of these, and only accepted his part so he could pay for his divorce!

In Gone with the Wind, the many horses were subject to serious scrutiny. For instance, the horse on which Scarlett swiftly leaves Atlanta was supposed to look malnourished, given the lack of food available during the Civil War. Of course, this wasn't the easiest special effect to achieve.

One of the most famous scenes in Gone with the Wind is the burning of Atlanta. But did you know how it was achieved? MGM Studios created the illusion by torching old sets on its Los Angeles studio base. But the frightening 500-foot flames were spotted by nearby residents, who unsurprisingly thought the studio was burning down!