'Gone With The Wind' Projection Instructions: Rules To Screening The 1939 Classic

Via Daughter Bonnie

Today's big-budget blockbusters may make bank at the box office, but they don't come close to the true king of movie grosses, "Gone With the Wind." More than seven decades after its release, the Oscar-winning film owns the top spot for highest box office when adjusted for inflation. (According to BoxOfficeMojo, the film sold more than 200 million tickets, with its closest competition being "Star Wars" at 178 million.)

So what made "Wind" so successful? Most moviegoers would tell you it was its talented performances or breathtaking storyline. However, perhaps it was something a little different, like, uh...the projection?

One Redditor recently posted what's supposedly a set of projection instructions for the 1939 classic (the user states that she's a projectionist and that her "job used to be art, now [she] just push[es] buttons"). Entitled "Concerning the Presentation of 'Gone With the Wind,'" the four-page report lays out a set of guidelines that makes sure each screening of the film is as good as it can be.

"No time, effort or money has been spared to make 'Gone With the Wind' as perfect as possible," says producer David O. Selznick, in the introduction letter. "But all of the time, money and effort, and all of the new [technology used on the film] will have been in vain if we do not have the complete cooperation of the exhibitor, without whose showmanship and presentation abilities a perfect show is impossible."

Hammering home the importance of the presentation, Selznick ends his letter by stating "I shall be personally grateful if you will take the time to read this booklet carefully; and to abide by as many of the suggestions as you will find practicable in your particular theatre."

So what "suggestions" did the booklet include? From the looks of it, a very specific set of them:

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