Do you, your parents or grandparents remember the year 1939 when….
The
clock was turned back for the premiere of "Gone with the Wind" at the
Loews Grand Theater in Atlanta, Georgia? This beautiful theater was
sadly destroyed by fire in 1978 but many folks still remember when
Hollywood came to Atlanta to celebrate that wonderful movie and
Atlanta’s own author Margaret Mitchell whose book about the Southern
people and the War Between the States would be read by millions of
people around the world and be made into an exciting motion picture that
has become a classic.
Do
you remember when a movie premiere was a red carpet affair of
excitement and you could take your family to the movies without worrying
about the language or sexual content of the film?
“News
that Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett O’Hara’s little sister, died
Monday brought tears to the eyes of Connie Sutherland, director of
Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum”— June 13, 2012, the Marietta Daily Journal, Marietta, Georgia.
Ann
Rutherford, who died on Monday, June 11, 2012, was a friend of Marietta
and was present for the 70th Anniversary re-premiere of Gone with the
Wind at Marietta, Georgia’s beautifully restored Strand Theater.
Atlanta loved Ann Rutherford!
Mrs.
Rutherford was also present at the premiere of Gone with the Wind,
arriving in Atlanta, Georgia at 10 AM on December 13, 1939 at the
Terminal Railroad Station and stayed at the Georgina Terrace Hotel as
did most of the stars. The railroad station was torn down in 1972 but
the building that was the hotel still remains.
Two
years before the United States entered World War II; there was great
jubilation throughout America, especially in the Southland, in
anticipation of the world premiere of…..
"Gone with the Wind" during the Christmas Season of 1939, just 74 years after the end of the "War Between the States" and Saturday, December 15, 2012 marks the 73rdanniversary of that classic movie which opens with:
"There
was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in
this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever
to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave.
Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a
Civilization gone with the wind."
"Gone with the Wind" won 8 Oscars for 1939, including Best Picture, and;
Hattie
McDaniel, the first Black American to win an Academy Award, expressed
her heart-felt pride with tears of joy, when she was presented the 1939
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her unforgettable role as
"Mammy."
Victor
Fleming won the Academy Award for Best Director and even though Max
Steiner did not receive an award for his excellent music score, the
"Gone with the Wind" theme song has become the most recognizable and
played tune in the world.
Vivien
Leigh, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role,
humbly and eloquently summed her appreciation by thanking Producer David
O. Selznick.
And,
who can forget Olivia De Havilland as the pure-sweet Melanie Hamilton,
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler.
Atlanta’s
Mayor William B. Hartsfield proclaimed a three-day festival for this
grand event and encouraged all women to wear hoop skirts and men to wear
Old South attire.
Friday,
December 15, 1939, has been described as an icy-cold day in Atlanta but
folks warmed to the excitement of the premiere of "Gone with the
Wind"--The Selznick International Pictures "Technicolor" Production of
the Metro Goldwyn Mayer Release of Margaret Mitchell’s novel about the
Old South at the Loews Grand Theater.
Do you remember Thomas Mitchell who played (Gerald O’Hara) telling daughter Scarlett:
"Do
you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that Tara, that land
doesn't mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world
worth working for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it's the
only thing that lasts."
And,
we all wept when Bonnie Blue Butler, the daughter of Rhett and
Scarlett—played by Cammie King, was killed in a pony accident.
Anne
Rutherford, who played Scarlett’s sister Carreen, took time to visit
the Confederate Veterans at the soldier’s home and the stars toured the
famous "Cyclorama" at nearby Grant Park.
The
festivities surrounding the premiere of Gone with the Wind included a
parade down Peachtree Street with over three-hundred thousand people
cheering the playing of "Dixie," waving Confederate flags and shouting
Rebel Yells.
Many
people also witnessed the lighting of the "Eternal Flame of the
Confederacy," an 1855 gas lamp that survived the 1864 Battle of Atlanta.
The lamp remained for many years on the northeast corner of Whitehall
and Alabama Streets. Mrs. Thomas J. Ripley, President of Atlanta Chapter
No. 18 United Daughters of the Confederacy, re-lit the great light with
Mr. T. Guy Woolford, Commandant of the Old Guard by her side.
Johnson
is a speaker, writer of Historical Essays, author of book “When America
Stood for God, Family and Country” and Chairman of the Confederate
History and Heritage Month Committee for the Sons of Confederate
Veterans:http://www.facebook.com/ConfederateHeritageMonth.
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