u/Classicsarecool

I saw this in theaters today. I saw it once before years ago, but disliked it. I have changed my mind, and would say I enjoyed it. I loved how he was trying to chase the love he had lost from his parents as a child, and loved the dialogue throughout. Orson Welles and Herman Mankiewicz did a great job on the screenplay, I thought that was its greatest strength. My favorite actor in the movie was Everett Sloane as Mr. Bernstein.

Here in uniform, and in order:

James Stewart, Clark Gable, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan, Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis, Audie Murphy, Ernest Borgnine.

She was one of the first classical actresses I grew up knowing of, as my Dad loves Errol Flynn films. Loved her performances in many of those films, as well as Gone with the Wind and My Cousin Rachel. There are still other films, like The Heiress, of hers that I’d like to see but haven’t yet. Rest in Peace.

He was born 36,518 days after they died, and it’s been 36,525 days since Brooks was born.

Ms. Blyth passed away on June 24. May God bless her and comfort her family.

This coming Tuesday is the 90th anniversary of the book’s publication, and as someone with an interest in copyright law and this story as well, this is a very interesting case for me.

Firstly, the law in America is that all published works prior to 1978 that have had their copyrights renewed before their 28th year will be protected by copyright until the end of their 95th year. However, works published after 1977 are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years. Margaret Mitchell passed away almost 77 years ago, so under that standard the book would have become public domain in America in 2020, as it did in most of Europe and much of the world at the same time (as many developed countries also hold to life + 70). It is already public domain in most countries with other laws too.

Copyright was made with the justification of incentivizing creators, and Mitchell cannot be incentivized now. Her last remaining relatives who had any control over her estate were her nephews Eugene and Joseph Mitchell, who both died childless in 2007 and 2011, respectively. They ran it beginning in 1983, after their father Stephens Mitchell (Margaret’s brother) died that year, having run it for over 30 years since John Marsh (her husband) died in 1952. So, no relatives of Margaret Mitchell are benefitting from continued copyright either.

Today, the estate is run by a law firm and the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta (Joseph Mitchell gave his half to the archdiocese when he died).

When the book was released, the law at the time would have made it enter the public domain in 1993 at the latest. In 1976, it became 2012. In the 1980s, the estate authorized the sequel Scarlett (1991), met with poor reviews, and were, according to author Donald McCaig, apparently so embarrassed by it that they commissioned another book by McCaig that contradicted it, Rhett Butler’s People (2007). They received another 20 years in 1998, which only made the sequel look more rushed in retrospect. The last published book was the prequel Ruth’s Journey (2014). Very few people read it at the time or since, and nothing has been produced by the estate since.

In 2020, the story was front-page news again for its racist elements. The estate had the opportunity to speak out in some way, but did not. It came across as a lack of care, with such an important cultural touchstone in the conversation again. Now, the book is about to turn 90, and the date has received very little recognition in America, its home country where it once flourished for decades. Copyright only helps keep it hidden, and most of the world is now able to do whatever they want with it. Serious scholarly work on the book is also constrained in America because of this.

So to put it all together, this work is part of American cultural history, is about to turn 90, and there is no author or family who stand to profit anymore. By moral, cultural, philosophical, and many other standards, there is no reason why the book shouldn’t be released from its copyright restrictions other than the legal standards that still exist. There are 5 and a half years left of copyright on the book in America, and it’s unlikely the estate will receive a substantial amount of money from book sales, especially due to the controversy, low sales of the sequels today, and having produced essentially nothing since 2014. Therefore, the book should be released into the American Public Domain.

TL;DR: The lack of an author or remaining family to incentivize, along with many other reasons, leads me to argue that the novel Gone with the Wind should be released into the American Public Domain.

I recalled seeing the original Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), with Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill a few years ago, and learned about this one when watching Michael in theaters (there was a clip of it there) a few weeks ago. I suppose that is a reference to Vincent Price being apart of Thriller.

Vincent Price did a great job here. In a plot where you have to suspend real world logic, he manages to sell a creepy, suspenseful film with a masterful performance. It was also interesting to see a young Carolyn Jones (who would become Morticia Addams over a decade later) as Cathy, and a Joan of Arc wax figure structured after her.

The scene of the fire felt like a small punch to the gut, as a lover of American and European history myself. I loved the original Marie Antoinette figure here, and how Price talked to it like a real person and friend. That seemed to be the seed of his character’s instability.

Overall, very good and recommended movie.

When I was younger, about 13 (I’m now in college), I watched the film Gone with the Wind for the first time. I very was happy to see Olivia de Havilland, whom I greatly respect, there, the only older actress in the film I previously knew. My Dad grew up partly on Errol Flynn movies, with whom she co-starred with in many films, so I grew up with my Dad introducing Flynn (and by default, de Havilland in many of them) to me. They starred together in 8 films. So, when I finally watched Gone with the Wind, my understanding throughout the entire movie is “Melanie is sweet and a very good person, is played by someone who often played sweet and very good people, and therefore, her character is good.” I didn’t understand at the time just how deceived I was.

From the beginning of the story, we learn that Rhett Butler is the rogue and master manipulator to everyone. He is the man who sees the world “as it really is”, and likes pushing boundaries and social norms because of it because he sees life as a game. We also see Scarlett fall deep in obsession with the idea of Ashley Wilkes. His sister, India, hates Scarlett because she is flirting with Charles and many other men at the 12 Oakes Barbecue. Her one defender of the young ladies is Melanie, about to announce her engagement to Ashley. It’s established by this point that Scarlett and Ashley had been what is the modern day equivalent of “talking” for years. From that moment on, Melanie is seen as the ignorant, sweet, and kind young bride. Scarlett marries her brother Charles to spite her and Ashley, but it fails to get to them. Melanie even celebrates, saying she and Scarlett were now truly sisters. A perfect social cage where Melanie would never truly have to compete with Scarlett again, only manage her access to Ashley when they did see each other.

Over the Civil War, they live close together in Atlanta. Rhett tries to court Scarlett after Charles dies of disease, but he fails because he knows more about Scarlett’s true personality than she realizes about herself. Melanie lets it happen, not offended at all that she was spending time with him when she should have been in mourning for Charles, her own brother. Then, the war comes to Atlanta, and Scarlett saves Melanie and her newborn son Beau, with Rhett’s help. They get to Tara, and Scarlett makes her famous vow. The stage is set for how both will treat reconstruction and define their relationship with society.

In the early days of reconstruction, Scarlett kills a Union deserter in self-defense. Melanie, sick in bed, came down with a sword to help Scarlett, and later helped hide his body. She literally gives the clothes off her back to help Scarlett clean what would be treated as a crime scene. She supports Scarlett in starting her lumber business. She lets Ashley co-own it, despite his lack of business skills. It’s incredibly doubtful she doesn’t know about the use of convict labor being used by Scarlett and her husband. She enables this by saying nothing. And the blood money kept rolling in without her touching it, keeping her clean. Meanwhile, she spent much of her time with the local wives and widows. Then, then Frank Kennedy is killed and Ashley wounded while clearing out the Shantytown, she leads the women in hiding out and covering for the men, alongside Rhett. Rhett and Scarlett, a rogue and a scalawag, could be doubted, but she helped run the remnants of a dying group clinging to the old society. While Scarlett was working within the system, she was the most powerful person in it. Her kindness made her untouchable. She showed it at Ashley’s birthday party after it was suspected that he was having an affair with Scarlett. This keeps her respected by everyone, not just the poor wife, and it keeps money flowing into the business and the Wilkes’s pockets. Earlier, she defended Scarlett from Belle Watling. But now, I will speak of what is most damning: her final days and death.

Melanie and Ashley conceive another child knowing it could be dangerous for her health. Melanie probably didn’t think she would die, but there are two outcomes: The devoted wife who defied the grave for another child, or the death of a woman who was faithful to the end. No one could ever question her legacy with that. She had nothing to lose in society. During this time, she is the only one able to comfort Rhett about the loss of his daughter, and convince him to bury her. Rhett tells her something along the lines of that she is a very good person shortly before the death, right after Scarlett’s miscarriage. This is a private moment, which means that Rhett, who supposedly sees through everyone, isn’t immune to her either. He doesn’t see through her because underneath all his cynicism, he needs to believe some good exists so his game doesn’t become a nightmare. Melanie uses that to get his support for having her child. She falls pregnant, and soon falls to her deathbed.

On her deathbed, we see the conversation between Scarlett and Melanie. It starts with Melanie asking Scarlett to be kind to Rhett. A standard ask. Then, she says “Take care of Ashley. But never let him know.” Here, the mask finally slips. Melanie probably knows very well based on her patterns that Scarlett was obsessed with Ashley. She wants to hold her to that, knowing he is a weak man who lives in the past. She curated his image to allow him not to realize that. This is a deliberate act meant for Scarlett to be worn down. She wouldn’t refuse it because it was a dying wish, and refusing it from Melanie would confirm she is the monster everyone believes she is. Truly kind people typically don’t use their dying moments to seriously derail the life of another. Especially when, without Melanie, Scarlett would lose the support of Atlantan society anyway. For Melanie, it’s checkmate against Scarlett, even in death.

We see from all this that Melanie isn’t who she appears at all, and probably has sinister motivations the whole time. Scarlett is a good manipulator, but she relies on everything to be loud and short term. She can’t escape the whispers of the town gossip. Rhett is much better, but he is trapped by his own loneliness and cynicism. This allows Melanie to be a master manipulator the whole time. If anything, assuming I’m correct, it makes me respect de Havilland’s acting performance more, as she would have been playing a psychopath playing a saint. Thanks to all for reading!

TL;DR-Many aspects of Melanie’s character and the plot of the book and story make Melanie Wilkes villainous and an Apex Predator when looking between the lines. I feel she is a bigger predator than Scarlett, and even Rhett.

Rest in Peace.