Windy Wednesday: Scarlett Makes Her Entrance!

Audiences waited three years to see the Margaret Mitchell novel, Gone with the Wind, hit the big screen. A dramatic opening tracking shot increased the anticipation by initially hiding the book’s main character, Scarlett O’Hara, from view. As Brent Tarleton, Fred Crane blocked Vivien until he stepped aside revealing the youthful face of the girl who had “the smallest waist in three counties.”



Producer David O’Selznick labored over the opening scene. In order to give audiences just the right touch, the scene was filmed five times. The first was tackled on January 26, 1939. According to the book Scarlett Fever by William Pratt, the first day of filming (under the guidance of director George Cukor) did not yield anything that was usable.

The curly hairdos of the Tarletons photographed bright orange. Four days later the scenes were repeated, with the actors’ hair styles modified to eliminate their curls and heavily darkened as well (photo below).

In the book, the Tarleton brothers (Brent & Stuart) were twins. Fred Crane and George Reeves were obviously not lookalikes. For the film adaptation, the “twins” were simply referred to as The Tarletons. You’ll also note that Miss Leigh was wearing an entirely different outfit than what is seen in the finished film. In the book, Scarlett wears this green sprig muslin dress and does so again the next day at the Wilkes’ barbecue because she knows that the Tarletons are fond of it.



On March 1, under Victor Fleming’s direction (Cukor had been let go from the film), a third attempt at the opening scene was shot. According to Pratt:

The two young actors were quite inexperienced and one things was soon evident: it wouldn’t be the last time this unlucky first scene was to be attempted.



For the next scene where Scarlett greets her father, played by Thomas Mitchell, Leigh was still wearing the green muslin dress.



However, by June 14th, Selznick had decided that Scarlett should be wearing this white frilly concoction seen below instead, thus making all of the footage shot beforehand worthless.



In the film, Leigh utters the line “I wore this old dress just because I thought you liked it” at the Wilkes’ barbecue to the Tarletons, which is a reference to the fact that that she had originally worn it in the opening scene. Oops.



On Monday, June 26, 1939 and the following day, Leigh, Crane, and Reeves tried the opening scene a fourth time. Tired from the previous months of around-the-clock shooting, Leigh did not look anything like a vivacious sixteen year old. Even the dimwitted Tarleton brothers weren’t fooled!



Finally, on October 12th, Selznick was happy with the fifth and final attempt at this scene and that’s the one we see today. While you might think it ridiculous that it took five separate times to get one sequence just right, it was Selznick’s attention to detail that made “Gone with the Wind” such a blockbuster hit.



See more “Gone with the Wind” photos at my main website.

Scarlett Loves Muslin

"The Wizard of Oz" isn't the only classic movie celebrating a 75th Anniversary this year. "Gone with the Wind" is eligible for the diamonds associated with this milestone event, too. While Margaret Mitchell's heroine, Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) is best known for the amazing Walter Plunkett gowns that she wore in the film, this post focuses on the plainest one, known as the muslin dress. Here's a make-up test shot. If you had to wear the same outfit as much as Vivien Leigh did, you'd be crying too.



Worn during some of the most important scenes in the film, Vivien Leigh is shown here getting ready to ask Dr. Meade for help in delivering Melanie's (Olivia DeHavilland) baby.



Dr. Meade gives the naive Scarlett a wake-up call by pointing out all the wounded Confederate soldiers that he must attend to; the baby will have to be born without him. He also tells her that next time she needs a favor, she might want to spruce up a bit. He is obviously not partial to muslin.



In this behind-the-scenes cast photo, you might think that Leigh is in the lower left-hand corner of this shot, standing in line like all the other extras to get her lunch.



Not so. The poor schlep in this photo is her stand-in.



Vivien was probably eating filet mignon in her dressing room. Or perhaps a watercress sandwich so that she could maintain Scarlett's 17" waist.

Back at Aunt Pittypat's house, Scarlett (still wearing the muslin dress) asks Prissy for assistance in delivering the baby. We all know how that ended up; Prissy got one whiff of that stinky dress and told her she was on her own!



Rhett stops by the house and picks up all three ladies (plus Melanie's newborn) and agrees to take them to Tara. With the Yankees on the way to Atlanta, there is no time for Scarlett to change dresses. The muslin must be getting a bit stinky by now. At least she had time to change hats.



Rhett abandons the ladies to join the war effort and they finish the journey on their own. Truth be told, Rhett was probably repulsed by the muslin dress. Who knows when the last time was that it hit the suds. Instead of vowing "never to be hungry again," Scarlett should have vowed to get some new clothes. Even Melanie is gasping at the smell of the muslin dress by now.



Scarlett throws herself at Ashley's (Leslie Howard) feet, stealing a kiss. He rebuffs her, too. Doesn't Scarlett realize that wearing the same dress every day is killing her social life?



Even Scarlett's father, Gerald O'Hara (Thomas Mitchell), begs her to change clothes. The neighbors are beginning to talk.



Screaming in horror, Scarlett finally realizes what a mess she has become. This war stuff is nasty business!



Courtesy of her mother's portieres (a fancy word for drapes) and Mammy's skills as a seamstress, Scarlett gets a new outfit. Voilà, the birth of the famous green velvet dress; the muslin outfit was never seen again.



See more vintage Vivien Leigh and "Gone With The Wind" photos on my main website.