# "Gone with the Wind" Blu Ray review



## Richard W. Haines (Jul 9, 2007)

After a little web surfing I was able to find the single disc Blu-Ray release of
"Gone with the Wind" which was still expensive but not as costly as the 70th
Anniversary box set. It's not that I'm objecting to the latter. It's just that some
of the suppliments are the same as the "Wizard of Oz" box set so I don't need two
copies of the same extras.

The Blu-Ray is even sharper and more detailed than the last special edition. They
scanned in the original nitrate three strip negatives from scratch at 8 K resolution
and then recombined and color corrected them. The image looks sharper and has
better resolution that the original 35mm Technicolor prints. Like "Snow White", this
movie had a very different look when first released. The original 35mm nitrate Technicolor
prints from 1939 were very sepia looking with less vibrant primary colors than later
re-issues in the fifties and sixties. As I mentioned before, Selznick and the studios
thought that brilliant prmary hues would hurt the eyes if you watched them for
four hours. So they toned them down. But after "The Wizard of Oz" and other forties
releases they decided to go for broke and make very saturated and colorful IB release
copies on movies like "The Gang's All Here" and "Singin' in the Rain". Technicolor was
re-classified as "Glorious Technicolor" and audiences expected rich colors in these
movies.

So the latest edition of "Gone with the Wind" represents the 1954 re-issue prints in
terms of the color design. However, even in this case it's still a more subdued pallatte
than other movies made in the process. There are notable exceptions like the scene
when Rhett says goodbye to Scarlett and the sky is a bright red as if they are on Mars.
Otherwise there's still a warm look to the imagery with only occasional sections where
primaries dominate.

The audio is a cleaned up adaptation in 5.1 of the 1967 70mm re-issue mix which was
in six channel magnetic sound. It's different than the original mono mix in that new
sound effects were added to expand the sound field. It's more effective than the 
first release audio although the dynamic range is limited by the optical sound recorders
of the time which adhered to the "Academy curve" which were standards set so
that the smallest theater speakers wouldn't over modulate. They weren't the best
quality obtainable in the optical sound format but they were necessary for conformity
within the projection equipment most theaters had installed in their single screen
cinemas in that era. Years later the quality of optical sound was dramatically improved
with Dolby stereo and Dolby spectral recording.

As for the movie itself, it's the first 'Roadshow" epic of the sound era. Curiously, this
format wasn't revived again until "This is Cinerama" in 1952. Throughout the fifties and
sixties Roadshow presentations were popular but they fizzled out in the seventies.
Roadshow movies were 'special event' presentations with reserved seats, expanded running
times with overtures and intermissions as well as a lot of hoopla surrounding the screening.
They were not just another movie booked for a week or two. Roadshow films could play
for many months and in some cases years in the same theater. They sold Program books
in the concessions counter like a Broadway play. There were usually merchandise tie ins
too.

While some battle scenes were allegedly filmed, Selznick's final cut emphasises the soap
opera story of the two leads. Even though Scarlett isn't exactly a likeable character
you do get involved with her fate and Rhett is a very charming rogue. The weak link
of the story is Leslie Howard's whimpy "Ashley". It's not plausible she would prefer him 
to Gable. I feel like shouting to him, "Stop whining and get your act together!" 
Why would an early feminist find his lack of initiative and survival skills appealing? 
Olivia de Havilland's "Melanie" is also too good to be true.

Hattie McDaniel's "Mammy" might seem very racist at the outset but if you look closer
you'll see she is a very independent and defiant house slave who speaks her mind.
Certainly Margeret Mitchell's depiction of slavery is from a Southerner's perspective. 
Slavery was a horror but the North did exploit them during Reconstruction and Lincoln 
nulified the Constitution during the conflict. The politics were very complex and most
of the Confederate army were not slave owners. To a large degree it was a clash 
of economic theories. The slave labor system versus Lincoln's emerging capitalist 
free enterprise system in which labor was not enslaved, paid a wage and 
took care of themselves. Slavery could not have survived the emerging industrial 
revolution.

Considering it's length and over the top melodrama it's incredible that this 3 hour and 
42 minute movie holds interest and endures 70 years later. It's by no means the greatest
or most artistic film ever made nor is it particularly innovative. But it is excellent story telling
and shows a producer at the top of his game. The pacing is rapid and performances fun
to watch. There are some memorable 'epic' shots that stick in your mind like the pull back
of Tara against an artificial sky and the famous crane shot of the wounded soldiers at
the train station. Even the titles are dramatic and unsually long for a feature of the era.

I highly recommend the Blu-Ray disc if you like this movie. If you don't have "The Wizard of
Oz" box set then you might consider buying this one for the extras. If you do or aren't interested
in the trivia then I suggest the single disc edition which I found on ebay.


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## Richard W. Haines (Jul 9, 2007)

The single disc edition is available at Target for $20.


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## Richard--W (Jul 17, 2009)

Richard W. Haines said:


> So the latest edition of "Gone with the Wind" represents the 1954 re-issue prints in terms of the color design. However, even in this case it's still a more subdued pallatte than other movies made in the process. There are notable exceptions like the scene when Rhett says goodbye to Scarlett and the sky is a bright red as if they are on Mars. Otherwise there's still a warm look to the imagery with only occasional sections where primaries dominate.


I'm relieved to hear the sky is red again. In the expensive Ultimate Edition DVD, it was orange. Actually, I think a fiery red in the sky was intentional for historical reasons as well as aesthetic reasons. When Atlanta burned, eyewitnesses described the reddening sky, and Margaret Mitchell may have described it as such in her book (it's been decades since I've read it so I won't swear to the latter). So Selznick and company wanted a red sky. Also, Ned Price color timer at Warner Home Video come under criticism for over-saturating many of the studios' DVD releases of classic dye-transfer films with too much yellow. _The Searchers_ looked as if Price peed in the mix. He actually changes the ruddy earth of Monument Valley to a muddy brown like at Lone Pine. John Ford put instructions into the script (which I have, and which Price obviously didn't bother to read) for his dp to redden the twilight when the Edwards cabin is about to be attacked. The evening redness creates an ominous feeling, a tension. When Ned Price turned it orange by cranking up the yellow, the effect was spoiled. An orange twilight does not tell the story and is not what the director intended. This is also on the Blu-Ray.

Since you mention the red sky is back where it belongs in _Gone With the Wind_, perhaps the other offenses in that film have been corrected as well. I will purchase that Blu-Ray.

Richard


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