# Today is the 70th anniversary of the GWTW movie premiere **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433 "2009-12-16T01:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/1 "2009-12-16T01:46:00Z")
I don’t think there’s been a [movie premiere](http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2009/s2772199.htm) as big before or since. Sure, the movie cut out two of Scarlett’s children, Will Benteen, and Archie, merged Honey and India, and lost half of the County, but it was three hours long as it was! Oh, I wish I could have been in Atlanta! I bet that was a night. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/2 "2009-12-16T03:19:08Z")
An outrageous fact: Hattie McDaniel, who was to win an Oscar for her role as Mammy . . . was not invited to the premiere. I know, times were different then, but still . . . what did they think she was, a prop? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/3 "2009-12-16T03:19:33Z")
Another report: ['Gone with the Wind' still raises fuss after 70 years - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/15/haskell.gone.with.the.wind/index.html?iref=allsearch) One of my favorite historical ironies of all time is that a young MLK Jr. sang with his church choir at the segregated premiere. Hah! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/4 "2009-12-16T06:40:25Z")
The author of the CNN piece tries to be fair, but she seems truly lacking in perspective. > [@](#): > > Most critics today wouldn’t touch “Gone with the Wind” with a 10-foot pole – it’s easier to dismiss it as racist or overblown or an apologia for the plantation culture than to take a fresh look at how it has fared and why it has endured for 70 years. While much of the general public may be too offended by the racism to form a critical opinion of the film, I’ve had no trouble through the years in finding professional critical commentary. > [@](#): > > …for the South it was like a sweet vindication for their humiliation at the hands of Sherman’s army… And she would know this how? She is expressing a syrupy meaningless stereotype. And _vindication_ doesn’t mean what she thinks it does. Bah! She also describes Scarlett as a “feminist.” Actually, a selfish manipulating golddigger who abuses the trust of other women was not what we have in mind. Finally, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been ten years old at the time of the premiere. He was born in 1939. The writer does do one thing well. She is able to underscore the point of how this movie is able to get the dander up and the fur-flying. Thanks for the link, **Elendil’s Heir**! It was a fun article to read and I had never heard the information about Dr. King before. That’s cool. I thought I would mention that I think that Olivia de Havallind (Melanie Wilkes) is still living). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/5 "2009-12-16T10:47:49Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I thought I would mention that I think that Olivia de Havallind (Melanie Wilkes) is still living). Yes, she is 93. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/6 "2009-12-16T17:55:49Z")
I think the young girl who played Bonnie (her voice was dubbed over, btw) is still alive, and I would presume the boy who played Beau is still around too. Is Butterfly McQueen still with us? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/7 "2009-12-16T19:21:28Z")
Vivien Leigh was ultimately committed, wasn’t she? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/8 "2009-12-16T21:57:18Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I think the young girl who played Bonnie (her voice was dubbed over, btw) is still alive, and I would presume the boy who played Beau is still around too. > > Is Butterfly McQueen still with us? No. She died in 1995 > **[Butterfly McQueen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_McQueen)** > > Butterfly McQueen (born Thelma McQueen; January 8, 1911 – December 22, 1995) was an American actress. Originally a dancer, McQueen first appeared in films as Prissy in Gone with the Wind (1939). She also appeared in the films Cabin in the Sky (1943), Mildred Pierce (1944), and Duel in the Sun (1946). > Often typecast as a maid, she said: "I didn't mind playing a maid the first time, because I thought that was how you got into the business. But after I did the same thing over and over, I resented i... In July 2008 there were seven surviving cast members > **[Seven Surviving Cast Members Remain From "Gone With the Wind"](http://onelinereview.blogspot.com/2008/07/seven-surviving-cast-members-remain.html)** > > With the passing of Evelyn Keyes (memorable in Here Comes Mr. Jordan — 1941) at the age of 91, a total of seven cast members with speaking p... ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/9 "2009-12-16T22:21:58Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Vivien Leigh was ultimately committed, wasn’t she? Wikipedia says she was bipolar, but doesn’t mention ever being committed. She died from tuberculosis. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/10 "2009-12-17T00:20:28Z")
She was married to Laurence Olivier, but he couldn’t deal with her manic depression. I’ve heard he was devastated when she died. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/11 "2009-12-17T04:12:15Z")
I read somewhere that IRL when Melanie’s baby grew to adulthood he married Raquel Welch. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-is-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-gwtw-movie-premiere/521433/12 "2009-12-17T04:43:49Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I read somewhere that IRL when Melanie’s baby grew to adulthood he married Raquel Welch. Patrick Curtis [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193474/bio](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193474/bio)