Frankly, My Dear: "Gone with the Wind" Revisited

273 Pages·2009·0.79 MB·English

by  Molly Haskell

advance praise for ,
FRANKLY MY DEAR
“Beautifully written and fascinating to digest, Molly Haskell’s
Frankly, My Dear towers above any other book that’s yet been
written about Gone with the Wind. It has the kind of insights
into the Windphenomenon that only a writer of Molly Haskell’s
stature, wisdom, and clarity could give us. It is quite the perfect
toast to both the book and to the film version of Windon the lat-
ter’s seventieth birthday.”—robert osborne, Host of Turner
Classic Movies
“A stunning piece of criticism, written with fever-pitch intensity,
that demonstrates so movingly why it’s impossible to name the
kind of greatness found in Gone with the Windand impossible to
refrain from trying.”—alan trachtenberg, author of Lincoln’s
Smile and Other Enigmas
“With her sharp feeling for movie culture, sexual politics, and the
elusive mores of the old South, Molly Haskell brilliantly sketches
the contribution of everyone who shaped Gone with the Windinto a
problematic but enduring popular classic.”—morris dickstein,
author of Gates of Eden andLeopards in the Temple
“In engaging and witty fashion, Haskell seamlessly weaves together
biographical and autobiographical issues, production information,
sharp critical commentary, and cogent analysis of the literary,
social, and political context of both the Margaret Mitchell novel
and the David Selznick adaptation. She gives us numerous impor-
tant insights into the deep mythology of the film and its ability to
function as ‘the Bible of America.’”—james naremore, Indiana
University
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Frankly,My Dear
Frankly,
yale university press new haven & london
My Dear
Gone with the Wind
Revisited
Molly Haskell
Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this
book are not available for inclusion in the eBook.
Also by Molly Haskell
From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies
Love and Other Infectious Diseases: A Memoir
Holding My Own in No Man’s Land: Women and Men and Film and Feminists
Copyright © 2009by Molly Haskell.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in
any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107and 108of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
Designed by Sonia Shannon.
Set in Janson by Integrated Publishing Solutions, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America by
R.R. Donnelley, Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haskell, Molly.
Frankly, my dear : Gone with the wind revisited / Molly Haskell.
p. cm. (Icons of America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-300-11752-3(cloth : alk. paper)
1. Gone with the wind (Motion picture) 2. Mitchell, Margaret, 1900–1949.
Gone with the wind. I. Title.
pn1997.g59h37 2009
791.43(cid:1)72—dc22
2008037296
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To My Girlfriends
Northern and Southern
And, always,
to Andrew
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Contents
Introduction ix
one
The American Bible 1
two
Boldness and Desperation 39
three
Finding the Road to Ladyhood Hard 86
four
E Pluribus Unum 152
five
Beautiful Dreamers 188
Bibliography 229
Acknowledgments 233
Index 235
Illustrations follow page 142