STARS FELL ON ATLANTA THAT NIGHT (REPRISE)
By Dan Miller
(originally posted December 15, 2004)
Since I'm on vacation this week, I've mined deep into my archives and come up with a "summer rerun" for you.
The reason I'm rerunning this particular essay is that actress Olivia de Havilland -- the only surviving primary actor or actress from the movie Gone With The Wind -- will be celebrating her 91st birthday on July 1st, and the timing seemed right.
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I hope you enjoy today's little essay about Gone With The Wind.
If you don't, frankly my dear..... I'll be disappointed. But that's OK.
68 years ago, Atlanta, Georgia was the show business Capital of the World, at least for one night.
And no, I wasn't around yet.... I've just heard the stories.
When I was a kid, whenever my family would drive from Augusta to Atlanta (usually on our way to Rome to visit relatives), my parents would always point out two world famous theaters, the Fox and the Loew's Grand.
Loew's Grand is gone now, it burned in 1978.... but on December 15, 1939, it was the site of the world premiere of Gone With The Wind.
The excitement in Atlanta, I'm told, was beyond belief.
Not so much for the movie premiere, but for the movie stars who spent 2 or 3 days wandering around the city.
Most of the cast members were there.... Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland and all the rest. Author Margaret Mitchell was there as well.
In the days preceding the premiere, Clark Gable and Olivia de Havilland visited around town, forever winning the hearts of Atlantans.
They attended the Junior League Ball.
Gable supposedly ate turnip greens and cornbread at local restaurants.
Together, they visited the Atlanta Cyclorama, a giant painting commissioned in the 1800s, depicting the battle of Atlanta.
Gable was impressed, but joked to Mayor William Hartsfield that "the only thing missing is a likeness of Rhett Butler."
Well, that was all they needed to hear. If you visit the Cyclorama in Atlanta today, the guides will proudly point out a plaster-of-paris mannequin that bears an eerie resemblance to Clark Gable. That star-power is strong stuff.
The only surviving member of the main cast is Olivia de Havilland.
She's 90 years old now.... living in Paris.... and said to be healthy and sharp-witted.
Oddly, hers was the only principal character to die in the movie, but -- in real life -- she's the only one still alive.
On the night of the premiere, some 300,000 folks lined Peachtree Street to watch the motorcade of stars heading to, and arriving at, Loew's Grand.
Another 2,000 paid $10 each to attend the premiere screening.
Noticeably absent from the parade of stars was Hattie McDaniel, the black actress who played Mammy.
This was Georgia in the 1930s, and things were different.
When the Academy Award nominations were announced the next year, both Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel were up for Best Supporting Actress for their roles in Gone With The Wind.
And the night of the Awards, the surprise winner was Hattie McDaniel, beating out Olivia de Havilland, and becoming the first black performer to claim an Oscar.
In an interview in 2004, de Havilland was asked about her feelings, losing to Hattie McDaniel.
She said, "Hattie deserved it and she got it. I thought I'd much rather live in a world where a black actress who gave a marvelous performance got the award instead of me. I'd rather live in that kind of world."
Me too.
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