On the slaughter of Scarlett (from Movie list)

[Tabouli]

Now.  On the Movie list, I observed all these people apparently agreeing that movie "Gone with the Wind" was better than the book.  I disagree so stridently that I've decided to drag discussion over to OT and say why.

Before I rant, I should say that it's not that I hated the movie, as some may assume.  On the contrary, I quite liked it, but feel that it loses a lot by comparison with the book, and this is why.

In the book, Scarlett, though undoubtedly ruthless and self-centred, is portrayed with depth and understanding.  You can admire her resourcefulness, determination and strength, and see the forces that drive her.  In the movie, OTOH, especially in the much weaker second half, the director takes the easy out and turns her into this awful whining nasty harridan.  Frankly, my dears, I can't see why anyone would have the least sympathy for her: by the end of the film, I'm well and truly on poor harried Rhett's side and hastening him out the door (don't blame you Captain Butler, get away from that frightful woman).  I know the conveying the complexity of Scarlett's motivations and actions would have been tricky to convey on film, but they could have toned her bitchiness down just a bit and showed a *little* of what was behind it.

I concede that Vivien Leigh looks the part to perfection (she even has the half-Irish, half French background for it, which may be why), but listening to her efforts at a Southern drawl I have to wonder whether the accent coach was too awed to crack the whip.  Same for Clark Gable, though at least he's on the right side of the Atlantic. That aside, they acted well, no other major gripes that were acting-related as opposed to script-related.  Melanie should have been much tinier and thinner IMO, but again, she acted well enough to forgive this.  Mammy was magnificent (political objections aside). However...

Ashley was badly miscast.  Too old, too limp, looked wrong, and you could *see* that Leslie was hating every minute of it (see previous post).  I hated the awful po-faced voice they dubbed over Bonnie (surely the original child's voice couldn't have been much worse?).  Adding the "Frankly" was a master stroke, but was almost neutralised by the dreadful scene at the end when Scarlett is beset by silly voices crying "TaraTaraTara!"  Yukyukyuk!

OK, I've locked myself into my concrete bunker now (luckily, it's just next door to the cave where I've been sulking about the HP movie).  Any responses from rabid GWTW film fans?

Tabouli.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]