Revealed: "Gone with the Wind" could have been even worse

A newly-discovered script from Gone With The Wind has revealed the bitter fallout over the presentation of slavery in the controversial 1939 blockbuster.

The documents shed fresh light on the arguments between production staff and writers over how it covered race before it was filmed. It includes lost scenes as well as correspondence between workers on set – who raised issues throughout every step of its production. …

After production, Selznick demanded all copies of the script be destroyed. Kimel – a self-proclaimed Gone with the Wind obsessive – said the few that remain reveal the many changes the four-hour film underwent, but that the copy he acquired revealed a trove of previously unknown insights about how crew grappled with its portrayal of slavery and race relations.

[Both the movie and the book are among the most overrated cr** American arts have ever produced. I have always detested both (yes, I read the book) both for its depiction of the South and the promotion of the “Lost Cause” mythology and because Scarlett O’Hara is the most detestable protagonist in American literature even without all of the other baggage. She has no redeeming qualities whatsoever except as a survivor. The film has some understandable status for its technical achievements, but otherwise it’s an embarrassment. — Ed]