Ok you young whipper-snappers, let the old man set you straight. This film is the adaptation of the hottest book of its day, highly anticipated by its audience. Like Harry Potter is to today's youth, many people read the Margaret Mitchell book back in 1936 (this was before television and computers, folks. People read for entertainment!). When the famous producer David O Selznick promised to bring the book to the screen with the biggest budget for any film to date, it wetted the public's appetite. Segue.

In 1977, when audiences clamored to see "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters" that summer, a man named Tom Cooper went to the MGM vaults and resurrected the classic. To his horror, he discovered that revivalists in the 1960's recut the negative to create a 70mm version. Not only did they cut and trim the film, they removed the title sequence. Cooper worked diligently, preparing a new restoration using his own funds (and those of other parties) to strike a new 35mm print. At the old Wilshire Theater, he invited Olivia deHavilland (one of the few actors still alive at the time) to attend the premiere. Yours truly happened to attend that night. Klieg lights pointed the way, just like an old fashioned premiere, with flashbulbs popping and stars waving at adoring fans. The film opened to thunderous applause, especially when the words, "Gone with the Wind" slid sideways across the screen in giant letters, just as they did in the original print not seen since the 1940's revival. Ms. deHavilland beamed, a sweeter woman you never met, and Cooper's dream of bringing that film and many others out of the MGM vault succeeded until video tape ended the revival theater chain across America.

Taken in context, "Gone with the Wind" is the story of a selfish woman obsessed with her own feelings and desires, within the background of the civil war. However, the book also dealt with changing attitudes that were surfacing at the time... about the abuse of black people... and the self-righteous attitude of southerners; both unspoken taboos (Margaret Mitchell being from the south).

To many people, "Gone with the Wind" was a breath of fresh air at a time when cinema was relatively stale with gangster pictures and run of the mill fare. 1939 is considered the golden year in cinema history marked for several wonderful releases, many still stand up to scrutiny. The color, the scope, and the willingness to of Hollywood to stick its neck out a bit won the hearts of Americans across the land, and still keep "Gone with the Wind" on the all time list of most cherished and loved films.