Gone With The Wind: 75th Anniversary Release with Turner Classic Movies

In honor of my 200 posts of Carla Renata’s Corner, I will kick off post #204 with one of films that my mother loves to call her favorite…Gone With The Wind.

This month, Turner Classic Movies is teaming up with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Fathom Events and the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin are engaging in a multi-tiered celebration to include a new Blu-ray collection of the Gone With The Wind, screenings at more than 650 movie theaters nationwide, a fascinating exhibit and book on the making of the film and, of course, a special presentation of the movie on Turner Classic Movies.

For those of you under 40…Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind is the epic tale of a spoiled young Southern woman who finds love and tragedy amidst the chaos of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Since the movie’s release in 1939, audiences have thrilled over the saga of the fiery Scarlett O’Hara, played by Vivien Leigh in an Oscar-winning performance, and the man who couldn’t help but love her, Rhett Butler, with Clark Gable in his iconic role. They are joined by a top-notch cast, including Olivia de Havilland, Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel (made history…becoming the first female African-American to win a Best Supporting Oscar), Leslie Howard, Butterfly McQueen and Thomas Mitchell.

From the moment independent producer David O. Selznick bought the rights to the book in July 1936, he and publicist Russell Birdwell whetted the public’s appetite with a massive publicity campaign that centered on a two-year-long talent search to find the actress who would play Scarlett O’Hara, the role that would eventually go to British actress Vivien Leigh.

Although the film’s production hit numerous trouble spots along the way and passed through the hands of three different directors, Gone With the Wind turned out to be an artistic and financial triumph, eventually taking home 10 Oscars and topping the box office charts as the No.1 movie of all time.

The following is a complete rundown of TCM’s activities surrounding the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind:

Nationwide Screenings with Fathom Events: Sept. 28 & Oct. 1

Fathom Events, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Turner Classic Movies are bringing Gone With the Wind back to the big screen with presentations in more than 650 theaters nationwide. The screenings will feature an introduction by TCM host Robert Osborne, who will offer fascinating inside information about the movie, its stars and its place in cinema history. Gone With the Wind will be presented in its original 1:37 aspect ratio, as it was originally filmed/screened 75 years ago.

Showtimes:

Sunday, Sept. 28 and Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time

Tickets and additional information are available at FathomEvents.com.

Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™ and Digital HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment: Sept. 30

On Sept. 30, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release a Gone With the Wind 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray™ and Digital HD with UltraViolet. It will be fittingly presented in limited and numbered sets, with new collectible packaging, new enhanced content and new collectible memorabilia. The memorabilia includes a replica of Rhett Butler’s handkerchief and a music box paperweight playing Tara’s theme with an image on top of the Rhett-Scarlett kiss. Also included is a 36-page companion booklet featuring a look at the immortal style of Gone With the Wind, written by New York fashion designer and Project Runway fan favorite Austin Scarlett, whose signature look reflects the romantic elegance of the Gone With the Wind era. The new special features include footage of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh attending the original movie premiere in Atlanta and Old South/New South, a journey through today’s South, revisiting the real-life locations depicted to see how the world of the Old South continues to inform life in the New South’s cosmopolitan world.

The Making of Gone With The Wind Exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center: Sept. 9 – Jan. 4

TCM is the premiere sponsor of The Making of Gone With The Wind exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center, a world-renowned humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin. The exhibit takes visitors behind the scenes of the movie through more than 300 rarely seen materials, some never before shown publicly. The exhibit is drawn entirely from the Ransom Center’s collections and includes on-set photographs, storyboards, correspondence and fan mail, production records, makeup stills, concept art, costume sketches, audition footage and memos from producer David O. Selznick. Among the exhibit highlights are the green curtain dress and other gowns worn by Vivien Leigh, which are being displayed together for the first time in more than 25 years.

The Making of Gone With The Wind exhibit at the Ransom Center is being curated by Steven Wilson, author of the new book The Making of Gone With The Wind, a fully illustrated companion catalog that offers fans and film historians alike a must-have behind-the-camera view of the production of the film. The book features a foreword by TCM host Robert Osborne and is being published by University of Texas Press and the Harry Ransom Center.

Gone With the Wind on TCM – Sept. 29

TCM will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind with a special on-air presentation of the film hosted byRobert Osborne. The film, which will air Monday, Sept. 29, at 10 p.m. (ET), will be part of an all-night marathon focusing on the work of composer Max Steiner.

Gone With the Wind Available via TCM On Demand and Watch TCM: Sept. 30 – Oct. 6

Following TCM’s on-air presentation of Gone With the Wind, the network will make the film available through the Watch TCM app and website, giving TCM subscribers the chance to watch the movie on their tablet or computer whenever they want for the next week. In addition, the Watch TCM app and site will feature a special retrospective article reassessing the film’s continued importance 75 years after its release.

Fans can purchase Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s new Blu-ray edition of Gone With the Wind through TCM’s online store at shop.tcm.com. In addition, the TCM store will be selling copies of Steven Wilson’s new book The Making of Gone With the Wind, the companion book for The Making of Gone With the Wind exhibit being held at the Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.

Photos: ©2014 Turner Entertainment Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.