A “Gone With The Wind” tribute montage, using the lovely song, “O Mio Bambino Caro” (performed by the 101 Strings Orchestra) and of course, the legendary film score, “Tara’s Theme”, originally composed by Max Steiner for the 1939 classic, called “the greatest motion picture of all time” based on Margaret Mitchell’s huge bestseller. The use of the first tune to me sums up the beautiful romantic longing between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara, as well as Scarlett’s girlish infatuation with Ashley Wilkes. I was thinking particularly when Rhett leaves Scarlett at the end of the film and then years later Alexandra Ripley wrote what I consider to be the only true sequel, “Scarlett”. (I don’t consider “Rhett Butler’s People” to be a good continuation or prequel to the original; there are some indiscrepencies from GWTW and the author, Donald McCaig, admitted that he really only skimmed over the original novel and read his wife’s Cliff Notes of the book to suffice, and it shows), where Scarlett undergoes some emotional growth after trying to get Rhett back and then she embraces her Irish roots until her former husband realizes he cannot live without her. I appreciate the importance of the original ending but I always believed that Scarlett and Rhett would reunite, despite Mitchell’s conviction to the contrary. They were so alike, so in each other’s blood, that I don’t believe that either one could live fully or freely without the other. In GWTW, Rhett longed for Scarlett’s love for all those years, and when she finally realized that she returned his love, he had had enough. So the film and book ends with Scarlett determined to get him back and return to her family’s plantation, Tara, proclaiming, “After all, tomorrow is another day!” The cast was of course, excellent and emobodied their characters expertly. Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel deservedly won Oscars for their portrayals of Scarlett and Mammy, while Olivia de Havilland was nominated for her role as the saintly Melanie Hamilton. Clark Gable and Leslie Howard, as Rhett Butler and Ashley Wilkes respectively, had not wanted any part in the film but reluctantly took the roles, which cemented them into immortal movie history. David O. Selznick struggled for years to bring Mitchell’s Southern saga to the screen, and while he succeeded, he was never quite able to recapture the glory of his masterpiece. Leigh and Gable had an undeniable fiery and watchable chemistry, with their characters possessing the qualities to be admired and disliked at the same time: determination, strength, outspokenness, selfishness, arrogance, unconventionality, and the one that Mitchell attributed most to them: gumption. The theme of survival, determination, war, fading past glory and love is indeed a universal one.
Enjoy a trip back to the Old South!
“If the novel does have a theme, the theme is that of survival. What makes some people able to come through catastrophe and others just as able, strong and brave go under? I only know the survivors used to call that quality gumption. So I wrote about the people who had gumption and the people who didn’t.” – Margaret Mitchell
Tara’s Theme (My Own True Love) lyrics:
My own true love, my own true love
At last I’ve found you, my own true love
No lips but yours, no arms but yours
Will ever lead me through heaven’s doors
I’ve searched the world in search of this,
I knew I’d know you, know you
By your kiss
And with your kiss, you proved your love
I’m yours forever, my own true love.
DISCLAIMER: I take no credit for the images or music. All materials presented in this video are copyrighted to their respective owners. No infringement intended.
Duration : 0:4:58
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