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Frankly, My Dear: "Gone with the Wind" Revisited
An exploration of the book, the movie, and the author of one of the most captivating stories ever told
How and why has the saga of Scarlett O’Hara kept such a tenacious hold on our national imagination for almost three-quarters of a century? In the first book ever to deal simultaneously with Margaret Mitchell’s beloved novel and David Selznick’s spectacular film version of Gone with the Wind, film critic Molly Haskell seeks the answers. By all industry predictions, the film should never have worked. What makes it work so amazingly well are the fascinating and uncompromising personalities that Haskell dissects here: Margaret Mitchell, David Selznick, and Vivien Leigh. As a feminist and onetime Southern adolescent, Haskell understands how the story takes on different shades of meaning according to the age and eye of the beholder. She explores how it has kept its edge because of Margaret Mitchell’s (and our) ambivalence about Scarlett and because of the complex racial and sexual attitudes embedded in a story that at one time or another has offended almost everyone.
Haskell imaginatively weaves together disparate strands, conducting her story as her own inner debate between enchantment and disenchantment. Sensitive to the ways in which history and cinema intersect, she reminds us why these characters, so riveting to Depression audiences, continue to fascinate 70 years later.
How and why has the saga of Scarlett O’Hara kept such a tenacious hold on our national imagination for almost three-quarters of a century? In the first book ever to deal simultaneously with Margaret Mitchell’s beloved novel and David Selznick’s spectacular film version of Gone with the Wind, film critic Molly Haskell seeks the answers. By all industry predictions, the film should never have worked. What makes it work so amazingly well are the fascinating and uncompromising personalities that Haskell dissects here: Margaret Mitchell, David Selznick, and Vivien Leigh. As a feminist and onetime Southern adolescent, Haskell understands how the story takes on different shades of meaning according to the age and eye of the beholder. She explores how it has kept its edge because of Margaret Mitchell’s (and our) ambivalence about Scarlett and because of the complex racial and sexual attitudes embedded in a story that at one time or another has offended almost everyone.
Haskell imaginatively weaves together disparate strands, conducting her story as her own inner debate between enchantment and disenchantment. Sensitive to the ways in which history and cinema intersect, she reminds us why these characters, so riveting to Depression audiences, continue to fascinate 70 years later.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
19 people are currently reading
572 people want to read
About the author
Molly Haskell
21 books45 followersMolly Haskell author and critic, grew up in Richmond, Va., went to Sweet Briar College, the University of London and the Sorbonne before settling in New York. She worked at the French Film Office in the Sixties, writing a newsletter about French films for the New York press and interpreting when directors came to America (this was the height of the Nouvelle Vague) for the opening of their films. She then went to The Village Voice, first as a theatre critic, then as a movie reviewer; and from there to New York Magazine and Vogue.
She has written for many publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian UK, Esquire, The Nation, Town and Country, The New York Observer and The New York Review of Books. She has served as Artistic Director of the Sarasota French Film Festival, on the selection committee of the New York Film Festival, as associate Professor of Film at Barnard and as Adjunct Professor of Film at Columbia University.
She is married to the film critic Andrew Sarris. Her books include From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies (1973; revised and reissued in 1989); a memoir, Love and Other Infectious Diseases (1990); and, in 1997, a collection of essays and interviews, Holding My Own in No Man’s Land: Women and Men and Films and Feminists. Her newest book, part of the Yale University Press's American Icon series, is Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited.
She has written for many publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian UK, Esquire, The Nation, Town and Country, The New York Observer and The New York Review of Books. She has served as Artistic Director of the Sarasota French Film Festival, on the selection committee of the New York Film Festival, as associate Professor of Film at Barnard and as Adjunct Professor of Film at Columbia University.
She is married to the film critic Andrew Sarris. Her books include From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies (1973; revised and reissued in 1989); a memoir, Love and Other Infectious Diseases (1990); and, in 1997, a collection of essays and interviews, Holding My Own in No Man’s Land: Women and Men and Films and Feminists. Her newest book, part of the Yale University Press's American Icon series, is Frankly, My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
November 18, 2014
Frankly, My Dear is very much like a rebound relationship. It may not leave a lasting impression, but it sure gives you exactly what you need to get a grip on life again after Gone with the Wind has left you with a serious case of book-hangover.
But Haskell saves the day! She, a film critic and a feminist writer, takes you on an interesting exploration of Margaret Mitchell's life, her epic book; how it was perceived at the time and why it's still so immensely popular today, the making of the film, but also the social and historical context and the controversy involved (think: racism and rape debates). It's all well researched and informative, yet mostly an easy, breezy read that's peppered with entertaining anecdotes.
Well, easy breezy to a certain extent, because I was quite shaken when I discovered that the lives of those involved with Gone with the Wind were hardly less dramatic than Scarlett's. Tragedy apparently struck not only for Mitchell, but also for starlet Vivien Leigh and the iconic Clark Gable. Even the producer, David Selznick, seemed unable to escape the 'curse' of GWTW. For he would die at the age of 63 in a court battle over the rights of..yep, GWTW.
These four played a major part in making both the book and the film into masterpieces that, until this very day, enthrall and move people from all over the world. To realize that they struggled so much...it's almost a miracle that everything worked out the way it did.
Mitchell was a bit of a tragic character herself (check for details). She started writing GWTW in 1926, when one sprained ankle or another (she was accident prone) laid her up for months. Depressed she started with the ending, poured her whole life into the story and hammered away for 10 years, correcting and revising, torn between panic at the thought of publishing - lawsuits, critical scorn, self-exposure - and an equally desperate need to justify her existence as a writer. She was only 49 when yet another accident proved to be fatal: she was on her way to watch a movie when a taxi hit her.
The producer, Selznick, risked his reputation and career when he took on the project that most of Hollywood reckoned as sheer folly. He coasted on a continual high from pill-popping, all-night gambling, and pure chutzpah, his manic perfectionism drove everyone crazy, but - as we know - eventually paid off. I already mentioned how and when he died.
And then the most famous star-crossed lovers on the screen since Romeo and Juliet, Leigh and Gable. Leigh was, when playing Scarlett, already feverish with as-yet undiagnosed mental and medical problems (I imagine the pill-popping producer either didn't notice or care?). She would later be diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, which earned her a reputation for being difficult to work with and wreaked havoc on her personal life. She also suffered from chronic tuberculosis; it would ultimately result in her death at the age of 53.
To think that Gable had almost never impersonated Rhett Butler! Surprisingly enough, he was both unhappy and unwilling to play his part, for in a time when movie stars were perceived as gods, he was uneasy with a role in which the heroine didn't always love him. He even complained that this would be his first role in which the girl wasn't sure that she wanted him the minute she set eyes on him. However, he desperately needed the money to be able to divorce his wife at the time, so he could marry his true love instead, actress Carole Lombard. Only 2 or 3 years later she would die in a horrible plane crash, leaving Gable devastated. Despite marrying twice again, he never got over her death and chose to be interred beside her.
*blub*...
But Haskell saves the day! She, a film critic and a feminist writer, takes you on an interesting exploration of Margaret Mitchell's life, her epic book; how it was perceived at the time and why it's still so immensely popular today, the making of the film, but also the social and historical context and the controversy involved (think: racism and rape debates). It's all well researched and informative, yet mostly an easy, breezy read that's peppered with entertaining anecdotes.
Well, easy breezy to a certain extent, because I was quite shaken when I discovered that the lives of those involved with Gone with the Wind were hardly less dramatic than Scarlett's. Tragedy apparently struck not only for Mitchell, but also for starlet Vivien Leigh and the iconic Clark Gable. Even the producer, David Selznick, seemed unable to escape the 'curse' of GWTW. For he would die at the age of 63 in a court battle over the rights of..yep, GWTW.
These four played a major part in making both the book and the film into masterpieces that, until this very day, enthrall and move people from all over the world. To realize that they struggled so much...it's almost a miracle that everything worked out the way it did.
Mitchell was a bit of a tragic character herself (check for details). She started writing GWTW in 1926, when one sprained ankle or another (she was accident prone) laid her up for months. Depressed she started with the ending, poured her whole life into the story and hammered away for 10 years, correcting and revising, torn between panic at the thought of publishing - lawsuits, critical scorn, self-exposure - and an equally desperate need to justify her existence as a writer. She was only 49 when yet another accident proved to be fatal: she was on her way to watch a movie when a taxi hit her.
The producer, Selznick, risked his reputation and career when he took on the project that most of Hollywood reckoned as sheer folly. He coasted on a continual high from pill-popping, all-night gambling, and pure chutzpah, his manic perfectionism drove everyone crazy, but - as we know - eventually paid off. I already mentioned how and when he died.
And then the most famous star-crossed lovers on the screen since Romeo and Juliet, Leigh and Gable. Leigh was, when playing Scarlett, already feverish with as-yet undiagnosed mental and medical problems (I imagine the pill-popping producer either didn't notice or care?). She would later be diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, which earned her a reputation for being difficult to work with and wreaked havoc on her personal life. She also suffered from chronic tuberculosis; it would ultimately result in her death at the age of 53.
To think that Gable had almost never impersonated Rhett Butler! Surprisingly enough, he was both unhappy and unwilling to play his part, for in a time when movie stars were perceived as gods, he was uneasy with a role in which the heroine didn't always love him. He even complained that this would be his first role in which the girl wasn't sure that she wanted him the minute she set eyes on him. However, he desperately needed the money to be able to divorce his wife at the time, so he could marry his true love instead, actress Carole Lombard. Only 2 or 3 years later she would die in a horrible plane crash, leaving Gable devastated. Despite marrying twice again, he never got over her death and chose to be interred beside her.
*blub*...
June 15, 2017
I had such high hopes for this book which has received great reviews on GR. But I will be in the minority as, frankly, my dear, I didn't give a damn about it. I usually never pay much attention to what film critics write but have always rather liked Molly Haskell. But she is a movie critic, not a psychologist, psychiatrist, historian, or sociologist, so I certainly didn't expect a rehash of the attitudes about the Civil War that prevailed in the South when GWTW was released. Granted, there are some interesting tidbits of information about Margaret Mitchell the author, and about the cast of the film but the majority of the text is given over to the sociological aspects of the effect of the film. If I wanted to read about the mind of the South, I would have picked up a Civil War history book and have, many times. I was very disappointed.
February 5, 2010
If you are an obsessive GWTW fan like me, who likes re-reading the book and re-watching the movie million of times, who likes talking about GWTW, reading about GWTW and reading about other people talking about GWTW, this book is for you.
"Frankly, My Dear" is a very entertaining, easy to read book, which has a lot of curious facts about both the novel and the movie. I personally enjoyed stories about Margaret Mitchell and her very strange relationships with her two husbands; about manic-depressive Vivien Leigh and her turbulent affair with Lawrence Olivier; about Clarke Gable who refused to cry on screen because of the fear to appear weak to the public, etc.
At the same time, this work is rather superficial and lacks structure and depth of knowledge of the subject. It is roughly divided into several parts addressing the story of creating the book, the difficulties of making the movie. It also attempts to explain why the story has been able to capture hearts of so many millions of readers (not very well unfortunately).
You will not find any deep analysis of GWTW or a decent comparison of the movie and the book. "Frankly, My Dear" is just a bunch of anecdotes thrown together to provide some light entertainment for the fans. It is not necessarily a bad thing. The book gives just enough basic information to spark interest in the subject and to guide fans curious to know more to the better researched sources. As for me, after reading this book I am determined to learn more about both Margaret Mitchell and Vivien Leigh. I think they both are extremely interesting women to know.
"Frankly, My Dear" is a very entertaining, easy to read book, which has a lot of curious facts about both the novel and the movie. I personally enjoyed stories about Margaret Mitchell and her very strange relationships with her two husbands; about manic-depressive Vivien Leigh and her turbulent affair with Lawrence Olivier; about Clarke Gable who refused to cry on screen because of the fear to appear weak to the public, etc.
At the same time, this work is rather superficial and lacks structure and depth of knowledge of the subject. It is roughly divided into several parts addressing the story of creating the book, the difficulties of making the movie. It also attempts to explain why the story has been able to capture hearts of so many millions of readers (not very well unfortunately).
You will not find any deep analysis of GWTW or a decent comparison of the movie and the book. "Frankly, My Dear" is just a bunch of anecdotes thrown together to provide some light entertainment for the fans. It is not necessarily a bad thing. The book gives just enough basic information to spark interest in the subject and to guide fans curious to know more to the better researched sources. As for me, after reading this book I am determined to learn more about both Margaret Mitchell and Vivien Leigh. I think they both are extremely interesting women to know.
November 1, 2015
I was in turns grateful for, and frustrated by, this analysis of GWTW's enduring popularity. I loved that Molly Haskell delved not only into the film, but spent a great deal of time parsing the book's charms and flaws (you usually get one or the other, but not both). Her view of it is similar to mine, which rarely happens, and there were so many noteworthy comments relating to it that, if I were the kind of person who wrote in books, this one would be full of highlighter marks and comments in the margins.
Haskell explains how Mitchell's life and family members offered excellent basis for the characters and situations in the novel, and how David Selznick and Vivien Leigh gave the novel and the character of Scarlett Technicolor glory. The discussion of Mitchell's reluctance to include the Klan in her novel (something she ended up doing anyway thanks to the exhortations of her editor friend), and her complicated relationship with the black community, is very interesting. I did feel a bit disappointed that, in her discussion of the kindesses that Mitchell did exhibit, Haskell did not include her many donations that made it possible for black men to attend Morehouse College. She insisted on doing it anonymously at the time, but the story is known now. Haskell missed a rich vein of information there, so we did, too.
The book lets itself down at the end when Haskell delves, deeply, into the feminist angle and how this is the true threat perceived by critics of the novel. I realize that this is Haskell's bread and butter, but still, yawn. It's a novel about gumption, love and missed opportunities, written by a lady who was in some ways ahead of her time, and in many others, of her time. That's where the grey areas exist, and that's the basis of the fascination many of us have with the story almost 80 years later. I'm not convinced that the reasoning has to be much more complex than that.
Haskell explains how Mitchell's life and family members offered excellent basis for the characters and situations in the novel, and how David Selznick and Vivien Leigh gave the novel and the character of Scarlett Technicolor glory. The discussion of Mitchell's reluctance to include the Klan in her novel (something she ended up doing anyway thanks to the exhortations of her editor friend), and her complicated relationship with the black community, is very interesting. I did feel a bit disappointed that, in her discussion of the kindesses that Mitchell did exhibit, Haskell did not include her many donations that made it possible for black men to attend Morehouse College. She insisted on doing it anonymously at the time, but the story is known now. Haskell missed a rich vein of information there, so we did, too.
The book lets itself down at the end when Haskell delves, deeply, into the feminist angle and how this is the true threat perceived by critics of the novel. I realize that this is Haskell's bread and butter, but still, yawn. It's a novel about gumption, love and missed opportunities, written by a lady who was in some ways ahead of her time, and in many others, of her time. That's where the grey areas exist, and that's the basis of the fascination many of us have with the story almost 80 years later. I'm not convinced that the reasoning has to be much more complex than that.
March 21, 2021
I assumed film critic, Molly Haskell, was going to dive into the nuances of the film, but she gives us more than that. Frankly, My Dear, tells us much about the author Margaret Mitchell and how her personality was divided between the characters of Scarlett and Melanie. She thought Melanie was the hero of the book and surprised at how many people admired Scarlett. And that’s a theme through the book of why people identify with Scarlett when she has so many undesirable qualities. In the book Scarlett isn’t even considered pretty, but so charming it doesn’t matter.
I haven’t read the book, but I have seen the movies several times. I think the movie works for men, because of the way Vivien Leigh draws you in. She is both tough and coquettish. Had they put Bette Davis in the film, I don’t think it would have worked for me. If they Had cast Katherine Hepburn as Scarlet, I would have liked the picture, but I doubt it’s an unforgettable classic. David Selznick understood that Scarlet was the key to success, and he didn’t let us down by casting the unknown Leigh.
Much of the story is autobiographical. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother French just like the O’Hara’s. Mitchell had a short-lived marriage to a rogue like Rhett Butler. Her ancestors prospered after the war selling lumber for the rebuilding of Atlanta. The genius is how she used those little details to put together a story that is hard to forget. It's these little things that give the book added value.
At some point Haskell gets around to whether Gone with the Wind should offend us because it fails to live up to today’s version of enlightenment. Haskell is on the side of art, and art doesn’t care about your feelings. This is a story about complex people that make poor decisions. Saints make for bad drama.
I haven’t read the book, but I have seen the movies several times. I think the movie works for men, because of the way Vivien Leigh draws you in. She is both tough and coquettish. Had they put Bette Davis in the film, I don’t think it would have worked for me. If they Had cast Katherine Hepburn as Scarlet, I would have liked the picture, but I doubt it’s an unforgettable classic. David Selznick understood that Scarlet was the key to success, and he didn’t let us down by casting the unknown Leigh.
Much of the story is autobiographical. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother French just like the O’Hara’s. Mitchell had a short-lived marriage to a rogue like Rhett Butler. Her ancestors prospered after the war selling lumber for the rebuilding of Atlanta. The genius is how she used those little details to put together a story that is hard to forget. It's these little things that give the book added value.
At some point Haskell gets around to whether Gone with the Wind should offend us because it fails to live up to today’s version of enlightenment. Haskell is on the side of art, and art doesn’t care about your feelings. This is a story about complex people that make poor decisions. Saints make for bad drama.
April 1, 2020
Fans of the book or movie may or may not love this book. I thought it was even handed in its praise and negative criticism, but frankly, Haskell simply isn't interested in analyzing either story.
Haskell says she's writing about the book and movie's social impact, but I would say that the main focus is on what it meant to some of the creators, in particular Margaret Mitchell, David Selznick, and Vivien Leigh. With Mitchell, Haskell talks about the book and how it expressed realities of Mitchell's life; with the other two it's more about the production of the movie and how the challenges of doing it impacted their lives and careers. Haskell does talk about the social impact more generally -- and, at some points, more personally -- and she talks about some other people involved in the movie or book or both, but her interest is primarily that trio of fascinating creative people, and how the book or movie changed their lives.
I quite enjoyed this book, but while I appreciate Gone With the Wind, I do not consider myself a rabid fan of either book or movie. This book probably works best for someone like me, who is familiar with both, and likes them, but holds many another book and movie just as dear.
Haskell says she's writing about the book and movie's social impact, but I would say that the main focus is on what it meant to some of the creators, in particular Margaret Mitchell, David Selznick, and Vivien Leigh. With Mitchell, Haskell talks about the book and how it expressed realities of Mitchell's life; with the other two it's more about the production of the movie and how the challenges of doing it impacted their lives and careers. Haskell does talk about the social impact more generally -- and, at some points, more personally -- and she talks about some other people involved in the movie or book or both, but her interest is primarily that trio of fascinating creative people, and how the book or movie changed their lives.
I quite enjoyed this book, but while I appreciate Gone With the Wind, I do not consider myself a rabid fan of either book or movie. This book probably works best for someone like me, who is familiar with both, and likes them, but holds many another book and movie just as dear.
May 7, 2011
This felt commissioned rather than inspired - it wanders about and repeats itself in a disorganised fashion, and for much of the time does little more than summarise secondary literature. The film and the novel are both discussed (making a change from most books on GWTW which dismiss the novel in the first few pages in order to concentrate on the film) but also conflated, so that unless you already have a good knowledge of the differences between book and movie, you could get confused. There's a good bibliography, but no footnotes and the overall approach is journalistic rather than scholarly. And there's surprisingly little criticism of the actual film.
That said, I enjoyed Haskell's insights - for example, despite having read GWTW numerous times, I hadn't realised just how unflattering Mitchell's portrait of the white Southern male is until she pointed it out. I was most interested by her memories of growing up with GWTW in Fifties Virginia, and by the final chapter, 'Beautiful Dreamers', in which Haskell explores the significance of GWTW in Southern history and culture, bringing to bear her dual identity as a Southerner who moved to the North (she is the great-great granddaughter of Wade Hampton, the Confederate officer after whom Scarlett's son is named).
I would recommend this to any GWTW fan, but advise getting it from the library first.
That said, I enjoyed Haskell's insights - for example, despite having read GWTW numerous times, I hadn't realised just how unflattering Mitchell's portrait of the white Southern male is until she pointed it out. I was most interested by her memories of growing up with GWTW in Fifties Virginia, and by the final chapter, 'Beautiful Dreamers', in which Haskell explores the significance of GWTW in Southern history and culture, bringing to bear her dual identity as a Southerner who moved to the North (she is the great-great granddaughter of Wade Hampton, the Confederate officer after whom Scarlett's son is named).
I would recommend this to any GWTW fan, but advise getting it from the library first.
September 22, 2018
This eye opening analysis of what is inarguably my favorite book of all time, & the movie phenomenon that has stood the test of more than 75 years was really deep in the themes that it explored, along with stories told about the production staff & the stars themselves. It touches on racism, feminism, the history of the country and the War, and why the romance between Rhett & Scarlett was doomed from the start. Behind the scenes looks into Margaret Mitchell's life, her views on things, who she modeled some of the characters on, are a reflection of the Deep South society that existed during her lifetime, & the influences she had that made her who she was give insights into why she wrote what she did and why. It was fascinating....
August 10, 2020
I truly wanted to like this book, but all I can say is..... Meh. The writing is all over the place, making this book a slog to get through. Which is too bad. If there is anyone who loves a discussion about Classic Films, it's me. Don't get me wrong, there were some great nuggets of information here that I was more than happy to learn, but getting to them was just maddening. El-Passo.
September 7, 2020
I enjoyed reading about the parallels between Margaret Mitchell and the characters/story lines in her book with the behind-the-scenes drama and background of making the movie. However, the book didn’t really have a main point or theme and seemed to be all over the place. I was also hoping for a more critical analysis of the representation (or mis-representation) of the South in GWTW but did not get that in any cohesive form. I’m still glad I read it though.
October 24, 2013
It's hard to explain why I love GWTW so much. By the end, Haskell had nailed what I love about the story (book and movie).
"Inside the tinkling charms of a Southern-belle saga are the rumblings of a feminist manifesto. And the very thing that makes it easy to dismiss or overlook Gown With the Wind is what gave it legitimacy and vitality at an age when it counts. Because the challenge is posed by a girl whose credentials are anything but sterling, whose motives are almost entirely selfish, and whose age, sex, and philistinism make her an unreliable fount of wisdom, her critique is easy to discount. But for all the same reasons, it makes a deeper impression on young hearts than any number of exhortations from responsible adults" (227). Just... yes. We know Scarlet isn't perfect, but she never makes excuses for her actions.
Haskell is careful to highlight the complex relationship between men and women, black and white, north and south. Herself a "Southern woman," she offers some insight into what atmosphere Scarlet (and author Margaret Mitchell) was raised in. I learned some behind the scenes of the making of the movie. I soaked up plenty about Mitchell's life.
But mostly, I took this to heart.
This movie is important because it's not a war movie. Haskell argues that is the anti-war movie. It shows us painful images of what lengths people will go to in order to survive. And of the complicated reconstruction, Mitchell herself did not seem to support the Klan. Haskell has this to say:
"The dashing heroes of Birth of a Nation are the wimps and weaklings of Gone With the Wind." BOOM. Mic drop. Seriously, Ashley, Rhett, and Dr. Meade all hide behind the skirts of Melanie and even Belle Whatling, after the raid the do on the shanty town.
Take a closer look at GWTW. I fell in love with this movie as a pre-teen, and you know what, it really stands up. It's complicated and less than ideal, but it's a sweeping story that feels intimate at the same time.
"Inside the tinkling charms of a Southern-belle saga are the rumblings of a feminist manifesto. And the very thing that makes it easy to dismiss or overlook Gown With the Wind is what gave it legitimacy and vitality at an age when it counts. Because the challenge is posed by a girl whose credentials are anything but sterling, whose motives are almost entirely selfish, and whose age, sex, and philistinism make her an unreliable fount of wisdom, her critique is easy to discount. But for all the same reasons, it makes a deeper impression on young hearts than any number of exhortations from responsible adults" (227). Just... yes. We know Scarlet isn't perfect, but she never makes excuses for her actions.
Haskell is careful to highlight the complex relationship between men and women, black and white, north and south. Herself a "Southern woman," she offers some insight into what atmosphere Scarlet (and author Margaret Mitchell) was raised in. I learned some behind the scenes of the making of the movie. I soaked up plenty about Mitchell's life.
But mostly, I took this to heart.
This movie is important because it's not a war movie. Haskell argues that is the anti-war movie. It shows us painful images of what lengths people will go to in order to survive. And of the complicated reconstruction, Mitchell herself did not seem to support the Klan. Haskell has this to say:
"The dashing heroes of Birth of a Nation are the wimps and weaklings of Gone With the Wind." BOOM. Mic drop. Seriously, Ashley, Rhett, and Dr. Meade all hide behind the skirts of Melanie and even Belle Whatling, after the raid the do on the shanty town.
Take a closer look at GWTW. I fell in love with this movie as a pre-teen, and you know what, it really stands up. It's complicated and less than ideal, but it's a sweeping story that feels intimate at the same time.
August 25, 2018
I find the writing style and organization of the material a touch rambling, but overall this is my kind of film critique and historical/pop culture analysis. Fascinating, surprising, intriguing and informative...there should be many more of this type of book, covering many more films and television series.
April 9, 2009
Interesting analysis of Gone With the Wind (both the book and the film) that focuses on the historical and social influences. I thought the author overreached a little by trying to bring these parallels up to the current time.
November 14, 2025
Maybe it was on me, but I anticipated this book to be a detailed account of the writing and filming of both the book and the movie Gone With the Wind. It was actually a more biased interpretation of the impact that society had on both book and movie, and vice versa. I definitely didn't agree with many of the author's opinions on either topic- it was apparent that she had a previous judgement and did her research accordingly. The last chapter in particular was difficult to read due to my own previous knowledge and research of the history behind the movie and seeing that this author's research was skewed in one direction. (As an example, there was a mention of Hattie McDaniel being segregated from the rest of the cast at the Oscars- the way it was presented, it was as if the entire cast had deliberately snubbed her due to her race throughout the making of the movie, and continued to do so. However, there are several accounts of the cast, Clark Gable in particular, being close to and fighting with her in a segregated Hollywood.)
Overall, still some excellent in-dept historical research! I especially enjoyed learning about how Margaret Mitchell's personal experiences played into what made the character of Scarlett. And it sorta tickled me to know that so many of the male characters were either nods to or a mocking of the men in her personal life- what a way to utilize real life experiences.
My main critique would be that the flow of the book was a little jumpy- we would go from Margaret Mitchell's childhood to the casting of Vivien Leigh to why Mitchell favored one actor over the other for Rhett Butler's character and then back to the impact of Mitchell's mother on her childhood. And all this in the space of 10-15 pages!
Overall, still some excellent in-dept historical research! I especially enjoyed learning about how Margaret Mitchell's personal experiences played into what made the character of Scarlett. And it sorta tickled me to know that so many of the male characters were either nods to or a mocking of the men in her personal life- what a way to utilize real life experiences.
My main critique would be that the flow of the book was a little jumpy- we would go from Margaret Mitchell's childhood to the casting of Vivien Leigh to why Mitchell favored one actor over the other for Rhett Butler's character and then back to the impact of Mitchell's mother on her childhood. And all this in the space of 10-15 pages!
December 22, 2021
Though I give this book the lowest possible rating, it's not that there's anything deeply wrong with it. It's just that it's obvious and trite. It's at the level of a freshman college essay in a film class.
I've seen the movie once all the way through and pieces at other times. I read the book about a year ago, and I found it to have a more scheming Scarlett and a more cynical Rhett than in the movie. Rhett in particular is interesting because he makes it clear from his first appearance that he doesn't think the South has a chance to win the war, and he doesn't seem to particularly care for "the peculiar institution" of slavery either. That's the depth of my analysis, and it's pretty much equal to this book.
If you know anything at all about American history or cultural history, then there's nothing to learn from this book. "Gone with the Wind," both the book and the movie, did help to solidify the attitude that the South lost an honorable war -- and this author does a decent job of saying how wrong that is. But I knew that already. Same with censorship of sex and women's roles in film. Same with the insults that that Hattie McDaniel and other Black cast members in this film had to face when it came out and became an instant all-time classic. Not a thing new here.
Yes, there are some "Gone with the Wind" anecdotes, but these are merely retellings of things written a hundred times as well.
In short, go find more sophisticated material about movies, racial history, culture, etc.
I've seen the movie once all the way through and pieces at other times. I read the book about a year ago, and I found it to have a more scheming Scarlett and a more cynical Rhett than in the movie. Rhett in particular is interesting because he makes it clear from his first appearance that he doesn't think the South has a chance to win the war, and he doesn't seem to particularly care for "the peculiar institution" of slavery either. That's the depth of my analysis, and it's pretty much equal to this book.
If you know anything at all about American history or cultural history, then there's nothing to learn from this book. "Gone with the Wind," both the book and the movie, did help to solidify the attitude that the South lost an honorable war -- and this author does a decent job of saying how wrong that is. But I knew that already. Same with censorship of sex and women's roles in film. Same with the insults that that Hattie McDaniel and other Black cast members in this film had to face when it came out and became an instant all-time classic. Not a thing new here.
Yes, there are some "Gone with the Wind" anecdotes, but these are merely retellings of things written a hundred times as well.
In short, go find more sophisticated material about movies, racial history, culture, etc.
June 9, 2023
It’s been more than 80 years since the book and the movie of ‘Gone With The Wind’, became an impactful part of the public consciousness. And in the intervening years, this monumental saga has accumulated an epic legacy. The combination of the Pulitzer Award winning book, and one of the most successful and beloved films of all time has been researched, documented, discussed, explored, and exploited endlessly. And so, do we need another book of ‘Gone With the Wind’ discussion and examination? Possibly, if it were to offer a new perspective. Unfortunately, Molly Haskell’s ‘Frankly, My Dear’, does nothing more than revisit the book and the movie by documenting the well-known (by now) anecdotes from the writing and production, and the consequent social effects in relation to sexism, racism, historical context, and social impact. Haskell writing takes a scholarly tone which often reads more like a formal dissertation, however, for all her academic bravado she offers nothing new, and ultimately makes it very difficult for the reader to give a damn.
June 9, 2022
Wow what a disorganized mess. This book couldn't decide if it was a Cinema Studies textbook (which I would be all for, since that was my bachelors degree), a trivia book, or a political commentary. While I appreciated information from behind-the-scenes and the making of the film, the narrative itself was so all-over-the-place that I barely had time to enjoy the parts I did enjoy before becoming entirely confused as to the next few paragraphs or pages. This book felt more like the notes that Haskell took in preparation for writing it than the published work itself. Having been a fan of both book and movie since I was 10 years old, this book had been on my TBR since I believe 2013 so I was excited to finally get around to it - but wow did it fall disappointingly short. I keep coming back to the word "disorganized" when thinking about this book because its the only descriptor that really fits. Oh well- live and learn.
January 4, 2020
Molly Haskell wrote a disappointing rambling that is best described as a stream of consciousness. Though the content is very entertaining, it is poorly structured and therefore seems more chaotic than you should think necessary.
“Frankly My Dear” promises: “Gone with the Wind Revisited” however, it is more of a “behind the scenes” giving us detailed information about Margaret Mitchell’s writing as well as David O. Selznick’s sheer impossible production Endeavour and a series of Fun Facts surrounding the book and the film.
I was hoping for a more complex discussion about the cultural context and an analysis of both, Mitchell’s work and the 1939 film.
Haskell did do a great job on incorporating the film and the book in a coherent narrative that compares both, nevertheless.
Great for GWTW Fans but disappointing to film scholars.
“Frankly My Dear” promises: “Gone with the Wind Revisited” however, it is more of a “behind the scenes” giving us detailed information about Margaret Mitchell’s writing as well as David O. Selznick’s sheer impossible production Endeavour and a series of Fun Facts surrounding the book and the film.
I was hoping for a more complex discussion about the cultural context and an analysis of both, Mitchell’s work and the 1939 film.
Haskell did do a great job on incorporating the film and the book in a coherent narrative that compares both, nevertheless.
Great for GWTW Fans but disappointing to film scholars.
October 18, 2025
As a longtime, fan of the film and book, I so wanted to like this short collection of essays, but got mired down in the analysis and minutia of it all. When it comes to GWTW, I'm typically a details guy, but the deep dive into what made Mitchell tick (her upbringing, her family, her days as a flapper, her days as a reporter, her maladies, her two husbands, et. al.) left me bored to tears. Analysis of the film, its characters, and its performances helped lighten the mood a bit, but wasn't enough to stop me from being glad to be finished with it.
May 31, 2018
A breezy and rambling look into the making-of GONE WITH THE WIND (Book and Movie). Molly Haskell is a great prose stylist, but the whole thing is messily structure, which gives it the feel of an improvised, if enthusiastic, speech. The best sections are when she reflects on how the work affected her own life.
April 2, 2025
really smart and nuanced
This is the book I needed to help understand the stranglehold that GWTW has on American culture. Even more important in today’s political climate since so many of the Confederate sentiments have risen once again.
This is the book I needed to help understand the stranglehold that GWTW has on American culture. Even more important in today’s political climate since so many of the Confederate sentiments have risen once again.
January 30, 2023
The last section just lost me.
August 25, 2023
Brilliant stuff
April 18, 2024
While this was an interesting book I thought it was going to be more about the writing of the novel, or creating the film. That's why I only gave it two stars.
November 18, 2019
I couldn't finish this rambling, poorly organized and exceptionally boring ”book”. Many of her assertions are poorly researched and she doesn't seem to understand the material she is working with. I wish I could give it less than one star.
July 11, 2017
An EXCELLENT read. Haskell is whip-smart and so coherent and engaging. This book offers wonderful insight into not only the making of the film but the original novel itself as "our Young Adult masterpiece, the national epic of a Young Adult country, to stand humbly alongside (if not at the height of) the Iliad, the Aeneid, War and Peace, Don Quixote, King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table." Haskell asserts that inside the "tinkling charms of a Southern-belle saga are the rumblings of a feminist manifesto. And the very thing that makes it easy to dismiss or overlook Gone with the Wind is what gave it legitimacy and vitality at an age when it counts. Because the challenge is posed by a girl whose credentials are anything but sterling, whose motives are almost entirely selfish, and whose age, sex, and philistinism make her an unreliable fount of wisdom, her critique is easy to discount." (pp. 227-228)
Haskell's cogent assessment of the complicated relationship between blacks and whites in the South, and how it's seen in other parts of the country, is brilliant and unflinching in its honesty and precision:
"It's easy for someone who's never lived in the South to take a cynical view of the bond between black and white, but no one in good faith can believe it doesn't exist. Likenesses, in the form of rhythms, speech, a great many common virtues and defects, the caring that springs naturally from intimacy -- these have to be acknowledged alongside the evils of slavery, chronic racism, and segregation [....]
The North of today, far from endorsing and colluding in the vision of a graceful class society built on slavery, distances itself completely from the antebellum South and from the tentacles of racism too threatening to claim for its own. If anything, we of the liberal post-civil rights North have been more invested in its other extreme, a vision of the South as intractably racist, integrated in name only. By demonizing the South as racist, we can disguise and also express our own prejudice. Also, by being horror-struck over prejudice in the South, Northern whites can distance themselves from their own taboo feelings of racial superiority. The more it became apparent that the North had its own racial problems and prejudices, the greater the need to see the South's as wholly other and pernicious, a difference in kind rather than degree. We (and here I align myself with my adopted home, the North) are in effect saying, You alone are guilty of these dark feelings and the crimes that come out of them: my outrage proves that I harbor no such prejudices, that I am not like you at all. This may be changing, but sporadically. During my forty years as a Southern transplant, I consistently found that any hint of harmony between the races, of family feeling, even of love between the races, would be met with disbelieving fury, dismissed as factitious, as lies the South tells about itself. Such complex truths are threatening because they undermine Northern liberal righteousness and challenge the demonizing of the South as a repository of pure racism from which Northerners are exempt." (pp. 208-209)
Whew.
What an interesting, intelligent book. Read it.
Haskell's cogent assessment of the complicated relationship between blacks and whites in the South, and how it's seen in other parts of the country, is brilliant and unflinching in its honesty and precision:
"It's easy for someone who's never lived in the South to take a cynical view of the bond between black and white, but no one in good faith can believe it doesn't exist. Likenesses, in the form of rhythms, speech, a great many common virtues and defects, the caring that springs naturally from intimacy -- these have to be acknowledged alongside the evils of slavery, chronic racism, and segregation [....]
The North of today, far from endorsing and colluding in the vision of a graceful class society built on slavery, distances itself completely from the antebellum South and from the tentacles of racism too threatening to claim for its own. If anything, we of the liberal post-civil rights North have been more invested in its other extreme, a vision of the South as intractably racist, integrated in name only. By demonizing the South as racist, we can disguise and also express our own prejudice. Also, by being horror-struck over prejudice in the South, Northern whites can distance themselves from their own taboo feelings of racial superiority. The more it became apparent that the North had its own racial problems and prejudices, the greater the need to see the South's as wholly other and pernicious, a difference in kind rather than degree. We (and here I align myself with my adopted home, the North) are in effect saying, You alone are guilty of these dark feelings and the crimes that come out of them: my outrage proves that I harbor no such prejudices, that I am not like you at all. This may be changing, but sporadically. During my forty years as a Southern transplant, I consistently found that any hint of harmony between the races, of family feeling, even of love between the races, would be met with disbelieving fury, dismissed as factitious, as lies the South tells about itself. Such complex truths are threatening because they undermine Northern liberal righteousness and challenge the demonizing of the South as a repository of pure racism from which Northerners are exempt." (pp. 208-209)
Whew.
What an interesting, intelligent book. Read it.
November 19, 2013
This book had some of the most comprehensive commentary on Gone With the Wind and society that I have ever read. I wanted to give it 4.5 stars. About ten years ago, I did a bunch of my own research on Gone with the Wind. I read several biographies of Margaret Mitchell in an effort to better understand her work. I know it's controversial, but I find so many insights into the human experience when I read the book, I had questions about whether the author intended them or if it was a side effect of her reporting on human activity as she saw it. I still don't have the answer, but I love reading about how Gone With the Wind has affected other people and society, and this is a more recent work from 2009. It was gratifying to find another woman commenting on how such an "old fashioned" story and characters were still being discussed and being given modern consideration.
I wasn't quite as interested in the making of the movie. It's fun entertainment trivia, but the movie didn't reach me as much as the book.
I was lead to find this book when I was looking at Gone With the Wind on Amazon. I have a nice big hardbound 60th anniversary edition, but I'd like a paperback copy for casual reading. The Amazon user reviews for GWTW were all over the place. One reader even declared, "I never thought I'd say this, but this book should be banned!" I couldn't disagree more. Readers need to study GWTW to see how far we've come, and at the same time, maybe see how little has changed.
I wasn't quite as interested in the making of the movie. It's fun entertainment trivia, but the movie didn't reach me as much as the book.
I was lead to find this book when I was looking at Gone With the Wind on Amazon. I have a nice big hardbound 60th anniversary edition, but I'd like a paperback copy for casual reading. The Amazon user reviews for GWTW were all over the place. One reader even declared, "I never thought I'd say this, but this book should be banned!" I couldn't disagree more. Readers need to study GWTW to see how far we've come, and at the same time, maybe see how little has changed.
November 27, 2013
A very disappointing read, that gets more and more boring towards the end. Haskell didn't bother to make a plan, and any paragraph could be shifted to any of her 5 chapters without it making a blind bit of difference. Throughout the book she rings the changes on her characterization of Scarlett without unearthing anything deeper ever. The history of the making of the movie and its reception is mashed together with bits of biographical info on Margaret Mitchell. Yet Mitchell's life choices are very interesting. For instance the fact that she first married a violent good-for-nothing, promptly realised her mistake and wed his best friend, a sweet bore who didn't insist on children, or on anything very much. The couple was accident-prone and they took turn nursing each other. Haskell finds strengths and weaknesses both in the novel and in the film, but doesn't bother to try and give a synthesis of her views on the matter. She attempts to be politically correct without cant, but how come her assessment of the performances of Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen come up in the very last pages of the book, well after she's reviewed all the white actors? This feels like a superficial piece of research and writing and a waste of time. On the up side, there is some useful coverage of Mitchell's early journalism.
June 29, 2009
I enjoyed this analysis Gone With the Wind. Parts were a bit dry, hence the three stars instead of four. Ms. Haskell analyzes the long time popularity of both the book and the movie and also includes trivia and little known information about the creation of both book and movie. I found the information about Margaret Mitchell especially interesting. The strong, intelligent women who lived during that historical period are to be commended for their courage and self-determination.
One paragraph was especially enjoyable for me when Haskell draws parallels between Clark Gable and Robert Redford. There is much discussion of feminism and racial issues as it pertains to various dialogue or action in both mediums. All in all, an intriguing topic for a book.
"In its first run, the movie sold 202 million tickets, a stunning figure considering that the US population was only a little over 130 million at the time. No lesss dazzling and enduring has been the popularity of the book."
One paragraph was especially enjoyable for me when Haskell draws parallels between Clark Gable and Robert Redford. There is much discussion of feminism and racial issues as it pertains to various dialogue or action in both mediums. All in all, an intriguing topic for a book.
"In its first run, the movie sold 202 million tickets, a stunning figure considering that the US population was only a little over 130 million at the time. No lesss dazzling and enduring has been the popularity of the book."
March 9, 2011
I wanted this to be better. So much better. The anecdotes are interesting, but the analysis of cultural cache is way too personal and lacks much of a connection to society at large. It's not even particularly interesting that Katharine Hepburn (who, of course, was never even a serious contender for the movie role of Scarlett O'Hara) had a similar (privileged) young life to Margaret Mitchell and it's completely irrelevant to the question of why the book or movie remain iconic. Even where the author notes the vast gulf between book and movie (say, the absence of Scarlett's other children, which is a dimension of her relationships with Ashley and Melanie Wilkes), she discusses both entities in the same breath.
It's a real shame because I think there are really nice passages. Her discussion of the differences between Leigh's performance in the screen test version of the "winnowed-out" scene at Tara (when Scarlett asks Ashley to run away to Mexico and she says "don't talk to me about honor when it's us who's being winnowed-out") and the the filmed version is very insightful.
It's a real shame because I think there are really nice passages. Her discussion of the differences between Leigh's performance in the screen test version of the "winnowed-out" scene at Tara (when Scarlett asks Ashley to run away to Mexico and she says "don't talk to me about honor when it's us who's being winnowed-out") and the the filmed version is very insightful.
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