What do you think?
Rate this book
Making of a Masterpiece
This exciting new book by acclaimed author Sally Tippett Rains will be a must-read for all "Gone With The Wind" enthusiasts and fans, containing many new revelations and new interviews with cast members, Margaret Mitchell relatives, historians, collectors, GWTW experts, "Windies" and many others. Making Of A Masterpiece, by Sally Tippett Rains, is an fresh, exciting and discovering look at one of the world's most popular books turned movie. 2009 marks the 70th Anniversary of the movie premiere of "Gone With The Wind." Never before and never since, has a movie and book had such staying power. Recently the scrapbook of one of Mitchell's aunts was uncovered and for the first time it can be revealed that the author probably based much of her book on real events and real people. This new book takes a look at some of the real-life people who may have been inspirations to Mitchell as she wrote the book. From Belle Watling to Gerald O'Hara, Rains examines real-life people Mitchell knew whose lives resembled episodes in her famous novel. Also, through the assisstance of the sons of David O. Selznick's executive assistant Marcella Rabwin, and with help from many living actors, collectors, historians, experts and authors, the book also details much new information about the movie production.
- GenresHistory
392 pages, Paperback
First published November 18, 2009
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 28, 2014
How unfortunate, because I really wanted to dig into this book and find the connections between Margaret Mitchell's real life and ancestors and the novel that I've read and loved for 30 years of my life. Ms. Rains clearly comes to the project as a fan with a love for her subject, which makes it all the more disappointing.
There are good things and nuggets of new information here. The family scrapbook that purports to tell the connections between family events and Mitchell's novel, for instance. The story of Doc Holliday and how it relates, was new, as well. There's also a charming drawing featuring Margaret Mitchell being visited by five beaus at once when she was in the hospital, and imagining the barbecue scene with Scarlett). There was so much chaff to get through to be able to enjoy this wheat, however.
There are several problems with Making of a Masterpiece. One would assume that the target audience, certainly the case with me, would be a reader who has read the book and seen the film, probably several times. That might make the writer think it extraneous to give a blow by blow of the book's plot, except as a refresher. However, if there is to be a blow by blow re-telling of the plot, then it's even more necessary, when writing knowing that "Windies" will be reading it, to have the "i's" dotted and the "t's" crossed. In the plot summary, the errors were plentiful, and I stopped bothering to count after a half dozen or so. Further, any "mystery" with regard to the death of Thomas Ince was cleared up a long time ago, and he was not shot. The film "The Cat's Meow," while entertaining, should not be mistaken for documentary. That's straight out of Hollywood Babylon and not relevant to Gone with the Wind in any event.
Then there's the repetition. We are told no less than six times in a 300-page book that Patrick Curtis is the producer of the Golden Boot Awards. We hear at least twice Ann Rutherford's reminiscence of visiting John Marsh, seeing all the foreign editions of Gone with the Wind, and hearing to her shock that Marsh had burned all of Margaret Mitchell's other writings. Segments of the scrapbook, newly-discovered and one of the interesting and new portions of this story, are given to us word for word at least twice if not more. It's as if the chapters were written independently of one another and there was nobody to tell the author "hey, wait a minute - you just told that story or used that exact phrase about five pages ago - you might want to re-think or eliminate that."
Finally, there's a postscript comparing Margaret Mitchell to Amelia Earhart, which has no bearing on anything that precedes it and doesn't wash, anyhow. They didn't live the same kinds of lives, have the same kinds of marriages or die the same kinds of deaths, so this is just extraneous material.
Making of a Masterpiece is useful for the bibliography that those of who are GWTW completists might want to use to add to our own libraries. If you already know your GWTW, however, and know it well, there is much that will be frustrating, and if you are new to GWTW, you will find much misinformation that you will only have to unlearn later. Again, it's a shame, because it's obvious that love and effort went into the project.
There are good things and nuggets of new information here. The family scrapbook that purports to tell the connections between family events and Mitchell's novel, for instance. The story of Doc Holliday and how it relates, was new, as well. There's also a charming drawing featuring Margaret Mitchell being visited by five beaus at once when she was in the hospital, and imagining the barbecue scene with Scarlett). There was so much chaff to get through to be able to enjoy this wheat, however.
There are several problems with Making of a Masterpiece. One would assume that the target audience, certainly the case with me, would be a reader who has read the book and seen the film, probably several times. That might make the writer think it extraneous to give a blow by blow of the book's plot, except as a refresher. However, if there is to be a blow by blow re-telling of the plot, then it's even more necessary, when writing knowing that "Windies" will be reading it, to have the "i's" dotted and the "t's" crossed. In the plot summary, the errors were plentiful, and I stopped bothering to count after a half dozen or so. Further, any "mystery" with regard to the death of Thomas Ince was cleared up a long time ago, and he was not shot. The film "The Cat's Meow," while entertaining, should not be mistaken for documentary. That's straight out of Hollywood Babylon and not relevant to Gone with the Wind in any event.
Then there's the repetition. We are told no less than six times in a 300-page book that Patrick Curtis is the producer of the Golden Boot Awards. We hear at least twice Ann Rutherford's reminiscence of visiting John Marsh, seeing all the foreign editions of Gone with the Wind, and hearing to her shock that Marsh had burned all of Margaret Mitchell's other writings. Segments of the scrapbook, newly-discovered and one of the interesting and new portions of this story, are given to us word for word at least twice if not more. It's as if the chapters were written independently of one another and there was nobody to tell the author "hey, wait a minute - you just told that story or used that exact phrase about five pages ago - you might want to re-think or eliminate that."
Finally, there's a postscript comparing Margaret Mitchell to Amelia Earhart, which has no bearing on anything that precedes it and doesn't wash, anyhow. They didn't live the same kinds of lives, have the same kinds of marriages or die the same kinds of deaths, so this is just extraneous material.
Making of a Masterpiece is useful for the bibliography that those of who are GWTW completists might want to use to add to our own libraries. If you already know your GWTW, however, and know it well, there is much that will be frustrating, and if you are new to GWTW, you will find much misinformation that you will only have to unlearn later. Again, it's a shame, because it's obvious that love and effort went into the project.
May 15, 2010
It's hard to imagine that anyone could solve the riddle of Margaret Mitchell's mind. However, Sally Tippett Rains in 'The Making of a Masterpiece' comes about as close as one could expect. Like a good sleuth Rains followed Margaret Mitchell's research pattern into the Civil War and post Civil War era. The old back roads and some of the farms that Margaret Mitchell saw are still there. Second generation family members retells stories they've heard over the years.
Then there's the amazing old scrapbook and family photos that combine to give us a good idea about the strength and family character from the older generation.
And through the pages of The Making of a Masterpiece we are reminded of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind and how we as fans of the book and movie got hooked on the story -- very simple, it was real. You get a sense that Mitchell is taking you along and telling you how it really was. Margaret Mitchell was a brilliant writer and her narrative and dialogue prove that fact with the turn of every page of Gone With the Wind.
The novel was an immediate success, then it was put into the capable hands of film producer David O. Selznick to translate the book into a film. Sally Rains gives us a great behind the scenes look at the production of the movie. And in its own way the film was just as successful as the book. Even today Gone With the Wind remains one of Hollywood's greatest success stories.
Sally Rains was determined in her quest to put the geography and personalities of Clayton County together in order to give us a fresh look at the road map that leads to Tara.
Tom Barnes author of 'Tungee's Gold.'
July 11, 2021
Really enjoyed it. I have been fascinated by GWTW for years and this is a good analysis.
February 26, 2014
Actually, the same day I wrote the following review, I picked this book up to read on the treadmill one last time and ended up enjoying the last 2/3 of the book, full of little-known details about the book and the making of the movie (what became of the actors and actresses, how they found the newborn baby they used in the movie, etc) So I recant my original review. This is a well-researched, interesting book for Gone with the Wind fans.
= = = = = =
Didn't finish this one... this must be for the more die-hard Gone with the Wind fan who enjoys speculation about Margaret Mitchell's possible distant relatives that might have inspired characters in her novels.
= = = = = =
Didn't finish this one... this must be for the more die-hard Gone with the Wind fan who enjoys speculation about Margaret Mitchell's possible distant relatives that might have inspired characters in her novels.
July 21, 2010
Really enjoying the comparison between the characters of GWTW and Ms. Mitchell's family. Sally Tippett Rains has done an excellent job of chronicling the origin of the masterpiece that is "Gone With The Wind". Highly recommend!
June 20, 2013
A few interesting tidbits, but too much general information on both the book and movie and way too many things repeated again and again, making this a way too boring reading experience given the (for me) exciting topic. Still an okay read - but I had hoped for more.
May 10, 2017
We could've had a 6hr version of gwtw!!!!! Threw the scene cuts away!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews