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Drama set in Georgia during and after the Civil War, adapted from the best-seller by Margaret Mitchell. For once a novel has been transferred to the screen with its story unaltered. Scarlett O'Hara, the beautiful and tempestuous daughter of a Southern land-owner of Irish descent, is a shameless flirt. She is in love with quiet Ashley Wilkes, who, attracted as he is by her lawless, vivid personality, is yet going to marry gentle Melanie, because the Wilkes always wed their cousins. Suddenly the War begins, and all the young men ride off. Scarlett marries one of them, out of spite. He is killed almost at once, and she is bitterly resentful of the restraint which the conventions impose upon widows, however young. She has already met, attracted, and been attracted by, Rhett Butler, a wild Southerner with a bad reputation. The war goes on, and the South is defeated. In a welter of misery, bloodshed, and devastation Scarlett and Melanie nurse the wounded, the former resentful, the latter compassionate. When Melanie's time comes there is no one to help her but Scarlett, who competently but angrily brings her baby into the world, and with Rhett's help, takes her the perilous journey back to Tara. There she finds the abomination of desolation. But undismayed she sets to work to restore her home and make the land fertile and profitable again. She shoots a Yankee deserter, and robs him before burying his body. Ashley returns, but Scarlett cannot win him away from Melanie. She marries her sister's beau because he has money. He is killed, and she marries Rhett, because he too has money. Melanie dies, and only then does Scarlett realise that she never really loved Ashley. Rhett. disgusted with her, leaves her after their child's death, and Scarlett remains at Tara, alone.

This rather breath-taking and overwhelming picture has marvelous settings, photographed in colour as beautiful as and more restrained than anything yet seen on the screen. It sets before us a whole era and a way of living completely passed away. It is, however, a matter for regret that a film conceived on such epic proportions should deal only with the life-story of a hussy. It is a tribute to producer, director, and cast alike that though interest is not equally sustained throughout the presentation, it only flags and is never lost. The director has handled an enormous cast with skill and intuition. He has had the courage to de-glamourize (if such a word may be used) war. The scenes in the hospital and on the way to Tara, photographed mainly in curiously hard browns, give a picture of slaughter and desolation not quickly forgotten, particularly in these days. The players were extraordinarily well chosen. Vivien Leigh is almost perfectly cast as Scarlett. She is beautiful, cruel, sly, demure when she wants to be, with a kitten-like grace, and sudden wild outbursts of fury. Her only real love for anyone except herself is for Tara and that is a fierce, half-resentful passion. Clark Gable makes a dashing if rather obvious and superficial Rhett, and Leslie Howard gives a careful and thoughtful study of Ashley, never seeming quite at ease in it. Olivia de Havilland is delightful as Melanie. She manages to make her not too good to be true, and gentle without being insipid. Of the supporting cast Thomas Mitchell is excellent as Mr. O'Hara and Hattie McDaniel is unforgettable as the coloured nanny.

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