Take a good look, my dear: 'Gone with the Wind' film memorabilia to be auctioned away online
A highly anticipated online auction is blowing onto the Bonhams website next week, featuring memorabilia from the 1939 film “Gone with the Wind.”
Based on the hit novel by Atlanta author Margaret Mitchell, the MGM film tells the story of Scarlett O’ Hara (Vivien Leigh), the beautiful and pampered daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, who must pick up the pieces of her life and her family’s property during the Civil War and ensuing Reconstruction period.
While filmed primarily in Los Angeles, the film’s premiere was at the Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta on Dec. 15, 1939, now the site of the Georgia Pacific Tower.
The film won several Academy Awards, including a historical victory for Black supporting actress Hattie McDaniel in her role of Mammy.
Now fans have the opportunity to access various props, costumes, scripts and set decorations from the production.
One of the most expensive items is the Peacock Lamp from the residence of Belle Watling, a notorious Atlanta madam and friend to lead character Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Estimated to sell for $25,000-$35,000, the lamp is featured in a pivotal scene to fans, where Butler confides in his longtime associate his growing romantic feelings for Scarlett.
“To open the scene, the peacock lamp is prominently and beautifully photographed, dazzlingly backlit with a red glow,” reads a description of the item on Bonhams’ website. “The scene was immortalized in a photograph that was also used on one of the lobby cards to promote the film, with the peacock lamp clearly displayed.”
There is also an original sketch of actress Vivian Leigh’s famous “Drapery Dress,” designed by the character of Scarlett out of green velvet curtains left over in the wreckage of the war.
Scarlett uses the gown as a means to trick Butler into loaning her money to pay taxes on Tara, the O’Hara family plantation that has fallen into disarray. When this fails, the gown succeeds in helping to deceive wealthy general store owner Frank Kennedy into marrying her, and, in turn, gaining access to his money.
The drawing of the outfit by costume designer Walter Plunkett is estimated to sell for $10,000-$15,000. Another original sketch by Plunkett, Scarlett O’ Hara’s widow dress, worn after the death of the character’s first husband, is listed at an estimated $7,000-$9,000.
“Plunkett pursued producer David O. Selznick for the job of costume designer for ‘Gone with the Wind,’ so desirous was he of the position,” according to Bonhams’ website. “He read Margaret Mitchell’s novel over and over, each time finding new information to aid him in creating accurate clothing for the period as well as for the individual characters.”
Other major “Gone with the Wind” mementos at the auction include prop furniture featured throughout the Tara mansion set, breakdown and shooting scripts and signed memorabilia from actors Olivia de Havilland and Butterfly McQueen.
Promotional materials include a ticket snub and premiere program for the 1939 Atlanta premiere, as well as original film posters, listed for $300-$700.
The auction runs from Nov. 4-14.
The Atlanta History Center also has an ongoing exhibit that explores the complex legacy of “Gone with the Wind.”
“Telling Stories: Gone With the Wind and American Memory,” which opened in July, examines how Mitchell’s 1936 book (and Selznick’s 1939 film of the same name) has influenced American collective memory and interpretation of the Civil War since its release.
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