GWTW: all you could ever want to know

When I was in Austin several days ago for a very important event, I managed to squeeze in a little time to visit the Harry Ransom Center on the UT campus. Long-time readers will remember an earlier visit here in 2013, but they are always mounting wonderful new exhibits and the current special one is not to be missed.

These mug-shot-looking pix are mug-shots of a sort: make-up stills for one of the most famous American movies ever made. GWTW=Gone with the Wind.

Since I was busy with other matters on this visit, I didn't have too much time to study the exhibit in detail, but it will be there for a while yet, and something tells me I'll probably be making some more trips to Austin before it leaves.

What's really great about this exhibition is that all the materials in it are from the Center's own holdings. They have an astounding collection of American literature and cinema manuscripts, documents, and artifacts. And what they don't have about GWTW just isn't worth having.

The most striking items in the exhibition are the costumes (some actually restored originals) and I took the most pictures of them. The dress on the right is Scarlett's wedding gown (first wedding, to Charles Hamilton). Some of the other dresses in the exhibition are from even more memorable scenes in the movie...

the "scarlet woman" dress Rhett makes Scarlett wear to Melanie's party

my favorite: the dress made from "Miss Ellen's po'tieres"

Another set of highlights are the "concept paintings," sketches to guide the building of sets and the shooting of various scenes. Here's an especially handsome one, of Twelve Oaks, the day of the barbecue at the beginning of the movie:

But there was so much more to read and absorb at the exhibit; I hope one more visit will satisfy me, but it might not.

I primed myself for seeing this by re-reading the book (probably for the first time since high school...now that's a peculiar experience!). 

And, for telling the story, the book is very much superior to the movie, although there are certainly more cringe-worthy scenes in the book than in the film. Some of the most interesting exhibits were correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other artifacts dealing with the racial aspects of the story; the moviemakers did tone down a lot of the more objectionable scenes and language from the text. However, the book does have a lot to teach us about how we got to where we are today, racially-speaking, and it provides a rich vein of story and references for illuminating post-modern treatments (I'm looking forward to reading Ruth's Journey, a GWTW spinoff told from Mammy's perspective). 

The exhibit also has a fascinating set of correspondence between the Production Code people and David Selznick, the movie's producer...they had plenty to get their boxers in a twist about in this story! That was the only section I took the time to read in full, and it was a hoot!

But the movie was truly a cultural phenomenon, and the 1930s equivalent of a social media firestorm. The hullabaloo about who was going to play Scarlett, for example, was intense, and gets a good chunk of exhibition space.

I also enjoyed some little details (and am looking forward to seeing more next time). For example, notice the mis-spelling of Vivian Leigh's name on the label for the still at left. And the details of filming the massive burning of Atlanta sequence was really cool...pretty impressive stuff for those pre-CGI days.

Even if you haven't read the book (I'm assuming everyone in the civilized world has seen the movie!) you'll enjoy this exhibit if you find yourself with some spare time in Austin. For GWTW-geeks, it's a can't-miss experience! (If you can't make it to A-town, the museum provides this next-best-online exhibition.)