70th Anniversary of Gone With The Wind

Published Dec. 15, 2009 at 7:15 a.m.

(WSB Radio)  It was the biggest Hollywood premiere in the history of film, but it wasn't in California.

70 years ago tonight was the debut of "Gone With The Wind," and all of its stars descended on Atlanta. 

Clark Gable thanked the crowd, but told them he was just there as a spectator and that the night belonged to author Margaret Mitchell and the people of Atlanta.

Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and David O. Selznick also came to Georgia for the premiere at the Loew's Grand Theatre in downtown Atlanta.

Also on hand was actress Ann Rutherford.

"They had the parade down the street .  People were hanging out windows," she says.  "It was just the most magical time."

Rutherford is 89 now, still living in the same home in Beverly Hills since 1943.  She remembers the night of December 15, 1939 as if it were yesterday.

"The people were sd welcoming and so dear and so proud of it," she tells WSB.

Rutherford is one of only six credited cast members from Gone With The Wind still alive.  Olivia de Havilland played Melanie Hamilton; Alicia Rhett was India Wilkes; Cammie King was the child, Bonnie Blue Butler; Mickey Kuhn played Beau, the son of Ashley and Melanie Wilkes; and Mary Anderson was Maybelle Meriwether.

Rutherford played the role of Carreen O'Hara, youngest sister of Scarlett.

She was already a big star in Hollywood, from her role as Polly Benedict in the "Andy Hardy" films.  And her arrival in Atlanta for the Gone With The Wind premiere led to an interesting turn of events.

"My mother didn't believe in flying," Rutherford says.  "She said when they repeal the law of gravity, then we'll fly.  So we took the train to Atlanta.

"Everybody else was coming on a couple of very special planes, so I got there a day before anyone else," she says.

"Well. they didn't know what to do with me, so they made me Mayor for the day," Rutherford recalls.  "So I immediately advocated letting all the children out of school."

The city threw a massive parade for the stars, with the motorcade driving down Peachtree Street.  Atlanta's population was 300,000 in 1939, and an estimated 150,000 turned out for the event.

When it was over, the celebrities gathered at The Loew's Grand Theatre for the debut.

"It was absolutely electric," Rutherford says.  "And when they introduced Margaret Mitchell, the crowd just roared in appreciation."

Rutherford got the part of Carreen after a chance encounter with Gone With The Wind producer David O/ Selznick.  Already a huge fan of the book, Rutherford says she would have done anything and played any part just to get onto that set.

"What I wanted to enjoy , and what I did enjoy, was just being on the set, and seeing Rhett Butler come in," she says, "and seeing the book come to life."

Clark Gable, who played Rhett Butler, was already the "King of Hollywood."  But Vivien Leigh, who took on the role of Scarlett, was unknown to American audiences, and to her co-stars.

Rutherford says it was easy to see that Leigh was destined for greatness.

"I never watched anyone work harder in my life," she says.  "That dear little thing.  Every week they had to take in the waists on her costumes."

When they were filming what would become, perhaps, the most iconic film in history, did the cast members know they were filming a legend?

"We know were we making an important picture," Rutherford says.  "But did we think it would be something we'd be talking about 70 years later?  No.

"In those days, no movie ran more than a year," she says.  "There was no such thing as a movie with a history.  But there was something about Gone With The Wind."

Rutherford made dozens of films in her long career.  In addition to the Andy Hardy series, she appeared in the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol," she co-starred with John Wayne and, to a later generation, played Bob Newhart's mother-in-law on the 1970's "Bob Newhart Show."

But, it's the role of Carreen that Rutherford will always be known for. 

Does she ever get tired of talking about Gone With The Wind?

"No.  Why would I?" she says.  "How many people get a bid for immortality?"

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