The Scarlett O'Hara War

There's a lot to like and not like about this made-for-tv flick. The making of GWTW truly was a story in itself. As other reviewers note, some of the casting here is on the nose: Ed Winter as Gable, Sharon Gless as Carole Lombard-and especially Carrie Nye's Tallulah Bankhead-get top marks. (Her screen-test scene is a gem.) Tony Curtis never struck me as physically right for the part of control freak David Selznick--nor am I familiar with any evidence that he fooled around with Crawford while he dangled the part of Scarlett in front of her-but in Hollywood anything's possible, I suppose, and Curtis gives an able performance as the possessed human dynamo.

Like many fans, I would've liked to see more of Vivien Leigh; Morgan Brittany's appearance is brief, but it makes an impression . It's entertaining and worth a watch, then if you want the real story behind the movie, catch "The Making of GWTW" documentary narrated by Christopher Plummer.

The search for the actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind was a national phenomenon. This TV movie gives a marvelously entertaining depiction of that search. Casting of the stars is very clever, using both well known TV stars as well as unknowns in the various roles. Sharon Gless and Carrie Nye are wonderfully funny as Carole Lombard and Tallulah Bankhead, Barrie Youngfellow shines as Joan Crawford, and Tony Curtis makes an admirable David O. Selznick. Casting Morgan Brittany as Vivien Leigh and having her appear only at the very end of the film for maximum effect was inspired. An excellent slice of Hollywood lore.

Based on part of a 1979 Hollywood novel by Garson Kanin, "The Scarlett O'Hara Wars" covers producer David O. Selznick's lengthy search for the right actress to play Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett in his 1939 production of "Gone with the Wind." This 1980 television film was one of three episodes adapted from the Kanin novel for a limited television series, the others being "The Silent Lovers" and "This Year's Blonde." However, if the other two segments are as bad as this one, better to avoid them and spend the time re-watching the classic Selznick film. Perhaps as an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" this campy tale of Selznick, his brother Myron, George Cukor, and Louis B. Mayer could provide enough giggles from Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot's commentary to prove entertaining. The famous characters portrayed do not converse with each other, they impart nuggets of historical information or exchange legendary gossip for the benefit of viewers. Among the film's mish-mash of fiction and non-fiction, the most amusing part concerns two con men, who pass themselves off as talent scouts for Selznick and seduce young women with promises of playing Scarlett; a cocktail party with all of the actresses competing for the part is also bitchily funny at times. Whether or not any of these episodes is based on fact is dubious, given Kanin's reputation for inventing fictional Hollywood lore, such as his myth-making spin on Tracy and Hepburn.

During an endless 98 minutes, a legion of famous names parades past, "Hello, my name is Vivien Leigh" or "Miss Ball? Yes, Lucille." For the most part, the performances are caricatures; Edward Winter as Clark Gable resembles a refugee from Madame Tussaud's wax works, and Carrie Nye does a drag-queen impersonation of Tallulah Bankhead. To be fair, some actors come off better than others. Although miscast, handsome Tony Curtis makes a brave attempt at being the bland-looking David O. Selznick; George Furth is passable as George Cukor, but looks nothing like him; and Harold Gould is not bad as Louis B. Mayer, but again lacks any physical resemblance. On the other hand, Clive Revill's Charlie Chaplin is a flamboyant embarrassment, and the scenes that depict screen tests will set viewers' teeth on edge, especially fans of "Gone with the Wind;" Gwen Humble's take on the Paulette Goddard test is best left without comment.

The obviously cheap production is colorful and brightly lit like a period sit-com; at times the dialog sounds like comedy as well, intentional or not. William Hanley, who actually won two Emmy awards during his career, wrote the clunky teleplay, and the limited series, "Moviola," which included this episode, garnered Emmy awards for makeup and costumes. However, anyone remotely interested in the background story on the making of "Gone with the Wind" should avoid this farcical turkey. Instead, they should turn to the outstanding 1988 documentary, "The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind," a masterful telling of the film's production from the novel's publication through the movie's numerous re-releases.

The second of the three TV movie adaptations taken from Garson Kanin's "Moviola" book, shown over three consecutive nights in 1980 to much fanfare as I recall, which related tales of what movie historian Karina Longworth terms the forgotten history of Hollywood. This particular episode was much lighter in tone than its accompanying features which had focused on the sad, short-lived relationships between silent stars Greta Garbo and John Gilbert and top agent Johnny Hyde and an emergent Marilyn Monroe.

Here, we're taken back to arguably the greatest year in the history of Hollywood movie-making, down to the present day, the pre-war golden year of 1939, when the newly independent producer, David O Selznick made his movie of the era's most successful book, Margaret Mitchell's Civil War epic "Gone with the Wind". He'd gambled three years earlier on buying the book rights even as it was about to be published, a bet which paid off when it became a best-seller. Now that he was free of any connections to the established studios, even though the biggest mogul of all, MGM's Louis B Mayer was in fact his father-in-law, he was going to make the movie with no expense spared according to his own grand vision. Top of his to-do list was to cast the movie. The male lead was easy, the American public demanded it be Clark Gable, but the female lead was a challenge. Selznick wasn't sure himself and so every leading lady in Tinsel Town threw her hat in the ring hoping to secure the role.

In the end we know that Vivien Leigh, of course, got the part, appropriately revealed to us in the very last shot, but before that, there's lots of fun and sparkle along the way, plus some grime as we also see a couple of sleazy opportunists, rather despicably, as the film shows, impersonating studio executives and touring out-of-the-way towns to use casting-couch tactics to lure starry-eyed innocents into granting them sexual favours.

Tony Curtis is a fitting choice as the megalomaniac Selznick, Edward Winter makes for a passable Gable and Harold Gould pops up again with his amusing turn as Louis B Mayer, while we get to play spot the star with lookalike actresses chosen for their resemblance to golden age icons, like Joan Crawford, Talullah Bankhead, Carole Lombard and many more.

The whole thing is an absolute delight. The script is witty, funny and filled with knowing insights and in-jokes, the ensemble performances are excellent and the conclusion is nicely set up, although why Miss Leigh wasn't introduced to the strains of "Tara's Theme", I don't know.

The 70's saw many attempts by Hollywood to recreate its own Golden Age, but this high-quality TV movie does it better than most and is very much worth tracking down.

Gone with the Wind is a movie classic from 1939.This movie tells about that movie, or more about the troubles they had in finding the female lead.The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) is a made for TV movie directed by John Erman.It's based on Garson Kanin's 1979 novel Moviola.The late great Tony Curtis does great work as David O. Selznick.Harold Gould, who actually died the same year and month as Tony did, is excellent as Louis B. Mayer.Bill Macy, who turns 90 next May, is terrific as Myron Selznick.Sharon Gless and Edward Winter are great as the Hollywood glamor couple Carole Lombard and Clark Gable.Very good work from George Furth, who plays George Cukor.Also great work from the actors playing women trying out for the role of Scarlett.Those are Barrie Youngfellow (Joan Crawford), Carrie Nye (Tallulah Bankhead) and Gwen Humble (Paulette Goddard).Clive Revill gives a great portrayal of Charlie Chaplin.Jane Kean is marvelous as Louella Parsons.Morgan Brittany is seen as Vivien Leigh.Also Melody Thomas Scott and Annie Potts are seen in the movie.This is a fascinating piece of history.I just saw from the DVD extras of Gone with the Wind about all the troubles they had in the making of that film, and especially finding the right Scarlett.This was actually one of the extras.With this movie you can dig deeper into the matter.