Customer Reviews

Scarlett, Rhett and a Cast of Thousands

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This re-telling of the oft-told tale of the making of Gone with the Wind is well-illustrated with film stills and photographs of the principal players involved in the tangled saga of just how David O. Selznick's epic reached the screen. Flamini's writing occasionally carries an unnecessary "trashy", almost tabloid, tone, and some of his sources are dubious, but he weaves enough authentic detail into this complex story of clashing personalities and contrasting artistic visions to make a tart but smooth, entertaining read. "Scarlett, Rhett and Cast of Thousands" lacks a solid analyis of the film itself. For that, turn to Gavin Lambert's "GWTW: The Making of Gone With the Wind", itself long out of print but more scholarly and thoughtful than this book. Flamini subsequently redeemed himself with a solid biography of Irving Thalberg, the wunderkin of MGM, though he has not lost his taste for the occasional salacious detail.