April 7, 2011

Frankly, My Dear ...



Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

Is there anyone alive today who isn’t familiar with those words from Gone With the Wind?  Here’s how that last scene plays out, as referenced at imdb.com:

Rhett:  My darling, you're such a child.  You think that by saying, "I'm sorry," all the past can be corrected.  Here, take my handkerchief.  Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief.
Scarlett:  Rhett! Rhett, where are you going?
Rhett:  I'm going back to Charleston, back where I belong
Scarlett:  Please, please take me with you!
Rhett:  No, I'm through with everything here.  I want peace.  I want to see if somewhere there isn't something left in life of charm and grace.  Do you know what I'm talking about?
Scarlett:  No!  I only know that I love you.
Rhett:  That's your misfortune (Rhett turns to walk down the stairs)
Scarlett: Oh, Rhett! (Scarlett watches Rhett walk to the door)
Scarlett: Rhett! (Runs down the stairs after Rhett)
Scarlett:  Rhett, Rhett! (Catches him as he's walking out the front door)
Scarlett:  Rhett ... if you go, where shall I go, what shall I do?
Rhett:  Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. (Rhett walks off into the fog)

Wow.

I read Margaret Mitchell’s book a dozen times or more as an adolescent but didn’t see the movie until much later.  Although I enjoyed it, I had already pictured each scene so many times that while I wasn’t actually disappointed with the movie, it just didn’t play out as did the movie in my head.

To give credit, special effects in some scenes of the movie version of GWTW were well ahead of their time (the movie was filmed in 1939), rivaling any done today.  The cast also was fabulous; the chemistry between Clark Gable (Rhett Butler) and Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O’Hara) was undeniably electrifying throughout.

Another favorite from Gone With the Wind is when fickle Scarlett (as Rhett thought her to be) utters fiddledee dee throughout the movie, in true Scarlett O'Hara fashion.

What are some of your favorite quotes or famous lines from books or movies?




I'm taking the A-Z Blogging Challenge, where I will post something from each letter of the alphabet on the corresponding day in April, except for Sunday, on at least one if not all four of my blogs. You can see my other blogs in the sidebar - More of Marie Anne.

If you're a GWTW fan, you might like this Definitive Illustrated History of the Book, Movie and the Legend, or the Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Edition of the movie on CD.



11 comments:

Theresa Wiza said...

I can't come up with a single quote right now, but what GWTW will always remind me of is the Carol Burnett Show when Carol walked down the stairs with the curtain rod hanging over her shoulders. Even now I'm laughing just thinking about it. So thanks for the memories. Oh, great – now I'm thinking about Bob Hope.

Tracy Moore said...

Great story...great line

Tracey said...

Theresa, I love that Carol Burnett episode. Just reading your comment about it made me laugh.

A Girl and Her eBooks said...

I've seen the movie so many times, but never read the book! I know, I know. That's terrible, especially coming from someone that loves to read. I do have the book and plan on reading it - one day. So many books, so little time. And, BTW Clark Gable was fine ;)

Langley Cornwell said...

As you might imagine, I love GWTW. I even wrote a poem from Scarlett's perspective. Great post!

Anonymous said...

Theresa beat me to it--I always think of Carol Burnett's parody!

There are so many great lines--one of my favorites is from the movie Top Gun. "Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash." :O)

Sand Castles and Snow Forts said...

Hello from the A-Z challenge! Great post! I'm putting movie lines on my blog each day... it's been great fun! Glad to be following!

Cat said...

Never read the book, oddly enough, but I know what you mean, sometimes you read the story, and then see the movie. It pales to what you imagined. Or at least it does to me.

And while it's not my favorite, one of the lines that never fails to make me laugh is "Harry Met Sally" after her faking orgasm, and the woman at the next table pipes up, "I'll have what she's having!"

Cat

Lisa said...

I love that quote! But yes, "I'll have what she's having" has to rank among my favorites!

Tony Payne said...

I am well overdue for watching this again. I only saw it once and then it was many moons ago. I would really like to see what I think of it now.

You can have all the special effects you want, but it's the characters that make the movie, and they picked them just right for GWTW.

Emily Rose said...

Oh the book sounds so fantastic! I haven't read it yet, much to my dismay.