“GONE WITH THE WIND”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 October 1941, Page 8

“GONE WITH THE WIND”

A SCREEN MASTERPIECE. Saga of the greatest upheaval in American life, masterpiece of technique, and, withal, a simple and moving human story, “Gone With the Wind,” will commence its Masterton season at the Regent Theatre on Friday next. Never before have the dramatic events of the Civil War been portrayed in such starkness and dreadful realism, redeemed by the futile valour of the men of the warm and colourful South. Through the bright sheen of the story runs the golden thread that is Scarlett O’Hara. Perhaps never before in screen history has an actress so impresented herselt on the minds and feelings of an audience. For it is undeniably Vivienne Leigh’s show. It is her wayward untamed spirit and wild breath-taking beauty that lift the story from the top flight to a niche of its own. All men and women alike, who love colour, romance, joy, intrigue, spectable and realism —for “Gone With' the Wind” has all these—cannot but fail to applaud a gem of perfect entertainment. Clark Gable is naturally a perfect Rhett Butler. Vivien Leigh is wholly Scarlett. She is the greatest find in a decade, definitely an overnight star. Leslie Howard is outstanding, and Olivia de Havilland surpasses anything she’s ever done. The box plans are rapidly filling at the Regent Theatre.