When I first saw the classic 1939 movie Gone with the Wind as a young girl, I was captivated. There was romance! Comedy! Tragedy! History! But I especially loved the houses in the movie. I imagined they were all real, and that if I could just somehow get to Atlanta, I’d be able to see them all in person.
Of course it wasn’t until years later that I reread the novel and realized how problematic parts of the story were. I think we’re all aware of that now, which taints some of the scenes as we view them through a different lens today than they did in the 1930s.
After having the opportunity to see the movie on the big screen for the first time in our local theater recently, I thought it would be interesting to revisit those iconic houses and amazing sets, starting with the O’Hara family’s plantation known as Tara.
Take a look!
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“Gone With the Wind”
I got the book Gone With the Wind when I was 14 and thought it was the most exciting novel I’d ever read.
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I reread it recently and it’s still captivating, but there are definitely problematic parts that I hadn’t noticed as a girl.
I was kind of “gulping” a lot at some of the passages about slavery, which was considered “not so bad, really.” I was also stunned to realize that they were essentially marrying off young teenage girls to middle aged men, which I hadn’t realized before.
Just want to be upfront about that for anyone who hasn’t read it or seen the movie in a while.
Tara: The O’Hara Family Plantation in Georgia
The movie was actually filmed in California, nowhere near the South.
In the DVD Special Features they showed a shot of Tara that hadn’t been
“fixed” yet in post-production, and you can see the modern city and houses behind it:
The front door from Tara is now hanging at the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum.
The rest of the house is reportedly “rotting” in storage somewhere, according to Retro Web.
Update: One man is trying to save Tara’s facade. Read about it on the Saving Tara website.
Tara was built on the back lot of Selznick International Studios in Culver City (Culver Studios).
It was an exterior only. The interiors were on a separate soundstage.
Tara and was left standing on the back lot until the late 1950s when it was sold to someone
who planned to make it the centerpiece of a new amusement park, but it was never built.
I’ve always loved Scarlett’s bedroom. I like the angled ceilings, the moldings and trims,
and the steps that come down into it from the hall:
The Wilkes Family Plantation: Twelve Oaks
The exterior of Twelve Oaks wasn’t real. For old movies like this they often used matte paintings.
In the screenshot above, you can see how the images of the carriages rumbling up the drive were added later, creating a ghostly effect.
The long drive and grounds were supposedly inspired by Boone Plantation. You can see a photo of the famous “Avenue of Oaks” that served as the inspiration for Twelve Oaks’ avenue in my post about The Notebook.
The did create a real front porch for the scenes where Scarlett and her family were greeted at the door, but the barbecue scenes were shot at Busch Gardens.
Whitehall, a Greek Revival in Covington, Georgia, was the inspiration for Twelve Oaks:
Update: It’s on the market! See interior photos of the real Twelve Oaks.
The idea of the women going upstairs to take a nap together in the middle of the party seems odd to us now, doesn’t it?
And to see all those young slave girls put to work fanning them always kills me:
The men are downstairs having a meeting about the possibility of war:
Scarlett beckons Ashley into the library:
After Ashley refuses to dump Melanie and marry Scarlett instead, Scarlett picks up a vase and throws it.
We all know who’s lying on that settee, having heard every word:
After the war, Twelve Oaks is just a shadow of its former self.
Here we get a view of the crumbling staircase that Scarlett comes back to:
Aunt Pittypat’s House in Atlanta
Scarlett becomes a widow during the war and is so bored with mourning that she goes to stay with Aunt Pittypat in Atlanta, where she is courted by Rhett Butler.
Love the arched doorway into the room with the piano:
Ashley returns to Atlanta on leave for Christmas.
Note the Christmas tree on the table behind them, lit with real candles:
Rhett and Scarlett’s New House in Atlanta
After the war, Scarlett marries Rhett and they build themselves the biggest, glitziest
mansion possible in Atlanta. From what I’ve read, the exterior wasn’t real, but another matte painting.
Staircases don’t get much more grand than this one.
When they were filming this in the 1930s, the set itself was segregated in the beginning,
which makes Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar win for playing Mammy even more significant.
She accepted her Oscar in The Ambassador Hotel, which had a “No Blacks” policy.
According to a poignant article about it in The Hollywood Reporter:
McDaniel then was escorted, not to the Gone With the Wind table — where Selznick sat with de Havilland and his two Oscar-nominated leads, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable — but to a small table set against a far wall, where she took a seat with her escort, F.P. Yober, and her white agent, William Meiklejohn.
With the hotel’s strict no-blacks policy, Selznick had to call in a special favor just to have McDaniel allowed into the building (it was officially integrated by 1959, when the Unruh Civil Rights Act outlawed racial discrimination in California).
The vanity in Scarlett’s room has crystal light fixtures, swooping draperies — and is that a polar bear rug?
They only show Bonnie’s bedroom briefly, but what a bedroom it is!
The Back Patio:
The parrots are a great detail. Of course Scarlett would have parrots on her patio!
A shot of the front entry from the top of the stairs after Scarlett falls down them:
If you ever have a chance to see this in a movie theater, I highly recommend it. That’s how these sets and costumes were designed to be seen and the details on the big screen are amazing. I felt like I was watching it for the first time.
The Inspiration for Twelve Oaks in the movie is on the market.
Read about one man’s efforts to save Tara, the iconic facade from the back lot.
You can also follow along on Saving Tara Facebook page.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see more movies I’ve featured!
How fitting that I would be one of the first to comment, since this is my favorite movie of all time LOL I have every book imaginable on it including the program from the first movie showing…. it’s sick I tell ya 😉
Thank you for showcasing the greatest movie ever made with the best looking man ever born (shh…. don’t tell Rich) 🙂
rue
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Gone With The Wind is both my favorite book and favorite movie of all time. You captured some really beautiful shots here. The sets and costumes were always my favorite part of the movie – I love seeing the beautiful homes and fancy dresses. This post put a big smile on my face… thank you!
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I remember reading the book from cover to cover, then seeing the movie in the theater. Such an epic story with unforgettable characters. And I love the music, too! Thanks so much for taking the time to post these stills from the movie, Julia. Great choice for Movie Monday! ~Arleen
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Julia, I can never watch movies in the same way every again. You have me pausing the films and looking at everything differently. Drives my husband crazy!
Katie
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I LOVE this movie. I first saw it in my teens and I can remember laughing and crying throughout it. Thank you for sharing it with us. It was like visiting an old long lost friend. I can’t wait to introduce it to my girls one day.
I was little and had never seen GWTW, when my parents took me to Boone Hall north of Charleston. Their Avenue of the Oaks is supposed a model for GWTW. It is spectacular https://boonehallplantation.com/
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oh what a fun blast from the past. I remember being engrossed in the book….and later the movie when I was a young teen!
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Oh this is my favorite movie of all time. I remember watching it with my mother when I was a little girl. I have seen it so many times but I still love watching it!
Sigh…this qualifies as one of the most beautiful and romantic posts you have ever done! Thank you, it was fun!
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Um… I want that dress (because it would make even MY waist look tiny) and I need one of those fancy white peacocky looking birds in the background. Nothing says class better than a white peacock in your yard. I live in Arizona and at best there are plastic pink flamingos… and well… they’re not classy- well unless you’re like 80… then anything is classy because it means you’re still kickin!
Can’t wait to see ya for Toile Tuesday!
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Oh, I love GWTW! The quote next to my Senior pic in my HS yearbook was “Tomorrow is Another Day.” Like a pp I too have been to Boone Hall and saw the amazing entry way. Made me want to say “Fiddle-dee-dee.” I love the houses in GWTW. And ever since I first saw that painting of Scarlett in Rhett’s room, I wanted one of me just like it. Does that makes me vain? 🙂
BTW, in Germany they STILL light real candles on their Christmas trees. Scares the beejeebers out me!
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I first saw GWTW in 5th grade and was hooked! Like you, the houses always captivated me. I can still remember the pocket doors in Aunt Pitty’s house – too cool!!!! Thanks for a great post! 😀 Jewel
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Okay, so who was laying on the couch in the library?!? Melanie? Rhett? Does she know Rhett at this poing? I must know!
Wait, no, don’t tell me. I’ll Netflix it. I have never seen it! GASP!
Also, how did the women nap in those corsets??
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What a great post. I so love this movie and thanks for all the trivia along the way.
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Thanks for the photos. Great to tour the houses/sets from one of Hollywood’s Classics. Made me remember how the design of the film impacted me as a child. Does anyone know if any of the set materials ever showed up for auction/sale anywhere. I love the portrait of Scarlett in blue and have the perfect spot for it?
How fun. My husband gets told every where we go, mostly by waitresses, that he looks just like Rhett Butler. He really does but after hearing all of them go on about it I want to scream 😉 I on the other hand look nothing like the lovely Ms. O’Hara. They never mention the fact that I do look a little like Carol Lombard, his wife in real life ~ OK I’m off to read your post now.
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Thanks again for putting all these pictures together! I keep meaning to rent this so I can watch it as an adult. I’ll really have to do that!
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I love Movie Mondays!!
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At my next party, I’m definitely re-instituting the mid-afternoon nap concept.
This is such a great post – thanks! Makes me want to watch the movie all over again.
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Fabulous Julia!!! This was an awesome post. It always amazed me how many movies were just fantastic painting’s. I am going to have to watch it again ! Jen
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Lindsay–
They took off their corsets and dresses for their naps. And–spoiler alert!!–it was Rhett Butler lying on the settee. She didn’t think he was much of a gentleman for eavesdropping on her conversation with Ashley. 😉
Great post,Julia! Beautiful sets. Thanks so much for the info about the movie.
I just published my 300th post. I’d love to have you come by and sign up for the little giveaway, I’m having.
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Great post! Thank you for taking the time to take pictures and get some history from this classic film. I haven’t seen it in a while, I will now go to the library.
Thanks again!!! I love Movie Monday.
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Oh, I DEFINITELY need to rent this movie again. I’d forgotten how much I love it. I always marveled at the hoop skirts when I was younger. I really wanted one…except I wondered how you would sit down :). And come to think of it, it is kind of wierd that the ladies took naps in the afternoon. Wearing those corsets must have taken it out of them.
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Many have tried to imitate this. With this economy we may all be reduced to making ball gowns out of drapes!! Gotta love a girl with spunk–the original steel magnolia! Thanks for a GREAT post!
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I love that movie! I love the ballgowns and the houses and the story. I had no idea that much of the “set” were paintings! Excellent trivia.
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Loved all of this. Great shots and its the first time I have heard that Vivian had been cast all along. Got a house to add to your list to review. Practical Magic. Loved that house.thanks,kath
Great choice! I don’t watch many movies, but have definitely seen this one! Great pictures. Wouldn’t you love to have the original matte painting?!
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I loved that movie as a teen as well. Thanks for all the pics. I love the costumes as much as I love the rooms!
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Well, I want to run out and rent this right now! It’s been years since I’ve seen it! What a great post and beautiful shots!
~Kim
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…being born and bred in atlanta… and never have lived any place else…i have to respond!…gwtw is the first movie i remember seeing…seeing it many many times in growing up…but the memory i have of that first time is of scarlett tearing down the drapes…my mom was a teenager when the premier came to town…they were allowed a day off the spend on peachtree to see the parade and the stars…my mom was tiny and a lady pushed her aside…the newsreel man leaned down picked her up and placed her on the stand next to him…there a few feet away were all the stars…i still have her scrapbook…a slight modificaton to your trivia…the burning of atlanta took place months later…remember sherman…still an unmentionble…began his march to the sea from atlanta…arriving in savannah…he sent linclon a message that he was giving him the city of savannah as a christmas picture… the firey scene as scarlett leaves atlanta with rhett is not the burning of the city but the burning of the confederate warehouses …the house in which peggy( no one from atlanta ever called her maragret) mitchell wrote her big book has been restored beyond recognition…it was a fairly run down place when she stayed there…her own home was torn down after her death as instructed by her will…also …as she would tell you… the movie tara and the book tara look entirely different…her tara was more an added on and added on farm house… as a grown up the most memorable scene will always be the pull back shot of the dead and dying soldiers across the train tracks of the city…it shows the horror of war and as sherman said… war is hell…but i love your pictures of the houses and the memories you stirred…gwtw is one movie that i vowed i would never watch on television…and i never have…i hope all of you will be able to see it one day on the big screen…thanks for the memories…i am certain that margret mitchell would be very proud of her atlanta today…and thankful with the rest of us that we have become a city with open minds and hearts to all of God’s people…there is not house in the world more precious than a single person…while gwtw is a movie to be treasured…it belongs to the past…after all tomorrow is another day…
ps i meant christmas present!!
Laney–
Loved hearing the stories about your mother at the movie premiere! Wow! Oh, and you’re right about the fire being the burning of the Confederate warehouses and not Atlanta. Everyone always refers to it as that, but they were burning their own warehouses so the Yanks wouldn’t get to them, right? I’d forgotten that. Thanks! -Julia
Thank you so much for giving tribute to the most fabulous movie of all time. I’ve always been in love with the decor from that movie and seeing all the screen shots you captured was totally amazing. I never noticed some of the details like the parrots on the porch with Scarlett.
Thanks you, thank you, thank you!!
Love this one…especially as I’m planning to name future animals and children after characters from the movie. : )
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Julia, It is only befitting that here I sit in Mississippi, though not in Natchez, reading your blog about GWTW. Great blog!
Could you do the houses in “Must Love Dogs” with Diane Lane and John Cusack?
…people people people!…rent the movie…BUT for goodness sake ya’ll READ THE BOOK…
I too am off to rent GWTW…great post!
I want to make pillows out of those dresses!
Maybe I’ll stop by the library to check out the book too.
Smiles ~ Ramona
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This was fun julia! It has been years since I’ve seen this movie–I think I’ll share it with my daughter who has yet to see it. Thanks for the reminder!
I plowed through this book when I was 13 and had chickenpox. It was my mom’s favorite all-time and I had seen the movie more than once before I read it. It is a fabulous movie, but as usual the book adds so much more to one’s understanding of the plot. Loved the photos, Julia, and I never knew some of the houses were just paintings!
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Wow, I learned a lot in this post! I have a soft spot for GWTW since I was named after the O’Hara plantation!
I have loved GWTW since I was a teenager, too! My first car was a blue Toyota Corolla, otherwise known as “Bonnie Blue”. : )
We have a theatre in Memphis called The Orpheum, which has been used as both a regular theatre and a movie theater back in Hollywood’s heyday. They still have the organ that was played before the movies, and during the summer they play classic movies with shorts and cartoons beforehand. I love it. I’ve seen GWTW, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and so many more I can’t even remember. I love being in that old theatre experiencing those old movies the way they were supposed to be experienced!
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I grew up in Lovejoy, Georgia. The official home of “Tara” in GWTW. There is still the Confederate Officers’ Ball and a civil war renactment every year. A local woman by the name of Betty Talmadge, former wife of Georgia Governor Talmadge was said to own the facade of Tara from the movie. She died in 2005, and I don’t know what happened to it then. The family owned a small plantation in Lovejoy where they threw parties that my family attended for various charitable causes…they played it up to the GWTW theme as much a possible…just my two cents…
Hi, I stumbled across your blog and I love it! I was curious to what the paint color is in your family room? If you wouldnt mind telling me then I would appreciate it.
Thanks.
Love your ideas.
TIffany
Tiffany–
I get asked that question so often that I added it to my FAQ page! It’s Pecan by Eddie Bauer, and I found it at Lowe’s. Hope that helps! 🙂
Confession: I’ve never watched Gone With the Wind. {ducks}
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Best movie ever. Best book ever. I reread it every few years. I never knew there was so much detail in the set until I saw your pics here.
I had forgotten how GRAND everything was, from the houses, to the staircases to her SKIRTS! Now I am going to have to rent this movie, I haven’t seen it in ages.
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Omgosh Julia. Love the book, Love the movie, LOVE GWTW. I had 5 sisters growing up and we watched it constantly…. But why….WHY can’t Rhett and Scarlett make it work?? Breaks my heart every time. And who the heck would want Ashley when they could have Rhett?!! Stupid, stupid Scarlett. Obviously really good acting since I am still upset about it!! lol
Can you believe I never watched this movie – I am definitely going to rent this soon! ~ Robyn
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Like it’s been said a bazillion times, love the book and movie, I do declare!
Oh, I forgot to say, in high school I dated an Ashleigh and my step-sister dated a Rhett at the same time. We even double-dated some.
My all time favorite movie! My husband doesn’t understand my facination. But, it is facinating. You should have featured this earlier!! Thanks for posting.
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Hi Julia, what a beautiful post! I love this movie and I learned so much about the civil war from it. I live in the south also and I thought you might be interested in seeing my post last Saturday. I featured the antebellum houses in Natchez. Please come for a visit at https://christineshomeandtraveladventures.blogspot.com/2009/03/tour-of-natchez-and-pink-blossoms-in-my.html
Thanks…Christine
This is one of my favorite movies, too! I can’t believe it wasn’t filmed in the South, though…All this time I thought it was. And I can’t believe I never noticed the parrots before until you pointed them out. Thanks for doing all the behind-the-scenes work so we could learn all about it!
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I’m crazy for this movie.
Best movie and book EVER!! LOVE GWTW and seeing these photos of yours was a REAL treat… wow! Thank you Julia for that! Swoon.
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How fun! I could watch this movie a thousand times and never get tired of it! I lived in South Carolina once and every time I was in Charleston, it reminded me of Gone with the Wind.
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Oh – I have never seen this!! I must rent it!! ASAP! How beautiful and the story line intrigues me!!
~angela
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I need to get my copy of GWTW out and read it again. One of my favorite movies. How could you not love Rhett.
Being a Texan I also love the movie Giant…very grand movie too.
Have you ever seen the movie Auntie Mame talk about great back drops…lot’s of fun.
I love the look of those houses. So grand but I assume they must have had to have grand. Their clothing was so over the top they needed rooms to match
where are the houses that were used for the film. Like the mansion and the rest of them… are they being lived in or are they museums? Thanks if you can and if you cant then thats fine too… 😀
Dixie–
As I mentioned in the post, Tara was purchased by someone hoping to use it in a new amusement park that was never built. What’s left of it is said to be in a warehouse somewhere. The rest of the houses in the movie were sets and matte paintings. -Julia
im sorry for the other post.. i didnt read the captions by the pictures… but im a HUGE fan for Gone With The Wind… Its my favorite movie ever!! im only in my middle teens and still think this movie beats any movie ever made!! but i reenact and one time i was in a play because i act but not huge acting and i was cast as Scarlett in the play… but anywho i was just stoppin by and it would be great if you had any more pictures of Tara now in the present i would love to look at them… but LONG LIVE GONE WITH THE WIND!!!!!
yours
Dixie 😀
I love the site. How do I get a copy of a print? Thank you.
Oh Julia, a post after my own heart!
I should’ve known you would have great pics of the gwtw houses!
I’m having a gwtw party soon, would be great if you want to join and link to this post!
Been thinking of you, seen tons of beautiful homes this summer. I have lots of catching up to do on your blog too… well, blogs in general, lol..
Hope you’re having a great summer!
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My family and I just returned from a weeks long vacation in Atlanta. We went to the Gone With The Wind Museum in Marietta, Ga. It was nice to see all the stuff from the movie and the news articles about Margaret Mitchell and the premiere of the movie in Atlanta. I own the movie and have watched it many times. But after going to the museum I was inspired to read the book. I am half way done and loving every minute. I love the houses and the dresses from the movie. Thanks for the photos it gave me a chance to really study the scenes and take notice of all the details.
I was rivoted! What an AWESOME post!
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love all your pictures on gone with the wind. i am just fixing to undertake the tasks of creating a reproduction of one of scarlett’s dresses to wear to our church homecoming and old fashion day. i love the clothing of that era. one of my most prized possessions is an original atlanta journal paper which i have framed between two pieces of glass so that you can see both sides of the paper it was the front page when gone with the wind premiered in atlanta in 1939. it was in the bottom of a bureau someone gave my motherinlaw and she was going the throw all the old newspapers away. if was in mint condition.
Your trivia section is highly inaccurate!! Yes, the search for Scarlett was a publicity stunt to keep up interest in the film during the three years between publication and filming, but Leigh was not the front-runner until Dec. 1938. The fire scene was filmed Dec. 10, 1938 and Leigh began screen tests the following week (and was signed on Jan. 13, 1939). Gable was always the only actor considered for Rhett. There was not a ‘long period’ between the filming of the fire and the first day of principal photography (at Tara) seven weeks later, the last week of January. Margaret Mitchell’s husband, John Marsh, said (at the premiere): ‘If we had that many soldiers we would have WON the war.’ BUT, I must tell you, you did a lovely job of presenting all the wonderful photos of the gorgeous sets of this most magnificent of all films! Thank you!
Hi, Don! I got the trivia from the IMDb page for the movie and assumed they knew what they were talking about. You clearly know more about GWTW trivia than I do. Thanks for the corrections! -Julia
The facts you have about Tara are completely wrong…The name Tara comes from the street named Tara Blvd in Clayton County Georgia, where Margaret Mitchell would summer at a family members house. A nearby mansion named the Fitzgerald house in Fayette County Georgia, it no longer exists and was the basis for Tara and Twelve Oaks houses.
Copy of Wikipedia, Margaret Mitchell BIO: Clayton County, the area just south of Atlanta and the setting for the fictional O’Hara plantation, Tara, maintains “The Road to Tara” Museum in the old railroad depot in downtown Jonesboro.
I saw Gone with the wind on the big screen at the Fox in Atlanta 1999 were it premiered in 1939.
Other than that, I like your website…
Okay, I don’t know what’s true or false any more because people keep sending me conflicting information. As a result, I’m removing the trivia section at the end of the post. -Julia
Great post! I’ll probably be stoned for saying this, but GWTW is not necessarily one of my favorite movies of all time. I’m not saying it’s a “bad movie” or anything like that, mind you, but I just don’t love it quite as much as so many others clearly do. Vivien Leigh is wonderful, yet I find Scarlett to be a childish, selfish, scheming and overall less than admirable character, and I never really warmed up to her that much. Also, some of the historical inaccuracies and racial stuff in the movie bug me a bit. I know…historical context and dramatic effect and all that…but I can’t help it…it still annoys me a little. And as much as I liked Leslie Howard (and usually have no problem with suspension of disbelief) when I’m watching GWTW I always find myself wondering why Ashley Wilkes is speaking with that perfect English accent. These minor things aside though, as a big-budget, splashy, golden-age-of-Hollywood melodrama, GWTW is a classic. It’s obviously well made & very entertaining. Ever since the first saw it, I fell in love with those sets, so looking at your caps and comparison shots was great for me. And it’s true that things really are bigger in Hollywood, isn’t it? The “Twelve Oaks” that was depicted in the movie would have been considered absolutely enormous and crazy, over-the-top opulent for any early to mid 19th century American house…even one belonging to someone as wealthy and cultured as John Wilkes was supposed to be. But Hollywood’s versions of “Twelve Oaks” and “Tara” sure were beautiful to look at! To this day I have a little fantasy about building an exact replica of the movie version of Gerald O’Hara’s Tara and living quietly in it. And I’m not going to have to marry my sister’s Mr. Kennedy in order to accomplish this either! I’ll do it the proper way…I’m gonna win Power Ball!
this is a wonderful site, just stopped by to see where Tara is, and now i know
“Fade” is completely wrong. Tara Blvd was not so named until AFTER Margaret Mitchell published her novel. Tara was actually named after the ancient residence of the kings of Ireland — and Gerald O’Hara, Scarlett’s father, was from Ireland.
Gorgeous and very interesting!
Is there somewhere a house plan(s) to be found of these Gone with the Wind houses?
Please tell!
Maison LaFitte, in New York, was also used in several exterior scenes for Gone with the Wind. (Husband & I got engaged there!)
https://www.scrank.com/wow/sha/Maison%20Lafitte/textonly.html
I think it lovely that you got engaged at Maison Lafitte, however, the people who own Maison Lafitte are full of bull. The entire movie was filmed in Hollywood. I lived in Natchez, MS and there are some guides at certain antebellum mansions who claim part of the movie was filmed there. It makes for a good tale, but its false. I’ve read every book on the movie and believe me no part of the movie was filmed in N.Y. In fact David O. Selznick even had the mud tinted red and also had red mud shipped in. Back in 1939 movies were not filmed on location.
FADE. Gone With The Wind premiered at Loew’s Grand Theatre, not the FOX. The Fox was a competing company and even though it is located across the street from the Georgia Terrace Hotel where the stars stayed, the premier was further downtown at Loew’s Grand. That theatre was destroyed by fire in the 1970’s
Please contact our office with information on immediate purchase of “gone with the wind ” photographs. Also If you have information on greatly enlarged images for backdrops for charity functions it will be most appreciated.
Thank you for you prompt attention.
Wayne Baum
Wayne–
I’m not sure how to contact your office or what you mean about purchasing GWTW photographs. I don’t have any to sell. These are all just screen shots from the movie. Hope you can find what you’re looking for! -Julia
Does anybody know where I can purchase a ‘Gone with the Wind’ photo backdrop?
Thank you very much for this….I came to this site because Monique paid tribute to Hattie McDaniel after winning at last night’s 82nd Oscar ceremony. GWTW is my favorite movie. I love that fact that Scarlett was a strong woman, but always sought comfort and advice from “Mammy”. I’m looking for the movie poster to hang in my office. May God continue to bless you!
–Tameka
Atlanta, GA
I’m trying to find out if my movie poster is worth anything? It says 1939 original on the bottom.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
I really like this movie also. My parents actually named me after Ashley Wilkes in the movie. They said that they wanted me to be a gentleman. I have people that see my name and almost always assume that I’m a girl. For example, if I have a prescription filled and I pick it up at the pharmacy, they will ask if “she” has ever had this before. I have to tell them that my name is Ashley. It seems like people are assuming this more and more as I get older (I’m 33.) Usually when someone gives me a weird look concerning my name or ask about it, I ask them if they have ever seen Gone With The Wind. I like to think that Ashley was a man’s name that has been taken over by women. Anyway, I’m proud to be named after such a great character in one of the best movies ever.
Thanks so so so so very much for all the great pictures and trivia on GWTW!!! Truly excellent!! I received the book and its sequel “Scarlett” for my 30th birthday–never read them beforehand–and was blown away and captivated from page 1. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!! One of my favorite parts was when Scarlett took down the curtains and started to make a dress–Classic!! I laughed, I cried, I jumped for joy…and sometimes I just wanted to smack Scarlett across the face, or Ashley, or Rhett!! LOL!! Can’t wait to see the movie…seriously, I really can’t wait…ordering it now from Amazon.com! LOL!
WOW, I’m astonished. I’m sixteen writing a papaer about the movie it is my favorite ever. I would like to say thank you,for doing this it’s helped me get a lot of info for it. I love this movie and the book an I needed to see these pictures so now when I go home I’m going to go watch it and pause…..I want my home to be like Tara when I’m older.<3 thank you so very much.
Good luck with your paper, Bridget! -Julia 🙂
Thank you so much for sharring your passion with us. I am writting a story in which there are several Antebellum styled homes in them. Your site was invaluable to me as many websites only post the outside of the homes not the inside. I understand that the set were mae larger and grander but it still allowed me to lend some authenticity for what I hope are my future readers.
really really i enjoyed watching the movie. its not a surprise but my friends who are non literature students also were full of praises about the movie. thanks to my friend Prakash who sent me the movie.
Wow!!!!! You did an amazing job!
Nobody’s seen this movie more times then I have. I can recite the comeback to every line in the play. And oddly enough, for as many times as I’ve seen the movie, I’ve never really noticed the detail in the houses in the way that seeing the photos of the rooms on this page let me see it. Really every location was ornate and elegant and decorated to the nines. I never noticed all the moldings, trim, curved walls, curtains etc. in the way I did just now. Perhaps I was always too focused on the dialogue. Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. It was amazing and I’ll probably never see the movie through the same eyes again. I’ll probably be slowing down and pausing all the time now to notice and enjoy the detail.
Just lovely 🙂
I just stumbled on this site and a couple others that have been useful to me – I am building a 1/2 scale model of Tara and the photos I have gleaned today have been immensly helpful. I have seen a couple of other models in magazines, but where mine differs is that I have designed a whole back wing so that one can walk all around the place and see it as a real house might have looked. (I have worked up a sort of floor plan that would partially include the sets of the interior rooms too.) It also answers a couple questions like what was behind the doors to the left as you go up the stairs. It is not included in the interior sets, but my answer is the dining room, as it is convenient to the covered walkway leading to the kitchen house. I admit that the exterior design is straight 1938 colonial, but as the front is also a composite, I figured to go all the way with it.
The plantation that inspired “Gone with the Wind” bore absolutely no resemblence to the palatial mansion in the movie. You can see a computerized virtual reality images of the REAL Tara in the National Examiner article. (URL is below)
It is probably too late, but I just found out about the Margaret Mitchell special on PBS. Atlanta historians have increasingly been culturally detached from the history of Georgia’s hinterlands. Books and papers I have read it the past have completely missed important information about the origins of “Gone with the Wind’s” plot and characters.
My great-aunt was a friend of Margaret Mitchell’s. She bought one of Mitchell’s first 1000 books at a meeting of the Northside Atlanta Women’s Club. It is autographed and I inherited it.
More important, though, is the experiences I gained in the late 1990s and early 2000’s, while guiding the restoration of the 1870 Bartow County Courthouse, Roselawn Estate, Adairsville Depot, Corra Harris Farm and William & Rebecca Felton Plantation in Bartow County, GA. While carrying out the research mandated by the historic preservation grants, I stumbled upon amazing facts that are apparently unknown by almost all historians, who consider themselves experts on Margaret Mitchell.
As an Atlanta Constitution reporter in the 1920s, Margaret was invited to many, secret weekend retreats as a companion for the Constitution’s editor and publisher. They were held at the Pine Log, GA farm of author Corra Harris. Almost always present were Corra’s close friends, Rebecca Felton and Martha Berry. Berry would often rendezvous with Henry Ford at Corra Harris’s secluded farm. Corra maintained an upstairs guest bedroom for them that is still known as the Berry-Ford bedroom.
Mitchell may have gone to these retreats as someone’s paramour, but there is no blatant evidence, one way or another. There is no record of her second husband accompanying her to the retreats, after she re-married in 1925. These retreats did seem to have a hidden agenda to them . . . allowing certain people to do things that they did not wish to be public knowledge.
The guests appear to have been the progressive intelligentsia of Atlanta. Rebecca Felton would keep Margaret spellbound with the stories of the Old South and the Civil War.
The fact is that the plot of Gone with the Wind is almost identical to the actual experiences of Rebecca Felton. Like the fictional, Scarlett O’Hara, Felton had a 16” waste and grew up on a modest plantation near Atlanta. Well, you can read the incredible similarity between Scarlett O’Hara and Rebecca Felton in the article I wrote for the Examiner. I am their national architecture and Native American columnist.
Here is the URL:
https://www.examiner.com/architecture-design-in-national/meet-the-real-scarlett-o-hara
Sincerely,
Richard Thornton
Wow! That is so fascinating. Thank you so much for the information and for including the link to your article. I can’t believe I had never heard any of that before!
Yes, it is weird that historians in Atlanta have not drawn the lines together – so to speak. Most of my research on these historic houses came from published books. The only part that was not published information was about the Berry-Ford bedroom. That came from people, who were living in the Corra Harris house’s servant’s quarters when the famous people came on weekends.
My guess is that people that read a book on Rebecca Felton, didn’t read a book on Corra Harris, which mentioned that both Rebecca Felton and Margaret Mitchell were frequent weekend visitors to the remote farm. It is quite likely that Margaret Mistchell came as the paramour of the newspaper editor. He was married, but she accompanied him to the retreats for the weekend. She would have been in her 20s, he was about 20 years older. Fans of Margaret Mitchell would not want that sort of info made public.
I’m not sure if this is 100% true, but The Jefferson hotel in Richmond, VA served as a model for the staircase Scarlett tumbled down in the Butler home. Not sure how to link here, but a search for the hotel should bring up photos.
Interesting!