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Show 'Gone With the Wind? Film - -Delights Previewers By HUBBARD KEAVV HOLLYWOOD (AP) "Gone With the Wind" Is now ready for all those who always intended to read the book, but never got ground to it, as well as for the vast number of faithful readers read-ers who wondered how Hollywood would treat it Its 1037 pages finally have been 1 compressed into a motion picture, and no ordinary picture. The long-awaited long-awaited film waa press-previewed Tuesday, aa a prelude to Its world premiere next Friday tn Atlanta. Ga Its very locale and the home of Author Margaret Mitchell. No film which caused so much speculation about treatment and casting, before production, and which runs for three hours and 9T minutes. In Its final form, betongs In the everyday classification. For these reasons alone. It Is an out-of-' the-ordlnary event. The professional flaw-finders, on the whole, were enthusiastic. They were concerned, privately and professionally, about the same matters which the rest of the country found time to discuss during dur-ing the two-and-a-half-year wait between sale to the moviee and filming: Whether the girl playing the resolute coquette Scarlett O'Hara would fit the conception taken from the hook; whether Hollywood, with Its freely-exer- dsed dramatic license, would retain re-tain the spirit and 'feeling of the original, and whether the story would suffer In the condensation. The previewers left the theater seemingly agreed that Vivien Leigh, although English-trained and "unknown" In this country, was the logical choice for the role. Sometimes she was restrained, but mostly she waa the dashing, fiery Scarlett (The character of Rhett Butler waa tailored for Clark Gable, Ga-ble, nearly everyone always said; the author must have had in mind somebody very much like him. Ha is Rhett.) Other performances, especially those of Hattie McDanlel (Mammy) (Mam-my) and Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes), are all that can be expected. ex-pected. There are about 100 speaking speak-ing roles. It waa agreed also that a remarkably remark-ably able Job of filming the Intent of this story of Georgia before, during and after the war between the Confederacy and the Union haa been accomplished, although, necessarily, only the highlights were touched. Entire credit for writing the scenario la given the late Sidney Howard. The mood is established early by Director Victor Fleming and well maintained. The alow spots are few. There are few relieving touches of humor, an omission in this case which la a tribute to writer and director. They aet a high dramatic pace and maintained It without resorting to any artifices. arti-fices. "Gone" Is rtikingly told In technicolor: photographic experts say they consider it the best color Job to date. There are many spectacular spec-tacular scenes, notably those of the burning and siege of Atlanta, of the plantation Tara and of the wounded and dying at the railroad station after the siege. |