'Gone With the Wind' Marks 75 Years
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June 30, 2011 --Seventy-five years ago today, Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler became part of an American legend with the release of the novel "Gone With the Wind."
The book, by southerner Margaret Mitchell, was an immediate hit and sparked a literary frenzy. Within six months of its release, it had sold more than one million copies. The author even sold movie rights to the tale about a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction even before the book was released. Mitchell was paid an unprecedented $50,000 by MGM to make the novel into a movie.
The movie, starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh also became a runaway hit, forever searing Rhett Butler's line (among others) into the American public memory: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"
Photo: Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh on the set of "Gone With the Wind." Getty Images
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