Читать книгу Gone With The Wind - Группа авторов - Страница 13

The Selznicks escorted Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, to the theater in a limousine. Five giant searchlights pierced the night skies and played across the front of the theater. At the urging of the master of ceremonies, the author stopped briefly before the microphones to speak to the spectators outside and to those listening by radio across the nation: “This is a very happy and exciting day for me, and at this time, I want to thank everybody in Atlanta for being so nice to me and my poor Scarlett. Thank you.”

Selznick, still hopeful of the South’s approval, came next: “Three years of effort have led to this moment. If Atlanta, which is the final judge, approves our efforts, these labors will not have been in vain.”

The two couples made their way into the theater as Gable and Lombard arrived. The actor paid tribute to the woman he had met just hours before: “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, I’m here just as a spectator. I want to see Gone With the Wind the same as you do. And this is Margaret Mitchell’s night, and the people of Atlanta’s night. Allow me, please, to see Gone With the Wind as a spectator. Thank you.”

Clark Gable and his wife, Carole Lombard, led a procession of convertibles with other stars through Atlanta.

Mitchell and her husband were seated between Gable and John Hay Whitney, chairman of the board of Selznick International Pictures, while de Havilland sat on Whitney’s right. Leigh sat in the row ahead of them beside the governor of Georgia. The lights dimmed and composer Max Steiner’s overture began. The curtains parted and his soaring “Tara’s Theme” signaled the start of a roller coaster ride of emotions for the audience, which featured, as the mayor had promised, visiting dignitaries from across the country, including World War I flying ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Columbia Broadcasting System executive William S. Paley and cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden.