Читать книгу Gone With The Wind - Группа авторов - Страница 6

The inaugural showing of Gone With the Wind was the biggest event in Atlanta since Sherman burned down the city.

BY JOHN WILEY, JR.

In March 1937, eight months after David O. Selznick purchased the movie rights to Gone With the Wind — and almost two years before filming began — Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield wrote to the producer, encouraging him to hold the premiere in Atlanta and to bring cast members along for the unveiling. Hartsfield said he had the backing of a large number of local leaders and businessmen and promised the city’s full cooperation to make the event “of nationwide importance.” He also noted it was the city’s intention to invite “leading citizens from all over the country ... and to give to it a vast amount of publicity, far more than the ordinary Premiere, on account of the great interest of Atlanta therein and the historical sentiment involved.”

Atlanta was, after all, author Margaret Mitchell’s hometown, and the entire story was set in and around the city. Local residents felt certain that the movie ought to premiere in the Gate City of the South.