"Gone with the Wind" returning to theaters for 85th anniversary: where to see it near you
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- If you measure bang for your buck by the amount of time spent in the movie theater, a great opportunity is heading your way. The nearly four-hour-long film "Gone with the Wind" is headed back to theaters on April 7, 8 and 10, 2024 at theaters across the United States.
Fathom Events announced the three-day rescreening of "Gone with the Wind" in a news release late last month, noting it's won eight Academy Awards and is "recognized as one of the greatest films of all time."
The screening will include an introduction by Leonard Maltin, a film historian, podcaster and former "Entertainment Tonight" film critic who will discuss "the tremendous impact that 'Gone With The Wind' continues to have on both cinema and culture over eight decades after its original release."
The showings take place at the following times:
- Sunday, April 7 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time
- Monday, April 8 at 7 p.m. local time
- Wednesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. local time
You can visit the Gone with the Wind event page on FathomEvents.com, click your chosen date and enter your location to find theaters near you that are showing the film. AMC, Cinemark, Flix, Regal and Movie Tavern are some of the movie theater companies listed on the site.
"Gone with the Wind" ignited streaming controversy in 2020
Gone With the Wind was released in 1939 and revolves around a romance between the daughter of a southern plantation owner and a wealthy man in the Civil War era. It stars Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel.
"One of the main sources of controversy has been the role of 'Mammy,' a Black slave who lived in Scarlett O'Hara's household. Many have criticized the role, played by award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel, for depicting slavery as a positive force," CBS News reported in 2020.
McDaniel broke a color barrier at the 12th Academy Awards in 1940 when she won Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African-American to win an Academy Award - something that did not happen again until 1964, when Sidney Poitier won Best Actor for "Lilies of the Field."
The night McDaniel won an Oscar for the role, she was forced to sit in the back of the room, next to the kitchen.
In 2020, HBO Max removed "Gone with the Wind" from its platform for two weeks. When it was brought back, it included a disclaimer with two video parts - stating that the "film's treatment of this world through a lens of nostalgia denies the horrors of slavery, as well as its legacies of racial inequality."
The disclaimer also linked to a TCM Classic Film Festival panel that acknowledged the film depicts "the antebellum South as a world of grace and beauty without acknowledging the brutalities of the system of chattel slavery, upon which this world is based."
A spokesperson for Fathom said Maltin's intro will hit on similar themes to HBO's — addressing the film's positive portrayal of plantation life as one that was embraced by White audiences and repudiated by Black audiences. McDaniel's performance is also broken down in the intro as one that later faced criticism after barriers were broken down in Hollywood.
In Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 2000, he included Gone with the Wind as one of the 100 "must-see films of the 20th century."