Paee 8
Rhett Butler Role
Chance Of Lifetime
(Continued from page 1)-
parent, however, that it was out of
my hands. The public interest
hi my doing Rhett puzzled me.
Lang before anyone had been cast
for the picture, I was asked for
interviews. When I refused com
ment, the columnists did it for me.
My mail doubled and then trebled.
I saw myself pictured as Rhett.
with sideburns. I don't like side
burns. They itch. I was the only
one, apparently who didnl take it
for granted that I was going to
play Rhett. It was a funny feel
ing. I think I know now how a
fly must react after being caught
in a spider web. It wasn't tha;
I didn't appreciate the compliment
the public was paying me. It was
simply that Rhett was too big an
order. I didn't want any part of
him.
To make sure that I hadn't erred
in my first impression, I read
"Gone " again. It convinced me
more than ever that Rhett was too
much for any actor to tackle in
his right mind. But I couldn't es
cape him. I looked for every one.
I even considered writing MissV
Mitchell at one time. I thought
it would be great if she would)
simply issue a statement saying,
"1 think Clark Gable would be the
worst possible selection for Rhett
Butler." Perhaps after Miss Mitch
ell sees my Rhett, or rather what'
I've done to her Rhett, she'll wish
she had. It may be of interest as1
a sidelight that my own sincere '
choice for Rhett was Ronald Col- j
man. I still think he would have ,
done a fine job of it.
Rhett a Real Person j
I found upon investigation taat ,
Miss Mitchell, very intelligently, 1
didn't care a hang what Hollywood
was going to do with her book. All j
the wanted was peace and quiet.
She wrote a book because it was.
the thing she liked to do, and
having innocently caused more ex
citement than any author in mem
ory, asked only to be left alone.
When I was told this, I immediate
ly felt a sympathetic fellowship
with Miss Mitchell. I was sure
we would understand one another,
for, after all, Rhett has caused
more than a little confusion in
both our lives. Incidentally, I
wanted to ask Miss Mitchell where
she met a man like Rhett. I am
just guessing, but to me he must
have been the real thing, with very
little fictional embroidery.
During the months when the
casting of "Gone" reached the
proportion of a national election,
and acrimonious debate was being
conducted on every street corner,
Rhett became more of a mental
hazard than ever. I was still the
only one who didn't have anything
to say about him. I never did have.
For when the time came to get
down to business, I was still, out
on a limb.
I knew what was coming the day
David O. Selznick telephoned me.
His purchase of the book for a
mere $50,000 had started the riot.
Our talk was amicable. I did the
sparring and he landed the hard
punches. David's idea was to
make a Separate deal, providing my
studio would release me to make
the picture. I thought my con
tract was an ace in the hole, It
specified that my services belong
ed exclusively to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
I told David that, adding
on my own that I was not inter
ested in playing Rhett.
Chance of Lifetime
That didn't stop David. Being a
friend of long standing and know
ing him, I knew that it wouldn't.
He pointed out that no actor ever
had been offered such a chance.
There had never been a more talk
ed of role than Rhett. That was
exactly my reason for turning him
down. He put his cards on the
table. He was going to try to get
; me from M-G-M if he could. We
shook hands on it.
I could have put up a fight. I
didn't. I am glad now that I didn't.
Hollywood always has treated me
fairly. I have had no reason to
complain about my roles and if the
studio thought I should play Rhett,
it wss not up to me to duck out. I
had nothing to do with the nego
tiations. I learned that I was to
play Rhett in the newspapers. As
part of the deal. Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer
was to release the
picture. .
That was a weight off my mind.
There was no longer anything to
argue about. Now I had a job to
do and it was up to me to give
it all I had. I read and re-read
the book until I could visualize
Rhett as Miss Mitchell had pic
tured him. How he reacted to
every situation. I memorized many
f the revealing lines in the book
and it may be of interest to know
that most of the dialogue in the
script is exactly as Miss Mitchell
WTOte it.
Old Newspapers Guided Directors
Of GWTW In Recreating Buildings
THE WAYNES VTXLE MOUNTAINEER
SCOTTS SCRAP BOOK
Aladdin rubbed his lamp and
a city of domes and minarets glit
tered before him. This modern
miracle was performed in building
one of the largest motion picture
sets ever known, for "Gone with
the Wind."
In one respect. Technical Direc
tor Wilbur G. Kurtz claims, his Job
was more difficult than Aladdin's.
The Arabian magician created a
town without any design; Krutz'
city had to be the exact Atlanta
of Civil War times, and, because
of the precision of the Technicolor
camera, it had ,to look like a city
of 13,000 that had been hved in
for many years by the hardy pio
neers of North Georgia. To ac
complish this, more than mere car
pentry and house painting Were
necessary.
Starting when David O. Selznick
purchased the screen rights to
Margaret Mitchell's novel, the stu
dio' research department had col
lected a library of books, and docu
ments pertaining to the Civil War
period in Georgia and the rest of
the South.
Old newspapers from Atlanta,
Four co
OU Of -ftM AX HoTl
Bf MAM e BlAirf, BM
ItfED M IKDUS-fRltt-
Macon, Augusta, and Jonesboro,
especially, were consulted. Diaries
in the collection of Miss Mitchell,
actual material used in writing the
book, also were available.
When the 'picture was in early
stages of preparation, Kurtz, lead
ing historian of Atlanta, was nam
ed technical director. Assisted by
his wife, Mrs. Annie Laurie Fuller
Kurtz, and Miss Susan Myrick, of
the Macon Telegraph, he not only
helped William Cameron Menzies,
production designer , and Lyle
Wheel, art director, plan the
street and buildings of the city,
but consulted wkh the head set
decorator, Edward G. Boyle, re
garding the objects displayed in
stores, and the various signs and
advertisements that gave the city
and its streets the character of At
lanta in 1864.
Mrs. Krutz and Miss Myrick
were consulted by Walter Plunkett
P. Lambert, head of wardrobe, re- ha ,v m
gardmg the dress of the period I To a'dJ,n dining thetreets,
particularly regarding what wouid ad access to the public rec-
be worn in the blockaded State ofords ot the city. He made copies
Georgia, after the attrition of war of all maps, and enlarged them to
By Rj: SCOTT
4l PolyfTlEMtrf
5ut5rftVI. RADIO
EARS w-Ae.
AirfbtMA
Ai'frlOUCtl HE rlEAD AjiO BoD?
t;yK'4 SPHlM A.RE CA.RVEP FROM K LAYER, of
scale for the guidance of Menzies
and Wheeles. In the records of the
Atlanta Historical Society were
found original plans of many -buildings.
Finding: Actor
Who Could Milk
A Cow Not Easy
Few, indeed, are the actors in
Hollywood who can milk a cow.
And those who can usually do not
want to de-glamorize themselves
by admitting it. But Oscar Polk,
huge six-foot three-inch colored
actor now playing the role of
"Pork" in "Gone With The Wind,"
does not want to be listed in that
category.
Polk's assignment called for him
to portray the role of a house ser
vant, but reverses to the O'Hara
fortunes caused by the Civil war
force him out into the fields to
work. One of the duties folic must
perform while functioning as' a
field hand is that of milking a cow.
The script calls for him to be re
buffed by Scarlett O'Hara for not
stripping the cow down" and to
be sent back to re-do the job.
Oscar, a willing actor, always
does what the script calls for him
to do, and so played the part of
a fumbling milker to perfection.
But after the sequence had been
filmed he called the cast and crew
aside and said: "I don't want any.
THURSDAYrq
Park Road In
Tennessee Is
Being Resurfac,
Resurfacing
section of the 'urf . Ieti
of the
way and the Cling,
v. taoi wees,
confined to half the
started last wt 7- ,UN
nfthe;zr-
in an effort tr, ,.,,. ""i
convenience ... ifti
but, of necessity 10
of about a m :rr.e4M
fic. m
In about two week ,
q1 to. , tlts' or
parapet wall that a 7S
low the W. ueaN
w tunnel on t
found Gap highway. This
necessitate one-way traffj
the time of construction
one to eet the iA,.n t ,
u",t"1 une this jiJ
was sixteen, but watch this.'
ne aDiy vindicated himself
technique by filling half pii
five minutes, which, he point
isn t pad for a boy w
:il i
uiu&eu since ne was on a im
Arkansas twenty-four years
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