Gone with the Wind (1939) is not the most critically acclaimed American film in motion-picture history. That honor goes to Citizen Kane (1941; see entry under 1940s—Film and Theater in volume 3), or perhaps Casablanca (1943; see entry under 1940s—Film and Theater in volume 3). However, Gone with the Wind is arguably the most popular and beloved of all movie epics of its era. Its grand Technicolor sweep, larger-than-life characters, and vivid portrait of a specific place and time in American history combine to make it a legendary Hollywood epic.

Gone with the Wind was based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949). Her novel, which was published in 1936, won the Pulitzer Prize. The book has since reportedly sold more copies than any other book in publishing history, with one exception: the Bible. Gone with the Wind is set before, during, and after the Civil...