Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind (1939)

62 mistakes

(10 votes)

Character mistake: When Melanie and Scarlett are talking with an (off-screen) wounded Confederate soldier, the soldier says he hasn't heard from his brother since Bull Run. Only Northerners refer to that battle as Bull Run; Southerners have always referred to it as Manassas.

mdwalker

Continuity mistake: When Dr. Meade announces General Lee's victory (and later Rhett Butler as a special guest) at the "Monster Bazaar", he speaks to a backdrop showing the audience with a soldier with a drum standing left to him. Behind him, a couple in black is dancing. When he moves, Rhett and Scarlett are revealed, going to the rear of the dance floor. Clearly they haven't met at that point, as they are introduced by Melanie moments later.

Factual error: Scarlett is seen walking on the main street on the way to the hospital. You can clearly see a light bulb in one of the street lights. (01:05:25)

Gone with the Wind mistake picture

Revealing mistake: In the scene where Ashley is brought back wounded from the raid where Scarlett's husband Mr Kennedy was killed, Melanie grabs an oil lamp to follow the man carrying Ashley to the bedroom and you can see an electrical cord hanging down from it. (00:50:45)

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Scarlett is talking to Ashley about owing the carpet bagger 300 dollars right before Ashley kisses her you can see a definite change. Ashley has different dirt on his face and Scarlett's dress looks lighter. Her hair is also loose in different places.

Other mistake: The credits for the Tarleton brothers in the opening credits have the twins switched with their actors. George Reeves doesn't play Brent, he plays Stuart. You know this because in the opening scene the two boys are talking about the party and asking Scarlett for dances, and George Reeves points at his brother and calls him "Brent."

Continuity mistake: The shadow scene in which Scarlett and Melanie care for the wounded in the Atlanta hospital was filmed with two doubles. Since Leigh and de Havilland were standing at the wrong angle to cast the shadows, two stand-ins were positioned in front of the high-intensity light. The shadows of the doubles were reflected on the wall behind the stars, and the result was a stunning visual effect. Yet upon a closer look, the gestures of the stand-ins are not totally synchronised with the movements of the stars. (00:56:30)

Continuity mistake: In the scene showing guests arriving at the Wilkes' barbecue, you see buggies and carriages driving through the front gates and up the drive toward the Wilkes' home. The carriages clearly create shadows on the ground, but not on the stone pillars of the gates. This is because when the movie was filmed, there were no actual gates. The gates were later "painted" into the frame. Proving someone forgot to "paint" shadows onto the pillars. (00:17:15)

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett is attacked in the woods on a bridge while on her way to the lumber mill the buggy very nearly goes off of the bridge backwards. Then Scarlett faints, but when the camera returns to the full shot of the buggy, suddenly it is squarely in the middle of the bridge and in no danger at all of falling over the edge.

Continuity mistake: While our protagonists flee from the burning Atlanta the carriage stops. A bearded soldier walks by carrying another man. A few moments later the camera focuses on a young man who collapses and is being picked up by exactly the same guy who was carrying him already. The mistake wouldn't be as pronounced if it weren't been one of the few instances where action by extras is highlighted. (01:23:25)

NancyFelix

Gone with the Wind mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Aunt Pittipat serves her last Madeira Uncle Peter is standing on her left. Then the camera angle changes to a close-up on her, and in the next wide shot Uncle Peter is standing on her right. (00:52:00)

NancyFelix

Audio problem: After Scarlett leaves the hospital in disgust she runs into Rhett. When she climbs into his buggy she asks him if he can take her to her Aunt's, but her lips aren't moving. (01:04:15)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett undresses for her nap after the 12 Oaks barbecue, she unties a small bustle from around her waist. She didn't have this bustle on when Mammy helped her dress for the barbecue earlier that morning.

ANTLYN

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Was it under the main bustle?

dizzyd

Scarlett is laced up then Mammy helps her on with her dress. Looks like Scarlett is just wearing her corset (stays) with pantalets. Selznick probably adhered to the customary undergarments in the nap scene but chose no film time for the hurried scene where Gerald counts to 10 to make Scarlett hurry down to his carriage.

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett fights with the two men on the bridge she loses her hat. When she drives off her head is still bare, but but seen from behind in the next shot the hat is back. When Big Sam catches up with her the hat is gone again. (00:41:45)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: In the scene when Rhett is saying goodbye to Scarlett before he leaves her on the road to Tara alone, he throws his hat behind him onto the road and takes Scarlett into his arms. However, a few moments later, he picks the hat up from the fence at his side along with his coat. (01:26:55)

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett and her father talk in the setting sun his riding whip casts a shadow on her face although the sun is in their back. (00:11:30)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Rhett stops the carriage on the bridge at the turn for Tara, he pulls the brake to keep the carriage from moving. When Scarlett drives off in the carriage, she does not release the brake. (01:27:50)

Revealing mistake: When Scarlett finds Twelve Oaks completely destroyed, the carriage in the background is not real. As Scarlett walks toward the staircase, both the carriage and Prissy are not real, it is just a picture that has been painted to make it look like they are sitting there.

Rhett Butler: No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.

More quotes from Gone with the Wind

Trivia: After Margaret Mitchell's (author of "Gone with the Wind") husband saw the scene with the wounded soldiers in Atlanta he is reported to have said "if we had had that many soldiers, we wouldn't have lost the war in the first place."

Tallicame

More trivia for Gone with the Wind

Question: When Scarlett visits Rhett in jail to get the $300 for taxes, can anyone speculate as to her plan? Why does she pretend to be rich when she's actually dirt poor? Why would that make her request for money more convincing? Did she plan to ask for a loan, and needed to make it appear as if she would be able to repay it in a reasonable amount of time? I read the book, but this wasn't made clear there either. Can anyone help me?

Answer: If she looked rich she could trick him into thinking she wasn't marrying him for his money.

Answer: Scarlett tries fooling Rhett that she is in love him, somehow thinking that will persuade him to give her the money. She believes if Rhett is in love with her, she can manipulate him, which is what she did with her previous two husbands and various suitors. If she appears desperate and powerless, then Rhett will have the upper hand. He sees through her scheme, however.

raywest

Answer: In the book Scarlett's motivation for dressing up to see Rhett is so that she can go to him 'looking like a queen granting favors." She believes that her way of getting the money is by acting carefree and not desperate as if she looks desperate Rhett will guess it's money she's after (only) and any warmness towards him will look like a ruse to get his money. She is playing on his attraction towards her. Remember the last time she saw him she slapped him and said she hoped a canon ball would land "slap on him." So now she has to appear to be over her venom and her pride will not let her look desperate, also. She's not after marriage to him. If she looks sweet and helpless and gorgeous she figures she'll get the money out of him! (He does say he's tired of looking at women in mourning so she is partly right with her instincts).

More questions & answers from Gone with the Wind

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.