Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind (1939)

62 mistakes - chronological order

(10 votes)

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: 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: 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.

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.

Factual error: When Atlanta is in chaos, there is a shot of a fire engine rushing down the street. Two shots later is a wide shot of the street with a giant red and white radio tower visible in the distance.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Bonnie and Rhett have just arrived back from London, Bonnie runs up the stairs to greet her Mom, arms flying all over the place. In the next shot, Bonnie is holding the kitten that Rhett bought her.

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett is attacked in the woods, Big Sam drives her carriage out of danger. When the scene cuts to a far shot of the carriage driving through the woods, Big Sam is no longer with her. She is driving it by herself.

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

Suggested correction: Big Sam quickly dispatches Scarlett's attacker (potential rapist in the book) and Scarlett grabs the reins to just get out of there as fast as she can. Big Sam continues to handle the attacker. Then, Big Sam runs after the carriage, calling out to Scarlett.

Factual error: Almost every crock in the background in this movie was made after 1920. I also saw clear, machine made jars. The automatic bottle machine was invented in 1901. Canning jars were crudely made and rarely ever clear in the 1860's.

Revealing mistake: When Scarlett runs out of the Wilkes's house calling for Rhett after Melanie dies, she bumps into a pillar that supposedly helps support the house/porch. The pillar wriggles quite violently at her touch, revealing it as a simple stage prop and not part of the house.

Movie_Freak 1

Revealing mistake: There is a very short scene in the second half of the film where Mrs Meade and Dolly Merriweather are sitting at a tea table gossiping about Scarlett's behaviour. There is a teapot in the middle of the table, and Dolly Merriweather is sitting behind it. Yet the teapot is casting a shadow on the wall and Mrs. Merriweather isn't.

Revealing mistake: After Rhett tells Scarlett that he doesn't give a damn, she's just inside the front door and places her hand on leading edge of the door, which moves when she touches it to support herself.

Nicki

Audio problem: When Ashley leaves the house to go to the train station after his Christmas furlough, there is a shot of Scarlett at the window, watching him walk down the path. We hear her say, "When the war's over, Ashley. When the war's over", but visually, her mouth movements do not correspond to what she is saying, at all.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Bonnie dies, Scarlett is sitting down drinking a cup of tea. She puts the cup on the table and stands up. When we see the next shot from behind, the table is clearly visible and the cup is gone.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Scarlett shoots the Yankee deserter, look at the large window at the top of the staircase. Not only is the glass strangely opaque, but there is the silouhette of a tree being cast on it from a tree which is obviously directly outside the window. When Melanie opens the window to call out to Suellen and Carreen, the tree is not only about 15 feet from the window, its also significantly shorter than you would expect from its shadow. In fact, it comes nowhere near as far as the window ledge, let alone the window itself.

Revealing mistake: When Rhett picks up newborn Bonnie from her bassinet, you can see that he picks up a doll, not a real baby.

Continuity mistake: Regarding the iconic pull-back shot of the depot, showing hundreds of dead and dying soldiers lying about the train tracks: later that night, everyone escapes by driving through this same area as train cars burn and explosions go off. What happened to all those dead and dying soldiers?

Continuity mistake: The morning that Rhett leaves for London, he tells Scarlett to get Bonnie's things packed right away. Scarlett pushes herself up into a sitting position on the bed with her arms, but in the very next shot, she's laying back against the pillows with her arms crossed. Then she pushes herself up again.

LuMaria 1

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett is talking to Melanie before she dies, Melanie's "widow's peak" is obviously painted on.

Continuity mistake: After Scarlett overhears the girls gossiping about her, the first "Yee-hoo!" from the men is heard, and Scarlett looks dismayed and about to cry. Her facial expression completely changes in the very next shot; to a sly, queer look.

Movie_Freak 1

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Gerald gets on his horse to chase after Jonas Wilkerson, Suellen and Carreen run outside to see what is going on. The door is left open when they come out, but in the next shot that shows Scarlett yelling for Gerald to come back, Suellen and Carreen are no longer outside and the door is closed.

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: The Burning of Atlanta scene was shot long before filming started on Gone with the Wind and before either of the actors were cast in the role of Rhett and Scarlet. The purpose was to clear the lot so the sets for the movie could be built. The buildings burnt were sets from other films, the most notable being the huge gates featured in the original King Kong movie. The two actors in this scene were stunt doubles who stood in for Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

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

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