Gone with the Wind

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.

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.

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

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)

Continuity mistake: When Gerald O'Hara comes back from his afternoon ride he meets Scarlett in the fields. In the middle of the conversation, while they are walking along, the formerly bright sky all of a sudden turns to a dusky red, and Scarlett has a new hairdo that covers her ears. (00:11:20)

NancyFelix

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.

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett shoots the Yankee intruder her bun is tied into a hairnet. When she searches his body and drags him away the net covers most of her head. (00:06:40)

NancyFelix

Gone with the Wind mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett talks to Ashley about eloping to Mexico at some point she turns away from him. This move is seen from two angles, where in one her scarf covers one shoulder, in the other both. (00:18:15)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Rhett visits Scarlett after Frank Kennedy's death she keeps weeping into her handkerchief. But all of a sudden there is no handkerchief and she is wiping her nose with her hands. (00:57:55)

NancyFelix

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

Suggested correction: Scarlett puts her handkerchief down to gargle with cologne. Then she goes downstairs with the hanky near her mouth to hide her boozy smell. She has opportunity to put it down again when she is seated telling Rhett she is afraid she'll go to hell. She is so upset she wipes her nose with her wrist as she does several times in the film, as Rhett observes at the end when she has no "handkerchief."

Continuity mistake: When Scarlett is being attacked on the bridge by the two thugs Big Sam comes and saves her. He throws one of the guys into the water, which all of a sudden has developed from a mere trickle to a remarkable river. (00:41:40)

NancyFelix

Gone with the Wind mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Rhett picks up Melanie from her bed to take her out of Atlanta he is not wearing a hat, but in the next shot it is on his head. (01:19:35)

NancyFelix

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

More mistakes in Gone with the Wind

Scarlett: I can shoot straight, if I don't have to shoot too far.

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: At the very beginning when the twins are talking to Scarlett it sounds to me like George Reeves says something about the "other 48 states" wanting war. Am I hearing that incorrectly? There were only 34 states when the war began.

William Lanigan

Answer: To answer your question, I looked for on-line versions of the "Gone with the Wind" screenplay. What you are hearing as "other 48 states" is actually "those fool Yankees." The full line is, "Y'know, those fool Yankees actually want a war?" Also, the line is actually said by Stuart Tarleton, played Fred Crane, not by George Reeves as his twin brother, Drew. In writing, it doesn't seem they would sound alike. When I watched the opening scene of "gwtw" on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbmvQJcLDc&t=6s), I can see how the error was made. I might have misheard it, as well, if I didn't already know what the line was from my research. Mr. Crane's enunciation is rather muddled.

Michael Albert

George Reeve plays Brent Tarleton, not "Drew."

raywest

Answer: I watched this scene several times on HBOmax, both with and without the closed captions. The line, spoken by Brent Tarleton (George Reeves) is: "You know, those poor Yankees actually want a war." It does sound like he says another word just before saying "Yankees," but it's so muffled that it's unintelligible and the closed captions do not record it. It could be "poor fool Yankees," but that's a guess.

raywest

Answer: In the version I am watching it is definitely Reeves' character who say the line, right after he tells Scarlett "War. Isn't it exciting Scarlett?" Then comes what sounds like what I posted. Is it possible there are different versions?

William Lanigan

More questions & answers from Gone with the Wind

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