Gone with the Wind Screen Tests & Auditions - Neatorama

A total of 32 actresses tried out for the role of Scarlet O'Hara, and many others who auditioned for the other principle parts in the 1939 film Gone With The Wind. Hindsight tells us the final casting was perfect, but it's interesting to think about some of these other folks in those roles. -via Laughing Squid

Comments (1)

Newest 1

Newest 1 Comment

GWTW is my all-time favorite film and while I think the parts of Scarlett (2 T's!) Rhett and Melanie were perfectly cast, Leslie Howard was just all wrong for the part of Ashley, who, incidentally, played Ashley because Selznick agreed to let him direct "Intermezzo" with Ingrid Bergman. Seeing Jeffrey Lynn here makes me wonder if the role wouldve been better suited to an actor who WASn't more than 20 years senior to both his female castmates!

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

wait, so women couldn't swim but had to wade in the dark inside of one of these contraptions?

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

I think I prefer the crowded topless French beaches ;)

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

"these caravans of propriety, of social mores too foreign for our contemporary eyes,"

Huh? Haven't this writer heard of the separate beaches for Muslim men and women and seen some of the Muslim bathing outfits for women?

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Social norms from the past seem absurd. I'm sure future humans will look at our norms and think they're absurd too.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

The concept of going to the beach and wading or swimming was new at the time. Something that a lot of people glaze over is that these are not the social norms for the past in general, but the Victorian period in particular. We got a lot more modest in the Victorian period than we were in centuries past, the pendulum of social modesty and permissiveness swings back and forth.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

@SW: No one knew how to swim, bathing and wading was about all people could do in the water. And the girls preferred to do it in private.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

From the bathing-machine came a din
As of jollification within;
It was heard far and wide
And the incoming tide
Had a definite flavor of gin.

-Edward Gorey

Once the machine had been pushed into the water, a woman could enter the water through doors on the seaward side, the body of the machine and the open doors forming a screen shielding her from the view of those on the beach.

Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)

Login to comment.

Click here to view up to the first 100 of this post's 1 comments

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.