Gone With The Wind & The Fox 50th Anniversary Movie Re-premiere at the Fox Theatre Atlanta, Georgia - December 1989 Home: greenlightwrite.com featuring
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I lived it. I loved it! I was present at the re-premiere of Gone With The Wind at the Fabulous Fox Theatre on December 15, 1989, exactly fifty years after the original premiere. The air was bitterly cold and threatening rain as we "Windies," who numbered in the hundreds, waited patiently for the limousine arrival of the last surviving cast members. Across Peachtree Street where we lingered, our eyes were fixed upon the Fox, her exterior façade replete with a massive banner of Rhett holding Scarlett in his arms. It was a brilliant display illuminated by the golden, glowing eyes of huge klieg lights. A band was playing Tara's Theme (My Own True Love), occasionally hitting an off-note, probably due to frozen lips on icy trumpets, but that didn't matter to true fans. A glimpse of Charles Hamilton (Rand Brooks) and a peek at Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) were enough to pop our flashes as we hoped to capture their images for our scrapbooks and our memories. When we finally entered the theatre's massive Arabic courtyard, I immediately realized why it was commonly referred to as the Fabulous Fox. I looked up and found twinkling stars and clouds wafting overhead. Although the temperature inside the building was at least forty degrees warmer than where we'd been waiting, I naïvely asked my husband, "Are we outside?" The realistic celestial sky had momentarily disoriented me. Larry King hosted the event and introduced the cast. What a treat to see Bonnie Blue Butler (Cammie King) all grown up, and Brent Tarleton (Fred Crane), Scarlett's early suitor, still handsome fifty years later. Scarlett's sisters, Careen (Anne Rutherford) and Suellen (Evelyn Keyes) were there to share their experiences, one of which was the comfort level of those authentic undies beneath their authentic gowns. After a poem from Butterfly, whose voice still carried the childish high pitch we all recognized, the lights dimmed and a movie screen dropped. Another surprise. The screen was huge, but it wasn't a rectangle. It was in the shape of a square. No time to focus on that because a black and white newsreel of the original premiere at Lowe's Grande Theatre in Atlanta (since burned down) was shown. It began with Clark Gable arriving by plane, his lovely bride, Carole Lombard, on his arm. The crowd cheered wildly. More cheers erupted when the huge title, Gone With The Wind, swept its way across the screen. The hours flew for it had been a very long while since I had seen the film on the big screen. I devoured the backgrounds, the detail of décor and costume and the scoring of this wonderful piece of romance. All too quickly I heard, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," but that was perfectly fine because the night was not over. We all "retired" to the Egyptian Ballroom for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The entire event was a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm so happy to have spent that magical evening at the Fabulous Fox. Where better than the very town that first premiered that wonderful film on that long ago night in 1939?
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