Never-before-seen photos show the stars of Gone With the Wind on set
Behind-the-scenes photos show stars of Gone With the Wind playing games on set, an army of extras and how an inferno was staged on the Oscar-winning film
- Over 800 images includes behind-the-scene snaps of the lead actors are set to go up for auction in the US
- Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh can be seen enjoying a board game behind the scenes of the famous film
- The collection is being sold by a private collector and is expected to fetch up to £6,000 ($8,000) at auction
Never-before-seen photos of the cult classic Gone With The Wind have come to light 80 years after the film’s release.
The remarkable archive of over 800 images includes behind-the-scene snaps of the lead actors Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh unwinding between takes.
One extraordinary photo shows the director Victor Fleming holding the novel ‘Gone With The Wind’ while in discussion with Leigh.
The photos were taken at the request of the film’s producer David Selznick and are not believed to even have been printed until the 1970s.
They are being sold at auction by a private collector with US based Julien’s Auctions, who expect them to fetch £6,000 ($8,000).
Martin Nolan, of Julien’s Auctions, said: ‘The over 800 images feature behind the scenes and candid shots of the film production with a variety showing the actors in costume with their family, friends or crew next to them wearing 1939 era clothing. This is the first time the public will get the opportunity to see them.’
Based on the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell, Gone With The Wind took received 10 Oscars, including best actress for Leigh and best film.
It held the box office record for the top grossing film for 25 years and remains in the top 10 to the American Film Institute’s top 100 American films.
Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh playing a board game between filming scenes. According to Frank Buckingham, one of the film’s technicians, Clark Gable would sometimes eat garlic before his kissing scenes with Vivien Leigh as a joke
Filming the burning of Atlanta. For epic scene which depicts an inferno ripping through the Georgia city, new false facades were built in front of the producer David O. Selznick’s old abandoned sets, and Selznick himself operated the controls for the explosives that burned them down
Extras on set lining up to receive lunch during the shooting of one of the film’s scenes. In one scene producer Selznick insisted on no less than 2500 extras to lie in the dirt, portraying the dead and wounded Confederate soldiers toward the end of the war. But at the time, the Screen Actors Guild only had 1500 to offer and Selznick used 1000 dummies instead
Director Victor Fleming holding the novel ‘Gone With The Wind’ while in discussion with Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh. The film took several years to make as, producer David O. Selznick was determined to secure Gable for the role of Rhett Butler, while 1,400 women were interviewed for the part of Scarlett before Leigh was chosen
An editing department employee with rolls of film on the set of Gone With the Wind. At the 12th Academy Awards, Gone with the Wind set a record for Academy Award wins and nominations, winning in eight of the competitive categories it was nominated in, from a total of thirteen nominations
A technician on the set points to a board showing the different locations of the scenes in chronological order. Most of the filming was done on ‘the back forty’ of Selznick International studios with all the location scenes being photographed in California, mostly in Los Angeles County or neighboring Ventura County
Clark Gable and director Victor Fleming share a joke on set. Gable began his career as an extra in Hollywood silent films between 1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films. By the end of his career he was considered one of the most consistent box-office performers in history
A behind the scenes shot of a location being discussed. On the centre of the table sits a diorama of a town with a railway depot. Many of the photos were taken at the request of the film’s producer David Selznick and are not believed to even have been printed until the 1970s
The auction house is expecting ‘huge interest’ in the photos in light of it being a landmark anniversary for the film. Pictured: Cameraman Harry Wolf on the set
Victor Jory, Barbara O’Neil and Oscar Polk on set. Throughout his career Jory was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, like Jonas Wilkerson in Gone with the Wind
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