in the day ... 29th february 1940 (and a happy leap year)

A snippet of stuff from the past. A little jaunt down memory lane if you like. 

The older I get the more I hear myself saying that awful phrase, ‘back in the day’. When I used to hear an ‘oldie’ say it I would think ... ‘Ah shush about the old days already. Focus on today, mate’. Funny thing is that nowadays I hear myself saying it more & more. C’est la vie!

in the day ... on 29th February 1940 'the best movie ever made' was up for 13 Oscars 

What's your pick for the best movie ever made?

Try to be objective. It's hard with stuff like movies and music and art. But if you sit back and think, 'Ok, what's the best movie that's ever been made?' and you try to remove personal opinion like 'Brad Pitt's hot', 'I didn't mind Sharon Stone crossing her legs that time' or 'those Ewoks were kinda cute', what movie would you choose?

It's nearly impossible to answer, but then most really tough questions are. 'Is there a god?', 'is there life on other planets?', 'what's the point of Celebrity Big Brother?' are big philosophical conundrums that don't really have an answer, yet people are only too happy to offer you an opinion.

My favourite film is Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. 

It's a cracker. It's fast, funny, violent (not violent as in sadistic,violent in a silly way), full of great characters, has a great script ... and it has Vinnie Jones in it.  If you didn't already know, Vinnie Jones played for Wimbledon FC, a rather unglamorous football club that managed a few good years in the top flight in the 1980's. Back in the day he was the quintessential 'hardman' footballer. In the movie he pretty much plays himself.

The movie is Guy Ritchie at his very best. After Lock, Stock he did Snatch (a really good movie too) but then it was all downhill. He made Swept Away and cast his famous missus (now ex) in the lead role. Big mistake. Huge. It was dreadful, from start to finish. So dreadful in fact that it swept away a total of 5 Razzies - including Worst Movie, Worst Actress (Madge) and Worst Director (Ritchie). I kinda went off Ritchie after that. He was pipped this year in the most Razzies stakes by Adam Sandler. He managed 11.

But still, hats off to Mr Ritchie. He's made some shockers, but he also made my favourite movie.

But a favourite movie isn't necessarily the best movie ever made. Not by a long shot. Lock, Stock is good ... but it's not THAT good. It's not 'best movie ever made' good.

So, without further gibber-jabber, I'm proud to announce that I think the best movie ever made is ...

(insert dramatic drum roll here)

Gone with the Wind

I know. It's hardly a revolutionary pick. It's not 'off the wall'. It's not some obscure art house movie that no-one's ever heard of, or some French movie made on a video cam. Far from it. The Harris Interactive Survey and The Best In Film survey both voted GwtW their best movie ever. It beat off other crackers like Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Star Wars, Schindler's List and The Shawshank Redemption.  I think that, all things considered, it's right up there; right up in the no. 1 spot. Numero uno.

It was released in 1939. And it was huge. Massive. Literally. It lasted a whopping 3hrs 45mins and even included a fifteen-minute break. It was also the highest grossing film ever made - a record that it held until The Sound of Music was released in 1966. After adjusting for inflation GwtW remains the highest grossing film of all time.

Even before the film was made the book was a huge hit. It won Margaret Mitchell a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and then International Pictures paid $50,000 for the movie rghts. A record in the day. Talking of records, Clark Gable was paid the equivalent of $20million to play Rhett Butler. The entire production cost the studio almost $4million. In 1939! That's close to $100million in today's cash.

& then there is the famous line - the most famous of all lines - right at the end of the movie. Rhett has finally had enough of Scarlett's shenanigans. She pleads with him to stay, asking what she will possibly do with out him. Rhett, exhausted, exasperated, and pretty much over the spoilt brat says, 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn' and he walks away. 


The studio were fined $5000 for using the word 'damn'. Times have changed a bit since then!

I'm not sure what you're up to this weekend. If you're at a loose end for four hours and you fancy renting a movie you could do worse than rent Gone with the Wind. It's a bit long, but it's a classic. 


Of course, if you fancy something a little shorter, less classic and more contemporary - something with a bit more edge and with Vinnie Jones - then give Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels a nudge. Either way you won't regret it.

... on 29th February 1940, at the 12th Academy Awards (yep, in 1940 they held the Oscars on the extra day in a leap year), Gone with the Wind was nominated for 13 of the 17 Oscars on offer. It won a whopping eight & was later awarded two additional 'honorary Oscars'. 

It won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress (Vivien Lee). The $20million man, Clark Gable, didn't win. He was pipped for Best Actor by Robert Donay in Goodbye, My Chips. The Wizard of Oz won a few Oscars too. 


1939 was a pretty good year at the movies!

Have a great week. Pip pip.

The very last word must, of course, go to Rhett Butler ... 'You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how'.

Images from rajubutt.com & merely.com