2. Gone With The Wind (1939)
Yes, I know that
Gone with the Wind is a cornerstone of American cinema, and yes, I know in most versions it contains a 20-minute intermission. But even so, if you have 220 minutes to play with, along with three directors and a budget second only to 1925's
Ben-Hur, you'd better make something that justifies all these aspects. In the end,
Gone with the Wind only really fulfils on two of them: it's a ravishing film to look at, and you can't see the joins between the three men at the helm, but there's still no need for it be this long. The central theme of both the film and Margaret Mitchell's novel is the disappearance of chivalry from modern society. The bygone practice of masters and companions going through life together in loyalty is held up as an ideal to which the characters aspire; Scarlett, for example, endures multiple unhappy marriages out of respect for both Rhett and Ashley. This is all well and good, and you'd need a film of a certain length to convey the passing of so many years of a relationship. But you certainly don't need four hours to convey this theme, particularly when aspects of the romances depicting it are so completely trite. As with
The Deer Hunter, there are many other things about
Gone with the Wind which could and should be discussed. We ought to talk about its abysmal and racist depiction of black people, or the underhand depiction of marital rape in the early encounter between Rhett and Scarlett. But at the very least, its reputation should be tempered by the admission that it could have told its story in a much shorter time. It is a film that everyone should see once, but probably only once.