ATLANTA (AP) β Seventy-five years after the premiere of the movie “Gone with the Wind,” research is shedding light on the racial tensions that existed at the time between the producer and city of Atlanta officials.
Emory University film studies professor Matthew Bernstein has conducted extensive research into the archives of the film’s producer, David O. Selznick. His findings illustrate some of Selznick’s concerns with the city’s treatment of the film’s black stars at the Dec. 15, 1939 premiere.
Bernstein says Selznick was upset that Hattie McDaniel wouldn’t be invited to the Atlanta premiere and argued that she should be allowed. McDaniel played the character, Mammy, and went on to become the first black actor to receive an Academy Award for her performance as Best Supporting Actress in 1940.
