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Hays Office

#Franklymydear, we want your best line

September 12, 2014 - Alicia Dietrich

List of possible lines to substitute for, "Frankly. my dear, I don't give a damn" in "Gone With The Wind."

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

 

The iconic last words of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind almost weren’t, because use of the word “damn” in films was expressly prohibited in the Production Code. Anticipating objections by the Hays Office (the entity that governed moral code in film), producer David O. Selznick asked his story editor, Val Lewton, to compile a list of uses of the word “damn” in print media and, if possible, cinema.

 

A list of alternate lines was also compiled, including such gems as:

 

“Frankly, my dear, nothing could interest me less.”

 

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a hoot!”

 

“Frankly, my dear, my indifference is boundless.”

 

“Frankly, my dear, the whole thing is a stench in my nostrils.”

 

Selznick knew that the Code would have to be changed for him to be able to keep Rhett Butler’s final line, a change that could only be approved by the board of directors. Leading up to a decisive October 27, 1939, meeting, Selznick and business partner Jock Whitney lobbied board members to change the Code. Although deliberations were described as “very stormy,” Selznick prevailed, and the Production Code was amended to make future use of the word “damn” discretionary.

 

Although Selznick promised to “put up a strong fight for the line,” he took Lewton’s precautionary advice to film the scene twice, once as written, and a second time substituting “Frankly, my dear, I don’t care.”

 

What would you have suggested as an alternate line? Give us your best family- and censor-friendly versions of the line via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #franklymydear.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Film Tagged With: #franklymydear, censorship, David O. Selznick, Gone with the Wind, Hays Office, Jock Whitney, Production Code, The Making of Gone With The Wind, Val Lewton

75 Days. 75 Years: How one of Hollywood’s most famous lines was retained

November 8, 2013 - Jennifer Tisdale

Memo from David O. Selznick regarding the line “Frankly, My Dear. . .” from Gone With The Wind, October 20, 1939.

For 75 days, the Harry Ransom Center is raising funds for its 2014 exhibition The Making of Gone With The Wind. Opening on September 9, 2014, The Making of Gone With The Wind will reveal stories about the making of this quintessential film from Hollywood’s Golden Age and illustrate why it remains influential and controversial 75 years after it was released.

 

Items from film producer David O. Selznick’s archive provide a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the film. Donations will help support outreach, additional exhibition tours, a published exhibition catalog, and complimentary programming and presentations.

 

Film producer David O. Selznick’s 1939 epic film Gone With The Wind was embroiled in controversy before a single frame was shot. There were a range of issues on and off the set, including Selznick’s battle with the Hays Office, which was the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America’s office charged with production code. Selznick’s 1939 memo reveals his effort to retain the famous line in the film, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

 

Selznick states that the omission of the line “spoils the punch at the end of the picture, and on our very fade-out gives an impression of unfaithfulness after three hours and forty-five minutes of extreme fidelity to Miss Mitchell’s work.”

 

He notes that preview audiences are also stumped at the line’s omission, one that “forever establishes the future relationship between Scarlett and Rhett.”

 

The Making of Gone With The Wind will include over 300 original items from the Selznick archive housed at the Ransom Center, including photographs, storyboards, correspondence, production records, audition footage, and fan mail. The exhibition will also feature gowns worn by Vivien Leigh as the beautiful and ambitious Scarlett O’Hara. The newly conserved costumes will be displayed together for the first time in more than 25 years.

 

Click on thumbnails to view larger images.

 

Memo from David O. Selznick regarding the line “Frankly, My Dear. . .” from Gone With The Wind, October 20, 1939.
Memo from David O. Selznick regarding the line “Frankly, My Dear. . .” from Gone With The Wind, October 20, 1939.
Memo from David O. Selznick regarding the line “Frankly, My Dear. . .” from Gone With The Wind, October 20, 1939.
Memo from David O. Selznick regarding the line “Frankly, My Dear. . .” from Gone With The Wind, October 20, 1939.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Film Tagged With: David O. Selznick, Gone with the Wind, Hays Office, Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Scarlett O'Hara, The Making of Gone With The Wind, Vivien Leigh

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