Lot #518

Margaret Mitchell Typed Letter Signed on Gone With the Wind Movie Stills: "Rhett playing poker with the whiskered Federal officers is especially fine"

UPDATE: This letter is not framed as originally stated in the lot description.

Description

Movie still production updates for the author of Gone With the Wind: "I think the background of the picture showing Rhett playing poker with the whiskered Federal officers is especially fine"

TLS signed “Margaret Mitchell Marsh,” one page, 7 x 11, personal letterhead, May 12, 1939. Letter to Marcella Rabwin, in full: “The stills you mailed me on May 8th have just arrived. Thank you so much for them. Of course I found them very exciting. I did not realize that the picture had progressed up to the point of the jail sequence and the Ku Klux raid. From this distance it would seem that the picture is going into the home stretch and it does not seem possible that your organization can have done so much in so short a time. I think the background of the picture showing Rhett playing poker with the whiskered Federal officers is especially fine. Of course I can't help hoping that he won all their chips in this game! I wish you would thank Mr. Selznick for me for his kindness in sending me these stills. My husband and I enjoy them so very much — probably no one in the world could be as interested as we are.” In fine condition. Marcella Rabwin (1908–1998) worked as the executive assistant of David O. Selznick on the production of Gone with the Wind.

Only a month after Mitchell published her bestseller in 1936, David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures purchased the film rights for $50,000. Casting took two years and filming finally began on January 26, 1939, with Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh as the film's two main characters, Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara. Mitchell, for her part, did not want an active role in the production of the film, but, as evidenced by this wonderful letter, she clearly enjoyed receiving updates from the set. The film premiered on December 15, 1939, in Atlanta, Georgia, with local crowds showing Mitchell and her film overwhelming amounts of support. In addition to a three-day parade, the Georgia governor declared December 15th a state holiday.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts Featuring Hollywood
• Dates: #697 - Ended August 14, 2024

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