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[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron
[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960). Screen-used Andiron.
Original screen-used figural lion andiron from the 1939 Civil War epic, sold together with an original period production still (SIP-108-P229; 10 x 8 inches) depicting Clark Gable seated by the fireplace with this andiron clearly visible. The lower portion of the andiron as shown in the image has been separated from the section on offer here and is no longer extant, but the very heavy piece is in otherwise fine condition with moderate wear and some rust from age and use. An uncommon item from an important part of film history. Together with an A1 reproduction poster for the classic film, one in a series of five posters included with The Times newspaper as part of a 2006 promotion with Turner Classic Movies.  Original folding creases, else in fine condition.  23.25 x 33.25 inches (59.4 x 84.1 cm.).

Provenance: Gift of GWTW costume designer Walter Plunkett to Paul McMahon, a critic, photographer and artist who worked for more than 13 years touring with Marlene Dietrich as the icon’s stage manager, announcer, dresser, secretary and escort, and later spent 25 years as an arts and entertainment reviewer and photographer with Gay Community News, Esplanade, Tommy’s Connection, The Mirror, Bay Windows and other publications.  He and his husband were close friends of Plunkett and built an important GWTW collection, including many original designs by Plunkett and (according to Plunkett) the most comprehensive collection of GWTW film stills ever assembled. 

In the film, after the war, Scarlett marries Rhett and they build themselves the biggest, glitziest mansion possible in Atlanta, known as the "Butler House." The present andirons can be prominently seen in the burning fireplace in Rhett's bedroom, throughout the scene with Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Hattie McDaniel as Mammy, in which they celebrate the birth of Bonnie Blue (approximately timing 2:53 - 2:55). Despite the fact Gable played a joke on her during the filming of this scene, putting real brandy in the decanter instead of iced tea, McDaniel and Gable were actually good friends. Gable later threatened to boycott the premiere in Atlanta because McDaniel was not invited, but later relented when she convinced him to go. 

Still the highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation, GWTW has enduringly shaped popular understanding of the Civil War and Reconstruction perhaps more than any other cultural artifact. Rightly criticized for its racist stereotypes and whitewashing of the horrors of slavery, "it also represents a belated reckoning with African-American criticism that started immediately after the 1936 publication of Margaret Mitchell’s novel — even if it was barely noted in the mainstream white press. Gone With the Wind is one of the mythic lightning strikes of American cultural history...The production of the movie version, including the casting of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, was covered breathlessly in the press...But the film put the nostalgic Lost Cause mythology — by that point, the dominant national view of the Civil War — front and center, starting with the opening title cards paying tribute to “a land of Cavaliers and Cotton fields,” a “pretty world where Gallantry took its last bow.” (Jennifer Schluesser, "The Long Battle Over ‘Gone With the Wind'" NYT 6/15/20)

[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960) Screen-used Andiron

Schubertiade Music and Arts
SKU: 23248
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[Gone with the Wind] Gable, Clark. (1901–1960). Screen-used Andiron.
Original screen-used figural lion andiron from the 1939 Civil War epic, sold together with an original period production still (SIP-108-P229; 10 x 8 inches) depicting Clark Gable seated by the fireplace with this andiron clearly visible. The lower portion of the andiron as shown in the image has been separated from the section on offer here and is no longer extant, but the very heavy piece is in otherwise fine condition with moderate wear and some rust from age and use. An uncommon item from an important part of film history. Together with an A1 reproduction poster for the classic film, one in a series of five posters included with The Times newspaper as part of a 2006 promotion with Turner Classic Movies.  Original folding creases, else in fine condition.  23.25 x 33.25 inches (59.4 x 84.1 cm.).

Provenance: Gift of GWTW costume designer Walter Plunkett to Paul McMahon, a critic, photographer and artist who worked for more than 13 years touring with Marlene Dietrich as the icon’s stage manager, announcer, dresser, secretary and escort, and later spent 25 years as an arts and entertainment reviewer and photographer with Gay Community News, Esplanade, Tommy’s Connection, The Mirror, Bay Windows and other publications.  He and his husband were close friends of Plunkett and built an important GWTW collection, including many original designs by Plunkett and (according to Plunkett) the most comprehensive collection of GWTW film stills ever assembled. 

In the film, after the war, Scarlett marries Rhett and they build themselves the biggest, glitziest mansion possible in Atlanta, known as the "Butler House." The present andirons can be prominently seen in the burning fireplace in Rhett's bedroom, throughout the scene with Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Hattie McDaniel as Mammy, in which they celebrate the birth of Bonnie Blue (approximately timing 2:53 - 2:55). Despite the fact Gable played a joke on her during the filming of this scene, putting real brandy in the decanter instead of iced tea, McDaniel and Gable were actually good friends. Gable later threatened to boycott the premiere in Atlanta because McDaniel was not invited, but later relented when she convinced him to go. 

Still the highest-grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation, GWTW has enduringly shaped popular understanding of the Civil War and Reconstruction perhaps more than any other cultural artifact. Rightly criticized for its racist stereotypes and whitewashing of the horrors of slavery, "it also represents a belated reckoning with African-American criticism that started immediately after the 1936 publication of Margaret Mitchell’s novel — even if it was barely noted in the mainstream white press. Gone With the Wind is one of the mythic lightning strikes of American cultural history...The production of the movie version, including the casting of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, was covered breathlessly in the press...But the film put the nostalgic Lost Cause mythology — by that point, the dominant national view of the Civil War — front and center, starting with the opening title cards paying tribute to “a land of Cavaliers and Cotton fields,” a “pretty world where Gallantry took its last bow.” (Jennifer Schluesser, "The Long Battle Over ‘Gone With the Wind'" NYT 6/15/20)

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