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MARIETTA, Ga. Pop quiz for all the Windies out there.
Windies, my dear, are faithful fans of Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind," the book and the movie and everything in between (like "birthin' babies" and such). In case you are a newbie to the planet, the 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the most famous story ever about life before, during and after the Civil War, is one of the most widely read books in America.
Then there's the beloved 1939 movie starring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. As a Windie, I've read the book no fewer than 10 times. The movie? All the way through, I've seen it at least that many, bits and pieces of it more times than that. It's what a Windie does.
The movie premiered Dec. 15, 1939, at Atlanta's Loew's Grand Theater.
If you're a true Windie, or even just a fan of "GWTW," or just occasionally need a Scarlett and Rhett fix, then a visit to the Marietta Gone With the Wind Museum: Scarlett on the Square is in order.
The museum, in an 1875 former cotton warehouse, is a veritable circus of "GWTW" and Margaret Mitchell memorabilia from the private collection of Dr. Christopher Sullivan of Akron, Ohio. Sullivan began amassing these items from the time he was a teenager. Now on display are foreign editions of the book, original scripts and costume pieces, movie posters from around the globe and in every language, autographed copies of the book that belonged to Mitchell, and the piece de resistance - the original Bengaline honeymoon gown that is one of only eight original costumes known to exist.
There's more than nostalgia and memorabilia here. Not only will you feel that you have been personally introduced to all the characters with all the items on display, but also the movie runs continuously throughout the day. Windie or not, I have to say firsthand that's it's nearly impossible to leave the gift shop without picking up some sort of trinket or even a copy of the flaming embrace poster.
Just don't go expecting Tara, because Tara it's not. It is simply an extraordinary museum devoted to an extraordinary writer, book and movie.
'Re-premiere' next weekend
With the 70th anniversary of the premiere of the movie a month away, the museum - in partnership with Marietta's historic Strand Theatre, Warner Home Video and Turner Classic Movies, and with a little help from the Marietta Welcome Center & Visitor's Bureau - has scheduled a "re-premiere" of "GWTW" for Friday and Saturday. The ticket-only events include museum events and a "GWTW" authors Q&A session at the Strand with a host of writers. They include Herb Bridges, who wrote, among other books, "Gone With the Wind - The Definitive Illustrated History of the Book, the Movie and the Legend"; Cammie King Conlon, who played Bonnie Blue Butler in the movie and who penned "Bonnie Blue Butler: A Gone With the Wind Memoir"; and Mollie Haskell, who wrote "Frankly, My Dear: Gone With the Wind Revisited."
Also at the Strand during the event is an evening with a few remaining cast members - including Conlon, Ann Rutherford (Carreen O'Hara), Mickey Kuhn (Beau Wilkes), Mary Anderson (Maybelle Merriwether) and Patrick Curtis (Baby Beau). Matinee and evening showings of the movie will be at the Strand.
Can't get tickets today? Don't worry. There's always tomorrow for the museum. After all, tomorrow is another day.
