The Scarlett O'Hara War

The Scarlett O'Hara War is a 1980 American made-for-television drama film directed by John Erman. It is based on the 1979 novel Moviola by Garson Kanin. Set in late 1930s Hollywood, it is about the search for the actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in the much anticipated film adaptation of Gone with the Wind (1939). This film premiered as the finale of a three-night TV miniseries on NBC called Moviola: A Hollywood Saga. Plot Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind is published in 1936 and is an instant nationwide sensation. The movie rights are up for grabs, and every studio in Hollywood wants it. While having lunch at the MGM dining room, Louis B. Mayer is talking to his son-in-law David O. Selznick about the film rights. In time, Selznick establishes his own production company, Selznick International Pictures, and wants his studio to have a film that will cement both its fame and his. Back at MGM, Joan Crawford is negotiating the idea of her portraying the acclaimed heroine, even getting Selznick to come back to her place to spend the night to "seal the deal." However, other actresses must be tested in order to expand possibilities. One of the first to do this is Paulette Goddard and her screen test is the most praised out of them all. Tallulah Bankhead comes down from New York City and auditions for the role and although she herself is a Southerner who could easily play the part, Selznick decides to give her more tests and seek other candidates. But when Louella Parsons gets wind of this, she misinforms her radio audience that Tallulah has gotten the part, thanks to the influential power of her father William Brockman Bankhead, who at the time was the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. When this is announced, Joan Crawford throws her radio at a mirror and Paulette makes a beeline to the study of her lover, Charles Chaplin, announcing that Tallulah has gotten the part. After this error has been cleared and the actresses have been reassured that the role is still up for grabs, the casting process continues. One day while Clark Gable and Myron Selznick are hunting, Gable mentions that he is being considered for the role of Rhett Butler. Fleming agrees that Gable would be an appropriate choice but Gable is uncertain about accepting the role because the film is to be directed by George Cukor, often considered "a woman's director". Gable first tries to withdraw from the very idea but later goes forth with the role after Louis B.