There is no Leap Day this year but there was in 1940, when Gone with the Wind emerged on the night of February 29th as the big winner at the 12th Academy Awards, setting a record at the time by taking home eight competitive Oscars (plus two honorary Oscars), including Best Picture The ceremony was held at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel, one of LA’s premiere night spots, with Bob Hope hosting for the first of his 19 turns at the helm. Over the years, the Oscar ceremony has landed mostly between mid- February and early April, although this year, the pandemic has pushed it back to April 25th, the latest date in Oscar history. In some quarters, the reputation of David O. Selznick’s Gone with the Wind has been tarnished by its nostalgic portrayal of the ante-bellum South, which has fallen out of step with modern sensibilities. However, in 1939 and for many decades to follow, Gone with the Wind was celebrated as one of Hollywood’s finest jewels. The epic historical romance was based on Margaret Mitchell’s best-selling 1936 novel, itself one of the most successful books in history with one million copies sold in its first six months. Gone with the Wind was the ultimate event film, billed as “The greatest screen entertainment of all time!” Even the film’s production was followed breathlessly, with Selznick conducting a much-publicized nationwide search to cast the perfect actress to play Scarlett O’Hara, opposite Clark Gable’s Rhett Butler. Vivien Leigh was selected, of course, going on to win an Oscar for Best Actress that night at the Cocoanut Grove, 81 years ago.
