美文欣赏-Romance Behind Gone With The Wind

11 Romance Behind Gone With The Wind

In 1938, Photo Play Magazine listed Gable and 1)Lombard among Hollywood’s unmarried husbands and wives, along with Gilbert Roland and Constance Spinet¹ and Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwick. The 2)revelation threatened to 3)cheat Gable of the role of his career - Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, produced by one of Lombard’s old lovers, David O. Selznick.

Gable was a 4)unanimous choice for the part. He immediately launched proceedings² to divorce Lana. He also went house hunting with Lombard. They bought a 5)ranch at Ensigne, the home of director Raoul Walsh, which was only eight miles from Hollywood. Lombard paid for most of it.

While the couple were looking for a home, the search for Gone With The Wind’s Scarlet³ O’Hara was reaching a fever pitch. Charley Chaplin’s wife, Paulette Govdarv, was one of the many leading ladies who tested for the part.

Paulette Govdarv (Film Lines): While Charles Hamilton, you handsome old thing you. Did you think it was kind of you to bring this good-looking brother of yours down here to break our poor civil country heart?...

The filming had already been done. The huge set originally built for King Kong was going up in flames 6)standing in for a burning Atlanta. Paulette Govdarv’s spirited 7)impersonation of a tempestuous⁴ southern Belle⁵ was in vain, for at this moment, so legend has it, David O. Selznick first set eyes on his Scarlet - the British actress Vivien Leigh.

The fact that Leigh and her lover, Lawrence Oliver, shared an agent Miron Selznick, who just happened to be David Selznick’s brother might also have had something to do with it. But Hollywood has never let facts interfere⁶ with the legend.

Thus it was that two married stars, Gable and Leigh, both of whom were having affairs with other stars, were set to make movie history in Gone With The Wind. In March 1939, Gable’s divorce went through. At the end of the month he married Lombard in secret, in the tiny Arizona town of Kingbern.

Although Gone with The Wind had given Gable the defining role of his career, he did not want to attend the film’s spectacular 8)premier in Atlanta. From the moment the search for Scarlet had been triumphantly⁷ concluded, Gable had been overshadowed by Vivian Leigh. An essentially⁸ selfish man, Gable did not want to play second 9)fiddle in Atlanta to the beautiful British star who flew in with Selznick and Olivia Deharrold.

Lombard made her husband see sense and they arrived separately for one of the most remarkable⁹ events in movie history. Atlanta’s population of 300,000 had swollen¹⁰ to over a million. The stars drove through streets heaving with frantic¹¹ fans. Gable chose to leave the 10)limelight to Vivian Leigh.

Vivian Leigh: Ladies and gentleman, I’ve spent quite a good deal of my time on Fleight Street this year. And now that I’m here with you. It’s just as if I’ll coming home. And the warmth and kindness of your wonderful welcome made it the happiest homecoming I could possibly imagine. I greet you and I want to thank you with all my heart.

1、Lombard 朗巴德，美国四十年代著名女演员兼导演

2、revelation n. 揭露，泄露

3、cheat of 骗取，诈取

4、unanimous a. 意见统一的

5、ranch n. 大农场

6、stand in for 取而代之，替代

7、impersonation n. 表演，模拟

8、premier n. 首映

9、fiddle n.（俗）小提琴

10、limelight n. 聚光灯

11、《乱世佳人》背后的恋情

1938年，《摄影》杂志披露了盖博和朗巴德的婚外恋，同时被披露的还有吉尔伯特•罗兰和康丝坦斯•斯波莱特，罗伯特•泰勒和巴巴拉•斯坦威克。这次曝光直接威胁到盖博的成名角色--《乱世佳人》男主角白瑞德，该片由朗巴德的老情人大卫•奥•塞尔尼克执导。

大家一致推举盖博扮演白瑞德，盖博随后立即着手办理同伊拉娜的离婚，与此同时，他和朗巴德一起寻找住房。在恩塞他们买下了一座大农庄，这里原先是导演拉乌夫•沃尔施的家。此处距离好莱坞只有八英里。朗巴德支付了大部分房款。

就在他们找房的同时，寻找《乱世佳人》女主角斯佳丽的扮演者也到了白热化的程度，查理•卓别林的夫人波莱特•古塔德也是参加角逐的众多首选人之一。

波莱特•古塔德（电影对白）：查尔斯•汉密尔顿，你还是那么潇洒，你觉得你带这么个英俊小伙子来伤我这纯朴乡村姑娘的心好吗？

影片拍摄就绪。原先为《金刚》而建的巨大的场景被点燃，象征着熊熊大火中的亚特兰大城。尽管波莱特•古塔德对扮演不安分的南方美女充满了激情，然而终究落选。据说此时，大卫•奥•塞尔尼克已第一次相中了他的斯佳丽--来自英国的演员费雯丽。

实际情况是费雯丽和情人劳伦斯•奥利弗有一个经纪人，叫米昂•塞尔尼克，碰巧是大卫•塞尔尼克的弟弟。也许是他促成了费雯丽扮演斯佳丽这个角色，但是好莱坞从来不会让事实冲淡传奇。

于是盖博和费雯丽这两位虽已结婚但又与其他影星绯闻不断的人物开始将《乱世佳人》搬上银幕，使之成为不朽名片。1939年3月，盖博办妥离婚，月底与朗巴德在亚利桑那州秘密结婚。

尽管《乱世佳人》为盖博赢得一世英名，他却不愿意参加在亚特兰大举行的令人瞩目的电影首映式。自从寻找斯佳丽这一行动胜利告终后，费雯丽就大出风头，让盖博黯然失色。非常自私的盖博不愿再在亚特兰大充当费雯丽的配角。而此时，这位美丽的英国影星正同塞尔尼克和奥利维亚德•哈罗德一起飞往亚特兰大。

在朗巴德的劝说下，盖博恢复了理智。两人先后来到亚特兰大，参加并目睹了电影史上最引人注目的一幕。亚特兰大的人口从30万激增到100万。影星们驾车在街道上驶过，疯狂的影迷们狂呼高喊。盖博选择了把聚光灯的焦点让给费雯丽。

费雯丽：女士们，先生们，今年我大部分时间在舰队街度过。此时与大家相聚在一起，犹如回到家里。你们热情友好而又精彩的欢迎让我觉得这是最令人愉快的回家的感觉。我也欢迎大家，衷心感谢你们。

1 spinet   

n.小型立式钢琴

参考例句：

• One afternoon,when I was better,I played the spinet.有天下午，我好了一点时，便弹奏钢琴。
• The spinet was too big for me to play.钢琴太大了不适合我弹。

2 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

3 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

4 tempestuous   

adj.狂暴的

参考例句：

• She burst into a tempestuous fit of anger.她勃然大怒。
• Dark and tempestuous was night.夜色深沉，狂风肆虐，暴雨倾盆。

5 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

6 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

7 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

11 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。