Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, this gorgeous book by Steve Wilson showcases more than 600 items from producer David O. Selznick's archives.
These items, also on exhibit at the Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin (where Wilson is curator of the film collection), include storyboards, costume sketches, stills from the screen tests of the top contenders for Scarlett O'Hara, on-set photos and confidential memos from the creative minds behind the movie.
Among the most fascinating artifacts is the seven-page edict from the Hays Office (Hollywood's censors), with notes about which elements were objectionable (e.g., painful childbirth, use of the N word by "white people") and needed to be toned down or eliminated. Fans of the classic film will see it again with new eyes after reading this book, and those who haven't experienced it will want to settle in for a viewing. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd