Marietta swept up with ‘Gone with the Wind’
By Ross Williams
rwilliams@mdjonline.com
Though Marietta didn’t
figure in the Margaret Mitchell
classic novel “Gone with the
Wind,” the city has become a
mecca for fans of the classic
film and novel.
At the center of the fandom
is the Marietta Gone with the
Wind Museum, located in
Brumby Hall at 472 Powder
Springs St. SW near the Marietta
Square.
2019 marked the 80th
anniversary of the classic
film’s release, and the museum
celebrated big time with panels,
trivia and more, culminating in
a group photo shoot including
plenty of Southern belles and
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their dashing beaus decked out
in intricate replica costumes.
When it’s not hosting special
events, the museum offers plenty
of artifacts from the novel
and film, and in 2019 saw the
museum pick up a real treasure
— set pieces from the iconic
Tara plantation that were part
of the film.
Museum Director Connie
Sutherland said the collection,
which includes shutters and
window frames shown in iconic
scenes from the film, had
been stored for years in a barn
on the Lovejoy family farm
of the late Georgia First Lady
Betty Talmage.
Sutherland said Tara was
originally constructed at
Selznick International Studios’
Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum director Connie Sutherland
shows off one of the museum’s prize artifacts, a dress worn by
Vivien Leigh in the film.
Jimmie Munn, dressed as Scarlett O’Hara, peruses the merchandise
at the Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum’s gift shop. Munn is
the museum’s official Scarlett O’Hara.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
“Forty Acres” production lot
in Culver City, California.
Following the conclusion of
filming, the Tara set remained
standing for 20 years until
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s
Desilu Productions, then
owner of the lot, had it dismantled
in the spring of 1959.
Tara was removed to be
reconstructed on 300 acres of
forested land in north Georgia,
but those plans did not
pan out, and the Tara facade
remained in a storage barn
until 1979.
That’s when Talmadge
purchased it with the
intent of restoring it to its
former glory.
For more information
on the Gone with the
Wind Museum, visit www.
gwtwmarietta.com.
/gwtwmarietta.com
link
/www.hunthousemarietta.com