Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

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Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn
Rhett Butler (Clark Gable)
CharacterRhett Butler
ActorClark Gable
First used inGone with the Wind
Voted #1 in AFI's 100 Movie Quotes poll

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" is a line from the 1939 film Gone with the Wind starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. The line is spoken by Rhett Butler (Gable), as his last words to Scarlett O'Hara (Leigh), in response to her tearful question: "Where shall I go? What shall I do?"; Scarlett clings to the hope that she can win him back. This line is slightly different in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, from which the film is derived: "My dear, I don't give a damn."[1]

The line demonstrates that Rhett has finally given up on Scarlett and their tumultuous relationship. After more than a decade of fruitlessly seeking her love, he no longer cares what happens to her, even though she has finally admitted that she truly loves him.

Production code conflict

Prior to the film's release, censors objected to the use of the word "damn" in the film, a word that had been prohibited by the 1930

Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett's closing line. It is actually the second use of "damn" in the film. The term "damn Yankees" is heard in the parlor scene at Twelve Oaks.[3]

Legacy

This quotation was voted the number one movie line of all time by the American Film Institute in 2005.[4] However, Marlon Brando was critical of Gable's delivery of the line, commenting—in the audio recordings distributed by Listen to Me Marlon (2015)—that "When an actor takes a little too long as he's walking to the door, you know he's gonna stop and turn around and say, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.'"[5]

References

  1. ^ Dawn, Randee (December 14, 2014). "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a straw: The secret history of 'Gone With the Wind's' curse". Today. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  2. ISBN 0814751423
    .
  3. ^ Pocowatchit, Rod (November 8, 2014). "'Gone With the Wind' made history in more ways than one". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  4. ^ "AFI's 100 YEARS...100 MOVIE QUOTES". American Film Institute. June 21, 2005. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
  5. ^ Rich, Katey (June 8, 2015). "Why Marlon Brando Was Unlike Anyone Else, in Brando's Own Words". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 29, 2019.

External links

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