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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Gone With The Wind's Connection to the San Fernando Valley

Did you know that some of the scenes in Gone with the Wind were filmed in the San Fernando Valley?

“Gerald O’Hara’s last ride” was filmed in 3 locations including West Hills, Simi Valley & Lasky Mesa in Calabasas, California (between Agoura and Woodland Hills).

The infamous “I’ll never be hungry again” scene was shot one early morning at Lasky Mesa.

Gone with the Wind Scene at Lasky Mesa
Lasky Mesa 2017 Photo by Matt Jaffe

Museum President Lee Davis mentioned that Dame Olivia de Havilland was born on July 1, 1916, in the July eNewsletter (2017). One of eNewsletter readers reminded The Museum that Olivia de Havilland is one of the few still living cast members of the iconic Gone with the Wind film.
Patrick Curtis as "Baby Beau" Wilkes with Olivia De Havilland
   
Another living cast member is Patrick Curtis. He once wrote The Museum and stated, "I played 'Baby Beau Wilkes' the son of Melanie & Ashley Wilkes (Olivia De Havilland, & Leslie Howard)." Curtis was born and lived in the San Fernando Valley. He attended Saint Charles Borromeo School in North Hollywood from 1945-1953. In 1957, he graduated from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks.

Ric Holt as "Toddler" Beau Wilkes, with Olivia De Havilland

Ric Holt also portrayed the Beau Wilkes as a toddler. Holt retold the story of how he got the role to The Seattle Times, he was in his mother's arms on the set of one of his brother's movie when Gone With The Wind author Margaret Mitchell walked by and noticed him.
" 'That's him!' My mom said, 'That's who? And she said, 'Baby Beau." And that's how I got it." - Ric Holt (Interview with The Seattle Times).

Later Holt went on to attended Carpenter Avenue Elementary in Studio City and North Hollywood Junior High School. He graduated from North Hollywood High School in 1956. Sadly, Holt passed away in 2015.
Another cast member that spent many years living in the San Fernando Valley was Clark Gable. In 1939, Clark Gable who played "Rhett Butler" in Gone With The Wind purchased a 20-acre ranch in Encino and lived on the property until his death in 1960. 

















Comment below if you are a Gone With The Wind fan and have more fun facts to share.

4 comments:

Javier said...

Only one thing 'wrong' with Mr. Ric Holt's anecdote (which is an anecdote that others may have told him, since he was a baby then) Margaret Mitchell could not possibly have walked by and spotted him and said "That's him!" Because Margaret Mitchell never ever set foot in California at all. As in, she never did. She never agreed to come to California to be a part of the production and advice Selznick publicly, nor to be under Salary to him. And she never set foot in California then or afterwards, up until she died in 1949. It is possible that Sue Myrick, (Mitchell's 'Ambassador' on the set, and --) the actors' Southern Dialogue Coach may have spotted a photo of little Ric Holt -- but Mitchell herself was not there.

Mike M said...

The scenes of Scarlett and her sisters picking cotton were also shot in the general area of Lasky Mesa which is now preserved within Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, a 5600 acre park. Likewise, the scene of the Confederate soldiers returning home down a dirt road. Scarlett's Walk, as it was called, took place along Triunfo Creek off of Kanan Road. Personally confirmed in the production records in the David O. Selznick Collection at the University of Texas at Austin and backed up by GWTW photos.

Truth Detective said...

Patrick Curtis was Not in Gone With The Wind!~. Over the years, Curtis has made several movie association claims : Young Nicky in The Thin Man, Song of The South, and "every Tony Curtis film made at Universal"...ALL LIES! Several years ago, in a letter to noted GWTW Collector James L. Tumblin , Olivia deHavilland called Curtis a "Rank Imposter", and Ann Rutherford shared tHAT "...He's (CURTIS) is a phony as a 3 Dollar Bill"! He first approached deHavilland in Paris to ask that she "officiate" at his wedding to Raquel Welch. And while deHavilland declined, Curtis went ahead anyway and claimed that deHavilland had "officiated". Years later, Curtis asked deHavilland to "sponsor" his "star" on a Palm Springs "Walk of Fame". Again, she declined, but Curtis STILL claims that she participated in his self-bought, D List "honor". Fact is, Curtis has NEVER gotten over the fact that Welch divorced him and he still seeks the "limelight" via his countless, yet easily disproven, lies.

Truth Detective said...

Patrick Curtis was Not in Gone With The Wind!~. Over the years, Curtis has made several movie association claims : Young Nicky in The Thin Man, Song of The South, and "every Tony Curtis film made at Universal"...ALL LIES! Several years ago, in a letter to noted GWTW Collector James L. Tumblin , Olivia deHavilland called Curtis a "Rank Imposter", and Ann Rutherford shared tHAT "...He's (CURTIS) is a phony as a 3 Dollar Bill"! He first approached deHavilland in Paris to ask that she "officiate" at his wedding to Raquel Welch. And while deHavilland declined, Curtis went ahead anyway and claimed that deHavilland had "officiated". Years later, Curtis asked deHavilland to "sponsor" his "star" on a Palm Springs "Walk of Fame". Again, she declined, but Curtis STILL claims that she participated in his self-bought, D List "honor". Fact is, Curtis has NEVER gotten over the fact that Welch divorced him and he still seeks the "limelight" via his countless, yet easily disproven, lies.