'Gone With the Wind' at 75 Still King of Hollywood Blockbusters

"Gone With the Wind," still king of the Hollywood blockbusters, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this week, quietly, but with at least one small gathering for the movie's fans.

Olivia de Havilland, who played in the lavish 1940 film, is 98 and one of the handful of its stars still alive, according to the Washington Post, and Mickey Kuhn is another.

Kuhn, who is now 82,  played 7-year-old Beau Wilkes in the movie and was invited to a gathering for movie fans in Gadsden, Alabama, noted the Post.

"It doesn't mean a hill of beans to a lot of people, but to me it does," Kuhn said about his small role in the film, according to the Post.

De Havilland lives in Paris and Kuhn told the Post that he visited her recently.

"She doesn’t like to talk too much about the movie," said Kuhn. "She likes to talk about current events."

Compared to today's blockbusters, the Los Angeles Times noted,  "Gone With the Wind" more than holds its own. When adjusted for inflation, the four-hour movie pulled in what would have been today $1.6 billion at the box office.

That makes the movie still king of the hill, ahead of "Star Wars" ($1.14 billion adjusted), "Sound of Music" ($1.156 billion), "E.T.: The Extra-Terrrestrial" ($1.151 billion) and "Titanic" ($1.10 billion), according to Box Office Mojo. Of today's hits, "Avatar" only ranked No. 14 ($789 million) and "Marvel's The Avengers" No. 27 ($623 million) on the adjusted list, noted the website.

While many who remember the film will do so in celebration, there are some who are critical of the movie because of its portrayal of African Americans, including Kelly Faircloth of the website Jezebel.

"Given that 'Gone With the Wind' is, for all its immense glamor, is a mouldering pile of racist Lost Cause nonsense, this is probably for the best," Faircloth wrote about the movie's low key celebration. "Before you challenge this claim, please sit down and watch some clips on YouTube. Literally any portrayal of an African American will do …"

Hattie McDaniel became the first black to win a best supporting actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a house servant in the movie.

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