Gone with the Wind (film) task ... and Howard's first submission was far too long, and would have required at least six hours of film; ... [producer] Selznick wanted Howard to remain on the set to make revisions ... but Howard refused to leave New England [and] as a result, revisions were handled by a host of local writers". Selznick dismissed director George Cukor three weeks into filming and sought out Victor Fleming, who was directing "The Wizard of Oz" at the time. Fleming was dissatisfied with the script, so Selznick brought in famed writer Ben Hecht to rewrite the entire screenplay within five days.
Gone with the Wind (novel) is "profoundly racist and profoundly wrong." In 1984, an alderman in Waukegan, Illinois, challenged the book's inclusion on the reading list of the Waukegan School District on the grounds of "racism" and "unacceptable language." He objected to the frequent use of the racial slur "nigger." He also objected to several other books: "The Nigger of the 'Narcissus'", "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" for the same reason. In 1937, Margaret Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for "Gone with the Wind" and the second annual National Book Award from the American Booksellers Association. It is ranked as