Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", which MGM did on June 3, 1938, from Sam Goldwyn for $75,000. Hits in 1939 included "The Wizard of Oz", "Boys Town" and "Gone with the Wind", starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Butler. Although "Gone With the Wind" was produced by Selznick International Pictures, it was distributed by MGM as part of a deal for producer David O. Selznick, Mayer's son-in-law, to obtain the services of Gable as well as financial assistance to complete the film. While "The Wizard of Oz" was a critical hit, the film took 20
Gone with the Wind (film) posthumous Oscar winner and Selznick personally received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his career achievements. Black commentators criticised the film for its depiction of black people and as a glorification of slavery. Carlton Moss, a black dramatist, complained in an open letter that whereas "The Birth of a Nation" was a "frontal attack on American history and the Negro people", "Gone with the Wind" was a "rear attack on the same". He went on to dismiss it as a "nostalgic plea for sympathy for a still living cause of Southern reaction". Moss further criticized the stereotypical black characterizations,