Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn "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 also partially spoken by Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone with the Wind", published in 1936, from which the film is derived.
Gone with the Wind (film) Cukor, who had been hired to direct, but she was vetoed by Selznick who felt she was not right for the part. Many famous—or soon-to-be-famous—actresses were considered, but only thirty-one women were actually screen-tested for Scarlett including Ardis Ankerson, Jean Arthur, Tallulah Bankhead, Diana Barrymore, Joan Bennett, Nancy Coleman, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew (as Terry Ray), Paulette Goddard, Susan Hayward (under her real name of Edythe Marrenner), Vivien Leigh, Anita Louise, Haila Stoddard, Margaret Tallichet, Lana Turner and Linda Watkins. Although Margaret Mitchell refused to publicly name her choice, the actress who came closest to winning her approval was Miriam