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Court rules against film sequel to ‘Gone With The Wind’
A federal appeals court has honored
the wish of the late author Margaret
Mitchell by ordering that MGM—
United Artists Entertainment Co.
cannot film a sequel to the Civil War
saga “Gone With The Wind.”
In a ruling Friday, the 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said the
subject of a sequel was never
broached in contract negotiations
with the author in 1936 or with her /
estate in 1961.
The court said the filmmakers
knew at that later date that Stephens I
Mitchell, Ms. Mitchell’s brother, did !
not intend to grant sequel rights.
MGM spokesman Art Rockwell in
Los Angeles said the film company i
had no comment on the ruling Gary
Hatch, an attorney representing
Trust Company Bank, which is exec
utor of the Mitchell estate, was out of'
town Friday and could not be reached ■
for comment.
The Uth Circuit ruling said that
MGM and its predecessor, Selznick
International Pictures Inc., had been
trying to arrange for a sequel to
“Gone With The Wind” since before
the original film was made.
The contract to film Ms. Mitchell’s
novel was signed in 1936 and the
blockbuster movie premiered in 1939.
But in 1938 producer David 0. Selz
nick began a series of attempts to
persuade Ms. Mitchell either to write
a sequel or to allow someone else to
do it, the court said. ,
The author repeatedly rebuffed the'
Humane Society
plans flea market
The Third Annual Forsyth County
Humane Society Flea Market and
Auction will be held Saturday, Oct. 12
at the old gym in Cumming. The flea
market starts at 2 p.m. and the auc
tion at 7 p.m.
The Humane Society will be accept
ing items for donation on Friday, Oct.
11 between 6-9 p.m. at the old gym. No
clothing please.
The gym is located on School Street
in Cumming.
For more information contact
Betty at 887-3382 or Donna at 887-6297.
Church group
slates yard sale
The Young Married People’s Class
at Silver Shoals Baptist Church will
hold a yard sale Friday and Satur
day, Oct. 4 and 5, at Hammond’s
Crossing (intersection of Ga. high
ways 306 and 369).
Hours for the yard sale will be from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, and from 7
a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Sausage
biscuits will be sold on Saturday.
Proceeds will be used to help a
needy family at Christmas.
Johnny Eubanks
to be ordained
Johnny Eubanks, of Cumming, will
be ordained for the full work of the
ministry on Sunday at Daves Creek
Baptist Church. The public is invited
to attend.
Daves Creek Baptist Church is lo
cated about two miles south of Ga. 20
(Buford Highway) on Old Atlanta
Road. The ordination service will
begin at 2:30 p.m.
Midway PTA
plans meeting
The Midway Elementary PTA will
meet Tuesday, Oct. lat 7:30 p.m.
The 1985-86 budget will be dis
cussed. The fifth grade is in charge of
the program.
GJC schedules
business course
Gainesville Junior College and the
University of Georgia Small Business
Development Center, in partnership
with the U.S. Small Business Admin
istration is sponsoring a course “Dis
cipline in the Workplace” on Friday,
Oct. 4 from 9 a.m.-noon. The fee is
S4O.
The question “How do I disci
pline?” will be addressed. Also, sug
gested penalties and punishment will
be identified.
The main objective of the course is
to remind supervisors of their respon
sibility to constructively discipline
those who need it when it is appropri
ate. The fear of disciplining employ
ees will also be covered.
Instructor for the course is Steve
Tilley, director of continuing educa
tion and public service at GJC.
Since 1980, Tilley has conducted
more than 90 workshops throughout
Georgia.
Drug council
changes location
Due to changes at Forsyth County
Hospital, the regular meeting of the
Forsyth County Council on Alcohol
and Drugs will be moved back to the
Jury Assembly Room, located on the
second floor of the courthouse.
Meetings of the council are held
every fourth Tuesday at noon.
For more informaition, call Harriet
Gilleland at 887-4831.
offers, according to the court. “She
believed any resolution of what hap
pened to Scarlett and Rhett would
undermine the integrity of the origi
nal story.”
Ms. Mitchell “was adamant right
up to her death in 1949 that no sequel
ever be made,” the court said.
Stephens Mitchell, who died in 1983,
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had acquired all rights to the novel in
1952 and upheld his sister’s wishes
that no sequel be made.
In 1961, when the film contract was
renewed, “MGM was obviously anx
ious to obtain this renewal, since
‘Gone With The Wind’ was one of its
most valuable properties, if not its
most valuable property,” the court
said.
However, the matter of sequel
rights was never discussed during
negotiations, except in regard to a
clause saying the lives of the charac
ters should not be extended beyond
the time of the ending of the novel.
MGM agreed to that clause.
A sequel was not discussed again
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1985-
until 1975, when Mitchell said he
would be willing to consider offers for
the right to produce a sequel. In 1976,
two agreements were executed that
collectively gave MGM and Univer
sal Pictures the right to produce a
sequel.
However, the project was ultima
tely abandoned, the court said.
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In a 1981 suit, Trust Company
sought to determine whether the
Mitchell estate or MGM owned the
sequel rights. A District Court ruled
that neither the 1936 contract nor the
1961 contract granted the rights to
MGM.
The 11th Circuit’s decision upheld
that ruling.
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