#10: Gone With the Wind, 12th Academy Awards, 1940

Categories: Winner of 8 Academy Awards and 2 Honorary Awards, including Outstanding Production, Best Director and Best Actress

Outstanding Production nominees that lost at the 12th Academy Awards:

• Dark Victory
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• Love Affairs
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• Ninotchka
• Stagecoach
• The Wizard of Oz
• Wuthering Heights

Gone with the Wind has long been criticized for its romanticized portrayal of the Confederate States of America, a sentiment expressed as early as its 1939 release. Despite the backlash, the film swept the 1940 Oscars and cemented its place as a cultural icon.

Lauded for its grandeur yet lambasted for glorifying the Confederacy’s “lost cause,” Gone with the Wind is a controversial cinematic epic. Its legacy, however, is marred by accusations of perpetuating the myth of the Confederacy while glossing over the brutal realities of slavery. Whether intentional or not, the film significantly shaped public perception of this tumultuous period in American history.