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50 free Gone with the Wind trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
47 free Gone with the Wind trivia questions with answers. Gone with the Wind is still, adjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing film ever made, and it began as a thousand-page novel by an Atlanta journalist who never published another. This quiz covers both: Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer, the poem behind the title, the heroine originally called Pansy, the Irish hill that named Tara, and the last line about tomorrow. Then the film: David O. Selznick's $50,000 rights deal, the 1,400 women interviewed for Scarlett, Vivien Leigh's arrival on the night Atlanta burned, the fired director, the MGM deal for Clark Gable, Max Steiner's marathon score, the truth about the 'damn' fine, the Atlanta premiere Hattie McDaniel could not attend, her segregated Oscar table, the eight competitive Academy Awards, the National Film Registry, the HBO Max removal, and the sequel that starred Timothy Dalton. Easy questions suit anyone who has seen the film once; harder ones will test old-Hollywood buffs. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the film, the novel and their makers, and the source sentence appears under each question after you answer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote the novel Gone with the Wind?
Margaret Mitchell
It was the only novel published in her lifetime.
Q 02In what year was the novel published?
1936
Selznick bought the film rights a month later for $50,000.
Q 03Which honour did the author win for the novel in 1937?
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
She also received the second-ever National Book Award for Fiction.
Q 04The novel's title comes from a poem by which writer?
Ernest Dowson
Mitchell had tentatively titled it Tomorrow Is Another Day, from its last line.
Q 05What was Scarlett O'Hara's first name in Mitchell's manuscript before publication?
Pansy
She had spent three years on the book after leaving her Atlanta Journal job.
Q 06Which publisher's editor, Harold Latham, discovered Mitchell's manuscript in 1935?
Macmillan
She spent another six months checking historical references and rewriting the opening chapter.
Q 07Roughly how many copies of the novel have been printed worldwide?
More than 30 million
Critics of the day complained mostly about its length, over 1,000 pages.
Q 08Gerald O'Hara named his plantation Tara after what?
The ancient seat of Irish high kings
Mitchell modelled it on her grandmother's Clayton County plantation, Rural Home.
Q 09What are the novel's famous last words?
'Tomorrow is another day'
Scarlett resolves to return to Tara and win Rhett back.
Q 10Who produced the 1939 film?
David O. Selznick
He won the Irving Thalberg Award that year and Best Picture again with Rebecca in 1940.
Q 11How much did Selznick pay the author for the film rights in July 1936?
$50,000
Filming was then delayed two years while he secured Clark Gable.
Q 12Who is the credited director of the film?
Victor Fleming
Fleming also directed The Wizard of Oz the same year, and won the Oscar for this one.
Q 13Which original director was fired shortly after filming began?
George Cukor
He carried on privately coaching Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland.
Q 14Roughly how many unknown women were interviewed in the nationwide search for Scarlett?
Q 21How many competitive Academy Awards did the film win?
Eight
Plus two honorary awards, from thirteen nominations.
Q 22Which co-star did Hattie McDaniel beat to become the first African American Oscar winner?
Olivia de Havilland
At the ceremony she was made to sit at a segregated table.
Q 23Which character did Hattie McDaniel play?
Mammy
In 2006 she became the first Black Oscar winner honoured with a US postage stamp.
Q 24Who threatened to boycott the Atlanta premiere after McDaniel was barred, until she persuaded him to go?
1,400
Only about thirty, plus Vivien Leigh, were actually screen-tested.
Q 15Who was the other finalist tested in Technicolor alongside Vivien Leigh on December 20, 1938?
Paulette Goddard
Hepburn had lobbied hard with Cukor's support but was vetoed by Selznick.
Q 16On what occasion did Vivien Leigh first meet Selznick, brought along by his brother Myron?
The filming of the burning of Atlanta
That was December 10, 1938, before she had even been cast.
Q 17Who personally operated the controls for the explosives in the burning of Atlanta sequence?
David O. Selznick
New facades were built in front of old abandoned backlot sets and burned down.
Q 18Which studio supplied the star playing Rhett and half the budget in exchange for distribution rights?
MGM
Warner had offered a package of its own contract stars instead, but its leading lady refused to play opposite Errol Flynn.
Q 19Who plays Ashley Wilkes?
Leslie Howard
He died in 1943 when the Luftwaffe shot down his BOAC flight from Lisbon.
Q 20Who plays Melanie Hamilton?
Olivia de Havilland
She lived to 104, the oldest surviving Oscar winner when she died in 2020.
Clark Gable
About 300,000 people turned out in Atlanta for the December 15, 1939 premiere.
Q 25At which Atlanta theatre did the film premiere on December 15, 1939?
Loew's Grand
A 1961 rerelease held a gala 'premiere' there for the Civil War centennial.
Q 26The screenwriting Oscar was awarded posthumously to whom?
Sidney Howard
He died at 48 in a farm-tractor accident before the premiere; many others rewrote his script.
Q 27Who composed the score, including 'Tara's Theme'?
Max Steiner
At two hours thirty-six minutes it was the longest score he ever wrote, and it took him twelve weeks.
Q 28Which studio lent the film's composer to Selznick?
Warner Bros.
Steiner had also scored King Kong and would go on to score Casablanca.
Q 29The Hays Office did not fine Selznick $5,000 for 'damn'. What actually happened?
The Production Code was amended to allow it in historical context
The amendment passed on November 1, 1939, six weeks before release.
Q 30How does Rhett's famous last line differ in Mitchell's novel?
It lacks the word 'Frankly'
The AFI voted the film version the number-one movie line of all time in 2005.