Moonlight And Magnolias

by Ron Hutchinson

1939 Hollywood is abuzz. Legendary producer David O. Selznick has shut down production of his new epic, a film adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s novel. The screenplay, you see, just doesn’t work. So what’s an all-powerful movie mogul to do? While fending off the film’s stars, gossip columnists and his own father-in-law, Selznick sends a car for famed screenwriter Ben Hecht and pulls formidable director Victor Fleming from the set. Summoning both to his office, he locks the doors, closes the shades, and on a diet of bananas and peanuts, the three men labor over five days to fashion a screenplay that will become the blueprint for one of the most successful and beloved films of all time.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Drama, 21st Century

60 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2005

About the author

Ron Hutchinson (born near Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) is an Emmy Award winning[1] Irish screenwriter and playwright, known for writing Against the Wall and The Island of Dr. Moreau (both directed by John Frankenheimer), Slave of Dreams (directed by Robert M. Young), the play Moonlight and Magnolias, and the 2004 miniseries Traffic.

Moonlight and Magnolias at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2004 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work. The Irish Play was performed in a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Royal Shakespeare Company Warehouse Theatre in London, England with Ron Cook, Brenda Fricker, and P.G. Stephens in the cast. Barry Kyle was director.

Brought up and educated in Coventry, Hutchinson has written stage and radio plays as well as his screenwriting.[2]

He now lives in Los Angeles, California with his second wife and adopted daughter.

Reviews

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great comedy with moments of deep drama about the mad rush to write the script for "Gone With the Wind". The producer, director, and writer are closeted for days, with occasional visits by the comic secretary. I'd love to see this on stage...definitely great for fans of Gone With the Wind or old movies, who will recognize the names, but even if you don't you'll still be able to follow and enjoy the play.

[Cori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much I hate more than a good play that sucks. Ben’s morality wasn’t enough to redeem this play that is awash with sexism. Bummer.

Also noteworthy is that I read this play after reading “Boycott Esther” and between episodes of the Ken Burns doc “The Civil War”. Talk about perspective.

[Cheryl Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Gone With The Wind, you will LOVE this play.

[Julie Failla Earhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this play, movie producer David O. Selznick has shut down the making of that 1936 blockbuster novel, Gone With The Wind, three weeks after production begins. The burning of Atlanta has already been filmed and is in the can. However, the screenplay is not working. Selznick has fired director George Cukor and tapped Victor Fleming to take over. Fleming, however, is trying to direct that equally famous movie, The Wizard of Oz.

The Place: David O. Selznick’s office. Day. And the next four days after that.

The Actors: David O. Selznick, producer; Victor Fleming, maybe the movie’s new director; Ben Hecht, famed screenwriter that can make any manuscript shine; Miss Poppenghul, Selznick’s secretary.

The Goal: To rewrite the screenplay for Gone With The Wind

Act 1: Word has gotten around that Selznick has stopped filming his high budget film. He is fending off phone calls from the newspapers, everyone in Hollywood and Louis B, Mayer, founder of MGM studios and, more important, his father-in-law.

Selznick has called Ben Hecht and Victor Fleming to his office. He asks his secretary to being in bananas and peanuts, locks the door and tells the two Hollywood veterans that they have five days to come up with a shootable script. The only time the door will open is for more bananas and peanuts.

Problem number one: Hecht is the only person in Hollywood, probably the world, who has not read Margaret Mitchell’s tale of the Old South.

Act II: Selznick and Fleming re-enact scenes from the novel to light Hecht’s imagination. Imagine if you will, the tall (6 foot), rotund Selznick prancing around his office in a high voice, pretending to be Scarlett, or even funnier, Prissy.

After five days, the script is finished. The office has been trashed. The men are falling asleep on their feet. The rest is history.

There is a lot that happens in these few pages that bounce between comedy and drama. Snippets of the play are in fact true, but mostly it’s fiction from the mind of author Hutchinson. I thoroughly enjoyed Moonlight and Magnolias and would love to see the play performed. The only real beef I had with it was that Louis B. Mayer was on hold for two solid days, waiting for an explanation from Selznick. That would never, ever happen in real life. Moonlight and Magnolias receive 4 out of stars in Julie’s world.

[Daisy Leather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Objectively, this is a fairly well written script with some interesting back and forth between some intriguing characters of Hollywood past. But not having read or watched 'Gone with the Wind', a lot of it felt like it was going over my head. And I feel like audiences couldn't enjoy this in the way intended unless they had some sort of understanding or connection with the original text/film it is so strongly linked to.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh! I didn't love this but it was interesting enough to keep me reading. I think true Gone with the Wind heads would really enjoy watching the creation of the movie's script play out onstage. I'm not sure if there really *was* a 5 day span where the producer, screenwriter, and director stayed in a room together to bang out the script, but it's definitely a fun concept for a play. Seems like an almost impossible task so if that's really how it happened, sheesh. That's a long book!

[Willie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just got cast as Ben Hecht, the writer brought in to fix the script of Gone With The Wind, in the middle of production. I'm very excited, and will get to share the stage with Scott Treadway and Charlie Flynn-McIver, two giants of Western NC theatre, as David O Selznick and Victor Flemming.
The play is partly fluff and farce, but it has a backbone and since my character has never read Mitchell's book, he gets to question a lot of the stereotypes and racism, as well as relate things to the "current" Nazi regime threatening Europe. It's a neat play, if not a truly great one. I'll report back when rehearsals start...
--Ok, the run is closing today, and my first assessment was pretty decent. We often had trouble in rehearsal that we blamed on the script, but as we moved through, we found it to be rather better put together than we first gave it credit for. Still, it has some clunky bits, especially where Hutchinson lifts phrases and occasionally whole passages out of Ben Hecht's biography. Sure, the words themselves are good, but they don't always mesh with the fictionalized story of the play.
That said, I'd probably do the show again if giving the opportunity somewhere. It is great fun.

[ᝰ.ᐟ Ⓟⓐⓘⓢⓛⓔⓨ ᝰ.ᐟ · Rating 1 out of 5]

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
➕ ⋆˚꩜｡ THREE THINGS I LIKED:
- That it's associated with the making of the film adaptation of Gone with the Wind, my favorite novel.
- I actually can't think of anything else.

⋆˚꩜｡ THREE THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE AS WELL:
- It's possible watching the play would change how I received certain jokes (such as gaffs about punching actresses), but I have to admit that in written form the jokes did not land well with me. I especially disliked the collective dismissal of Gone with the Wind. I realize this may be intended as humor but it really didn't work for me.
- I found the presentation of Selznick absurd and insulting based upon what I've read. He was a meticulous producer and is presented as daft in this play. If it's supposed to be exaggerated humor I miss the point of this presentation. Is there some end goal I'm supposed to be amused by?
- The conversation about Ashley Wilkes.

I read this play because a friend suggested it, realizing I adore all things Gone with the Wind. She usually suggests great books so it's very possible the issue here is me. As I said, this play might have landed differently for me if performed. Unfortunately, I found this in poor taste.

[Mark Woodland]

This play revolves around the making of Gone With the Wind. The studio was going to scrap the project (true), and this play is the story of the three men that the producer locked in a room until they came up with a workable script and a plan for production. At the time, the studio already had many millions invested. The play only works if you have three very versatile actors; they, in turn, play out all the characters in the movie, including the women, and could be pretty funny if 1) You know & love the movie, or 2) At least have read the book. As a read, however, it takes a lot of imagination for the staging of a play, which not every reader is going to have. Therefore, I can only give it three stars. I'm going to get a chance to see it performed next season, and I only hope that they can find the right actors to do justice to the intent of the author.

[Ike Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A semi-factual farce based on a supposed 5 day lock-in of producer, director and script-doctor in a valiant attempt to re-write the script for a blockbuster movie. The producer thinks that the movie will be a sure fire hit but the writer and director have their reservations. The movie shoot has been put on hold by the producer while the new script is being prepared. 5 days locked in an office with only a bathroom, a typewriter and peanuts and bananas, the writer who hasn't even read the book, watches the producer and the director act it out, page by page, while he hammers out the dialogue and the action on an old typewriter! The movie? Gone With the Wind.

[Ann]

i did not like this play. perhaps the farce aspect was beyond me while i read, but it just did not seem funny or smart. the GWW inside information was interesting, but overall the characters talk around the same issues throughout. and there are bizarre moments, blatant racism, an out-of-place human rights arc . . . i found this play frustrating. the one character i wanted to know more about (the secretary) was included the least. thought her short stage time and lack of lines would be a good challenge to play, but the other characters were blah.

[Robby Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I certainly enjoyed reading this play. It is funny as hell. Part of me though, couldn't get past the ludicrous plot of Victor Fleming, David O Selznick, and Ben Hecht locked in a room for 5 days hashing out the shooting script for "Gone With the Wind." It's a huge leap of faith to trust that an audience will buy any of it. Yet, perhaps with outstanding comic actors in these roles, it'll work. The dialogue is funny, though too modern. More than one character uses "like" in a sentence as a modern teenager would. Still, these quibbles aside, it's rather an enjoyable read.

[Tiffany Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

While at times repetitive (and a bit over-the-top), it is an enjoyable show, overall. It gets a little preachy, but that balances out some of the offensivness that can come with a story set in a different time. More than anything, it has a broad appeal, with a place for Gone With the Wind fans, movie buffs, and lovers of nostalgia- and just enough laughs to (hopefully) hold the rest. 4 stars

[Mylissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a farce I'd love to see done, because it seems like it would be hilarious and as someone who loves Gone With the Wind, I enjoyed the premise of it very much. Reading it seems bland when you imagine what could be done with it with actors. But then, I don't think farces read as well as they are performed. Provided they are performed well.

[Lizzi C · Rating 2 out of 5]

The comedic telling of how they wrote Gone With the Wind, but as I'm not a fan of the movie it was boooring.

[Rebekah Lazaridis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny. I doubt as to whether or not Fleming and O'Selznick were really like this but it's a play and not meant to be taken seriously. Our set for this is....interesting.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed all the references to Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Interested to see how it would translate to the stage.

[Andy Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANT!!

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of things would have to land just right for this play to work. It feels a little manic and rushed. It's a little crude and almost campy. Still, I liked it.