GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
One of the great classics of American cinema, Gone With the Wind is an epic featuring two of the most memorable characters in movies: Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.
This scene, early in the movie, takes place in a drawing room where a group of Southern gentlemen are arrogantly discussing victory in the oncoming war. The characters have just been introduced to Colonel Butler, a rake whose claims to being a gentleman have long been abandoned. Butler, a houseguest from Charleston, S.C. but otherwise a stranger, has been listening with amusement to the ignorant overconfidence of the men.
Mr. O'HARA: Now gentlemen, Mr. Butler has been up North I hear. Don't you agree with us, Mr. Butler?
RHETT BUTLER: I think it's hard winning a war with words, gentlemen.
CHARLES: What do you mean, sir?
RHETT: I mean, Mr. Hamilton, there's not a cannon factory in the whole South.
MAN: What difference does that make, sir, to a gentleman?
RHETT: I'm afraid it's going to make a great deal of difference to a great many gentlemen, sir.
CHARLES: Are you hinting, Mr. Butler, that the Yankees can lick us?
RHETT: No, I'm not hinting. I'm saying very plainly that the Yankees are better equipped than we. They've got factories, shipyards, coal-mines . . . and a fleet to bottle up our harbors and starve us to death. All we've got is cotton, and slaves and . . . arrogance.
MAN: That's treacherous!
CHARLES: I refuse to listen to any renegade talk!
RHETT: Well, I'm sorry if the truth offends you.
CHARLES: Apologies aren't enough, sir. I hear you were turned out of West Point, Mr. Rhett Butler. And that you aren't received in any decent family in Charleston. Not even your own.
RHETT: I apologize again for all my shortcomings. Mr. Wilkes, Perhaps you won't mind if I walk about and look over your place. I seem to be spoiling everybody's brandy and cigars and . . . dreams of victory. (Rhett Butler leaves the hall.)
Col. Butler's apology at the end is meant to defuse the situation. The characters may mistake Butler's apology and willingness to retreat as a sign of weakness. But the audience knows better. The apology flows out of an abundance of experience with war and violence. It's a sign of confidence. Butler's prescience proves correct. It's hard winning a war with words, but an argument is another matter. The phrase, " I apologize for my shortcomings" is often an effective way to end an argument.
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