This Day in Atlanta 69 Years Ago: Gone With the Wind Debuts in Atlanta ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - Today is December 15th, and if we were to turn Atlanta's clock back 69 years, to this date in 1939, we'd find a city packed with celebrities for the world premiere of "Gone with the Wind." The film rights to Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel had been bought by producer David O. Selznick three years earlier for $50,000. That the film opened in Atlanta was due to the clout of one of our city's biggest 'Gone with the Wind' fans. Georgia State University historian Cliff Kuhn explains: © Copyright 2012, WABE