PEACH BUZZ: A new anniversary for ‘GWTW’ at Fox

The 2009 Atlanta Film Festival will honor the 70th anniversary of “Gone With the Wind” at 12:30 p.m. April 19, a full eight months before the anniversary of the epic’s actual Atlanta premiere on Dec. 15, 1939.

Still, the two historic screenings will have one thing in common: a $10 ticket price. That’s what the 2,000 Atlantans paid in 1939 for entrance to the film’s star-studded premiere at the Loew’s Grand theater downtown.

This year’s celebration will take place up Peachtree Street at the historic Fox Theatre in Midtown and will feature a pre-screening talk with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne and film critics Molly Haskell and Michael Sragow.

If you’re feeling flush, Atlanta Film Festival board member Scott Benson will be hosting an exclusive private Sunday brunch at his home with Osborne, Haskell and Sragow, along with a Southern breakfast, complete with mint juleps and sweet tea. The event is a fund-raiser for the film festival. For a $500 minimum donation, attendees also will receive gift bags filled with autographed books from the three invited writers.

On April 18, Haskell and Sragow also will appear at a special “GWTW” talk at the Margaret Mitchell House at 8 p.m.

“GWTW” newbies, beware. The film’s running time is four hours. Or as MGM head honcho Louis B. Mayer famously uttered when informed of the epic film’s epic length, “They’d stone Christ if he came back and spoke for four hours!”

Tickets to the MMH author event are $5 and $10. Tickets for the screening only are $10 and $15.

Be advised: Buzz has personally observed fanatic “GWTW” crowds wrap themselves around the block trying to get into a screening at the Fox in years past. It’s best to plan ahead.

For more info: gwtw.org, www.atlantafilmfestival.com or ticketmaster.com.

Mayoral Mickey D’s

Sure, the other guys who have held the office have Atlanta streets named after them or are encased in bronze downtown. But former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell is just fine with this morning’s dedication. Massell will be honored at 9:30 with a permanent plaque at the nontraditional, high-end McDonald’s at 2929 Peachtree Road in Buckhead.

“I’m very proud of this honor,” Massell told us. “Naming things after people can be a tricky business. I learned that the hard way. I once named an incinerator after Bill Hartsfield while he was still living. He didn’t receive that well. I hope I made up for it later after his death when I named an airport for him.”

So what does the Buckhead Coalition president order at his favorite Mickey D’s?

“Well, if you put it in the paper that I enjoy the Sausage McMuffin, my wife will get mad at me,” Massell reasoned.

So, for the record, Mrs. Massell, your husband only orders a black coffee.

Honest.

Transitions

Fay Gold plans to close her gallery, a fixture on the arts scene since 1980, and become a private dealer and art consultant. Lagging sales in a bad economy made overhead costs at her Miami Circle venue unsustainable. A moving sale will be held during regular business hours from March 5 to 28. Fay Gold Gallery will close April 1.

Never a shrinking violet, Gold has no intention of disappearing from the Atlanta art scene.

“I will hold small salon-style receptions in my home as well as mount larger exhibitions at alternative spaces,” she says. “I will also have more time to finish my forthcoming memoir, ‘Basquiat’s Cat.’ “

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Singer Fats Domino (above) is 81. Actor-director Bill Duke is 66. Singer Mitch Ryder is 64. Singer Michael Bolton is 56. Singer Erykah Badu is 38. Singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 30.

Contributing: Catherine Fox and news services

Got a tip for Peach Buzz? 404-526-2749 or buzz@ajc.com