Out of so many book reports, one that might have stuck with you more than others is probably Gone with the Wind. This epic historical romance story is a classic, and the film does a great job of adapting the world to the big screen.
But if you need movies like Gone with the Wind that satisfy the itch of wild romance stories, keep reading. The movie follows Scarlett who is desperate to keep her social status intact, even if it means marrying the wrong man. Check out these recommendations that focus on turbulent romances, social status, forbidden loves, and more.
15. Lady J, Netflix (2018)
The most recent film on the list, but one of the best movies like Gone with the Wind, is Lady J, a 2018 French period drama inspired by a story in Denis Dederot’s novel Jacques the Fatalist. Madame de La Pommeraye is an attractive, reclusive young widow whose bachelor love, the Marquis des Arcis will not propose to her.
After a few years of happiness without any flaws, she discovers the Marquis is tired of their union. She decides to get her revenge by tricking him into marrying Mademoiselle de Joncquières, a former prostitute.
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14. The Great Gatsby, Netflix (2013)
Another classic book that we’ve all read, or at least heard of in our studies is The Great Gatsby. The 2013 historical romance film follows the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and stars amazing names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Ilsa Fisher, and more.
The story follows a writer and Wall Street trader, Nick Carraway, who finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his mysterious millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby, amid his riotous parties of the Jazz Age. It’s an enchanting and intense movie that will leave you questioning and heartbroken.
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13. The Painted Veil, Prime Video (2006)
The Painted Veil is a 2006 drama film based on yet another 1925 book by W. Somerset Maugham. The movie stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts and follows Dr. Walter who gets married to the beautiful Kitty, yet finds out that she is cheating on him.
Battling his way through problems, he heads to China to fight a dreaded disease spread in a small village. The loveless partnership amidst the deadly environment is haunting, but will they be able to find a cure for both?
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12. Rebecca, Amazon (1940)
Taking a step away from just dramas, we have Rebecca, a 1940 romantic psychological thriller, Alfredo Hitchcock’s first American project, and one of the best movies like Gone with the Wind.
The movie stars Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson, and many more, and is based on the 1938 novel by Daphne du Maurier. The movie follows a self-conscious woman who juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat’s wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife’s spectral presence.
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11. The Beguiled, Netflix (2017)
Talk about psychological thrillers. The Beguiled might not be quite similar to Gone with the Wind as others, but it touches on the topic of chaotic romances, however, this one doesn’t end well.
The 2017 Southern Gothic thriller film is based on the 1966 novel by Thomas P. Cullinan and follows the 1971 film. The story follows the unexpected arrival of a wounded Union soldier at a girl’s school in Virginia during the American Civil War which leads to jealousy and betrayal, turning from innocent to intense quickly.
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10. Sense and Sensibility, Prime Video (1995)
Sense and Sensibility is a 1995 period drama based on Jane Austen’s 1811 novel and a great movie like Gone with the Wind. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and stars as Elinor Dashwood while Kate Winslet plays Elinor’s younger sister, Marianne.
The film follows Rich Mr. Dashwood’s death, leaving his second wife and three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two daughters are complete opposites and are hoping to find love.
9. Anna and the King, Max (1999)
Unexpected romances can be the best stories, and Anna and the King features one, just like Gone with the Wind. The 1999 biographical period drama is loosely based on the 1944 novel by Margaret Landon, and stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-fat.
The story follows the romance between the King of Siam and the widowed British schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens during the 1860s.
8. English Patient
So many of the films here are based on novels, like the English Patient, which is based on a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The 1996 epic romantic drama stars Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Set at the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim and ends up falling in love. His past is shown in flashbacks revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
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7. Wuthering Heights, Amazon (1998)
Yet another book that many of us might have had to read in school, Wuthering Heights is based on the 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, and while there are several screen adaptations, this is by far the best one.
Staring Roberty Cavanah, Orla Brady, and Sarah Smart, this story follows a mistreated foundling Heathcliff, and his stepsister Catherine who fall in love. When Catherine marries a wealthy man, he becomes obsessed with getting revenge, even well into the next generation.
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6. Doctor Zhivago, Prime Video (1956)
Based on the 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago is one of the best movies like Gone with the Wind and is a 1965 historical romance film set in Russia during World War I and the Russian Civil War.
Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Julie Christie, Tom Courtenay, and Alec Guinness, the story follows the life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist’s wife.
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5. Barry Lyndon, Prime Video (1975)
Barry Lyndon is a 1975 historical drama based on the 1844 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray and stars Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, and Leonard Rossiter.
The movie is about an Irish rogue who wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband’s aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
4. The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 drama film based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The film stars Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Shirley Mills, and John Qualen, and follows the Joads, an Oklahoma family of sharecroppers who become migrant workers after losing their farm to increased mechanization during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
The film follows their journey across the United States as they travel to California in search of work and opportunities.
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3. The Age of Innocence, Prime Video (1993)
The Age of Innocence is one of the best movies like Gone with the Wind, as it features an entanglement of romantic affairs.
The 1993 historical drama is an adaptation of the 1920 novel by Edith Wharton. The movie follows a young lawyer in New York’s high society as he falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, all while he is engaged to the woman’s cousin.
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2. Red Dust
Another great movie like Gone with the Wind is Red Dust, a 1932 pre-Code romantic drama based on a play in 1928 by Wilson Collison.
The movie is set on a rubber plantation in French Indochina and follows the owner of the plantation who becomes involved with the new wife of one of his employees.
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1. Casablanca
At our number one spot of the best movies like Gone with the Wind, we of course have Casablanca, a cult classic film.
The 1942 romantic drama is set during World War II and focuses on an American expatriate who must choose between his love for a woman and helping her husband escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, and Conrad Veidt.