>>Leslie Howard did very well as Ashley Wilkes--I see Ty more as Captain Butler, but again, Clark Gable in that role did an awesome job. (Hmmmm--as I type this and think of Clark, maybe Ty would have been too young for Captain Butler in 1938-39??)

Gable owned this role, IMHO, and I'm hard pressed to see TP in it. Didn't Mitchell write the Butler character with Gable in mind as well? I'm pretty sure she did.

>>>With both Vivien Leigh and Ty being brunette, they would have made a striking couple together in technicolor.

(Can you imagine the kids these two would have had ! )

And yes, too bad Zanuck decided against lending Ty out after MA--I think both would have definitely profitted well money-wise and certainly expanding Ty's base and abilities.

TOO TRUE!! Such a waste. Now that you bring up the money factor Melody, one would think with Zanuck being the savvy mogul that he was, the money factor would ultimately have outweighed any of the mishandling issues he would have had with the Metro experience. Ah well.