Mammy was played by Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind. She was originally Ellen's Mammy in Savannah, but when Ellen married, Mammy came along. When Scarlett came along, she became her Mammy. Although she was supposed to be Suellen's and Careen's as well, she loved Scarlett the best and called her "mah lamb."

Hattie McDaniel won a Best Supporting Actress Award, and here is the speech she made:

"This is one of the happiest moments in my life . . . it has made me feel very, very humble. And I shall always hold it as a beacon . . . I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race, and to the motion picture industry . . . thank you and God bless you."

Mammy played a fairly important role in the movie. She is in a lot of scenes, has a lot of lines, and where would the story be without Mammy?

We are introduced to Mammy when she pokes her head out the window and yells at Scarlett. From the beginning one can tell that she is a figure of authority in the O'Hara household. She tells Scarlett that she has no more manners than a field hand and orders her inside.

The second time we encounter Mammy is when Ellen is returning from Emmie Slattery's bedside.Mammy makes everyone aware that she is home, and, at the same time, voicing her opinion of Ellen nursing "po' wi'te trash."

Mammy is next seen lacing Scarlett's stays for the barbeque and trying to make her eat so that she wouldn't eat too much. She doesn't approve of the dress Scarlett chooses to wear, and threatens to tell her mother. Scarlett is shrewd, and says that if Mammy tells on her, she wouldn't eat a bite. Mammy weighs the options, and finds that she would rather have Scarlett eat before the barbeque than make her wear another dress.

Mammy is upstairs during the barbeque, and after lunch she helps undress Scarlett. I assume she helped Suellen before her, but it didn't show that. She scolds the sisters for acting like "white trash."

This will be too long if I write about every scene she appears, but I will try to make it brief. She knows about Scarlett's love for Ashley, and throws it in her face after her first husband, Charles Hamilton, dies and Scarlett plans to go to Atlanta. Mammy also knows that Scarlett lied to Frank Kennedy to make him marry her instead of her sister. Rhett respects Mammy, but she dislikes him until Bonnie comes along. He kind of egged her on, but once Bonnie was born she wore the red taffeta petticoat that he bought her before. Mammy loved Bonnie, and was proud that she "diapered three generations" of the family. Bonnie in turn, I think, loved Mammy.

Well, I don't want to make you read too much, so I can just say that Mammy was devastated when her small charge died, and that was the last we hear about her. In the sequel, Mammy dies, but I really don't think of "Scarlett" as the continuation. Only Margaret Mitchell knew how it ended, and she chose to leave us hanging.

"It ain't fittin'. It jest ain't fittin'!"

(Mammy's comment about Rhett letting Bonnie ride straddling her horse with her dress flying up at the back).