David O. Selznick's first choice to direct Via col vento (1939) was George Cukor, with whom Selznick had a long working relationship, and who had already spent almost two years in pre-production on the film. After filming had been officially commenced, Cukor came into conflict with Clark Gable and Selznick on the set. Gable thought Cukor, seen as a "woman's director", was giving too much attention to Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland, while Selznick felt the film, under Cukor's direction, lacked dynamism. The director and producer also quarreled against each other on the direction of the film and the script, the latter of which had not been completed yet and still going through countless revisions from different writers. After less than three weeks of principal photography, Cukor was fired by Selznick. With the budget and production problems accelerating to the extreme, Selznick was frantic to find a new director as soon as possible. At Gable's suggestion, the producer, then, thought about Victor Fleming. To be sure before he made an official decision, Selznick went to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio to view footage from Fleming's latest picture, Il mago di Oz (1939), which was not yet released. After viewing all of the footage, Selznick was astonished. He was highly impressed by the film and Fleming's direction. He saw Fleming as a visionary filmmaker, who can expertly (1) create a film with an epic size and scope of titanic proportions and with great ambition; (2) create a world-building universe where audiences can instantly be transported to, where they can be part of the story and action; (3) mix and blend different film genres that would work beautifully and perfectly with a particular story; (4) imbue great sensitivity to the characters; and (5) coach great performances from his actors. Just from watching the footage for "Oz", Selznick believed that Fleming, as a director, would have the same qualities, ambition, and vision that Selznick had and needed for Via col vento (1939). When talking about the director with Louis B. Mayer, then-head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Selznick learned that Fleming was also a consummate studio director, who was capable of doing the job, keep it under control, take it home, get it done, and deliver exactly what the studio wanted, while adhering true to his own instincts and vision in filmmaking. That further endeared to Selznick. After reviewing other potential candidates for the position, he decided that Fleming should be the one to direct the film. MGM, then, called in Fleming from Il mago di Oz (1939) to direct Via col vento (1939). The director, himself, initially had some reservations about directing the film, but after a couple of meetings with Selznick, he shared the producer's ambition for the film and began to believe that he can do it and, after a short time, finally agreed to direct the picture. King Vidor stepped in to direct the sept-tone Kansas sequences and a couple of re-shoots for "The Wizard of Oz" in Fleming's absence. From that moment on, progress had gained momentum on the production. Fleming had managed to halt filming, in order to work with Selznick and Ben Hecht to revise and complete the script, which eventually resulted in restoring Sidney Howard's original script at the behest of both Fleming and Hecht. Not only did he worked closely with Selznick and the crew, but also with the actors. Despite his reputation as a "man's director", due to his robust attitude and love of outdoor sports, he was also proven an effective director of women. Due to the sheer giant magnitude of the film and his tireless commitment to complete both the film, Fleming collapsed from exhaustion and was temporarily excused from production in order for him to fully recover. In his absence, Sam Wood, a veteran MGM director, stepped in to complete principal photography. Fleming eventually recovered and returned back to work to oversee the editing and post-production work of the film. As of the end of principal photography, Cukor had undertaken eighteen days of filming, Fleming ninety-three, and Wood twenty-four.

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