‘A product of its time’: ‘Gone with the Wind’ removed from HBO Max

Considered a Hollywood classic, Civil War epic "Gone with the Wind" has been taken off HBO Max following calls for it to be removed from the US streaming service.

HBO Max said the 1939 film was "a product of its time" and depicted "ethnic and racial prejudices" that "were wrong then and are wrong today", according to the BBC.

It said the film would return to the platform at an unspecified date with a "discussion of its historical context".

Based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell, the film features slave characters who seem content with their lot and remain loyal to their former owners after abolition of slavery.

"Gone with the Wind" received 10 Oscars and remains the highest-grossing movie of all time when its takings are adjusted for inflation.

Hattie McDaniel became the first black actress to be nominated for, and win, an Academy Award for her role as domestic servant Mammy.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times this week, screenwriter John Ridley said the film "glorifies the antebellum south" and perpetuated "painful stereotypes of people of colour".

"The movie had the very best talents in Hollywood at that time working together to sentimentalise a history that never was," continued the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "12 Years A Slave".

HBO Max's move comes amid mass protests against racism and police brutality that have prompted several television networks to reassess their offerings.

It follows the removal of "Little Britain" -- in which Matt Lucas and David Walliams played characters from different ethnic backgrounds -- from Netflix, BritBox and BBC iPlayer.