{New Article} 1936: Gable’s New Freedom

This article, from 1936, arrived on newsstands after it had been announced that Clark Gable and his second wife, Ria Franklin, were divorcing.

“The only possession I have ever craved, the only goddess I can serve faithfully for all my life is freedom!” So said Clark Gable. “I’m a tramp at heart,” he continued. And with these words he gave the real “inside” story of himself, of all that he wants from life, even of the marital events recently headlined and hysterics-lined.

For though Clark, in due course of time, will be “in circulation” again—he won’t be. Not really.

He looked magnificent as he sat there, in his dressing room. He seemed too big and vital for the narrow confines of the room. I could see marriage, domesticity, routine—all submerged beneath tempestuous seas.

“The only goddess  I can serve faithfully”???? I have a hard time imagining Clark saying that, but okay. The point of this article is to make it clear that the Gables’ marriage didn’t work out because Clark can’t be tied down. He’s just not the marrying kind, you see. It’s not that he had numerous affairs, had impregnated Loretta Young by this time, or the fact that he never really wanted to marry Ria in the first place!

He said, gravely now, “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t know what you want me to talk about, but I have my suspicions. And you may as well know that I will not discuss Mrs. Gable—not with anyone. I haven’t discussed our affairs, I never shall. Not even my most intimate men friends have got a word out of me. All they know is what they have read in the papers. And if anyone ‘quotes’ me, which will be definitely misquoting since there aren’t going to be any statements, I’ll—” And Clark’s expression was one to strike terror into the nerviest questioner.

“I know,” he continued, “that all kinds of editorial articles have been and will be written. I can’t help that. I will not have authorized them. And I don’t care what they say as long as they don’t quote me saying it. My name will be linked, as it has been, ridiculously, with every feminine letter of the alphabet. I don’t give a hang for myself. I do hate to be a source of embarrassment, however unintentional, to any woman. And that’s that!”

This actually rings true for his entire 30+ years in the spotlight. He always denied romantic rumors, never commented much on his “lady friends,” and avoided making public announcements. All of his marriages were sudden elopements–no grand weddings, no engagement soirees, no front page announcement. He did the obligatory after-the-fact press conferences, but never beforehand.

“I have a new clause in my contract which gives me six weeks of every year free for a trip. This year I went to South America. Next, I’ll go to China. The year after to India and then to Tibet, Greece, the Isle of Malta and to all the remote corners of the globe. I’ll always fly. That’s what I want and that’s what I have—now.

“And I’ll travel alone. Kipling says, doesn’t he, that ‘he travels fastest who travels alone?’ Well, he must have meant me, among others. Alone and by air. The combination should get me places.

“I don’t even want another man to go with me. Too apt to impose restrictions, and no matter how congenial you may be, there’s bound to be a conflict of opinions.

“I’m a lone wolf at heart and always have been. My mistakes have all come from disregarding this basic law of my nature. Now I shall observe it. That’s all.”

And I thought again, as he talked, sitting on the edge of a chair too fragile for him, No woman could hold this man. He isn’t a woman’s man at all. He’s too charged with a restless, reckless vitality, too untamed of spirit. He’s a gypsy. He has a huge impatience of shackles. He has no place—he simply doesn’t belong in night clubs, boudoirs, salons.

He doesn’t care for clothes. He never uses screen makeup—a powder puff is poison to him. He doesn’t want possessions. He wouldn’t know what to do with luxury. He scorns softness, small talk and coquetry. He laughs, uneasily, in the face of feminine adulation. He is like a bull in the china shop of marriage.

“A bull in the china shop of marriage”??? See, no woman can hold him down. Well, a certain Miss Lombard came on the scene just around the time readers were pouring over this latest issue of Modern Screen magazine, so….

You can read the article in its entirety in The Article Archive.

(#1 Article added in 2019)