One of the things that is so admirable about Carole Lombard is that she was never afraid to be the clown. She didn’t care if her hair was out of place, her makeup smudged or her manicure outdated. I have always thought it was this quality that most attracted Clark Gable to her–if there was anything he despised in women, it was those who put on frilly, prissy airs.

Proof of Carole’s photogenic wackiness is evident in a series of photos printed in the November 1940 issue of Screen Guide magazine.

Lombard: Why the Most Popular Career Girl in Movies Enjoys Behaving Like a Mugg!

One big fault of Hollywood publicity stories is that they say only the most flattering things about the star. The inevitable result is that the public believes just the opposite. But Screen Guide’s cameraman had a chance to prove in pictures, with a minimum of words, what sort of person one star really is. He boarded the special location car which carried Carole Lombard to work on “They Knew What They Wanted,” comedy-drama co-starring her and Charles Laughton.

Glamour girls who attempt a “democratic” pose usually make a pretty awkward job of it. But Carole strikes no poses. The photo at the right proves that she actually does eat with the crew, enjoying a 35 cent box lunch. Nine out of ten stars dine in their dressing rooms. Carole eats with the gang–because she prefers their company.

If Carole’s new picture is as good as the antics on this page, if it reflects her forthright personality as accurately, movie-goers won’t be wasting their money when they see “They Knew What They Wanted.”

After dinner in the dining car Carole regales the crew with impersonations of "snobs I have met." This is No.1 in my repertoire--the big-bosomed society dowager who is utterly revolted by a Hollywood star.

Carole's kidding makes bashful Frank Healy, a cable man on the crew, turn red as a beet--but like all the gang, he loves it!

No kiss pictures allowed. Screen Guide's cameraman almost catches Gable kissing his wife goodbye, but they spot him.

That Carole Lombard…what a “mugg!”