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Gossip Friday: Carole with her Clark
Some ooey gooey love mush since it’s nearly Valentines Day… From May 1941: The most in love woman in all Hollywood—Carole Lombard. Watch pictures of Clark and Carole together. Carole either clings lovingly to her husband’s arm or gazes adoringly into Clark’s eyes. She completely submerges herself into one with Gable and openly tell the world with her eyes, “I love this man. He is mine.” For the most in love [girl] we dare you to find any that surpasses Carole Lombard with her Clark. ____ New this week: Saturday: Clark and Carole profiles from Movie Star Parade magazine in the Article Archive Sunday: Screenshots from “Idiot’s Delight” in…
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Movie of the Month: China Seas (1935)
China Seas is a real MGM high octane thriller, set on the high seas, with… Romance! Pirates! Deception! A torrid love triangle! Gable is Alan Gaskell, a roguish captain of a ship that sails between Hong Kong and Shanghai. It’s established pretty early on that he’s been having some adult fun ashore with a Shanghai harlot, Dolly, who goes by the name China Doll (Harlow). So imagine his surprise when setting his ship off to sea that she is on board as a passenger! She confesses she is madly in love with him; he is weary of her and rejects her advances. She is green with jealousy upon the arrival onboard…
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Gossip Friday: On the set of Comrade X
From January 1941: Hedy Lamarr, who has completely forgotten her nervous jitters and family troubles that tore at her heart, has become a fun-loving, chattering, prank-playing imp on the “Comrade X” set. And all because that irresistable Clark Gable has kidded Hedy out of those self-conscious blues into being a real and naturla human being. It’s a new Lamarr, take our word for it. _____ New this week: Tuesday: New look for the site, film page for The Painted Desert Wednesday: Page for Grace Kelly Thursday: Pics of Clark and Sylvia Ashley in the gallery Friday: Clark’s death certificate
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Happy 110th Birthday, Mr. Gable
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGOUvzPzhkk) I am asked often, “Why Clark Gable? Why a site for him?” First of all, Clark is an excellent place to start if one wants to get into classic films. He is where my love for classic films began. After being awestruck by “Gone with the Wind”, I saw his Oscar-winning performance in “It Happened One Night”, which introduced me to the lovely Claudette Colbert and to investigate more Frank Capra films, and so on. From Clark’s films alone one can be introduced to Joan Crawford, Vivien Leigh, Ava Gardner, Jeanette MacDonald, Marion Davies, Helen Hayes, Grace Kelly, Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy,…
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Gossip Friday: Snippets from the set of Gone with the Wind
From August 1939: There’s a mad scramble between every scene on the “Gone with the Wind” set. For Vivien Leigh is an Anagram fiend and Olivia de Havilland is equally rabid on the subject of Chinese Checkers–and they like Clark Gable for a partner. Gable happens to like both girls and both games, but he’s hit upon a practical solution for the predicament. It’s three-handed bridge and now everyone is happy. *** Though Vivien Leigh has many elaborate costumes for “Gone with the Wind”, her costliest is the ugliest dress she wears in the picture. Fourteen copies of this dress had to be made, for it is the one which…
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Movie of the Month: Hold Your Man (1933)
Probably the least-known of Clark and Jean Harlow’s pairings, Hold Your Man is a scandulous pre-code with a pretty good melodrama in its center. Gable is Eddie Hall, a small-time con man on the run from the cops when he bursts into Ruby Adams’ (Jean Harlow) apartment and finds her in the bathtub. Ruby and Eddie quickly realize they are two peas in a pod: she is somewhat of a con artist herself, seducing and manipulating men to get what she wants. This is definitely pre-production code stuff, as the film offers no innuendo to cover up the fact that Eddie and Ruby are sleeping together. One of Eddie’s cons…
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Gossip Friday: That Silly Soldier
From March 1944: When Captain Clark Gable, who has been off the screen for over a year, first met little Margaret O’Brien, he asked her if she, too, was in movies. Later Margaret, who was so taken aback, confided to her mother: “That soldier certainly doesn’t know much, does he? He must have never seen a movie in his whole life!” ____ New this week: Love on the Run screenshots in the gallery
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Carole Lombard Gable
Today we mourn the passing of Clark’s beloved little screwball, Carole Lombard. Her dying 69 years ago today at the age of 33 changed the path of his life forever. A letter to the editor from April 1942: Editor’s Note: It was heartwarming to read the number of letters received as tributes to Carole Lombard by Photoplay-Movie Mirror [magazine]. So sincere were they all, we found it difficult to choose this single one for publication: Carole Lombard She left a trail of laughter when she walked Across this world which needs a laugh so much. She did not care when pompous people talked About her lack of dignity and such.…
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Gossip Friday: “Disappearing into the blue”
From June 1940: Getting lost in their super-elegant station wagon is beginning to pall on the Clark Gables, and their latest diversion is learning to fly. As soon as they pile up sufficent flying hours, they plan to get their licenses, buy a plane and depart for parts unknown every weekend. Less hardy studios might blanch at the thought of their favorite children playing Lindbergh whenever the spirit moved them, but RKO and MGM are becoming calloused to the antics of these two renegades. Still, as one wistful Metro official put it, it was a little more comforting to think of them disappearing into Mexico than just disappearing into the…
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Movie of the Month (December): Red Dust
Yes, I am a very bad webmistress and didn’t post this in December. Holidays and all that…But I will make it up to you and post it now and post January’s Movie of the Month next week. Two Jean and Clark movies in one month ain’t a bad month! A Free Soul (1931) is usually described as being Clark’s breakout performance. I’ll agree with that. But if A Free Soul made people notice him, Red Dust truly thrust him into super stardom. He is at his swoon-worthy best here: always sweaty and dirty-looking, hair flopped aross his face, shirt haphazardy open, caught between two lovely ladies. Clark is Dennis Carson,…