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Gossip Friday: Waiting It Out
From November 1938: Clark Gable, rumored to be building a mansion in the valley, denies this with “I’m not building anything until I know exactly what’s happening.” He can be referring only to his long held-up divorce from Mrs. Rhea Gable.
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Movie of the Week: Honky Tonk (1941)
Clark Gable is a quick witted con man in the Old West and Lana Turner is the prudish judge’s daughter he’s after in Honky Tonk (1941). Gable is fugitive con artist Candy Johnson, who stumbles upon the small town of Yellow Creek while on the run. He quickly takes advantage of the town’s lack of law and order. He also steals the heart of Elizabeth (Turner), a Boston-bred girl with a crooked father (Frank Morgan). Although he insists he can’t be tied down, she manipulates him into marrying her and he becomes the most respected man in Yellow Creek. Her father doesn’t trust him, however, and sets out to destroy…
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{Photos} A Ranch of Two Gables
This one-page spread appeared in Picture Show magazine in 1941: A Ranch of Two Gables Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are among the film-star ranchers in the San Fernando Valley. Like Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck, they both had separate ranches in the Valley before they were married. Clark Gable has always been an “outdoor” man. Whenever his work allowed, he would go away on hunting trips, as far from the night clubs and swing music and noisy crowds as he could conveniently get, reveling in the silence of the mountains and lakes. Eventually he gave up his hotel suite and moved out to the San Fernando Valley. Carole Lombard’s…
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{Photos} Carole Lombard Connection: Too Hot to Handle (1938)
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were very much a steady item when Clark began filming Too Hot to Handle in the summer of 1938. On his first day on the set, Carole sent her beloved a big box. Upon opening it, he found a stack of pornographic magazines, rubber gloves and a note from Carole signed “Too hot to handle!” Oh my. While Clark was filming a night scene, his gorgeous girlfriend decided to stop by for a visit. These candid photos were snapped of them snuggled under a blanket, with Carole wrapped in Clark’s coat. These were apparently taken in June, but it was uncharacteristically cold in Southern California…
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Movie of the Week: Too Hot to Handle (1938)
This week, Clark Gable is a rogue newsreel reporter and Myrna Loy is a determined aviatrix in Too Hot to Handle (1938). This film is an interesting look behind the scenes at the now-extinct-thanks-to-television-and-internet newsreel business. Gable is Chris Hunter, a newsreel cameraman who is always in the middle of the action. Walter Pidgeon is Bill Dennis, a rival newsreel cameraman who is constantly trying to out-scoop Chris. Both of them are bored in Shanghai since they can’t get anywhere near the action of the Chinese-Japanese war. When his boss (Walter Connolly) starts demanding action shots of the war, Chris obliges by making up fake shots using toy airplanes…
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{New Article} 1947: Tee for Two
I’ve typed many an article for this website (see for yourself) and will admit that the majority of fan magazine pieces are fluff. Especially in the early 1930’s–they are long winded, written in an almost comical romantic prose, and have little to no substance. This trend started to change after World War II, and most of the articles you get are actual interviews, some better than others. This one from 1947 is actually an entertaining little piece, written by Clark’s frequent golfing buddy Ed Sullivan. In it you’ll find a rare nugget indeed: a Clark quote about Carole Lombard. After her death, his quotes about her are few and far…
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{In the News} 1941: That Flapping at the Gables’ is Mighty Like a Stork
The omnipresent rumors of an impending little Gable continued on in this newspaper spread from 1941: That Flapping at the Gables’ is Mighty Like a Stork Hollywood, Feb. 14–A little Rhett Butler (or possibly a Rhetta) is now on its way at the nearby rancho of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, according to advices on Sir Stork’s movieland grapevine today. The report was linked to Carole’s visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Jan.2, when she was given a physical check up by Dr. Richard W. Telinde, the hospital’s chief gynecologist. Intimates of the couple recalled that Carole’s pet name for Clark is “Pappy” and that, in recent weeks,…
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Movie of the Week: Strange Cargo (1940)
This week, Clark Gable is a no-good, very bad convict and Joan Crawford is the naughty girl he’s chasing in Strange Cargo. Gable is Verne, a thief who has been imprisoned for years in a dirty jail on an island in New Guinea. Out on work duty one day, he comes across Julie (Crawford), a cafe singer. She turns him in when he breaks out to try and be with her. She is then banished from the island for harboring a criminal. When Verne manages to escape again along with fellow inmates, Julie joins them on their voyage to the mainland. Both are uneasy by the presence of Cambreau (Ian…
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{Photos} Carole Connection: Idiot’s Delight (1939)
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard weren’t married yet when Clark started filming Idiot’s Delight. He had just signed on the dotted line to play Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind, but had time to kill before GWTW started. Norma Shearer had personally requested him for the lead in Idiot’s Delight, as she could no longer be counted on to bring in the big crowds based on her name alone. Clark was leery of the film. He had seen the play when it had been in Los Angeles, with Alfred Lunt in the role, and knew it required singing and dancing, neither of which he was confident in doing. Director…
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Gossip Friday: Holy Toledo!
From December 1941: Since they’ve established that swear kitty on Carole Lombard’s set, her favorite expression has become “Holy Toledo!”