Articles
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{New Article} 1932: The Trials of a Hollywood Ex-Wife
This piece is about Clark and Boris Karloff’s ex-wives and how they are “persecuted” by the press to tell dish about their favorite ex-husbands. I was delighted to come across this article because my very dearest friend is a classic horror movie freak and I was quite happy to be able to say to her, “Here’s an article for the both of us!” as Boris Karloff is to her as Clark Gable is to me. Onto the article. Clark’s only ex-wife at this time was Josephine Dillon, a matronly acting coach 17 years his senior. He was newly married to Ria Langham. The story of Josephine Dillon’s persecution by yellow…
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{New Article} 1943: Captain Gable, Grim and Gay
I have so many WWII-era articles to upload it will probably take me until I am old and gray to get them all up on the site. Let’s hope not. For now, here’s a new one from 1943, about Clark when he was stationed in London. “It’s a grand job,” he pronounced, “I’m proud to be helping with it.” He said it with quiet sincerity that needed no emphasis, for the long unpublicized trip that brought him across the Atlantic was his own choice, just as he originally decided to give up the second highest screen salary in America in order to become Captain Gable of the U.S. Army Air…
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{New Article} 1942: How Clark Gable is Conquering Loneliness
Here is a new article that will isn’t exactly the most uplifting, but it sheds some light on how Clark was struggling in the months following Carole Lombard’s death. This is the truth considering Clark Gable today; he is not going into active military service. He is not selling the ranch. He is going on with pictures. But the reasons that have determined these decisions reveal the changed Gable, this strong and complex man who after his exquisite wife’s death discovered through his tragic loneliness that he had loved her even more than he had ever realized. Well, by the time this issue hit newstands in August of 1942, Clark…
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{New Article} 1937: Why All Hollywood Adores Clark Gable
As if you wondered why anyone would adore Mr. Gable, this article provides some ammunition for adoration. I must say that Clark is one of the few Hollywood stars of that era that seemed to be liked by everyone, celebrities and fans alike. Case in point, I was speaking to a 95 year old World War II veteran yesterday. He loves talking about the war and going to the movies in the 1930’s, and I love sitting there and absorbing his stories like a sponge. While on leave in the early 1940’s, he went to the Hollywood Canteen one night, where he chatted with Joan Crawford while she served him…
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{New Article} 1939: Will Clark Gable Ever Marry Carole Lombard?
We all know the answer to the question asked, but an interesting article nonetheless. Especially since they did wed a month after this was published. The speculation over whether or not they would actually marry isn’t ridiculous, really, because although it did seem the norm for most couples of the day to marry early on in their courtship, many of the big couples of this period–George Raft and Virginia Pine, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor–were unmarried. As a matter of fact, the real low-downers of Hollywood are convinced that there’ll never be a Ria-Clark divorce, they feel, although the principals never openly discuss the matter, that Clark and Carole both…
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{New Article} 1947: Clark’s Still the King
Here’s one from Silver Screen magazine in 1947. This article seems to be the result of the author’s editor saying, “We need a story on Gable!” and the author couldn’t, or didn’t have time to, have an interview with Clark so instead hashed together a bunch of random anecdotes to prove their point that Clark’s still the King of Hollywood. Well, it’s interesting anyway. …there was one character in England who wasn’t in the least awed by Captain Gable’s efficient tone and manner. This was a tom cat named Freddy. Freddy was about two cats long and three cats high, with the coat of a silver fox, and the courage…
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{New Article} 1936: I Had a Date with Clark Gable
This is a cute little article about a girl from Detroit who won a magazine contest and got to have lunch with Clark. For one thing, Clark is a lot better looking off the screen than on the screen, particularly on account of his eyes. He has fine eyes and they’re a lovely color…sort of gray-green. And his teeth are very white and his skin burned bronze, which gives him a particularly effective smile. Oh, he’ll look grand in color pictures, all right! Sigh….What was it I was typing about…oh yeah… At this point Clark hadn’t appeared in a color picture yet, as GWTW was still three years off. I…
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{New Article} 1938: At Last! Mrs. Clark Gable Talks
Well now here’s a fluff piece. Clark and Carole’s romance was quite celebrated in the media, despite the fact that he was still technically married. Clark’s other dalliances over the years had been kept pretty much under wraps, save for a nightclub date here and there. But the public was enthralled by the matching of two of their most popular stars. This really ruffled the feathers of the current Mrs. Gable. Instead of being sympathisized with, she was instead the martyr, the mean estranged wife standing in the way of Clark and Carole’s true love. “The question of divorce has never arisen between us,” Mrs. Gable said. “Mr. Gable has…
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{New Article} 1937: Gable Fears Shirley Temple!
This is a strange little piece written for Modern Screen magazine in 1937. In the late 1930’s, Clark was certainly considered “the King of Hollywood” but his box office was exceeded by a certain little curly-topped hoofer. “Sure I’m afraid of Shirley Temple,” he agreed solemnly. “She haunts me. I can see her sitting up there, shaking her curls and twinkling her eyes at me. I can almost hear her: ‘Hey man down there, come on up and catch me.’ But I’m not playing tag with Shirley. I know my place. And mighty grateful that it’s even second.” Clark seems to be taking the whole interview very lightly. He…
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{New Article} 1936: “The New Romance in Clark Gable’s Life”
I have a vintage magazine addiction. The first step towards getting help is admitting you have a problem, right? Well, I admit it. I now have so many magazines stacked on my desk and nightstand and scanner that I had to promise my husband I would not buy another one until I have gone through every one of them. And so I am. In the coming weeks you will find lots of new pictures in the gallery as a result, as well as many new articles. The majority of these articles are quite intriguing and so I am devoting a blog post here and there to them. Also, I would…