Articles
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{New Article} 1942: Gable’s “Hermit Wife”
Here is a short little article that appeared in the February 1942 edition of Screen Guide magazine. Sadly, by the time this issue hit newsstands, the spirited subject of the article would be dead. “Hermit” is a word that conjured up pictures of wizened characters with long white beards, living solitary lives in caves or tree-tops. Carole Lombard is blonde and beautiful; her “cave” is a 22-acre ranch in San Fernando Valley; and far from being alone, Carole is married to Clark Gable. But when you consider the sort of person Carole used to be, her present life does seem like complete seclusion. She used to make headlines on…
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{New Article} Carole Lombard by Frederick Othman Part 3
Here is the final portion of Frederick Othman’s series on Carole Lombard, published on January 21, 1942. In this segment we learn she buried shrunken skulls in her yard! Carole Lombard and Gable Gave Up ‘Flossy’ Dwelling Happy Film Couple Lived in Simple Home Without Swimming Pool or Guest Rooms When Carole Lombard married Clark Gable in 1939, there was no whoop-de-do. They drove to Kingman, Ariz., in the coupe of their good friend and press agent, Otto Winkler, said their vows, and came home again. Then they held a reception at Carole’s house. The only guests were their old friends, the newspaper reporters. Everybody had a big time, host…
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{New Article} Carole Lombard by Frederick Othman Part 2
Continuing from yesterday’s post, here is part two of United Press Hollywood Correspondent Frederick Othman’s series on Carole Lombard, published January 20, 1942. Miss Lombard: Actress Liked to Pay Taxes Insisted on Huge Salary Because U.S. Took 75 Per Cent It will be a long time before Hollywood stops recalling and chuckling over the escapades of Carole Lombard, the girl who admitted she was crazy as a fox. She was scatter-brained–on purpose. She developed a vocabulary that would make a sailor blush–and for good reason. She was Hollywood’s leading screwball–and it made her $400,000 a year. Miss Lombard had been the lush and curvesome heroine of many a torrid drama…
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{New Article} Carole Lombard by Frederick Othman Part 1
Over the next three days, I’ll be sharing the three-part series United Press Hollywood correspondent Frederick Othman wrote after Carole Lombard’s death in January 1942. This first piece was syndicated in newspapers across the country on January 19, 1942. Carole’s Off-Screen Fun Equaled Screwball Roles Writer Friend Describes Pranks, Career of Actress; Carole Also Had Serious Side Of the press corps in the movie capital, none knew Carole Lombard better than Frederick C. Othman, United Press Hollywood correspondent. He reported her professional career, and, in addition, was a close friend. Therefore, he is particularly qualified to write of her life and her personality. The first of his three dispatches on…
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{New Article} 1936: Gable Changed?
In this 1936 article, a magazine writer who first met Clark Gable in 1931 goes back to interview him now that he’s had a string of hits and an Oscar. It is always hard for me to temper my enthusiasm in writing of Clark Gable. I happened to do the first interview with him and I may as well be frank and admit that it was done under protest. I had the average man’s prejudice against another man over whom women were raving. And I came away from that interview thoroughly sold on Clark. Women might go for him, but he was typically a man’s man. Several things about this ruggedly…
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{New Article} 1932: Gable Denies Divorce Rumors
This article from 1932 appeared in the same magazine and was by the same writer as last week’s article, appearing nearly a year later. Oh and what a difference a year makes! Just the year before, she was asking him what kind of woman he preferred. Not anymore! Now he is being painted as the perfect husband and family man. “The divorce rumors about Mrs. Gable and me are absurd!” says Clark Gable. “They are really funny. Hollywood can never break my marriage. I say that positively. It is impossible. I certainly have not changed, so far as my personal life is concerned. I still want the things that are…
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{New Article} 1931: Will Gable Take the Place of Valentino?
Here we have an article featuring new star Clark Gable, comparing him to belated silent star Rudolph Valentino, whose untimely death just a few years earlier was still fresh on everyone’s minds. Once in a lifetime—and maybe twice—there flashes across the screen a man with the power to make all women feel that they are in danger. Such danger as all women prefer to peaceful safety. Once—and perhaps twice—we see a man who, when he kisses the heroine on the screen, kisses you—and you—and me. A man with an earthy quality—call it romance, call it glamour, call it sex. No matter what you call it, there it is, compelling and…
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{New Article} 1935: What I Think About Clark Gable by Jean Harlow
Here is the continuation of yesterday’s article, where Clark Gable wrote what he thought of Jean Harlow. Now it’s Jean’s turn to gush about Clark–and gush she does indeed! I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather have for a friend than Clark Gable. He embodies all qualities which are necessary for true friendship. Not more than half a dozen people in Hollywood, I believe, know Clark as he really is. He is so much deeper than people think. He won’t talk about himself—he doesn’t even seem to think much about himself. It’s not that he’s a Garbo. But he is always so interested in finding out about you that he never…
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{New Article} 1935: What I Think About Jean Harlow by Clark Gable
This is article appeared in Hollywood magazine in 1935, as publicity for the upcoming China Seas. Clark Gable and Jean Harlow were buddies, and the publicity team at MGM liked to circle that around. Here on the site we’ve got this article about them on the set of Wife vs. Secretary. And This one behind the scenes of Hold Your Man is fun too. The endearing way he talks about Jean is so sweet. So difficult to wrap your head around the fact that she would be dead in two years, at the age of 26. Here is what Clark had to say about his buddy Jean in 1935 (Jean’s part about…
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{New Article} 1937: A Real Day with Clark Gable
In this 1937 article, a reporter follows Clark Gable around for an entire day (on one of his days off from the studio) and fills you in on every exciting detail! Not very exciting, actually, but nonetheless… He sent me a wire saying, “The Irish are fighting without me tomorrow. I will give you a ring when I wake up. I am going to sleep as late as possible.” Signed Clark. (He addresses you by your given name and likes to be called by his.) It was 10 am when my telephone buzzed loudly. “Man, have I been sleeping! That’s my idea of fun when I don’t have to roll…