Films
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Gossip Friday: No Clark, No Ava
From January 1956: A drive-in movie theater in San Fernando Valley marqueed it “Grace Kelly in Mogambo” following her engagement to Prince Rainier. No mention of Clark Gable or Ava Gardner, who never expected the no-billing treatment when they made the picture with a pretty, unknown blonde.
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Gossip Friday: Croonin’ Gable
From January 1, 1936: All the fellows are kidding Clark Gable, the actor, because he does some crooning in his next picture, “Wife vs. Secretary.” Clark can “take it,” though. He just bought a new car for $16,000. Not on time, either.
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Gossip Friday: Tara Lives Again
From December 1958: Some 20 years ago, an acre of real estate in Culver City, Calif. hypnotized millions of movie-goers. It was the site of the mansion Tara in the silver screen epic, “Gone with the Wind.” Hollywood artizans had fashioned a structure that probably out-dazzled any of the real “plantation palaces” which dotted the southern landscape at the time of the Civil War. Two decades later, time has taken its toll on the bleak location. The once brilliant white colonades, where Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh and the late Leslie Howard strolled, have become shades of faded gray. Still they stand, majestic and formidable, guarding the entrance to the make-believe…
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Gossip Friday: Gift for Susan
From December 1954: Clark Gable’s Christmas gift to Susan Hayward, his co-star in “Soldier of Fortune,” a doll he bought in Hong Kong earing a remarkable resemblance to Susie but dressed in Oriental splendor.
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Remembering Clark Gable
Clark Gable died 64 years ago today, after suffering a fatal heart attack. He was 59 years old. Still full of life, he had just completed The Misfits and was eagerly awaiting the birth of his son. You can read about his death and funeral here. After Clark’s death, the newspaper the Atlanta Constitution interviewed some Atlantans who had met Clark when he was in town for the premiere of Gone with the Wind. Atlantans Who Entertained Gable in 1939 Comment on His Death by Yolande Gwin Clark Gable whispered to one of the newspaperwomen and said: “Do you suppose I could have a few words with her? (Margaret Mitchell).…
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Gossip Friday: Rhett’s Horse
From July 1939: Clark Gable is becoming so attached to the splendid five-gaited horse which he rides in “Gone with the Wind” that he is seriously considering its purchase for his own use.
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Gossip Friday: Update on Scarlett
From July 1939: Hollywood–The movie capital has not been kind to Vivien Leigh, and Miss Leigh, in turn, hates Hollywood. Neither knows much about the other, but it is unlikely that there will be time for revision of opinions. When the last mile of film has been ground through David Selznick’s cameras, his Scarlett O’Hara expects to be gone with the wind. On January 13 (which fell on a Friday), when Miss Leigh was formally signed to the most coveted role in the most talked-about picture in screen history, Hollywood welcomed her with mixed jealousy and resentment, blank puzzlement about her qualifications, feigned pity for the difficulty of her role,…
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85 Years Ago, On the Set of Gone with the Wind…
85 years ago today, the newspapers were reporting what was going on on the the set of the hotly-anticipated Civil War drama. Gone with the Wind Cast Loses Self-Consciousness by Harrison Carroll Hollywood, April 29–Some of the self-consciousness has worn off the “Gone with the Wind: company and they are now having fun just as if they were making an ordinary picture instead of an American classic. This week, they are shooting the scene in the library of the Wilkes plantation, Twelve Oaks, where Scarlett discovers that Rhett Butler had overheard her confession of love to Ashley. In sudden anger, Vivien Leigh tosses a vase at Clark Gable, who is…
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{New Article} 1940: Gable vs. Crawford
This is a new short little article gossiping that Clark Gable and Joan Crawford were not getting along on the set of Strange Cargo. This was actually mentioned in a few Gable biographies. Clark did not want to be in the film as he did not like the script (I can’t say I blame him). Joan’s career was on a downturn and she needed a hit so she was paired with Clark, who was just coming off Gone with the Wind success. Joan was a bit miffed at this, since just nine years earlier, she was the big star and Clark was getting his feet wet playing her love interests…
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Gossip Friday: Dozed Off
From January 1938: Clark Gable is an actor who knows how to relax. In “Test Pilot” there is a sequence in which he is supposed to be asleep while other players carry on action and dialog. For the rehearsal, Gable lay down and really dozed off. Director Victor Fleming woke him up, saying: “I’m afraid you might ruin a take by yawning, or talking in your sleep, or snoring.”
