Films
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{New Article} 1935: Behind the Scenes with Joan, Clark and Bob
Here is one of those articles that is utterly pointless and serves only as a publicity piece from MGM for Forsaking All Others. I don’t think there was ever any real concern that there was going to be a battle royale for star status between Clark Gable, Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery but nonetheless: When Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery were announced as the stars of “Forsaking All Others,” under the ace direction of “Woody” Van Dyke, the local gossip columnists assumed their favorite cat-that-ate-the-canary expression and sat back and waited for the worst to happen… …of course, there was that fascinating angle of Mr. Clark (star) Gable…
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Movie of the Week: But Not For Me (1959)
This week, Clark Gable is a Broadway producer stuck between his lovestruck secretary Carroll Baker and his ex-wife Lilli Palmer in But Not For Me (1959). Gable is Russ Ward, an aging Broadway producer deep in debt and losing his touch. When he finally decides to throw in the towel, his much younger secretary, Ellie Brown (Baker), admits to being in love with him. Her speech to him gives him the idea for a great play and he sets to work on it, reviving his career, leading Ellie on in the process. She proves she can play the lead role and becomes a success. Russ starts to have feelings for…
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Movies of the Week: Call of the Wild (1935) and Key to the City (1950)
This week, we’ve got a Clark Gable and Loretta Young double feature in Call of the Wild (1935) and Key to the City (1950). I’m not going to dive into the whole Loretta Young-got-pregnant-with-Clark-Gable’s-baby-during-filming story. That’s all here. This is about the film. Clark Gable is Jack Thornton, on the hunt for a gold mine through the tundra with his sidekick Shorty (Oakie). As they struggle through the mountains in the bitter cold, they encounter Claire Blake (Young) who is stranded alone after her husband left her to search for food. They discover that Claire and her husband were after the same gold mine. Aided by their trusty dog Buck,…
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Movie of the Week: Polly of the Circus (1932)
This week, Clark Gable is a preacher in love with sassy acrobat Marion Davies in Polly of the Circus (1932). Clark is Father John Hartley, a small town minister living a peaceful life. The circus comes to town, with its star attraction: trapeze artist Polly Fisher (Davies). She is enraged when her risqué posters are covered up and confronts Hartley, who admits that her posters aren’t appropriate in the town. The crowd mocks her at her next performance, causing her to fall. She recuperates at Hartley’s house at his insistence since he feels guilty. Soon they fall in love. But his parish and bishop uncle (C. Aubrey Smith) don’t support…
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Gossip Friday: Rhett on the Radio?
From April 1939: Latest bulletin from the Hollywood Front is that Cecil B. DeMille is dickering to present a radio version of “Gone with the Wind” on his regular Monday drama hour. And, by the way, they do some funny things in Hollywood occasionally. David O. Selznick spent thousands of dollars testing various candidates for the role of Rhett Butler…but Clark Gable, who was the first one signed for the picture, didn’t make one test! __ That never happened. Would have been quite the long radio program!
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Movie of the Week: The King and Four Queens (1956) and Band of Angels (1957)
This week, Clark Gable is in two back-to-back color features, the Western The King and Four Queens (1956) and the Civil War-era drama Band of Angels (1957). In this Cinemascope Western, Gable is Dan Kehoe, a fugitive outlaw on the hunt for gold. In one town, he hears the story of the bandit McDade brothers, who were blown up in an explosion after stealing a huge pot of gold. Three charred, unrecognizable bodies were found, meaning one brother escaped but nobody knows which one. The gold was hidden by their mother, who is guarding it and the sons’ four wives in the deserted town of Wagon Mound. Kehoe makes up a story…
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Movie of the Week: Hell Divers (1931)
This week, Clark Gable is at odds with Wallace Beery (again) and plays a fearless pilot (again) in Hell Divers (1931). Clark is Steve Nelson, a budding Navy pilot constantly at odds with Windy Riker (Beery), who has been in the service for years and has no patience for newbies. When Windy stages a farce that makes Steve’s girl Ann (Dorothy Jordan) leave him, their relationship becomes hostile. After a drunken brawl, Wally ends up in jail and misses the boat, causing Clark to be promoted to his position. This film is not one of Clark’s best, but it’s interesting to see a young Clark in uniform, battling it out…
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Movie of the Week: The White Sister (1933) and Night Flight (1933)
This week, we’ve got a Clark Gable-Helen Hayes double feature: The White Sister (1933) and Night Flight (1933). In The White Sister, Clark Gable is Giovanni Severa, a pilot in the Italian Air Force. He meets Angela (Hayes), an aristocratic daughter of a prince (Lewis Stone). Her father opposes their romance but they steal moments together anyway. When Giovanni goes off to fight in the 1914-1918 war, Angela waits for him so they can get married. When she learns he has died in combat, she knows she will never love again and joins a convent. Clark is quite dashing here, in a uniform and all full of romantic prose. It…
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Movie of the Week: Red Dust (1932) and Mogambo (1953)
This week, we’ve got Clark Gable in the original and the remake of the story about a man in a foreign land torn between a prim married lady and a good-times girl in Red Dust (1932) and Mogambo (1953). In both films, Clark is an American living in a foreign land with a job to do, who gets distracted when a fun-loving gal shows up. After a brief dalliance with her (she falls in love, he thinks it just a fling), a dignified couple show up to work/do research. Clark soon falls for the wife, bad girl gets jealous, love triangle ensues. Setting: RD: Set on a rubber plantation in…
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Movie of the Week: The Tall Men (1955) and Soldier of Fortune (1955)
This week is a double dose of 1955 Clark Gable, chasing Jane Russell in the Western The Tall Men and Susan Hayward in the foreign drama Soldier of Fortune. Clark Gable is Ben Allison, who along with his brother (Cameron Mitchell), join a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in 1866, headed by Nathan (Robert Ryan). En route, they save Nella (Jane Russell) from an Indian attack and she joins them on the journey. Ben and Nella share a cabin to ride out a blizzard and fall in love. Soon they realize that they have different futures in mind–Ben wants a ranch and a small family life, while Nella…
