Gossip
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Gossip Friday: Christmas Cow
From January 1940: Clark Gable, who had been at Fieldsie’s party with Carole Lombard (this was the first year they had discovered each other), slept well into the morning [on Christmas Day]. He had sent his lady love an appropriate gift, and when he arose he waited for her ecstatic telephone call. Secretly, he was also eager to see his own present from Carole. The first gifts of sweethearts are always the tenderest, the most elaborate and sentimental. Gable’s was. As he walked about, happy, sappy, in love, he came across an unexpected sight on his front lawn. There stood a forlorn heifer. None of the neighbors had cows. They are…
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Gossip Friday: Thank you, Youngster
From October 1936: Clark Gable plans a fitting reward for an honest little boy who evidently lives in Beverly Hills not far from the hotel where the actor resides. “The big moment” of millions of feminine fans entered a Beverly Hills drug store near the hotel, made a purchase and then departed. He was almost instantly overtaken by a small boy about ten or eleven years old, who thrust a wallet into Gable’s hand. It was the actor’s property. The boy explained that he had seen the actor drop it, and darted away as soon as he had returned the wallet, before Clark could learn his name. The star is…
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Gossip Friday: Stumped by Carole’s Gift
From October 1936: Carole Lombard has found a “topper” for the wreck of a car she sent Clark Gable as a Valentine gift. It is an antiquated fire engine. When the star learned the fire engine was for sale she hurried out and took an option on it. What Gable will do with the engine is a question. Gable turned the tables on Carole when she gave him the car, for he transformed the broken-down roadster into a snappy racing car. Carole feels that her latest gift will have him “stumped”!
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Gossip Friday: Surprising Fieldsie
From 1948: “I’m terribly sorry I won’t be able to be there for your birthday.” It was Clark Gable calling Mrs. Walter “Fieldsie” Lang from New York where he had gone to see “Command Decision.” (His next MGM movie). Eighteen hours later Clark walked in on the Langs–wearing a huge grin and carrying a magnum of champagne. “Fieldsie” Lang was Carole Lombard’s closest friend and secretary. Wild horses couldn’t have kept Clark away on that day.
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Gossip Friday: Happy as Larks
From November 1939: Lately I’ve seen both Clark Gable and Carole Lombard at lunch at Ruby Foo’s (this is the old Vendome) with decorator Tom Douglas and a few days later with Bill Haines at the Victor Hugo. They are deep in the business of buying advice and decorations for their ranch home. I can’t quite see streamlined, brittle Lombard on a ranch, even a very exceptional one. But they seem happy as larks.
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Gossip Friday: No Snoopy for Carole
From March 1938: Carole Lombard’s learned to ride Western every Sunday and to roast a nifty duck; she jounces happily in a station wagon when she might be languishing in a limousine. All for Clark Gable’s company! Now, she’s resuming her interest in flying. In “Test Pilot” Clark’s had to fly so much for the director that he has enough hours in the air to get his pilot’s license. Carole took lessons out at the municipal airport a year or so ago, and she’s on the verge of starting over. She’ll never let it be said that she isn’t a swell sport. She isn’t going to be a fool about…
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Gossip Friday: No-Show for Joan’s Party
From 1946: Joan Crawford, who never gives big parties, really went the works on a welcome to Hollywood for Viveca Lindfors, the new Swedish importation. There was a dance floor, orchestra, bar and complete buffet service, all under a huge cellophane tent in Joan’s yard. Every guest showed up but Bette Davis and Clark Gable. Believe it or not, Bette got smacked in the head with a moving camera and went to Laguna Beach to recuperate. Clark didn’t get back in time from a fishing trip. Cutest couple present was Ann Blyth and John Compton, the “daughter” and “son-in-law” of “Mildred Pierce.” __ Anyone else not surprised Bette Davis didn’t…
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Gossip Friday: Carole vs. Marlene
From July 1937: Marlene [Dietrich] and Carole [Lombard] haven’t got to the hair pulling stage–yet–but it is stated that there is no love lost between the rival queens of the Paramount lot. The Dietrich was not too pleased when Lombard got that new two million dollar contract last year, but the fight was really on when it was reported that Carole was to have the lead in “French Without Tears.” That role was the apple of Marlene’s eye. She “discovered” the play while she was in London and had persuaded her studio to buy the screen rights. She had come to regard the part as her personal property. She promptly…
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Gossip Friday: Quite a Scare
From December 1937: Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had quite a scare recently when they thought that gangsters were following them. As the couple drove off from Carole’s home they noticed that they were followed by a car which had been parked near the star’s home. The mysterious motorists several times drove by Gable’s car, and the occupants, two young men, stared at the celebrities. Gable stepped on the petrol, and outdistanced the strangers. He had taken the precaution of noting the license number of the other car, which was reported to the police. The mystery was soon cleared up. The car was owned by a Glendale youth, of excellent…
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Gossip Friday: Carole Strikes Again
From December 1936: Hollywood seems to spend most of its spare time practical joking. When Clark Gable arrived at a radio studio the other night to play George Washington in an air version of Valley Forge, he found his dressing room littered with cherry trees and miniature axes, while on the mirror was a sign proclaiming him the “Father of His Country.” It was suspected to be the work of Carole Lombard. Gable retorted by sending her a sixpenny pop-gun for her birthday.