Gossip
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Gossip Friday: Tennis, Anyone?
From December 1938: Carole Lombard isn’t exactly the athletic type, but she’s got a tennis cup. It’s the Seabright cup, and a girl gets it only by winning the women’s singles three years in a row. The cup was won by tennis star Alice Marble, who promptly presented it to pal Carole as a gift.
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Gossip Friday: Poor Carole
From June 1937: Two things Clark Gable brought back with him from that Arizona hunting trip–and Carole Lombard liked neither! One was a goatee! During his absence from civilization, in the mountain forests, Clark raised it. When Carole saw it, she nearly fainted. “Off with it, or else!” she [demanded]. Not liking the “else,” Clark shaved the trick beard. Other item he brought back was a mountain lion. It’s still a cub, but even so, it’s tough. And it doesn’t like Carole. It snaps at her. However, Clark still has it. Talking of Carole, the poor girl suffers from rashes that burst out all over her whenever she gets even…
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Gossip Friday: Carole’s New Contract
From March 1937: [Carole Lombard engineered for herself] one of the finest, fattest new contracts in Hollywood–Paramount to pay her $150,000 per picture, for three pictures a year; Carole to have full and final say on all production details! And besides that, she’s to have the right to make one picture away from Paramount each year–when and what she pleases. Oh, I say, do you hear London calling?
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Gossip Friday: Carole Gets Glammed Up
From November 1941: Quite the nicest gesture of any month was made by Carole Lombard during the location shooting of They Knew What They Wanted. After a particularly heavy day of shooting, Carole swished into the hotel dining room , fairly reeking of satin and glamour. With a special little nod to a family group at a corner table, she joined the rest of the company who proceeded to give her a razzing for her movie queen act. So Carole explained, “Last night I came into the dining room feeling very comfortable in slacks and no make-up. But after dinner the mother of those kids over in the corner came…
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Gossip Friday: Happy Birthday, Fieldsie
From July 1937: Screwiest birthday cake in Hollywood was the one at the birthday party of Carole Lombard’s pal-secretary-companion “Fieldsie.” “Fieldsie,” who used to work with Carole when both were Mack Sennett bathing beauties, and who has been inseparable from Carole ever since, was presented with the cake by Bob Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby, and Gail Patrick’s husband. Bob’s cake consisted entirely of hamburgers and hot dogs, with a “frosting” of mustard! The little decorations around the side were pickles. Most hilarious guests at the party were, of course, Carole and Clark Gable.
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Gossip Friday: A New Kind of Star
From March 1932: Yes sir, there’s no two ways about it: the old town’s changing. It’s no longer quite as mad as a hatter. Slowly but surely it’s gaining sense and balance. A few years ago, for instance, a star as brilliant as Clark Gable, would have set out with all his new found riches, to dazzle the town with 15 room mansions, swanky cars, yachts, scandals and parties. Listen to Gable. “I own two cars which I paid cash for. I rent an apartment. Just for six months at a time and not a year. I don’t even own furniture. I’m saving my money.” ____ This makes me think of Sunset…
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Gossip Friday: Mobbed by Fans
From May 1934: Clark Gable came home from his personal apperance tour minus dozens of handkerchiefs, twenty-seven coat buttons–and a dress-shirt sleeve. The crowd in Kansas City was so dense that the crack train he was on was delayed thirty minutes while the police broke through the mob and got Gable aboard. In Baltimore, police refused to let him sleep in his own hotel! A huge crowd had massed in the corridor outside his room. He anticipated seeing many old friends in New York–but didn’t see one of them. He had no time, and they couldn’t crash through the crowds! On that same page of gossip was this piece about…
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Gossip Friday: Gone Fishin’
From August 1935: All Clark Gable is waiting for is that two weeks between pictures. Boy, oh boy, has he got it all planned! Big excitement. Listen carefully, girls. Clark is going to leap into that old smelly fishing boat he chartered and go to sea for yellowtail! He won’t have to shave for two weeks, he will wear clothes you would probably give to the ashman, and what a time he will have. No floating around on dance floors in popular resorts for him.
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Gossip Friday: Carole Lombard’s Hair Styling Advice
From March 1937: We watched Carole Lombard swishing around on the “Swing High, Swing Low” set at Paramount the other day, attired in two inches of white chiffon and two carloads of white ostrich feathers. We thought it all looked pretty elegant, and couldn’t understand the worried look in Travis Banton’s face. “These gowns give me the jitters,” he said. “They’re strictly honky tonk fashions, but Lombard makes them look so modish that I’m afraid every woman in the country will copy them–and probably look like a herd of ostriches.” The hairdresser came up just then to arrange Carole’s blonde curls for a close-up. “This wave won’t stay in place…
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Gossip Friday: a Clark Gable Salad and a Greta Garbo Sandwich
From December 1931: Clark Gable has become a second Greta Garbo. No, no, little Oscar, he’s not walking in the rain and going mysterious on the home folks. It’s simply that he’s become so popular with the lads and lassies who go to the movies that scores of reporters follow him wherever he goes, trying to get hot news about him. Our faithful secret service makes us follow burning discoveries: He hates dark suits. If he had his way he’d only wear grey. He dislikes tuxedos because he doesn’t dare have them made in light material. His one objection to pictures is that he can’t wear grey suits on the…