Gossip
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Gossip Friday: On the set of Too Hot to Handle
From September 1938: Everywhere we turn something real inspires something romantic. Why, even Mussolini’s Ethipian adventure has landed Clark Gable a new thrill-packed adventure role! “Too Hot to Handle”, our first set invasion at Metro Goldwyn Mayer, really has nothing to do with Il Duce or his Fascisti friends. It’s an adventurous saga of a daredevil newsreel cameraman. But if Laurence Stallings, the war correspondent, and Leonard Hammond, the ace newsreeler, hadn’t sat idly for weeks sopping up Ethiopian rainfall and waiting for Mussolini to get going, Clark might very well have missed out on a dashing scenario to follow in the wake of “Test Pilot.” As it was, Stallings…
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Gossip Friday: Surefire Miss Crawford
Since it’s April Fool’s Day and Joan Crawford’s birthday was last week… From September 1934: Clarence Brown pulled a gag on Joan Crawford that worked to perfection. In a scene for “Chained” Joan was supposed to shoot off a double-barreled shotgun. When Joan was scared practically to a state of paralysis, Clark Gable volunteered to show her all the tricks. Finally Joan got to the point where she could pull the trigger without flinching. The scene started and Joan picked up the gun, pulled it over her shoulder and fired. There was a moment’s silence and then from somewhere up above, an old stuffed duck fell at her feet. Brown…
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Gossip Friday: Ria Holds Out
From December 1938: And now Ria Gable comes forth with a denial of all the rumors that she has been holding up divorce proceedings between her and Clark. According to a friend of hers, Mrs. G. insists that the main reason Clark hasn’t got his divorce is that he has never asked for it. The same report states that Mrs. Gable is not interested in a settlement, since she has considerable money of her own. _____________ HOGWASH. It may be true that Clark hadn’t asked Ria for a divorce yet but only because he didn’t want to pay Ria all the money she wanted. A new article is coming…
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Gossip Friday: The Bride Wore Gray
Since a certain couple’s anniversary is coming up, here’s one from May 1939: And the bride wore gray. When Carole Lombard and Clark Gable announced their intentions to wed, the question of what the bride (a divorcee) should wear became important not only to Carole but to thousands of other women who were about to marry for the second time. Carole never faltered in her choice for a moment. “A gray suit,” was her decision. But the problem wasn’t solved that easily. There are grays and grays, some flattering, some hard and cold in tone, some unkind to blondes, as every woman knows. So, in order to secure exactly the…
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Gossip Friday: On the “Saratoga” set
Since “Saratoga” is Movie of the Month and we’re celebrating Jean Harlow’s centennial… From August 1937: On the “Saratoga” set, watching Clark Gable and Jean Harlow emote, the onlookers snicker when Gable does an impromptu imitation of the Harlow walk. Sitting on the sidelines, Peggy, Jean’s hairdresser, is wearing that super-colossal star sapphire ring. The scene is shot and lunch is called. Before she leaves for the commissary Peggy slips the ring off her finger and hands it to Jean, but Jean returns it. “Wear it to lunch, Peggy,” she says. “Maybe you’ll do yourself some good.” So Peggy rushes off to startle her friends, and Jean turns to us.…
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Gossip Friday: Miss Harlow and Mr. Taylor
In salute of Jean Harlow, here’s some scoop about her from the set of one of her last films, “Personal Property”: The reported “romance” between Jean Harlow and Bob Taylor was a custom-built item direct from their studio. It was a perfect set-up, what with Jean and Bob typifying all that’s tremendous and colassal in sex appeal, adn what with the two fo them co-starring in “Personal Property.” We snooped around the set for several days just to make sure and we regret to report that all of the necking was right there in the script. When “Personal Property” finished shooting, Jean Harlow dragged out the festive board and tossed…
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Gossip Friday: A Toast to the Winner
Since the Academy Awards are this weekend, here’s one from May 1935: The afternoon before the Awards banquet Norma Shearer and Claudette Colbert were having tea together. “I haven’t any more chance of winning it than the man in the moon,” laughed Claudette. “Nor I,” laughed Norma. “Then let’s toast the winner with a cup of tea,” Claudette suggested. They poured the cups. “To Bette Davis,” they chorused. That night, of course, Claudette carried home the little gold statuette [for “It Happened One Night”]. ____ Claudette famously didn’t even attend the ceremony because she was so sure she wouldn’t win. She had to be stopped at the train station and rushed…
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Gossip Friday: Rhett and…his Scarlett?
From September 1938: With the announcement of Clark Gable as Rhett Butler and Norma Shearer as Scarlett in “Gone with the Wind”, Clark and Norma, far from happy, are wearing two worried frowns on their personable faces. Gable is anxious to know these things: “Will I be the Rhett Butler of the fans’ dreams? If please the North, will the South be happy over the choice? Will I interpret each scene, each move, as the millions of readers have pictured it in their minds and hearts? Will I fail in this, my heaviest assignment to date? Frankly, I don’t see how any actor can win with this role and I’m…
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Gossip Friday: Carole with her Clark
Some ooey gooey love mush since it’s nearly Valentines Day… From May 1941: The most in love woman in all Hollywood—Carole Lombard. Watch pictures of Clark and Carole together. Carole either clings lovingly to her husband’s arm or gazes adoringly into Clark’s eyes. She completely submerges herself into one with Gable and openly tell the world with her eyes, “I love this man. He is mine.” For the most in love [girl] we dare you to find any that surpasses Carole Lombard with her Clark. ____ New this week: Saturday: Clark and Carole profiles from Movie Star Parade magazine in the Article Archive Sunday: Screenshots from “Idiot’s Delight” in…
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Gossip Friday: Snippets from the set of Gone with the Wind
From August 1939: There’s a mad scramble between every scene on the “Gone with the Wind” set. For Vivien Leigh is an Anagram fiend and Olivia de Havilland is equally rabid on the subject of Chinese Checkers–and they like Clark Gable for a partner. Gable happens to like both girls and both games, but he’s hit upon a practical solution for the predicament. It’s three-handed bridge and now everyone is happy. *** Though Vivien Leigh has many elaborate costumes for “Gone with the Wind”, her costliest is the ugliest dress she wears in the picture. Fourteen copies of this dress had to be made, for it is the one which…