Gossip Friday: 2:00am Evidence

From August 1937:

Of course, I’m not one to gossip, but they do say that the Lombard girl waited at the MGM studio till two o’clock the other morning for Clark Gable, who was having a long session in front of the cameras. That, in Hollywood, is love….

The burning question of the moment is, “Will Carole marry Clark?” The Lombard-Gable affair has been a headline romance for some time now. their friendship began back in 1933, when they appeared together in No Man of Her Own. Carole at the time did have a man of her own (she was married to William Powell), and no whisper of romance came from the set. Apart from the fact that Hollywood thought he took it like a good sport when his co-star publicly presented him, in his hour of triumph a the Chinese Theatre premiere, with a large ham, with his picture pasted firmly on the wrapper, the association arroused no comment at all. They parted at the evend of the picture just two artistes who had done a job of work together and Gable’s name was in no way involved when shortly afterwards she got a divorce from Powell.

Neither, it must be clearly understood, was Carole’s when Clark and rhea Gable separated.

Their romance really began at a “gag” party thrown by Jock Whitney in 1936. Carole contributed to the gaiety of the proceedings by arriving in an ambulance and being carried into the house on a stretcher. Gable was there. They got together and had so much fun, that they made another date. A week later he was driving round Hollywood in a battered white Ford car with a large red heart painted on it and the whole town was talking. Carole had sent it to him on St. Valentine;s Day. Tied around the body was a huge red ribbon with a card reading: “To my Valentine, from Carole Lombard.” Since then they have been inseparable. But will it end in marriage with roses round the door and, perhaps, the patter of little footsteps in the hall, or will it just be another of those things? Hollywood can only guess. Both stars have steadfastly refused to discuss the romance. Gable, moreover, though living apart from his wife, is still married. There are complicated legal formalities to be faced (mostly in connection with the property settlement, a difficult business where film contracts are concerned) before he will be free.

Moreover Carole is a play girl; she likes the gay social life. Gable does not, though he has, at her side, thrown himself cheerfully into the party whirl in the past months.

Some of the gossips declare that he won’t keep up the Lombard pace for long.

And, it is pointed out,  this is not exactly the first rosy picture of love’s young dream for either of them. Clark has been married twice. Carole has loved both William Powell and Russ Colombo, to whom she was engaged at the time of his death.

On the other hand, the affair has already lasted a long time as Hollywood affairs go and there;s the evidence of that two a.m. wait…