Gossip Friday: That Floating Feeling

From March 1934:

Mrs. Kniffen ‘Has Floating Feeling’ As She Shakes Clark Gable’s Hand

Looking up from her tea cup at a bridge tea yesterday afternoon, Mrs. Luther M. Kniffen, attractive young wife of Sheriff Kniffen, electrified the air with a casual “I Met Clark Gable the other day when I was in New York.”

“Met him or saw him,” one of her listeners wanted to know.

“Met him, shook hands with him in person, back stage at the Capitol Theatre.”

“Were you thrilled?” queried another wide-eyed movie fan.

“Wouldn’t you be, in the presence of America’s lover? I got so nervous thinking about meeting him that I expected I’d probably stub my toe or trip or stutter. As it was, when we shook hands I had that floating feeling, you know. Afterward, I was tempted to wrap my hand in cellophane.”

Not a bit of the thrill of meeting the Hollywood screen idol was lost by the presence of Mrs. Gable for she was nowhere to be seen. Someone said that Mrs. Gable was visiting friends in New York as her husband made personal appearances at The Capitol Theatre.

Asked if Gable is as good looking in person as he appears on the screen, Mrs. Kniffen insisted that he’s even better looking. “He has the most charm of any person I’ve ever met,” she enthused. “He can talk about nothing and it seems like a lot. He has two huge dimples and when he smiles he beams.”

“Did he speak with an accent or have any odd little ways about him,” someone asked.

“Listen,” Mrs. Kniffen said with a certain air of pride, “He doesn’t have any silly mannerisms, like most notables. He’s perfectly natural and at ease and has a wonderful command of the English language.”

Curious as to whether or not Mr. Gable sanctions the new dark shirts for men, one of the women inquired about what the well-dressed Gable was wearing. That Sheriff Kniffen’s wife was not too fussed by the Great Lover to be alert as to his appearance is quite evident in the following complete account. gable had on a gray English draped suit and black shoes, a soft white shirt and gray knitted tie.

Mr. Gable remarked how glad he was that people seemed to like him so well and expressed the hope that he could always have their favor. Gable, at the time of Mrs. Kniffen’s visit, was making personal appearances at The Capitol when he gave two sketches from “Dancing Lady.” The New York newspapers reported that it was necessary to have special police protection about the theatre doors because of the mobs of women crowding around to get glimpses of Gable. Nurses were also on hand, the reports exaggerated, to care for any swooning fans. Mrs. L.P. Kniffen, Sheriff Kniffen’s mother, who also met Gable is as high in her praise of the star as her daughter-in-law.