{New Article} 1935: Gable Selects The Ten Most Attractive Women

This article is from 1935 and is a fluffy piece in which Clark Gable is asked to select the ten most attractive women in Hollywood.

I have a bit of difficulty believing that this article is quoting Clark verbatim as it includes the following sentence: “A woman’s features may be perfectly moulded, her skin a peach-blown dream and her body perfect, but unless her character shines through, she can never be truly beautiful. It takes more than mere perfection of face and figure for a woman to be beautiful.” Can anyone imagine Clark saying “her skin a peach-blown dream” ???? Me neither.

At first Clark picks the ideal characterisitics these women must have, including “…she must be a lady, not because she has been taught to act like one, but because she wouldn’t know how to be anything else. Being a lady or a gentleman, in the true sense of the word, is something natural, something which is born in us. I have seen men and women who were perfect ladies and gentlemen who never had the advantage of wealth, breeding or education and I have seen cads who were of the best families. There is a certain charm about a woman who has this inbred qualification which cannot be counterfeited.”  There’s some truth in that for sure. I tell my daughter “Behave like a lady and you’ll be treated like one.” Stands true today.

As for his picks, Clark dutifully picks his wife Ria, although doesn’t elaborate much on it. I like his quotes on Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Claudette Clbert and Jean Harlow:

There is Norma Shearer, in my mind one of the most fascinating women on or off the screen. She has everything, including brains enough to combine marriage, motherhood and a screen career successfully.” …

“The better I know Joan Crawford, the greater my admiration for her grows. I had to fight my way up, too, and I know how much more difficult it is for a woman.”….

“Claudette Colbert had the advantages of early culture, money and a fine education. She sparkles. There is something continental about her, an old world charm that fascinates all who come in contact with her.” …

“Jean Harlow, despite her screen characterizations, is not the personification of sex. She is essentially a good pal, a comrade to the men for whom she cares. Jean also has a good mind.”

I found Helen Hayes an odd pick and the passage about her rather contridictory:

“Helen Hayes is a different type from any of the women I have mentioned. She is like Claudette Colbert.”

Um what?

You can read the rest of Clark’s choices in the Article Archive.