{New Article} 1932: What About Clark Gable Now?

Clark Gable had only been in the public eye for a little over a year when this article was published.  But yet it’s all about “What is he up to NOW? What is NEW with him? He has CHANGED so much!”

Meet Clark Gable today!

This he-man with dimples; this gangster who went heroic by feminine demand; this most desired of all screen lovers—where does he go from here?

His powerful performance in “Strange Interlude” has clinched his right to stardom. Unofficially MGM’s biggest male draw for the past six months, he is on his own for the first time in the just completed “China Seas.”

What is Hollywood doing to him? How has this amazing whirl from obscurity to the foremost position in the talkies affected him? Can he possibly live up to all the grand breaks he has had so far? And, to be personal, is it true that fame is splitting up his second marriage?

Some other stellar men about town have been saying, “Poor Clark! We feel sorry for him. No one could keep a level head with all the publicity and adulation that have been showered on him!”

Logical, but after you meet and talk to Clark Gable you’re ready to answer, “Sour grapes!”

Hollywood has affected him, certainly! What’s more, he’s man enough to admit it. But the change is a sensitive, admirable one!

Every actress years to play opposite Gable. Every honest male star recognizes the potent appeal Clark exerts in pictures. And you and I know that he is one of the best topics in any social gathering. The Gable craze can be likened only to the Valentino boom of yester-year.

I wanted to know what he, himself, thinks of all the excitement he has stirred up. Learn his own conception of how popularity has altered him. There’s nothing quite so authentic as letting a man speak for himself.

The first thing he said was the most unusual statement I’ve ever heard from the lips of a star. I’ve interviewed most of them, and Gable is the very first whoever announced, “I haven’t done anything big yet!”

The Valentino comparisons are constant at this early stage of his career. And Clark’s right–he hadn’t done anything big yet at this point! He’s basically been the side man pudding beside the main course of MGM’s roster of female superstars—Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, etc.

Nine out of ten great stars let Hollywood spoil their home life. Clark Gable won’t. So here’s one marriage I think we can depend upon.

This is his second marital attempt, you’ll recall. His first wife was Josephine Dillon, a graduate of Stanford University, class of 1908. An instructor of voice, she did much to train and encourage Clark when he was struggling for a foothold on the stage. Today she lives modestly in Hollywood, teaching other aspiring actors. She and her now famous husband never meet.

In his early thirties, Clark is married to a cultured, charming woman who has the knack of completely satisfying him in every way. Like the first Mrs. Gable, she is older than he. Her two grown children by a previous marriage attend private schools in the East and spend their vacations in California.

I wouldn’t call it a marriage we can depend upon! It’s very funny, articles around this time do not have gushing details of Clark and Ria’s love story. They’re basically “he has a wife, here’s the facts, that’s that.” I have continuously wondered what the general public thought of this strange marriage. Did they actually think Clark and Ria were madly in love? Weird. Compare paragraphs above to any of the mushy gushy raving articles about Clark and Carole Lombard’s romance five years later!

Will he last? I think so. He isn’t temperamental and high-strung like John Gilbert. Not sheikish like Valentino. Not complex like Phil Holmes. He has a depth and virility which the juveniles lack.

What if he plays “nice” roles? His hit was made as a dangerous he-man. When he has portrayed straight leads he hasn’t been as effective. Much has been written about his appeal being purely elemental. If he goes Beverly Hills, will he lose that necessary vigor?

They don’t expect to do a lot of entertaining in their new home. Clark already feels the strain which Hollywood puts on its celebrities. He loves to go away between pictures. The Gables are fond of Hotel Del Monte and of the desert. Which reveals Clark’s varying dress moods. He likes to dress up and yet he also enjoys turtleneck sweaters and old pants! He never goes to Malibu.

Did the mustache he grew for “Strange Interlude” please you? To grow—or not to grow one again—that’s what he and the missus debate these evenings!

This isn’t the first time I have since Clark compared with Phil Holmes. Who in 2019, other than a diehard classic film fan, knows who Phil Holmes is or could pick him out of a lineup??  I think we all know the answer to the mustache question…

You can read the article in its entirety in The Article Archive.

(#7 Article Posted in 2019)