Gossip Friday: One of the Greats

From January 1949 (Adela Rogers St. Johns):

It was a drizzly Sunday when Clark Gable invited me out to his Encino ranch for the day and a potluck dinner. With the logs from the fireplace sending out cheerful warmth over the brightly beautiful room, we found ourselves relaxing in the pleasant glow and the quiet, sure strength that emanates from this man. Whatever goes on in his heart and soul no one will know. But that he has achieved the thing Hollywoodites claim to want most, an inner peace that comes from a quiet mastery over circumstances, there can be no doubt. In brown riding breeches and brown turtleneck sweater, he’s quite a figure of a man. After a wonderful dinner, Clark helped clear off the table to make it easier for the one servant who was there that day. Simply and quietly, he lives from day to day. He makes no compromises with ideals, let loneliness or any of its plaguing attributes have at him through the years. With feet placed solidly in the ground of common sense, he still remains a greater romantic figure than any he has every portrayed. He will always be one of the greats in Hollywood history.