1954: Please Don’t Talk About Me
By Imogene Collins
Modern Screen, January 1954
Gable’s gone and Suzy’s lost him.
The French say he done her dirt—but forty million Frenchmen could be wrong!
Authorities in the love-life of Clark Gable—and who in Hollywood is not?—insist that the tall, temple-grayed Casanova will return to the United States this month with his fifth bride.
Purportedly, she will be Suzanne Dadolle d’Abadie, the statuesque, green-eyed Schiaparelli model with whom he journeyed all over Europe last summer.
In Paris this has been a foregone conclusion for many weeks. French magazines have been running pictures of the couple with such captions as ILS VONT SE MARRIER (They’re going to get married) and LES FUTURES MONSIEUR ET MADAME CLARK GABLE and C’EST UNE QUESTION DE TEMPS (It’s a question of time.)
A month or so ago, when he was in London with Gary Cooper (their films, “Mogambo” and “Return to Paradise” were opening in England) Gable picked up the phone one afternoon and put in a transatlantic call to his private secretary, Jean Garceau, in Encino, California.
“Get the house ready,” he said. “I’ll be home for Christmas.”
Gable has spent the last three Christmases abroad. But the last time he asked that his ranch house be gotten in shape, he brought home a bride—she was Lady Sylvia Ashley, the ex-chorus girl and former wife of Douglas Fairbanks—and everyone in Hollywood was wondering whether Clark would do the same thing this Christmas.
In Paris, on October 12, Suzanne, after returning to work at Schiaparelli’s, announced that she and Gable had been engaged, “but informally,” for several months, the implication being that never in a million years would she have traveled with him all over the Continent unless they’d had some understanding.
She was also quoted as saying that, “Even a year ago, he asked me to be his companion all over the world and for the rest of his life.”
The press associations picked up the announcement, and next day readers throughout America were convinced that Clark and Suzanne would return to Hollywood as man and wife.
In Amsterdam, Gable was making “The True and the Brave” with Lana Turner and Vic Mature. When he was asked to confirm Miss Dadolle’s statement, he was stunned.
The actor is not the quickest thinker in the world, but by nature he is a prudent man, so he turned the whole matter over to Paul Mills, his press representative.
Paul gave out the following denial: “Clark Gable has no plans for engagement or marriage and hasn’t given his promise to engage or marry.”
In Paris, when Suzanne read this, she was hurt. After all, she was wearing the topaz ring Gable had given her, and while the ring may or may not have been an engagement ring, it showed in a way that Gable regarded her in a special light.
At Wolfheze, Holland, he was asked, “Any truth to these stories about you and Suzanne Dadolle?”
“Stories about what?” he countered.
“About you two kids getting married.”
“No truth to that,” Clark Gable said. “I’m not getting married.”
“Are you engaged?”
Gable shook his head. “Not engaged, either.”
“That doesn’t square away with Suzanne’s announcement in Paris last week.”
“What announcement?”
“You know—that the two of you are engaged, that you want her as your life’s companion.”
There was a moment of silence. “She was misquoted,” Gable said.
“Have you been spending any time with her of late?”
“No, she’s back in Paris. She returned to work.”
“Have you been talking to her on the phone? Or writing her any letters?”
“I’ve been too busy for that,” Gable answered.
“Then how do you know she was misquoted?”
“I’m sure she was,” Gable countered. “I know her, and she wouldn’t say a thing like that. She probably said she considered me a good friend and some reporter took it up from there.”
“That may be, but aren’t you in love with Suzanne?”
“She’s a wonderful friend.”
“Of course, but are you in love with her?”
“We’re just good friends.”
“Are you bringing this good friend back to Hollywood with you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“When do you expect to get back?”
“It’s hard to say. Depends on how this picture goes. We should be finished by the end of November. I should get back by Christmas.”
“Then you’re definitely coming home alone?” he was asked. “Is that right? No chance that you might change your mind and bring Suzanne with you?”
“I don’t think so,” Clark Gable said. “No.”
There you have it, out of the actor’s mouth. Will Gable abide by his decision to leave Suzanne in Europe? Will he bring her with him? Will she come to Hollywood herself and join him? Or was it all a summer romance?
Al Menasco, one of Gable’s best friends, toured Europe with “the king” and Suzanne a few months ago. He is of the opinion that Gable will never marry Suzanne Dadolle.
“She’s a lovely young woman,” Menasco concedes, “and they got along very well, but Gable isn’t in the marrying mood. My own opinion is that he’s had it for a while. Marriage, that is.
“He’s fond of Suzanne, but only as a friend. Of course, I could be wrong, but that’s my opinion.”
Another friend of Gable’s, a beautiful young woman who dates him between marriages, says, “I know the guy pretty well and unless a girl has money and position, preferably both, Gable won’t think of marrying her. He’ll go around with her, the way he has with this French babe. He’ll take her all over and date her exclusively, but he’s not going to slip that wedding band on her finger.
“At his age, you’d think he’d wise up and marry some average doll who’d appreciate him. But no. He marries the society belles. And a funny thing, it’s these dames with dough who make him pay through the nose when divorce time rolls around.
“Take Maria Langham, his second wife, and Sylvia Ashley, his last one. These babes were loaded, and they’re old enough to know the score. I think Gable’s divorce from Ria cost him at least $300,000 and of course he’s still paying Sylvia. He tried to get out of it by saying that she was an extremely wealthy woman in her own right. Of course, it didn’t work.
“You’d think the guy would wise up in his old age and marry some dame who wants to spend her life loving him and taking care of him. But no. He’s got to have a show-piece. I guess that’s why he’s an actor.
“As for this Suzanne Dadolle, I think he just took her around Europe for the ride. His intentions were friendly, not matrimonial.”
They are saying in France that if Gable does not marry the Schiaparelli model, not only will Suzanne be disappointed, but the star of “Mogambo” will lose thousands of fans among his French followers.
A model who accompanied Suzanne to this country a few years ago, when she came over on a tie-up deal for a hosiery firm, says, “I feel sorry for Suzanne. So do most of the other models in Paris. She is in a very awkward position. She left her job to travel with Monsieur Gable.
“Furthermore, and this is very important, Suzanne has a family. French families—I guess they are like all families—if in the end the girl gets married then everything that has passed before is of no matter. But if in the end, the girl is left in the cold with just memories—then there is hell to pay and it is the girl who pays it. That’s why I hope with all my heart that Monsieur Gable marries Suzanne. Really, she is a very nice person and she has a lot of savoir faire. She worked for General de Galle during the war, and she would not shame your Monsieur Gable in Hollywood. She is very much in love with him.
“And well, it is not as if she were one of those girls who can always turn to her work or that ambassador’s daughter Gable was going with. When a girl has wealth or prominence, then she can afford these unhappy love affairs. One can say, ‘We are still good friends,’ and let it go at that, because one knows there will always be more men.
“But right now, there is no room in Suzanne’s heart for anybody but Clark Gable. I have heard it said that he broke the heart of Grace Kelly and hundreds of other women who have fallen in love with him, and I know it is not his fault. He is a charming, wonderful man, and women throw themselves at him every day. But of he marries Suzanne, I promise he will not regret it.”
What from Suzanne herself?
She spoke to one reporter and made worldwide headlines and now, justifiably, she is afraid to talk to others. Gable doesn’t particularly like girls who talk to reporters.
Suzanne has gone on record, however, as saying that she and Clark are more than good friends. It is her understanding that she and the actor are engaged and that when he asked her to be his lifetime companion, he was thinking of marriage.
One English writer suggests that semantics is responsible for the difference between Suzanne’s allegation and Gable’s denial.
“What probably happened,” this writer offers, “is that he might have said, ‘Susie, you’re swell. You’re my friend for life.’
“Poor bloke. Probably doesn’t know that if you say those words to a French girl in France, it’s an out and out proposal.”