Gossip Friday: Speaker Shenanigans

From January 1940:

The funniest thing in all Hollywood is that loud speaker attached to the locked gates leading into Clark Gable’s ranch home. Since his experience with an impudent intruder, Clark is taking no chances. The speaker in itself, which connects to a telephone inside the house, isn’t funny of course, but the conversations that can be heard for acres around are a panic.

 Andy Devine’s cracked-voiced pleas of, “Clark, it’s me—open the gates,” scare even the chickens out of their feathers.

 “Here’s your steak,” comes the booming voice of the butcher through the speaker.

 But the pay-off came when a car salesman went through his whole sales speech over the loud speaker, with cows wandering up to the fence to see what it was all about. “You should see the paint job, Mr. Gable,” he yelled.

 “Okay, sounds good. Think you’ve made a deal,” came back Gable’s booming voice and with that the salesman tripped head on into a passing load of hay. He was that excited.

The speaker stayed at the ranch for all the years to follow. Clark was still annoyed that buses of fans on “star homes” tours would pass by, with cameras flashing and the guide yelling over an intercom, “Here’s Clark Gable’s house!” but at least they couldn’t get in the gates.

New this week:

A page for Clark’s second wife Ria in the Wives section.