Gossip Friday: Hammy Hawk Island

From July 1941:

Carole Lombard never misses a chance for a laugh on husband Clark Gable, and Henry O’Neill provided her with an opportunity to howl when she visited the set of “Honky Tonk.”

From his scrapbook, O’Neill brought out an old theatrical handbill, dated Sept. 17, 1929. It was advertising a play, “Hawk Island,” opening at the Longacre Theater of Hartford, Conn. On the front of the handbill was a picture of the play’s most exciting scene.

Standing behind a desk with one hand raised dramatically and the other pointing a gun at the rest of the cast, including O’Neill, was none other than Mr. Gable. Despite his “hammy” pose, it was a big hit on the stage and one of Gable’s performances that led to his start in pictures the following year.

But Carole Lombard, between laughs, only had eyes for that overacting pose. “I’ll bet Mr. Mayer never saw that,” she told her crimson-faced husband.