{New Article} Two Happy People Part IV

Here is the final installment of Movie and Radio Guide’s four part series on Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Read Part Two here and Part Three here. I’m still hunting for Part One!

Clark Gable’s favorite topic of conversation is Carole Lombard and her favorite topic is Gable. And that’s why we feel justified in calling this man and his wife two happy people.

If they are not happy, then they are better performers at home than on the screen. In Hollywood, where gossiping is a profession and scandal-mongering is a craft, the Gables have been spared the darts that usually are hurled at the folks who live in the goldfish bowls of Graustark.

I’ve said that kind of thing numerous times–if those two weren’t happy, they were better actors than they got credit for being!

Mrs. Gable is one of the smartest women I’ve ever met. She is no child-bride, and now that she has what she wants she seems determined to keep it. If her husband wants to do something—say, play a game she doesn’t know—she will learn the game. She is not taking any chances on anybody else hunting and riding with her husband.

And Gable loves it that way. They really have fun together. Some folks say that all the capers they cut together are acts, publicity baits thrown out for the suckers. That is absurd. Of course, they act even when they are not before the camera. It is only natural. It is impossible for natural actors to stop acting the minute the whistle blows. Does a banker cease being at banker at 3:00pm? Does a writer cease being a writer when his story is finished? Acting is a profession with the Gables and they live their work all of the time. That’s why it’s impossible for Miss Lombard to retire and devote all of her time to wifing. You might as well ask Jim Farley to quit politics.

She is proud of her success and her ability. Gable says he’s going to quit when he is assured of ten thousand a year for life. Perhaps she will retire when he does. But I have the feeling that these people will be on the screen as long as the public wants them. Energetic, ambitious folks like the Gables simply do not work and fight to get to the top and then retire gracefully and go to their little blue heaven where the vines twine around the door and hand, hand in hand, walk down the twilight trail together. It’s very romantic, but it seldom happens.

It’s a bit strange that the author reports that Carole will never retire. By the time this article was published, Carole had been quoted several times saying she would only work a few more years and then “let Pa be the star and I’ll stay home and darn the socks and look after the kids.” And Clark was serious about quitting when he could guarantee $10,000 a year for life–he was quoted saying that many, many times. Although he never followed through!

Hollywood, which despite all of its smartness is still a bit naïve and a country town dressed in its Sunday best, has made a great deal over the fact that the Gables are supposed to call each other Ma and Pa. Some folks think that “Ma” and “Pa” sound democratic. Perhaps Mr. Gable calls Mrs. Gable “Ma” and she calls him “Pa” for the benefit of publicity. But I never heard it. They might call each other Ma and Pa in kidding, but the Ma-and-Pa legend really is just that and nothing more.

 That is quite timely–I literally just finished typing an article for the site today that had that very story of the maid calling for Clark, saying Ma was on the phone. I have to disagree with Mr. Street here, as both Clark and Carole have been quoted several times over calling each other Ma and Pa. Jean Garceau recalled it as well, along with some of their friends, such as Andy Devine.

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