70 Years Ago Today, Clark Gable Joins the Army

Within weeks of Carole Lombard’s untimely death in January 1942, rumors swirled that Clark Gable was going to give up Hollywood for good and take off for the Armed Forces like so many other stars had. Carole had wanted her “Pappy” to join while she was alive; in fact her last telegram to him urged him to “join this man’s [Roosevelt’s] army!” Not surprisingly, MGM was desperate to hold on to him, after having lost so many male stars to the service already and tried to dissuade him. Clark made no public statements one way or the other, so the public was left to speculate what was next for their grieving King.

In April 1942, Walter Winchell noted in a column:

Not long ago I was at a White House press conference. When it was over, one of the president’s close advisors asked me to dinner. He knew that I had many friends among the film stars and he asked me what I knew about their feelings about the war.

“What do you hear about Clark Gable’s planning to quit the screen and join the Air Corps?” he asked.

I told him I had heard such rumors.

“We don’t want that!” cried this adminstration chief. “We want Clark Gable to stay where he is–on the screen. Clark Gable, we think, is one of the people’s daily habits and we don’t want to rob the people of their steady habits all at once.That’s the one thing we have copied from Goebbel’s propoganda ministry.”

Also noted in a magazine gossip column that month:

The biggest broken heart in Hollywood is Clark Gable’s –and everybody loves the big fellow enough to leave him alone in his sorrow. No one knows what Clark will eventually do–not even Clark. Those who know him best say that the loss of Carole grows worse and worse for him. At first he was numb. The shock was too great for him to comprehend. He was restless–and dashed off to Oregon on a motor trip to try and silence the hurt. He couldn’t forget. But now the restlessness has left and he just sits and broods. There are many who believe that inside of a year he will say good-bye to Hollywood forever. It doesn’t mean anything to him anymore. Some are predicting that he will find a mission in government service.

After Clark finished filming Somewhere I’ll Find You with Lana Turner, which he had begun filming before the tragedy, MGM scrambled to find a great project for him that would ensure he would stay in Hollywood.

In March, it was announced that Clark would be the star in a film adaptation of “The Sun Is My Undoing,” a popular novel by Marguerite Steen. Louella Parsons noted in her March 2 column that the news of his casting in the role of Matthew “ought to settle the rumors Gable is going to Washington for a Government job for the duration.” The press proclaimed it would be the greatest epic since Gone with the Wind.  Clark balked, the deal crumbled and the book was never made into a film, as far as I can tell.

On June 22, Jimmie Fidler announced on his radio program:

An open letter to Clark Gable: When I said last week on my broadcast that you were on your way to Washington to join the Army, your studio denied that this was true. I do not know why they did this unless they did not know that you were going or else that they were hoping against all odds that their biggest box office attraction would reconsider and not go. However, I knew that you said there was nothing left for you in Hollywood when your lovely wife died in the plane accident and and that if you played fair with your studio and finished your contracted picture they should not stop you from joining.

Clark, you can’t imagine the respect that all Hollywood and everyone else has for you, for the way you have conducted yourself, just I know you for the fine gentleman that you are. You went about it in your own quiet way, not talking or making any stand for publicity.

Even as late as early August, the speculation was fierce as to whether or not Clark would stay in Hollywood.

From a newspaper August 2:

Clark Gable is not going into officers training school, so MGM can dust off all those Gable plays. From Washingtton comes word that Clark will not go into either a training school or into one of Uncle Sam’s offices. The government feels, says our informant, that Clark is too vaulable furnishing pictures for entertainment for men in service to leave Hollywood now. Clark and Carole Lombard, according to my Washington news scout, offered their services to Uncle Sam the day war was declared and President Roosevelt advised the greatest service that they could perform would be to continue making pictures and that he would let them know if they were needed.

From a newspaper, August 8:

Latest on Clark Gable as we go to press. Clark has not yet been accepted in any branch of Uncle Sam’s service. He wants to serve his country but up to this minute there is not foundation for the report that he is already in. However, knowing how much Gable wants to get into the big fight, it may still happen. Meanwhile, his costarring film with Lana Turner, “Somewhere I’ll Find You,” is the latest Gable film which may not be his last picture for the duration after all.

Clark had been drinking heavily and barely sleeping in the months since Carole’s death. He was worried he wouldn’t pass his military physical, one of many reasons he was unsure about enlisting. What stirred him into action was that he found out that MGM had been seeking a deframent from military services for Clark, telling the government that he was essential to morale and should stay on the screen. Clark was tired of being a pawn and knew what Carole would have wanted him to do. The fact that he might not survive suddenly didn’t seem like a deterent to the grieving widower.

He did pass his pre-enlistment physical; the only concern being his dentures. He had three pairs made immediately so he had spare pairs as it would be impossible to obtain them overseas.

On August 12, 1942, looking haggard, with his hair flopping in his face and a sad look in his eyes, Clark Gable was sworn into service to the United States Army, wearing the same suit he had worn to his wife’s funeral months before.

From the following morning’s newspaper:

A noticeably nervous Clark Gable put aside the wealth and fame of Hollywood today to enlist in the Army as a buck private.

What may be the last public appearance for sometime of the idol of thousands of feminine movie fans was an auspicious affair. It took place high in the Federal Building, with half a floor roped off and guarded for privacy.

It was an intent Gable who listened as Malcolm P. Andruss, in charge of recruiting for Southern California, read the Army oath.

The screen star’s hand was shaking noticeably as he raised it to say “I do” in a half-faltering voice.

“I hope you will serve with honor to yourself and your country,” Colonel Andruss said when it was over. “I welcome you into the United States Army.”

“Thank you, sir,” Gable replied, with a wide smile and a handshake.

The screen star, 41, and widower with the death of Carole Lombard in an airplane accident several months ago, was to leave tonight for Miami, Fla., and three months’ training, after which he hoped to enroll in officers’ school.

“I am very happy about it,” he said as photographers snapped him from every angle and newsreel cameras ground away.

“I have made application to be a gunner and I’m going to do my very best. There’s nothing else to say.”

For years one of Hollywood’s best dressed stars, Gable was nattily attired as he stepped up for the ceremony. He wore a dark blue suit and white shirt, a dark blue and red military striped tie and black shoes.

He was inducted alone, but no sooner had he finished than Colonel Andruss read the oath to the star’s cameraman and close friend, Andrew J. McIntyre.

Gable, a consistent top movie money earner for more than a decade, has for months been rumored planning to join the Army Air Forces.

Several weeks ago he conferred with high officials in Washington but declared at the time he was not seeking a commission.

And with that, Clark let go all but a few servants, sold off many of the animals and left the ranch and Hollywood, stating, “I’m going in and I don’t expect to come back, and I don’t really give a hoot whether I do or not.”

And so Carole’s “Pappy” joined the Army.