Clark Gable’s Star Rises in MGM Publicity

It’s interesting to see what a few short years in Hollywood will do to one’s stardom!

Clark Gable burst on the scene in 1931 and literally went from a nobody to a somebody over night. His path can be traced through MGM’s magazine advertisements….

In 1931, he was a newbie and certainly didn’t merit a picture in the stars at the top or even listed in bold among names such as Marion Davies, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford or Norma Shearer (all of which would be Clark’s leading ladies!). No, Clark is listed in the small print among names such as Dorothy Appleby, Gus Shy and Edwina Booth. But also among the names are the likes of Lionel Barrymore, Leslie Howard and Robert Young. A Free Soul, Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise and The Secret Six are all mentioned, but not with Clark’s name attached–he wasn’t a name every one knew…yet.

Just one year later, Clark has been bumped way up in the order! Not only does he merit a picture right next to the grand dame Greta Garbo and among the likes of John Barrymore, Helen Hayes and Buster Keaton, but he also merits a second picture with Norma Shearer for Strange Interlude. She is, of course, billed first but still, that’s quite a bump in one year’s time! Hell Divers, Possessed and The White Sister are also listed, although Helen Hayes is the only star mentioned in the latter.

By the time MGM’s Leo the Lion was celebrating his tenth birthday in 1933, Clark was cemented as one of the top elite of MGM’s sparkling roster of stars. There he is, pictured second below Queen of the Lot Norma Shearer, among the likes of Jean Harlow, Jimmy Durante and Wallace Beery. His films Night Flight and Dancing Lady are singled out as some of MGM’s “happiest hits” on the way to viewers.

Not too shabby for a boy from Cadiz, Ohio…