Gossip Friday: Gable and Cagney, Up-and-Comers

From September 1931:

Clark Gable and James Cagney are the two lads you want to keep your eyes on. They’re the sensations of 1931. (And doesn’t it seem like old times to have sensations again?) Their reputations have grown like Jack’s beanstalk. Each is slated for stardom in the fall.

Women–even the hard-to-please Hollywood kind–are calling Clark Gable the greatest lover since Valentino. And Gable’s career, in part, is suprisingly like Valentino’s. After considerable banging around the world, he finally drifted to Hollywood. After much struggle, he became an extra, finally graduationg to “heavy” parts. But here their records differ. No single picture has pushed Gable ahead the way “The Four Horsemen” pushed Valentino. Despite the handicap, Gable has become the most romantic figure on the screen today.

Cagney is a different stamp. He excites the admiration a great actor always excites. His type is also rare. There was little that was likable about his character in “The Public Enemy.” He deliberately set out to show you how weak and despicable a gangster could be–and he accomplished his feat. He was different, intensely different. He didn’t pose, he didn’t look love-sick. With the roles built to fit his youth, he is made to do the sort of thing that Jannings used to do.