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Remembering Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard died suddenly71 years ago today, at the age of 33, when her plane crashed into Table Rock Mountain near Las Vegas. Her husband, Clark Gable, was shattered. I have little doubt that the day that he stood at the base of the mountain, looking up at the burning wreckage and knowing his wife was up there, was the worst day of his life. But he was not alone in his grief–Carole was truly a person who was loved by all who knew her, even if the only way they knew her was on the screen. I have posted this fan poem before, but it is so beautiful it is…
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January Movie of the Month: Test Pilot (1938)
This month, Clark Gable is a fearless flyer, Myrna Loy is his worried wife and Spencer Tracy is his brooding sidekick in Test Pilot. Clark is Jim Lane, a boozing, womanizing army test pilot who walks to the beat of his own drummer. On one trip, his plane starts leaking gas and he lands on the field of a Kansas farm, where Ann Barton (Loy) lives with her parents. Their sparring turns to mutual attraction soon after and by the time Jim’s best friend and mechanic, Gunner Morris (Tracy) arrives to help fix the plane, they are in love. When Jim brings the plane home to New York, he has…
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{New Article} 1933: Gable Answers Your Questions!
Early 1930’s fan magazine articles aren’t exactly a pleasure to read, for the most part. In my experience, most articles from this period are so fluffy, drawn-out, pointless and so unbelievably long that you wonder if they had a word count that had to be met in each magazine so they just filled it with junk with the occaisonal hidden gem. That being said, I actually like this article. True to form, it is entirely too long–nearly 4,000 words total! I can’t even imagine PEOPLE magazine or something of that sort printing an interview with a star that is 4,000 words. A few months prior, MOTION PICTURE magazine had an…
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Gossip Friday: Moving On Out
From June 1932: When Clark Gable’s wife went to New York, Clark gave up the apartment that they had occupied together and moved into bachelor quarters. But he didn’t give anybody the address and when he appeared at the studio his manager was constantly by his side to keep him from being questioned about the divorce, which folks say is imminent. However, in his new neighborhood word sort of got around among the kids that Clark was living in that corner house and dozens of little girls–all under ten, Mrs. Gable–have presented themselves at the front door, welcomed Clark to his new house and asked for an autographed picture. In…
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Gossip Friday: Oh, Buster!
From December 1931: Buster Keaton got generous one day and invited the entire cast of “Possessed” to be his guests for luncheon. Joan Crawford and Clark Gable were the honored guests. Then he served them corned beef and cabbage and onions. And that afternoon Joan and Clark had to do a big love scene. Oh, Buster!
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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…
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Gossip Friday: Carole’s Free Films
From September 1941: Clark Gable gave Carole Lombard a 16mm projector and sound equiptment last Christmas, and she decided it would be very nice to have a 16mm library of all her hit pictures. She made inquiries and discovered that a 16mm copy of a feature film, with sound, costs four hundred dollars and she could get a twenty percent discount. So, very blithely, she made the rounds of the various studios where she’d made the films, and told them about her wonderful idea. The studio heads insisted upon presenting her with the copies. Not one would let her pay for them. Which was pretty heartwarming for Miss Lombard—thinking, after…
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These are a Few of His Favorite Things…
Well, as I have lamented in prior years, Clark Gable never made a Christmas movie. There isn’t even a great Christmas scene in any of his films. All we have is the brief scene at the very end of The Easiest Way in which him and Constance Bennett see Anita Page trimming the tree on Christmas Eve. Well, although we have no Christmas scenes to savor this time of year, we can wonder: whatwould Clark have liked for a present? Let’s speculate… Clothes: Clark was very picky about clothes. He liked his clothes to be well made and fit perfectly. Once he found a piece he liked, he kept it for decades. He didn’t…
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A New Ending for Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind had its world premiere in Atlanta 73 years ago today and ever since, people have pondered if Scarlett would ever get Rhett back. Margaret Mitchell refused to ever answer the question, so everyone was left to their own imaginations. Screen Guide magazine held a contest for their readers to come up with the best new ending for GWTW and published the winner in its September 1940 issue: ___ The fadeout of “Gone with the Wind” whets the curiousity of millions of moviegoers. They watch Scarlett return to Tara alone, deserted by Rhett, and they argue hotly among themselves about what happened afterward. “He’d never go back…
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Gossip Friday: Battle of the Beard
From March 1937: Parnell will always be remembered in MGM records as the picture of the battle of the beard. Because Parnell wore a beard, they wanted Clark Gable, who portrays the great Irish leader, to grow one. Gable protested. Director John M. Stahl, stickler for realism, insisted and produced bearded Parnell photos. Gable hired a research expert, unearthed Parnell pictures showing him smooth shavem. Finally they shot tests of Gable wearing a false beard, and they looked so funny and foolish that they abandoned the idea. During shooting of the production, the MGM commissary had to strike blackberry pie off of its menu, because the extras got their beards…