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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…
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{New Article} 1932: “I’m Not So Sure,” Says Clark Gable
This article appeared in Photoplay magazine in January 1932, when Clark Gable was a new star and nobody knew much about him yet. It’s rather funny how nowadays a quick internet search provides anyone with information about virtually anybody, but 80 years ago the journalists were scrambling to separate fact from fiction in Clark’s history. Has he been married twice, three times or four? What is his true background? Every writer in Hollywood is trying to find answers to these questions. Some have printed stories without waiting to get the truth. It’s a very old Hollywood custom. But a custom which Clark, a newcomer, is incapable of understanding. “Why don’t…
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December Movie of the Month: Honky Tonk (1941)
This month, it’s Clark Gable conning and scamming a small town as a ruthless gambler in Honky Tonk. Clark is fugitive con artist Candy Johnson, who stumbles upon the small town of Yellow Creek while on the run. He quickly takes advantage of the town’s lack of law and order. He also steals the heart of Elizabeth (Lana Turner), a Boston-bred girl with a crooked father (Frank Morgan). Although he insists he can’t be tied down, she manipulates him into marrying her and he becomes the most respected man in Yellow Creek. Her father doesn’t trust him, however, and sets out to destroy his reputation in town. The beginning of…
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Gossip Friday: Mrs. Clark Gable Pays Her Bill
From March 1932: Well, well, well, Mrs. Clark Gable certainly pays her bills on time. She was in Magnin’s shortly after the first of January and gave the saleslady a check to take to the accounting department to see if it checked with the store’s figures of what she owed them. She had kept track of her bill and brought in the check before she received an accounting! And was she getting attention! Seven salesladies hovering over her at once. And the customers whispering to each other, “That’s Mrs. Clark Gable.” I couldn’t help but remember Clark’s remark, “And a year ago I could have walked down Hollywood Boulevard munching…
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Prepare for Turkey Day with Lots of Rhett and Scarlett
American Movie Classics, or AMC, used to be a top contender with TCM as the place on the tube to view classic films. As the years have worn on, commericals have entered their fold, their classic film expert commentators disappeared, and the movies became more recent and more undesirable. Now, the channel is more known for its award winning television programs, such as “Breaking Bad” and (my personal favorite) “Mad Men”. Not tomorrow! Because frankly my dear, AMC is going back to its classic roots and showing Gone with the Wind for 24 hours tomorrow! With commericals (ugh), it’s five hours long! They are showing it at 8:00am, 3:00pm, 8:00pm…
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Goodbye, Mr. Gable
Fifty two years ago today, Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59. Described by many as a man they thought would live forever, his death came as a great shock to his friends, family and fans. The obituary piece that ran in the following week’s TIME magazine: A Hero’s Exit Time Magazine, November 28, 1960 “I’ve laughed about my so-called death before,” he said last year, when his health seemed excellent and he smilingly scotched the sort of morbid rumor that forever comes up in the career of an aging giant. Of course he was not dead. The lines of his face had deepened and the skin had…
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Veterans Day: Speaking of Heroes
A letter from the editor of Photoplay magazine, November 1942: Speaking of Heroes There isn’t a movie-goer among us who didn’t respond with quick emotion when Clark Gable enlisted as a private in the Air Corps of the United States Army, or who failed to feel a sense of elation reading the news less than three weeks later that Tyrone Power had been sworn in as private in the Marine Corps and that Henry Fonda, without advance word, had enlisted in the Navy. These men gave up adulation, riches and fame to become soldier, marine and sailor without rating. This did not make them heroes, but it did something else.…
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Gossip Friday: Too Many Dance Partners
From July 1934: Clark Gable was at the recent Spinsters’ Ball, exclusive social soiree of Los Angeles. At the Spinsters, girls cut in on the men. Five hundred eager debutantes! For Clark, the evening was something like a game of rugby. No sooner would one cooing, little, starry-eyed girl snuggle into his arms than a smack at her elbow would jerk her away and another was in her place. It went on until six the next morning.