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Updates
New around here: Review on Love on the Run Behind the Scenes info on Hold Your Man A one page article about Clark joining the Army A dozen or so new pictures in the gallery, including several of Kay: See more in the gallery.
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Gossip Friday: Sick and Bored
From May 1937: Notes on how to pass the time while in bed with influenza, as demonstrated by Clark Gable: Bored by reading, he had a mop handle, minus the mop, brought to him. He tied a paintbrush, artists’ size, on the end, drew funny cartoons on the ceiling! Tired of that, he got a rubber band and a sheet of newspaper, and gean shooting spitballs at the flies in the room. After eight misses, he bagged a horsefly “right between the mirror and the window.” And finally, allowed to leave his bed by his doctor, Clark had the driver’s compartment of his station wagon glassed in, installed a heater…
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1940 Hollywood Career Girls Poll
I am from the wrong era. I just love anything 1930’s and 1940’s. One night I couldn’t sleep and was up until wee hours on YouTube watching random footage from streets in America from that period. So, I find polls like this particularly fascinating, as it gives a tiny glimpse into life as it was. This poll appeared in Screen Guide magazine in November 1940. Being a magazine devoted strictly to entertainment, Screen Guide did not question Hollywood’s career girls as to their Presidential preferences. However, at the suggestion of the girls themselves, several vital questions pertaining to this country’s welfare were included. Lack of space makes it impossible to…
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{New Article} 1936: He Lives His Impulses
That crazy, non-conformist Clark Gable! MGM publicity pretty much shoved the idea that Clark was a free spirited, unsophisticated regular Joe down the public’s throat repeatedly. Not that it wasn’t mostly true, because Clark indeed shunned the spotlight and the glamour that came along with it. But MGM really pushed for these kind of stories. This article is just Clark chatting with the reporter at the MGM commissary. “People often have asked me what I get out of it all—you know, being a movie star, making money, all the prerequisites. I don’t get out of it what a lot of people would, that’s a fact. I’m not luxury-minded. I don’t…
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Gossip Friday: No Beard!
From February 1937: Before “Parnell” went into production, Director John M. Stahl announced that Clark Gable would grow a beard for the occaison. This was quickly followed by Gable’s announcement that he wouldn’t grow a beard for ANY occaison. Knowing it was a fight to the finish, we visited the set for a round-by-round account. There were beavers galore all over the place, but none on the handsome pan of Gable. They’re calling the battle a draw, though, for he compromised on sideburns and a mustache. _____ From March 1937: Added note on the Clark Gable beard situation: Shortly after the battle of the beaver between Gable and director…
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March Movie of the Month: Strange Interlude (1932)
“In order for us to fully understand his characters, Eugene O’Neill allows them to express their thoughts aloud. As in life, these thoughts are quite different from the words that pass their lips.” Such is the–I’ll call it a warning–at the beginning of Strange Interlude, a pre-code film that is indeed…strange. As a classic film lover, particularly of the 1930’s, I cringe when people refer to some classic films as “creaky.” But unfortunately that is the word I feel I must use to describe Strange Interlude–a film that has not aged well, a film that I would definitely not recommend to those new to classic film and wary of its…
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Gossip Friday: Buzzing about Mr. and Mrs. Clark Gable
From May 1932: The Monday following a recently notable Sunday, Hollywood was fairly buzzing with reports that the Clrk Gables had had a really serious disagreement–so serious, in fact, that the only ultimate outcome could be divorce. Some of us believed..and others didn’t, because ever since Clark has become so popular as a screen hero there have been rumors that all was not well in the Gable establishment. The Tuesday, after the Monday, after the Sunday, Gene Dennis, the girl-psychic wonder who’s been appearing on a local stage in Hollywood, was being interviewed by one of the magazine writers. The interviewer thought this a particularly good time to find out…
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{New Article} 1932: Would You Like to Be Mrs. Gable?
Does that seem like an easy question to answer? Surely not! This is mostly just a fluffy article detailing how hard it is to be Mrs. Gable since you are constantly haunted by feelings of self-doubt and jealousy while thousands of women pine after your man. It really could have been written about any of the married male stars of that era. Imagine the glowing sense of possession you would feel when you said “I want you to meet my husband…” and the thrill of pleasure that would go through you as some woman looked up into the face of Clark Gable. Imagine sharing a home with Clark Gable. Let…
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New in the Gallery Today
Some candids from the set of Key to the City: And Clark and Carole Lombard with Andy Devine: See more in the gallery.
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{Photos} Clark Gable and…
Some of my favorite finds when I am scouring through old fan magazines are candids of random stars together. “I never knew that Blank ever even met Blank!” I often think, particularly now during “awards show season”, how the generations to come won’t feel similar joy, since there are thousands of pictures taken at every red carpet event, awards show and party and so thus the surprise of seeing stars posing together has dwindled. Here are some shots of Clark with other Tinseltown folk… See more in the gallery.