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Carole as Her Own Critic
A brief photo-essay from Life Magazine, September 1940: This episode in the making of a movie is a dramatic moment rarely, if ever, photographed before. The movie is RKO’s version of They Knew What They Wanted, from the play that won Sidney Howard a Pulitzer Prize in 1925. The characters are director Garson Kanin, Actors Carole Lombard and Charles Laughton. For two months they have worked like beavers on what they beleive is to be a great movie script. They have had the usual quarrels. On location at Napa, Calif., 550 miles from home, they have run into the usual location troubles: bad weather, delays, throngs of bothersome autograph hounds.…
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{New Article} 1941: The Gags of the Gables–Like Crazy!
This is a fun article detailing a lot of the pranks and gags Clark and Carole were notorious for pulling on each other. It all began, this frenzied funning, on the night Mammy and Pappy had their first date. They went to the Mayfair Ball on this history-making occasion. Clark, at that time, was living at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. Carole had her home in Brentwood. At the Ball, they had their first fight. Carole went home with friends. Clark, presumably, went home alone. Came the Dawn and Mr. G. was awakened by a loud and furry cooing. He opened his big, still-dreaming eyes and there were seven white doves…
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Gossip Friday: Hello, Goldilocks
From February 1939: Andy Devine, about to be a proud papa for the second time, went through a strenuous time just recently trying to explain things to his four-year-old Tad. It was a tough job. “The stork is bringing our baby,” Andy explained over and over. “What stork?” asked Tad. “The one in the cage over at Catalina?” “No.” “Why?” “Because it can’t get out of the cage.” “Why is that stork in the cage?” “Because,” Andy cired, “it’s too old to bring babies!” That evening Carole Lombard came over to the Devines for dinner. “Oh hello, Goldilocks,” Tad cried, using his pet name for Carole. “We’re going to have…
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September is Carole Lombard Month!
It’s Carole Lombard month on DearMrGable.com! In past years, Carole Lombard month has been in October, to commemerate Carole’s birthday October 6. But something very special will be happening for the site in October (more on that soon!) so I am moving Carole up a month–I didn’t think she’d mind! Stay tuned to the blog this month for rare Carole pictures, Carole gossip items, Clark and Carole articles and much more on one of Hollywood’s favorite couples!
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{New Article} 1957: I Call on Clark Gable
Folks, as far as articles go on Clark Gable, this one is a gold mine! If you’ve perused through our Article Archive here, you know that many interviews with Clark are pure fluff. MGM protected what was published about its stars and Clark was no exception. Most interviews never asked the questions people really wanted to know, and instead of a true sit-down interview, it was a quick conversation (if any at all) that was beefed up by the writer’s own assumptions and fluffy writing. This one is different. Of course by this time, it was the late 50’s and the “studio system” had dissapated. Clark was no longer under MGM’s protective wing,…
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Gossip Friday: Hats off to you!
From September 1938: “Where did you get that hat?” The old cry is ringing around the MGM lot these days louder than ever since an assistant director, a wardroble lad, a sound man, an electrician and a bit player all appeared one morning in bright straw hats with flaming hatbands. “Gable’s cupboard,” came a simulatenous answer from the five. There was an immediate stampede from all directions to the famous Gable clothes closet. You see, Clark is a collector of hats. Can’t resist buying a half-dozen every time he hits a shop. One look in his studio mirror, however, convinces Clark the hats were never made for him and up…
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Gossip Friday: Out on the Town
From August 1941: Clark Gable and Carole Lombard made one of their rare Hollywood appearances at Ciro’s one night during the brief engagement there of Danny Kaye—who, incidentally, is just about the funniest guy to come out of the East. Clark and his Missus were dressed fit to kill. “I have so few opportunities to dress now,” says Carole, who lives quietly on a big ranch in the valley with the idol of American womanhood, “that I have to take advantage of them.”
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Spotlight on: Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon, a British/Indian actress probably best known for her portrayal of Cathy in Wuthering Heights (1939), is an interesting person in Gable history. No, they were never paired together onscreen; they did have a brief romance offscreen. But what’s interesting is that Merle, who at first glance is only a flicker on Clark’s romantic radar, was present at many of the defining moments in Clark’s life. In 1936, Clark had officially been declared “fair game” after moving into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel after separating from Ria, and Merle was one of the first to announce her intentions. She was a relative Hollywood newcomer and her romance with fellow British import…
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{New Article} 1936: What are Clark Gable’s Plans for the Future?
This article from 1936 is a bit of a fluff piece, but I always find it interesting to see what the predictions are for Clark’s future, considering we all know the future. The most colorful chapter in Clark Gable’s life is just ahead of him. Until now, everything has been a prelude. All the struggle, the handicaps, the good fortune and the bad—they have each played a part in shaping the story of a fellow from Cadiz, Ohio, who has become one of the most famous men in the world. And the main part of his life story has only started! That’s true. Gone with the Wind, Carole Lombard and…
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Gossip Friday: Food Fit for a Man
From December 1940: Clark Gable is so afraid of even having it suggested that he is a softie that every day on the set of “Comrade X” when tea time rolled around and he was offered tiny cakes and tea he bellowed, “Gimme some food fit for a man to eat!” However, he was kidded out of being too disdainful of tea. The day I visited the set his director arranged a gag. As a total surprise a “sandwich” arrived for Clark at tea time. It was made of a loaf of bread cut in half with a two-inch steak between, and a quart of coffee as a chaser. The…