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{CMBA Films of the 1940’s Blogathon} February Movie of the Month: Somewhere I’ll Find You (1942)
This month, as Movie of the Month as well as my submission to the Classic Movie Blog Association’s Film of the 1940’s Blogathon, the focus is on 1942’s Somewhere I’ll Find You. Clark Gable is Jonny Walker and Robert Sterling is Kirk Walker, brothers who work together as war correspondents for a New York newspaper, and are just returning from overseas. They aren’t home for long before they are competing for the affection of Paula Lane (Lana Turner), a reporter who flip-flops between the two. When Paula is sent on assignment to Indochina and disappears, the brothers are commissioned to find her. Once they do find her, Pearl Harbor happens and…
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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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June Movie of the Month: Betrayed (1954)
Clark Gable reigned as the King of the MGM lot for 23 years. He felt safe on that big lot, protected by their scripts and directors and the familiar faces. Never very confident in his acting ability, his home playing field gave him the confidence he needed (although, ironically, two of his three Oscar nominations were for films in which he was on loan-out to other studios). Many actors free-lanced and hopped from studio to studio, but not Clark. He stayed on as MGM’s golden boy. But times changed. Clark returned from World War II older, grayer and emotionally damaged. Newer, fresher faces were emerging on the scene and Clark…
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Gossip Friday: Hedda Hopper’s Academy Awards
Since the Oscars are this weekend…. Famed classic Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper picks out her own “Superlative Academy Awards,” from March 1941 (I agree with the first one, anyway!): Best all-around man in Hollywood: Clark Gable, because he has more reality and virility than any other actor on the screen. And because off screen he’s one of the best balanced men in Hollywood, a swell companion and an all-around friend. Best all-around woman in Hollywood: Roz Russell, who’s had more hit pictures this last year than any other actress–because she’s the most civic-minded gal in town. She blends movies, society and citizenship. Most popular woman: Dame Rumor. Have you got…
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{Rumor Mill} Clark Gable and Lana Turner
Clark Gable has been linked to a lot of women. Pretty much every co-star he ever had in the 1930’s was labeled as his off-screen romance too. Sometimes, in the case of Joan Crawford or Elizabeth Allan, it was true. Other times, in the case of Myrna Loy or Jean Harlow, it was not. But there’s one costar of his that seems to be a point of contention: Lana Turner. Lana, Clark’s pretty blonde co-star in Honky Tonk, Somewhere I’ll Find You, Homecoming and Betrayed, was known for dating her co-stars. Married seven times, she also reportedly had a flirtation with Robert Taylor, had an affair with Tyrone Power, hit the nightclubs with…
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Snowed in with Clark
Clark Gable never made a Christmas movie. Not even a movie with a legitimate Christmas scene! Surprising but true. So, we’ll have to settle for some shots of Clark in the snow to make things festive around here…
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{Hollywood} The Former Homes of…
Instead of hopping on a tour bus to be driven around, snapping photos and hoping to catch today’s stars in their bathrobes watering their front lawns, we were on a mission to find the homes of the past. Let’s start with two of Clark’s wives… Here is the house on Landale that Clark’s first wife Josephine Dillon lived in from her arrival in Hollywood until her death. Clark owned this property, paid the property taxes and let Josephine live there rent-free. He left her the house in his will. After Clark’s widow Kay Williams sold the Encino ranch to developers in 1970’s, she moved into posh Beverly Hills to this house on…
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August Movie of the Month: Homecoming (1948)
For August, I had a different film in mind but I decided to highlight Homecoming after a chat with my dear friend Debbie. Homecoming is truly one of those films that is easy to dismiss at first glance, but it really is a little-known gem. Clark’s 1940’s post-World War II films are truly hit or miss and in most you can see his heart isn’t in it. He was different; the carefree man of Boom Town and Honky Tonk was no more. In just a few short years, he had seemed to age ten; his voice had even deepened and developed a more gravely texture that would remain. I…
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Gone with the Wind hits Los Angeles
The Los Angeles premiere of Gone with the Wind was 71 years ago this very evening. Jean Garceau, Clark and Carole’s faithful secretary, attended the event with them. Here is how she described it: The theater was decorated inside and out in keeping with the background and theme of the film. Huge searchlights probed the sky, bands played, streets were roped off and uniformed attendants held back the crowds as the police permitted only those cars with passes to draw up in front of the theater. A long flower-decked canopy extended to the sidewalk and a master of ceremonies stood there to welcome the stars, announce their names over a…