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Gossip Friday: Waiting It Out
From November 1938: Clark Gable, rumored to be building a mansion in the valley, denies this with “I’m not building anything until I know exactly what’s happening.” He can be referring only to his long held-up divorce from Mrs. Rhea Gable.
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Movie of the Week: Honky Tonk (1941)
Clark Gable is a quick witted con man in the Old West and Lana Turner is the prudish judge’s daughter he’s after in Honky Tonk (1941). Gable 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 (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…
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Gossip Friday: A Flop Debut
From February 1936: The screen debut of Carole Lombard’s pekingese, “Pushface,” was a decided flop, but gave the blonde star a chance to get off one of her best wisecracks. “Pushface’s” big moment came on the “Love Before Breakfast” set at Universal. He was supposed to make an entrance in a basket of flowers, completely hidden by the blossoms. At a given signal, he was to poke his head out and wait for a closeup. But, every time, he leaped out of the basket and into Carole’s arms before the camera could get a shot. It was after the third unsuccessful take that Carole exploded: “Can you beat it! He…
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{Photos} A Ranch of Two Gables
This one-page spread appeared in Picture Show magazine in 1941: A Ranch of Two Gables Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are among the film-star ranchers in the San Fernando Valley. Like Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck, they both had separate ranches in the Valley before they were married. Clark Gable has always been an “outdoor” man. Whenever his work allowed, he would go away on hunting trips, as far from the night clubs and swing music and noisy crowds as he could conveniently get, reveling in the silence of the mountains and lakes. Eventually he gave up his hotel suite and moved out to the San Fernando Valley. Carole Lombard’s…
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{Photos} Carole Lombard Connection: Too Hot to Handle (1938)
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were very much a steady item when Clark began filming Too Hot to Handle in the summer of 1938. On his first day on the set, Carole sent her beloved a big box. Upon opening it, he found a stack of pornographic magazines, rubber gloves and a note from Carole signed “Too hot to handle!” Oh my. While Clark was filming a night scene, his gorgeous girlfriend decided to stop by for a visit. These candid photos were snapped of them snuggled under a blanket, with Carole wrapped in Clark’s coat. These were apparently taken in June, but it was uncharacteristically cold in Southern California…
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Movie of the Week: Too Hot to Handle (1938)
This week, Clark Gable is a rogue newsreel reporter and Myrna Loy is a determined aviatrix in Too Hot to Handle (1938). This film is an interesting look behind the scenes at the now-extinct-thanks-to-television-and-internet newsreel business. Gable is Chris Hunter, a newsreel cameraman who is always in the middle of the action. Walter Pidgeon is Bill Dennis, a rival newsreel cameraman who is constantly trying to out-scoop Chris. Both of them are bored in Shanghai since they can’t get anywhere near the action of the Chinese-Japanese war. When his boss (Walter Connolly) starts demanding action shots of the war, Chris obliges by making up fake shots using toy airplanes…
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{New Article} 1947: Tee for Two
I’ve typed many an article for this website (see for yourself) and will admit that the majority of fan magazine pieces are fluff. Especially in the early 1930’s–they are long winded, written in an almost comical romantic prose, and have little to no substance. This trend started to change after World War II, and most of the articles you get are actual interviews, some better than others. This one from 1947 is actually an entertaining little piece, written by Clark’s frequent golfing buddy Ed Sullivan. In it you’ll find a rare nugget indeed: a Clark quote about Carole Lombard. After her death, his quotes about her are few and far…
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Gossip Friday: Book of Outtakes
From March 1936: Just heard an amusing story about Carole Lombard. For years, she has been saving all the portraits of herself that went wrong in the gallery and were never released. Pictures in which she looked awkward or silly. Now she’s had 500 of them bound into a book. ___ If that’s true, wouldn’t we all love to see it!
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{In the News} 1941: That Flapping at the Gables’ is Mighty Like a Stork
The omnipresent rumors of an impending little Gable continued on in this newspaper spread from 1941: That Flapping at the Gables’ is Mighty Like a Stork Hollywood, Feb. 14–A little Rhett Butler (or possibly a Rhetta) is now on its way at the nearby rancho of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, according to advices on Sir Stork’s movieland grapevine today. The report was linked to Carole’s visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on Jan.2, when she was given a physical check up by Dr. Richard W. Telinde, the hospital’s chief gynecologist. Intimates of the couple recalled that Carole’s pet name for Clark is “Pappy” and that, in recent weeks,…
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Movie of the Week: Strange Cargo (1940)
This week, Clark Gable is a no-good, very bad convict and Joan Crawford is the naughty girl he’s chasing in Strange Cargo. Gable is Verne, a thief who has been imprisoned for years in a dirty jail on an island in New Guinea. Out on work duty one day, he comes across Julie (Crawford), a cafe singer. She turns him in when he breaks out to try and be with her. She is then banished from the island for harboring a criminal. When Verne manages to escape again along with fellow inmates, Julie joins them on their voyage to the mainland. Both are uneasy by the presence of Cambreau (Ian…