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{New Article} 1942: Why Gable Wants to Fight
This article drums over the reasons Clark would want to join the army and whether or not he should. A mute point, of course, since by the time this article was published in October 1942, Clark was already sworn in and in officers school. If this were a time of peace in the world, Clark Gable would probably seek escape on a desert island. It would have to be an island that offered excitement, however, because, at heart, Gable is an adventurer, a man who loves the mystery of the unknown, who has lived close to nature and knows her changing moods—a man who has always been able to find…
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Clark on the Auction Block
As was widely publicized, the first auction of Debbie Reynolds’ amazing collection of Hollywood artifacts was held this past weekend. Her collection was/is absolutely amazing– there is no other word for the truly astounding pieces included. Although not really the “jaw-droppers”, there were a few Clark Gable items up on the block, unfortunately all a bit out of my price range: Clark’s personal dressing gown, which he owned for many years and used during production of Gone with the Wind, Honky Tonk and other films. (Clark’s wearing it in the picture above) Described: Clark Gable personal dressing gown for off-screen use during filming of Gone with the Wind. (David O.…
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Gossip Friday: Scarlett Also-Rans
From March 1940: Talk of Hollywood, recently, is how much luck the girls who did NOT get the Scarlett O’Hara role in Gone with the Wind had! Of course, Vivien Leigh was the “lucky” one who got the part. But look at the others– Bette Davis did Jezebel instead and won an Academy Oscar; Norma Shearer, in The Women, did such a swell job that she may get the next Award; Tallulah Bankhead, when she flopparooed on Scarlett, did the stage play that’s getting her international raves…ditto Katharine Hepburn, who also did NOT get the O’Hara plum, but who scored hugely behind the footlights in Philadelphia Story. And Susan Hayward,…
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Clark and Carole On the Air!
An unfortunate thing about Carole dying so young is that she was gone before mainstream television. So we have minimal candid video of her; she never got to laugh it up with Johnny Carson or Dick Cavett like many classic stars did. And although he lived well into the “golden age” of television, Clark, unfortunately, refused all television appearances. So, radio shows are about all we have to go on as far as live candid moments. Of course, the word “candid” is taken with a grain of salt, as these appearances were always scripted, but it is still great to find these little audio gems. New on the site are: New couple…
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Gossip Friday: Where are my chickens?
From April 1940: If they weren’t so much in love it would be cause for divorce. Clark Gable, who had rather win a prize at the coming Ponoma Fair for his poultry than a gold award for his acting, recently bought some chickens from an Eastern farmer. By the time they were delivered at the Gable ranch in the valley they cost Clark approximately thirty bucks apiece. Clark was grooming them for the poultry exhibition, and could almost see the blue ribbons he was going to get at the Fair, when he was suddenly laid low with a strep throat and had to go to the hospital for a few…
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{New Article} 1942: How Clark Gable is Conquering Loneliness
Here is a new article that will isn’t exactly the most uplifting, but it sheds some light on how Clark was struggling in the months following Carole Lombard’s death. This is the truth considering Clark Gable today; he is not going into active military service. He is not selling the ranch. He is going on with pictures. But the reasons that have determined these decisions reveal the changed Gable, this strong and complex man who after his exquisite wife’s death discovered through his tragic loneliness that he had loved her even more than he had ever realized. Well, by the time this issue hit newstands in August of 1942, Clark…
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Gossip Friday: Ain’t that so?
From January 1940: When Clark Gable and Charlie McCarthy were practicing for their radio program, Carole Lombard was right on deck for the rehearsal. The script called for a discussion on how feminine hearts are won and lost, and Edgar Bergen was shushed off immediately. “Quiet, Bergen,” commanded McCarthy. “You don’t belong in this conversation. You’re listening to experts.” Then he turned to Mrs. G., sitting in the front row. “Aint that so, Carole?” ____ For those not familiar, Edgar Bergen (father of Candice, by the way) was a very popular ventriliquist on radio and films. Charlie was his dummy. Candice recalled that when she was a small child she thought Charlie…
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{New Article} 1939: Will Clark Gable Ever Marry Carole Lombard?
We all know the answer to the question asked, but an interesting article nonetheless. Especially since they did wed a month after this was published. The speculation over whether or not they would actually marry isn’t ridiculous, really, because although it did seem the norm for most couples of the day to marry early on in their courtship, many of the big couples of this period–George Raft and Virginia Pine, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor–were unmarried. As a matter of fact, the real low-downers of Hollywood are convinced that there’ll never be a Ria-Clark divorce, they feel, although the principals never openly discuss the matter, that Clark and Carole both…
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72 Years Ago Today…
…Clark and Carole were married. Here is an interesting article I found from that year. It is a letter to Hollywood newlyweds, including Clark and Carole. It is interesting to note the fate of the marriages she mentions here. We all know, sadly, what became of Clark and Carole’s union. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Eppling Hartford were married for 49 years, until her death in 1988. They had three daughters: Daphne, Victoria, and Melissa. He remarried a few years later and remained so until he died at the ripe old age of 91. Tyrone Power and Annabella lasted nearly nine years, divorcing in 1948. Annabella did not remarry. Tyrone married twice…
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Gossip Friday: The Bride Wore Gray
Since a certain couple’s anniversary is coming up, here’s one from May 1939: And the bride wore gray. When Carole Lombard and Clark Gable announced their intentions to wed, the question of what the bride (a divorcee) should wear became important not only to Carole but to thousands of other women who were about to marry for the second time. Carole never faltered in her choice for a moment. “A gray suit,” was her decision. But the problem wasn’t solved that easily. There are grays and grays, some flattering, some hard and cold in tone, some unkind to blondes, as every woman knows. So, in order to secure exactly the…