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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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{Photos} Kiss Me, Clark
I’m sure you’ve heard the song by the Postal Service, which is titled “Clark Gable.” The line that features his name is “I’ll kiss you in a way Clark Gable would have admired.” Say what you want about Clark and his acting limitations, but that man was a born onscreen lover! Rosalind Russell recalled: “The only man who could make a love scene comfortable was Clark Gable. He was born graceful, he knew what to do with his feet and when he took hold of you, there was no fooling around.” Let’s get a lesson in the fine art of onscreen lip locking from Mr. Gable himself…
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{Hollywood} Sony Pictures (formerly MGM)
I approached this tour rather apprehensively. Metro Goldwyn Mayer is, sadly, no more. The largest studio, the most prestigious studio, the studio that had “more stars than there are in the heavens”, Clark’s home studio for over 20 years, is gone. By the 1970’s, its glory days were nothing but a memory. The MGM name is nothing but really a name anymore, not a place. The former studio is now Sony Pictures and Sony owns Columbia and is much more proud of that than of MGM history. I won’t get into the long, sad story of MGM’s decline here but I highly recommend this book that came out last year,…
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{Hollywood} Hollywood Boulevard
The infamous Hollywood Boulevard is about what you would expect: a mix of the old and the new, with buildings like Grauman’s Chinese and the El Capitan Theater sharing sidewalk space with the Kodak Theater and an H&M. The streets filled with hundreds of fans, milling the street taking photos, and hundreds of vendors harrassing you at every turn to buy their stuff or take their tour. An obvious place to start here is Grauman’s Chinese Theater. They do offer tours inside this historic theater, but we did not take one. Instead, we milled around outside and compared our hands to celebrities. Here is Clark Gable, whom I must say had very…
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{Hollywood} Clark Was Here
Let’s follow Clark around Los Angeles… Culver Studios. Formerly Selznick International Studios, this is where Gone with the Wind was filmed. The white house and manicured gardens are well-remembered as the opening shot of GWTW, then with a white sign in front that said, “A Selznick International Picture.” The scene where Mammy, Prissy and Pork stand in front of Scarlett and Rhett’s enormous Atlanta mansion and exclaim over its size (“Lordy, she sure is rich now!”) was filmed right here, in front of this building, with a matte painting standing in for Scarlett and Rhett’s mansion. Carole Lombard made Nothing Sacred and Made for Each Other here. It was later home…
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October Movie of the Month: Possessed (1931)
Joan Crawford is one of those actresses that people seem to either love or hate with no real in-between. Love her or hate her, she’s hard to escape if you’re a Gable fan, as not only is she his most frequent leading lady onscreen, she also was his romantic interest for many years off screen. You can read more about their affair here. Possessed isn’t the first film that Clark and Joan starred together in, but it is by far the steamiest. Having fallen head over heels in love (or maybe lust) by this time, their chemistry seeps onto the screen and is undeniable. Both were married at the time…
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{New Article} 1933: The True Story of Clark Gable’s Romantic Temptations
Whew. I usually don’t mind typing articles for the site; in fact I like it. This particular article was quite a chore, however. First of all, the magazine is in very bad shape and was literally falling to pieces in my hands. The dust from the crumbling newsprint is probably toxic and made my eyes itch. So the only way I could type it was to photocopy it and type it from there. Secondly, the writing is quite tedious and the article is the longest I have come across! And probably mostly fictional, but I digress… This piece is from 1933 and appeared in True Story magazine. True Story…
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{New Article} 1937: Why All Hollywood Adores Clark Gable
As if you wondered why anyone would adore Mr. Gable, this article provides some ammunition for adoration. I must say that Clark is one of the few Hollywood stars of that era that seemed to be liked by everyone, celebrities and fans alike. Case in point, I was speaking to a 95 year old World War II veteran yesterday. He loves talking about the war and going to the movies in the 1930’s, and I love sitting there and absorbing his stories like a sponge. While on leave in the early 1940’s, he went to the Hollywood Canteen one night, where he chatted with Joan Crawford while she served him…
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Gossip Friday: Quite a Pair
An early one, from April 1932: Joan Crawford and Mrs. Clark Gable often seen lunching together at the Embassy. Don’t overlook the Mrs.–it’s important and too bad. _______________ This one is rather funny, since Joan and Clark were in the midst of quite the heated affair during this time. One wonders if the powers-that-be at MGM released this tidbit to the press just to show that Joan and Ria were bestest pals and there was no way Joan would be cavorting with Ria’s husband. I am not quite sure what they mean by “Don’t overlook the Mrs.–it’s important and too bad”—too bad that there is a Mrs. Gable, I…
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Gossip Friday: Surefire Miss Crawford
Since it’s April Fool’s Day and Joan Crawford’s birthday was last week… From September 1934: Clarence Brown pulled a gag on Joan Crawford that worked to perfection. In a scene for “Chained” Joan was supposed to shoot off a double-barreled shotgun. When Joan was scared practically to a state of paralysis, Clark Gable volunteered to show her all the tricks. Finally Joan got to the point where she could pull the trigger without flinching. The scene started and Joan picked up the gun, pulled it over her shoulder and fired. There was a moment’s silence and then from somewhere up above, an old stuffed duck fell at her feet. Brown…