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Gossip Friday: No Snoopy for Carole
From March 1938: Carole Lombard’s learned to ride Western every Sunday and to roast a nifty duck; she jounces happily in a station wagon when she might be languishing in a limousine. All for Clark Gable’s company! Now, she’s resuming her interest in flying. In “Test Pilot” Clark’s had to fly so much for the director that he has enough hours in the air to get his pilot’s license. Carole took lessons out at the municipal airport a year or so ago, and she’s on the verge of starting over. She’ll never let it be said that she isn’t a swell sport. She isn’t going to be a fool about…
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Where He Waited, Paced and Grieved
On January 16, 1942, a grim Clark Gable boarded a plane to Las Vegas to find out the fate of his beloved wife Carole Lombard, her mother Elizabeth Peters and his friend Otto Winkler after hearing that their plane had gone down at Mount Potosi. Seeing the fire on the mountain at his arrival, he knew the news wasn’t good but still he wanted to go with the rescue team. He was persuaded not to, and considering the charred bodies that were found, it was certainly not a sight he would have wanted to see. After some time spent at the nearby Pioneer Saloon, Clark was taken to the El…
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CMBA Blogathon: Why Test Pilot (1938) Should Be Your Third Clark Gable Movie
We interrupt Carole Lombard Month to bring you this post, which is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles Blogathon. I’ve selected Test Pilot to talk about because, in my humble opinion, it should be the third Clark Gable movie you ever see if the first two are Gone with the Wind and It Happened One Night. Here are the reasons why: 1. It is truly a textbook example of a Clark Gable film. It’s got it all: adventure, romance, comedy, snappy dialogue and some intense drama. Clark is Jim Lane, a boozing, womanizing army test pilot who walks to the beat of his own drummer. On one…
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Gossip Friday: No-Show for Joan’s Party
From 1946: Joan Crawford, who never gives big parties, really went the works on a welcome to Hollywood for Viveca Lindfors, the new Swedish importation. There was a dance floor, orchestra, bar and complete buffet service, all under a huge cellophane tent in Joan’s yard. Every guest showed up but Bette Davis and Clark Gable. Believe it or not, Bette got smacked in the head with a moving camera and went to Laguna Beach to recuperate. Clark didn’t get back in time from a fishing trip. Cutest couple present was Ann Blyth and John Compton, the “daughter” and “son-in-law” of “Mildred Pierce.” __ Anyone else not surprised Bette Davis didn’t…
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Everything That is Wrong with Gable and Lombard (1976) Part Two
Part Two of me watching Gable and Lombard (1976) again and reporting back on how terrible it is. Here’s Part One. (I am quoting a movie that is Rated R so please pardon the language) Having decided to make a go of their relationship and to keep it under wraps, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are now disguising themselves as Western Union delivery boys and cab drivers to sneak off together. Aren’t those Clark’s pre-denture teeth? He calls her “Ma” here for the first time, but she still shrieks “Gable” all the time. In reality Clark and Carole were seen everywhere–premieres, auto races, horse races, restaurants, parties–everywhere. They received lots…
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Everything That is Wrong with Gable and Lombard (1976) Part One
Oh, the things I do in the name of this site. I receive a lot of random emails (by the way if I don’t answer your email right away, forgive me as my emails server tends to send them in packs of 50 about three days after they were originally sent–don’t get me started). I do love to receive emails from new Clark Gable fans asking questions or just declaring their new love for Clark. I especially love to point Gone with the Wind fans in the direction of Clark’s other works, as there was so much more to the man than Rhett Butler. Over the years, I have received…
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Gossip Friday: Carole vs. Marlene
From July 1937: Marlene [Dietrich] and Carole [Lombard] haven’t got to the hair pulling stage–yet–but it is stated that there is no love lost between the rival queens of the Paramount lot. The Dietrich was not too pleased when Lombard got that new two million dollar contract last year, but the fight was really on when it was reported that Carole was to have the lead in “French Without Tears.” That role was the apple of Marlene’s eye. She “discovered” the play while she was in London and had persuaded her studio to buy the screen rights. She had come to regard the part as her personal property. She promptly…
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1936: A Hollywood Psychic Predicts Clark Gable and Carole Lombard’s Future
Featured in Screen Guide magazine in November 1936, here is one of those wacky articles that could only come from the 1930’s–a psychic tells you what will become of Hollywood’s great couples! “The Future of Ten Hollywood Romances as Predicted by Wanda, One of Hollywood’s Most Famous Seers” The ten blazingest Hollywood romances! How will the end? Marriage? Split up? This story tells. In presenting this remarkable set of predictions, I have kept in mind that my readers’ interest in the stars is no fleeting thing. You will be amazed as time goes on, to note the accuracy of Wanda’s readings. She has built for herself a tremendous following among…
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{Photos} Clark Gable and Carole Lombard at the Midget Races in 1936
As Clark Gable and Carole Lombard fans know, they starred together in 1932’s No Man of Her Own, got into an altercation at Jock Whitney’s Nervous Breakdown Party in 1936 which ended in a game of tennis, then sparks flew at the Mayfair Ball a few weeks later. She infamously gave him a painted Model T that Valentine’s Day and so a legendary Hollywood romance was born. They could only dodge the rumors for so long and in April, they were finally photographed out together as a couple. At a fancy premiere? A dazzling dinner party? Nope, these two were at the midget auto races at Gilmore Stadium in Los…
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Gossip Friday: Quite a Scare
From December 1937: Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had quite a scare recently when they thought that gangsters were following them. As the couple drove off from Carole’s home they noticed that they were followed by a car which had been parked near the star’s home. The mysterious motorists several times drove by Gable’s car, and the occupants, two young men, stared at the celebrities. Gable stepped on the petrol, and outdistanced the strangers. He had taken the precaution of noting the license number of the other car, which was reported to the police. The mystery was soon cleared up. The car was owned by a Glendale youth, of excellent…