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Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and One Wild Cat
Carole Lombard was known for her menagerie of animals. Her home in Bel-Air was affectionately referred to as “the Farm,” because of its diverse residents: a rooster, cats, dogs, doves and ducks. In early 1937, Clark Gable had some time between films and set off on a hunting trip to Arizona. This was before they were married thus it was inappropriate for Carole to accompany him, so she flippantly requested he bring her back “a wildcat or two.” Little did she know that Clark would take her seriously… He returned from his trip with a seventy-five pound mountain lion cub, complete with sharp claws and teeth and a personality to…
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{Gone with the Wednesday} 75th Anniversary Event in Cadiz, Ohio
The reason for me traveling to Ohio was twofold: One, to follow in Clark’s footsteps around the state and visit where he was born and where he lived before departing the Buckeye state for good in 1920. Two, to attend the Clark Gable Foundation’s 75thAnniversary of Gone with the Wind event. We arrived on Thursday, October 2. A lot of people fly into Pittsburgh when they go to Cadiz, because the little town is so close to the Pennsylvania line. We flew into Akron though, because we decided to stay in New Philadelphia, which is 30 miles north of Cadiz. We arrived Thursday night and discovered by our quick…
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Photos: Farmer Gable and His Wife
Photos from the November 1939 edition of Silver Screen magazine: They really live on a ranch, but Carole and Clark call it “The Farm.” It has fourteen acres in Encino, California, and they bought it from Director Raoul Walsh, who used to live there. Their house isn’t very large, but it’s built for comfort and informality. Carole and Clark did all of the furnishing and decorating themselves. There’s a large main living room with a small adjacent bar; a cozy dining room off which is the kitchen and butler’s pantry; two small cellar rooms, one of which Clark calls his “gun room” and the other “the office” because that’s where…
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{Ohio} Cadiz, Where Clark Gable was Born
Let’s begin our walk in Clark Gable’s footsteps through Ohio at the beginning, shall we? Cadiz, Ohio is a small town, with no mega-malls, no Starbucks, not even a supermarket–just a Dollar General and a convienence store. It does indeed seem like it’s in the past–I have no doubt that many of the buildings that are there now were there when Clark’s parents moved there. The homes are all older and mostly unassuming, with some Victorians here and there. The most impressive building is the looming city hall, pictured above, that was built in 1894, so Clark’s birth would have been recorded here. Cadiz-ians are quite proud of their hometown…
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Gossip Friday: All Done Up in Cold Cream
From May 1936: It is not often that you can get a gasp of surprise out of the famous Fieldsie, Carole Lombard’s best friend and secretary, for she knows all the tricks and all the answers, but when she read in the gossip column of several chatter writers the other morning that Miss Carole Lombard had attended the swanky Turf Ball on Saturday night looking perfectly devastating in white and with Clark Gable she nearly fell out of bed. For it seems that on that Saturday night all done up in cold cream and looking anything but devastating Li’l Missy Lombard played double solitaire with Fieldsie until two in the…
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{New Article} 1942: A Letter to Heaven
This article is one of many memorial pieces printed in April 1942, the first month after Carole Lombard’s January death that most of the magazines caught up to the news. It is written by someone named “Romayne,” who says they worked with Carole. Pretty sure that’s a pseudonym, but a touching piece nonetheless… Carole Dear: You said you were coming to our set to visit us next week. You said we’d have fun like we had before. So I looked forward to a lot of laughter. You said that Clark, Ruggles, you and I would have our pictures taken together and that we’d call that ‘little number our anniversary.’ That…
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Gone with the Wednesday: Rhett Said It (Part 2)
Quotes from Rhett Butler, Part 2: “Would you satisfy my curiosity on a point which has bothered me for some time?….Tell me, Scarlett, do you never shrink from marrying men you don’t love?” “And to think you could have had my millions if you’d just waited a bit longer. How fickle is woman.” “What a woman!” “You’re like the thief who isn’t the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he’s going to jail.” “You’ve been married to a boy and an old man. Why not marry one the right age, with a way with women?” “Forgive me for startling you with the impetuosity of my sentiments,…
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Gossip Friday: What a Coincidence
From May 1937: They tell me those red roses which are sent around from the florist daily to Clark Gable are from Carole Lombard’s florist. we wouldn’t want to say Carole actually sends them, but it is a coincidence.
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Gone with the Wednesday: Rhett Said It (Part 1)
Over the years, I’ve chatted with Gone with the Wind fans about their favorite quotes. Many of them come from the spirited and somewhat heartless Scarlett, many from hilarious Mammy, even some from Melanie and Ashley. But, hands down, more people say that Rhett has all the best lines. All year long, I have been posting some of them on the website’s Facebook page. And here are some highlights (Part 1): “I think it’s hard winning a war with words, gentlemen.” “Whewww…Has the war started?” “And you miss, are no lady…I consider it a compliment. Ladies have never held any stole with me.” “I believe in Rhett Butler; he’s the…
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September Movie of the Month: Lone Star (1952)
This month, Clark is a tough cattle baron and Ava Gardner is a sassy newspaperwoman in 1800’s Texas in Lone Star (1952). In this semi-factual historical western, Gable is Devereaux Burke, a cattle baron enlisted by President Andrew Jackson (Barrymore) in 1845 to help convince Texas to become part of the United States. Gable encounters newspaperwoman Martha Ronda (Gardner) and her beau, Senator Thomas Craden (Crawford) who want Texas to become its own republic. Devereaux and Martha soon fall in love despite their differing opinions and he prepares for a final showdown with Craden. This is definitely not Clark’s best Western….by a long shot. I daresay it’s his worst one.…