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{Photos} August 4, 1942: Clark Gable Gives a Command Performance
On August 4, 1942, just a few days before he enlisted in the Army, recently widowed Clark Gable came out of hiding for a good cause: to appear on the radio program “Command Performance.” From “Stardom” magazine: Clark Gable’s Command Performance For the first time since Carole Lombard’s death, Clark consents to make a public appearance “Anything that will make our men overseas a little nearer to home, I’m willing to do,” said Clark Gable when he was requested to appear on “Command Performance,” the short wave program broadcast for America’s armed forces abroad. And a brief smile lighted his face when he was told that soldiers “over there”…
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{Photos} We Salute Hollywood at War!
This photo spread appeared in Modern Screen magazine in 1942. We Salute Hollywood at War! In H’wood, morale isn’t just a pretty face. It’s laughs for the homesick–blood for the wounded–millions for guns! Clark Gable, anxious to shake off old ties, get into the Big Scrap, took 11 months of stiff training and blisters to earn his gold Lieut.’s bars. Jim Cagney succeeded him as Chairman of the actors’ division of the H’wood Victory Comm. And believe us, nobody has to ask what Hollywood is doing in this war! To date, its War Bond sales amount to $838,250,000! Among the things that…
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Gossip Friday: Tops for 1940
From December 1940: Clark Gable and Bette Davis can eat their Christmas turkey in peace. They may not win Oscars this year, but they have copped a far more important prize, from a viewpoint of financial security, the box-office rating as the most popular actor and actress of 1940. This is the second win for Miss Davis, who was accorded the same honor in 1939. Her closest competition this year came from Judy Garland and Myrna Loy. On the heels of Gable were Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, respectively. The poll was participated in by movie editors, theater owners, civic, educational and religious leaders.
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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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Gone with the Wednesday: “Gone with the Wind Indeed!”
This week, featured is another article from the archive, Gone with the Wind Indeed!, Photoplay magazine, March 1937. This article is all about the pressing issue of casting the great civil war epic: Time was when you could call a man a rat in Hollywood and get yourself a stiff poke in the nose. But now what you get is–”Rhett? Rhett Butler? Well–I don’t know about that ‘profile like an old coin’ stuff, but I’ve been told I am rather masterful and–” Yes and there was a day when you could call a woman scarlet in this town and find yourself looking into the business end of a male relative’s…
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Gossip Friday: Comparing Salaries
From September 1940: Players who came to the Hollywood feast early get most of the gravy. The highest salaries go to firmly established stars like these: Clark Gable hits the cash register for about $7,500 weekly, 52 weeks a year, with fat bonuses. Ronald Colman pockets $150,000 per picture, plus 10% of the world gross when it goes over a certain amount–and it usually does. Robert Taylor brings Barbara Stanwyck an envelope containing about $5,000 weekly, plus bonuses. Bette Davis earns not less than $3,500 a week the year round. Deanna Durbin, who blossomed before the economy blight, earns over $2,500 a week, and bonuses. Claudette Colbert draws $150,000 per…
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{Gossip Friday} If You Had 24 Hours to Live…
From April 1935: What would you do if you only had 24 hours to live? Carole Lombard…wants to gather her friends around her for the last bow. Instead of just a few, she prefers a large gay cocktail gathering in her home. “Because,” she said to me, “I think it would be great to go out with a ring of laughter and music in your ears, don’t you?” Cary Grant: “By cable, telephones, wires and radios I would get in direct communication with the few people I have hurt during my life. With death hovering near, I could explain and ask their forgiveness, a thing that seems too difficult to…
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{Photos} Clark Gable and…
Some of my favorite finds when I am scouring through old fan magazines are candids of random stars together. “I never knew that Blank ever even met Blank!” I often think, particularly now during “awards show season”, how the generations to come won’t feel similar joy, since there are thousands of pictures taken at every red carpet event, awards show and party and so thus the surprise of seeing stars posing together has dwindled. Here are some shots of Clark with other Tinseltown folk… See more in the gallery.
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{Hollywood} Forest Lawn: Hollywood Hills
Our trip to Forest Lawn: Hollywood Hills was a quick one. Founded in 1906, it is younger and smaller than its big Glendale cousin (blog on Glendale this week!) but is still gorgeous in its own right. The best part of the cemetery is the view; you could see for miles from the top of the hill. Our main objective here was the legendary Bette Davis, who was not at all hard to find. I left her a bouquet (dedicated from some dear friends of mine); she had already been given several flowers and also a big lipstick print. She’s entombed with her mother Ruth and sister Barbara. Right around the…
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{Hollywood} Warner Brothers Studios
All the major studios offer tours: Sony (formerly MGM), Warner Brothers, Universal, Paramount. We of course knew we wanted to do MGM (blog post forthcoming), since that was home to Clark and so many other of the “brightest stars”. We wanted to do one other one and it was a toss-up between Warner Brothers and Paramount. We ultimately picked Warner Brothers because it was the highest rated studio tour. We weren’t disappointed. It is a tram tour, but our guide was very knowledgable and I felt he mixed the old with the new quite well. We saw the set of Friends’ Central Perk, the outside set of ER, and heard…
