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1960: Why Gable Feared Rhett Butler
Below is one of Clark Gable’s final interviews, by an entertainment reporter who went to see him in Reno. Why Gable Feared Rhett Butler by Emery Wister November 18, 1960 One of Clark Gable’s last interviews was given to Emery Wister, The Charlotte News amusement writer. Here Mr. Gable, the film star who died in his sleep yesterday, tells some of his fears in playing the role of Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind.” RENO–Twenty-one years ago Clark Gable was afraid his career was about to come to a sudden, crashing halt. The public was insistent that he play the role of Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind.”…
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Gossip Friday: Rhett Sketches
From November 1938: George Cukor visited Clark Gable on the set of “Idiot’s Delight” today with the first Rhett Butler costume sketches tucked under his arm. And if you think this picture isn’t heading into the home-stretch at last–William Cameron Menzies will have the exteriors of “Tara,” Scarlett’s home, ready to shoot within two weeks.
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Gossip Friday: A Hameroo
From March 1939: Clark Gable’s frequent ribbing of himself has made him just as popular at Selznick as on his home lot, MGM. A good example comes as he makes the scene in “Gone with the Wind” in which he is insulted before a large group of men by Rand Brooks, portraying Charles Hamilton, Scarlett O’Hara’s first husband. “I again must apologize for all my shortcomings.” Then he must turn to Leslie Howard, playing Ashley Wilkes, excuse himself, toss a barbed remark at Brooks and stride from the room. Gable goes through the scenes, struts out and then turns with a laugh and says: “Boy, was that exit a hameroo.…
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Gossip Friday: Tara Lives Again
From December 1958: Some 20 years ago, an acre of real estate in Culver City, Calif. hypnotized millions of movie-goers. It was the site of the mansion Tara in the silver screen epic, “Gone with the Wind.” Hollywood artizans had fashioned a structure that probably out-dazzled any of the real “plantation palaces” which dotted the southern landscape at the time of the Civil War. Two decades later, time has taken its toll on the bleak location. The once brilliant white colonades, where Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh and the late Leslie Howard strolled, have become shades of faded gray. Still they stand, majestic and formidable, guarding the entrance to the make-believe…
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Remembering Clark Gable
Clark Gable died 64 years ago today, after suffering a fatal heart attack. He was 59 years old. Still full of life, he had just completed The Misfits and was eagerly awaiting the birth of his son. You can read about his death and funeral here. After Clark’s death, the newspaper the Atlanta Constitution interviewed some Atlantans who had met Clark when he was in town for the premiere of Gone with the Wind. Atlantans Who Entertained Gable in 1939 Comment on His Death by Yolande Gwin Clark Gable whispered to one of the newspaperwomen and said: “Do you suppose I could have a few words with her? (Margaret Mitchell).…
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Gossip Friday: Rhett’s Horse
From July 1939: Clark Gable is becoming so attached to the splendid five-gaited horse which he rides in “Gone with the Wind” that he is seriously considering its purchase for his own use.
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Gossip Friday: Not Magnificent
From July 1939: Metro people who have seen some of the 16 reels of “Gone with the Wind” say Clark Gable dominates the picture. Warner-ites confide that Olivia de Havilland steals it. Selznick employees claim it’s a triumph for Vivien Leigh, who is in almost every scene. But nobody says it’s magnificent.
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Gossip Friday: Update on Scarlett
From July 1939: Hollywood–The movie capital has not been kind to Vivien Leigh, and Miss Leigh, in turn, hates Hollywood. Neither knows much about the other, but it is unlikely that there will be time for revision of opinions. When the last mile of film has been ground through David Selznick’s cameras, his Scarlett O’Hara expects to be gone with the wind. On January 13 (which fell on a Friday), when Miss Leigh was formally signed to the most coveted role in the most talked-about picture in screen history, Hollywood welcomed her with mixed jealousy and resentment, blank puzzlement about her qualifications, feigned pity for the difficulty of her role,…
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85 Years Ago, On the Set of Gone with the Wind…
85 years ago today, the newspapers were reporting what was going on on the the set of the hotly-anticipated Civil War drama. Gone with the Wind Cast Loses Self-Consciousness by Harrison Carroll Hollywood, April 29–Some of the self-consciousness has worn off the “Gone with the Wind: company and they are now having fun just as if they were making an ordinary picture instead of an American classic. This week, they are shooting the scene in the library of the Wilkes plantation, Twelve Oaks, where Scarlett discovers that Rhett Butler had overheard her confession of love to Ashley. In sudden anger, Vivien Leigh tosses a vase at Clark Gable, who is…
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Gossip Friday: Ten Years Later
From March 1941: This is anniversary week for Clark Gable. It marks his tenth year as a recognized screen performer. And he’s celebrating it in the true Gable manner–by doing absolutely nothing about it. Where will Gable be ten years hence? Some say Clark will be directing pictures. Our guess is he’ll be well out of movies and living the life of a rancher on some 50,000-acres (or larger) place in Arizona. He’s fed up on the glitter and tinsel and gossip of Hollywood–has been for a long time. And once he gets away they’ll never drag him back–not even for that proposed sequel to “Gone with the Wind.” Our…
