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In Memory of Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard died 78 years ago today, at age 33. The plane carrying Carole, her mother and MGM publicity man Otto Winkler, among others, slammed into Mount Potosi near Las Vegas on a cold snowy night, January 16, 1942. All died instantly. The death of Carole forever changed Clark Gable and despite whatever happiness he found later, he undoubtedly never fully recovered from it. As the news spread across the nation, the newspapers apparently called up everyone in fandom to give a comment on the tragedy: All Hollywood Mourns Popular Actress’ Death High and Low of Film Colony Shocked by Air Disaster Killing Warmhearted Actress Sorrow hushed the sound stages…
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Gossip Friday: Two Worried Mothers
Letter to the editor, February 1935: We are two young mothers who feel it our duty to not let the evil influence of our cinema contaminate the innocent young minds of our children. You can imagine our distress when we found out that our little Freddie, aged ten, and Johnnie, aged eleven, had wandered into the neighborhood theater during the showing of “Dancing Lady.” We feel that such pictures are a menace to civilizaton and that they should be abolished. Our little ones now prefer to attend an evening show instead of hearing bedtime stories. “Peter Rabbit” and “Bunny Brown” are being sadly neglected these days. We wonder if such…
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Gossip Friday: Gable and Cagney, Up-and-Comers
From September 1931: Clark Gable and James Cagney are the two lads you want to keep your eyes on. They’re the sensations of 1931. (And doesn’t it seem like old times to have sensations again?) Their reputations have grown like Jack’s beanstalk. Each is slated for stardom in the fall. Women–even the hard-to-please Hollywood kind–are calling Clark Gable the greatest lover since Valentino. And Gable’s career, in part, is suprisingly like Valentino’s. After considerable banging around the world, he finally drifted to Hollywood. After much struggle, he became an extra, finally graduationg to “heavy” parts. But here their records differ. No single picture has pushed Gable ahead the way “The…
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Gossip Friday: Holiday Greetings from…
From a fan magazine, here are hand-signed holiday wishes from several stars of the golden era, including Olivia de Havilland, Claudette Colbert, Mickey Rooney, Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman, Jeanette MacDonald, James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant and more. No, Clark and Carole aren’t included, but I thought it a cute holiday gift nonetheless! Happy Holidays everyone! Click to enlarge:
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Gossip Friday: Ann’s Ideal Man
A short article from June 1940 in which actress Ann Sheridan describes her ideal man: Right here I’d like to mention that I don’t go around describing, unsolicited, my masculine ideal to everyone I meet. What I mean is, I was asked by Movie Mirror to do this…so in describing the sort of man I would choose if I were to marry I’m contriving a sort of composite of several men I know and like and admire… He’d dance like Cesar Romero. The Romero dancing is in a class by itself. He’d have Joel McCrea’s physique–tall, square-shouldered, rangy and not an ounce of spare fat on him! I hate bay windows,…
