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For Us, The King Will Never Die
Clark Gable died 62 years ago today at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles. A heart attack claimed The King of Hollywood at age 59. This pictorial layout appeared in Modern Screen magazine after his death: Clark Gable 1901-1960 For us the King will never die A poor boy…a nobody…with big ears and a magnetic charm, a he-man ruggedness…Clark lived his life, said little, and we loved him. lovers: In Clark’s life there were five wives and no scandals. But on the screen his amours were messy–and with the greats of filmland’s Golden Days. Shown in his arms are Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow and Vivien Leigh, the lovely…
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Gossip Friday: Easy to Handle
From January 1936: Clark Gable is easy to handle, Lionel Barrymore is difficult and Norma Shearer is “sweet and stoical about pain.” That is how Peggy Coleman, who sees the stars when they are suffering, sizes up stellar response to the first-aid treatment she administers in her capacity as studio nurse. For 11 years Peggy Coleman has ministered to common colds, minor ailments, injuries and sometimes serious accident cases that befall the workers on her lot. If an actor has a headache on the set, they send for Peggy. If an actress fears her cold will show in her eyes, Peggy hastens over to give treatment. She may be dressing…
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Gossip Friday: That Red Dress
From 1945, Hedda Hopper’s memory of the infamous Mayfair Ball in 1936 (my recap of this incident here): Hollywood first got exclusive at the Little Club in the Ambassador where only the bon ton and the elite could cavort and caper on bathtub gin. But I think Hollywood snootiness flowered much later on at the Mayfair dances. Something happened there I’ll never forget. The Mayfair numbered Hollywood’s ultra-smart set. A Hollywood copy of the London West-Enders, of course, and oh, my dear, so formal. For a time its balls made news all over the world and I doubt if there was ever a more publicized and flash-bulbed Peacock Alley anywhere.…
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Movie of the Week: Strange Interlude (1932)
This week, everyone, including Clark Gable, is in love with Norma Shearer and sharing their thoughts about it in Strange Interlude (1932). Clark Gable is Dr. Ned Darrell, who has fallen in love with Nina Leeds (Shearer), a free-spirited young woman who is mourning the loss of her love in World War I. Also in love with her are family friend Charlie (Ralph Morgan) and Sam (Alexander Kirkland), a friend of her deceased boyfriend. Sam proposes to Nina and even though she is still heartbroken, she accepts and decides to move on with her life. Right after their marriage, Sam’s mother (May Robson) tells Nina that she and Sam must…
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Movie of the Week: Idiot’s Delight (1939)
You get to watch Clark Gable dance the very best he can and Norma Shearer do her very best Greta Garbo impression in this week’s film, Idiot’s Delight (1939). Gable is Harry Van, a World War I vet and struggling vaudeville performer when he meets Irene (Norma Shearer), while performing in a traveling show in Omaha, Nebraska. He is the assistant to the hilariously inept Madame Zulieka (Laura Hope Crews), she an acrobat. They have a brief romance before going their separate ways. Many years pass as Harry tries different acts and odd jobs in between. Fast forward to 1939 and Harry is on a train in Europe with his current act, Les…
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Movie of the Week: A Free Soul (1931)
This week is Clark Gable’s breakout role as a ruthless mongrel in A Free Soul. Clark Gable is Ace Wilfong (perfect bad boy name, I’d say), a gangster on trial for murder who is represented by upper class defense attorney Stephan Ashe (Lionel Barrymore). Stephan, while successful as an attorney, is an alcoholic who is frequently an embarrassment to his family, including his high spirited daughter, Jan (Norma Shearer), who catches Ace’s eye at their first meeting. Stephan gets Ace cleared of the charges and Ace starts pursuing Jan once he is free, much to the chagrin of Jan’s stuffy fiancé, Dwight (Leslie Howard). Jan is quickly swept up…
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{New Article} 1935: Gable Selects The Ten Most Attractive Women
This article is from 1935 and is a fluffy piece in which Clark Gable is asked to select the ten most attractive women in Hollywood. I have a bit of difficulty believing that this article is quoting Clark verbatim as it includes the following sentence: “A woman’s features may be perfectly moulded, her skin a peach-blown dream and her body perfect, but unless her character shines through, she can never be truly beautiful. It takes more than mere perfection of face and figure for a woman to be beautiful.” Can anyone imagine Clark saying “her skin a peach-blown dream” ???? Me neither. At first Clark picks the ideal characterisitics these…
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Gossip Friday: Acrobat Over Queen
From February 1939: Norma Shearer has found an acrobat is more popular than a queen, taking the grosses of “Marie Antoinette” and “Idiot’s Delight” into consideration. Of course, in the latter, the ladies in the audience do nip-ups, too, because Clark Gable is in the cast. ___ I am not sure what “nip-up” is supposed to mean…
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Gossip Friday: Watch This Boy!
From August 1931: Every reader of Adela Rogers St. John’s interesting Hollywood stories in New Movie [magazine] will want to see the talkie built at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios from her novel, “A Free Soul.” The story makes a very effective vehicle for Norma Shearer. The motherless Jan Ashe has been raised by her father, a hard-drinking lawyer, to do as she likes. Conventions are something to break–until she discovers that she can’t find happiness in smashing the rules of life. There’s a murder trial sequence that will surely get you. “A Free Soul” is superbly played. Miss Shearer steps further upward as the reckless Jan, Lionel Barrymore is admirable as her…
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Gossip Friday: Crawford vs. Shearer
From November 1936: Interest in the alleged feud between Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer is revived by the announcement that Joan is to challenge direct comparison with her rival by starring in the new version of “The Last of Mrs Cheyney”. The Lonsdale story was one of Norma’s early talkie successes. The assignment follows Miss Crawford’s relinquishment of her role in Parnell with Clark Gable. The star, it appears, did not approve of the plan to make the film more romantic fiction than political history. ____ “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney” actually already had Myrna Loy starring in it when the swap was made and Myrna went to Parnell and…
