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Movie of the Week: They Met in Bombay (1941)
This week, Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell are rival jewel thieves in They Met in Bombay (1941). Clark is Gerald Meldrick, a jewel thief who has trailed a British duchess to India to steal her antique diamond necklace. He encounters Anya Von Duren (Russell), a rival thief out for the same score. She succeeds in stealing the necklace, but he fools her into believing he is a detective and gets the necklace from her. She figures him out and he proposes they be partners. They hop on a Chinese ship headed for Hong Kong but the crooked captain (Peter Lorre) tries to turn them in for ransom. Paddling their…
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Movie of the Week: China Seas (1935)
This week’s film is Clark Gable the disgruntled sea captain and Jean Harlow the hooker he tried to leave behind in China Seas. Gable is Alan Gaskell, a roguish captain of a ship that sails between Hong Kong and Shanghai. It’s established pretty early on that he’s been having some adult fun ashore with a Shanghai harlot, Dolly, who goes by the name China Doll (Harlow). So imagine his surprise when setting his ship off to sea that she is on board as a passenger! She confesses she is madly in love with him; he is weary of her and rejects her advances. She is green with jealousy upon the…
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Gossip Friday: Praise From Roz
From July 1941: “[Clark Gable] never once–literally or figuratively–stepped on my toes in the midst of a key scene,” said Miss Russell [of working with Clark in “They Met in Bombay”], “He never tried to ‘throw’ me by altering his actions or his voice unexpectedly. And he never once gave me that superior ‘down the nose’ delivery calculated to unbalance a player opposite. I’ve encountered that elsewhere too.” Miss Russell further explained that Gable never sought to maneuver her into ungraceful or disadvantageous positions–position which would give the audience an uninterrupted view of the back or her neck while she was speaking her best lines! “On the contrary,” she said,…
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March Movie of the Month: They Met in Bombay (1941)
This month, Clark Gable is a thief chasing jewelry and fellow swindler Rosalind Russell in They Met in Bombay. Gable is Gerald Meldrick, a jewel thief who has trailed a British duchess to India to steal her antique diamond necklace. He encounters Anya Von Duren (Russell), a rival thief out for the same score. She succeeds in stealing the necklace, but he fools her into believing he is a detective and gets the necklace from her. She figures him out and he proposes they be partners. They hop on a Chinese ship headed for Hong Kong but the crooked captain (Lorre) tries to turn them in for ransom. Paddling their…
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Nutshell Reviews: Comrade X (1940) and They Met in Bombay (1941)
In a Nutshell: Comrade X (1940) Directed by: King Vidor Co-stars: Hedy Lamarr, Felix Bressart, Oskar Homolka, Eve Arden Synopsis: Gable is McKinley Thompson, an American reporter living in Russia who is secretly sending news out of the country as the elusive “Comrade X”. His bumbling valet, Igor (Bressart) discovers who he is and blackmails him to take his headstrong Communist daughter (Lamarr) out of Russia to protect her from prosecution. Everything doesn’t go as planned and soon the three of them are racing out of Russia with the Russian army on their tails. Best Gable Quote: “I don’t talk to ladies that start yelling. It’s a rule I’ve got.”…
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August Movie of the Month: Forsaking All Others (1934)
This month, Clark Gable plays the heartbroken guy to Joan Crawford’s wide-eyed heiress and Robert Montgomery’s selfish but lovable cad in Forsaking All Others. Clark is Jeffrey Williams, who still harbors a childhood crush on Mary Clay (Crawford). Upon returning from a two year jaunt in Spain, he has plans to finally propose to her until he learns that she is set to marry his best friend, Dillon “Dill” Todd (Montgomery), the next day. He swallows his feelings and agrees to give the bride away. Dill gets an unexpected visit from an old flame, Connie Barnes (Francis Drake), and ends up running off to marry her, sending Mary a telegram…
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{Photos} Kiss Me, Clark
I’m sure you’ve heard the song by the Postal Service, which is titled “Clark Gable.” The line that features his name is “I’ll kiss you in a way Clark Gable would have admired.” Say what you want about Clark and his acting limitations, but that man was a born onscreen lover! Rosalind Russell recalled: “The only man who could make a love scene comfortable was Clark Gable. He was born graceful, he knew what to do with his feet and when he took hold of you, there was no fooling around.” Let’s get a lesson in the fine art of onscreen lip locking from Mr. Gable himself…
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Gossip Friday: Hypnotic to Most…
From July 1941: Clark Gable to most women would be hypnotic. Not so to Rosalind Russell, whom he kisses in “They Met in Bombay.” Before shooting, Roz called to her maid: “Bring me my sex appeal!”—perfume atomizer, gum. ____ Roz is hilarious! There’s a great article in the archive in which Roz discusses working with Clark.
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{Hollywood} Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross is a scenic Roman Catholic cemetery in Culver City that opened in 1939. It is said that if a star is Catholic, they’re buried here. Here in this scenic area called the Grotto are several celebrities grouped close together. The main reason for our visit was the grave of this eccentric fellow, Bela Lugosi (Dracula). To my classic-horror-fiend friend who traveled with me, Bela Lugosi is her Clark Gable. So he was a must visit! I stumbled upon the grave of “Der Bingle”, Bing Crosby, not too far from Bela. Nearby too is the grave of French actor Charles Boyer, known for his role in Gaslight (1944). Also here…
