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August Movie of the Month: San Francisco (1936)
This month, Clark is a hard gamblin’ hard drinkin’ woman chasin’ shyster, Spencer Tracy is his best friend the priest and Jeanette MacDonald is the saintly opera singer who steals his heart in San Francisco. Gable is Blackie Norton, a ruthless saloon-keeper in 1906 San Francisco, proud of his gambling ways. Despite their differences, he falls in love with Mary Blake (MacDonald), an aspiring opera singer who he hires to sing in his revue. His childhood pal, priest Tim Mullin (Tracy), objects to him putting Mary on display and stopping her from her opera aspirations. Realizing that Tim is right and that she should pursue her dreams instead of letting…
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Nutshell Reviews: Wife vs. Secretary (1936) and San Francisco (1936)
In a Nutshell: Wife vs. Secretary (1936) Directed by: Clarence Brown Co-stars: Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, James Stewart Synopsis: Gable is Van, “Jake”, or “V.S.” Stanhope, a publishing executive happily married to the elegant Linda (Loy). Tongues start wagging about Van and his beautiful secretary, Helen “Whitey” Wilson (Harlow), whom he considers a close friend and confidante, but nothing more. While trying to secretly buy rights to a magazine from a rival publisher, he sneaks around town with Whitey, finalizing the deal. As his stories become inconsistent, Linda begins to suspect him and Whitey are having an affair. So does Whitey’s patient fiancé, Dave (a youthful Stewart). Dave grows irritated…
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Gossip Friday: Purple Shorts Exposed!
From June 1940: Clark Gable would just as soon let the past rest in peace so far as the picture “San Francisco” is concerned. Not because he didn’t play one of his greatest roles. It was a shooting of the earthquake scene that neither he nor 500 extras will forget—even if the film that recorded it ended up on the cutting room floor. Buildings were crumbling, water-mains bursting, horses running madly, and Clark was avoiding falling wreckage. He sprang aside, and as he did so, his trousers caught on the nail of a wooden beam. With a rip they came off. And there was Mr. Gable caught short. Extras broke…
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{Moustaches for Movember Blogathon} Clark Gable: Evolution of a Moustache
This post is part of Bette Classic Movie Blog’s Moustaches for Movember Blogathon. Movember is a campaign in which men grow moustaches over the month of November to raise funds for prostate cancer. You can learn more about the cause here. You think of Clark Gable and you think of that familiar moustache (well, that and maybe the ears…) It’s funny that the mustache has become so synonomous with the image of Clark Gable, considering he didn’t want one to begin with. Clark was a clean freak, the kind who took showers multiple times a day and who reportedly shaved his chest hair because he considered all that extra…