-
Gossip Friday: Dozed Off
From January 1938: Clark Gable is an actor who knows how to relax. In “Test Pilot” there is a sequence in which he is supposed to be asleep while other players carry on action and dialog. For the rehearsal, Gable lay down and really dozed off. Director Victor Fleming woke him up, saying: “I’m afraid you might ruin a take by yawning, or talking in your sleep, or snoring.”
-
Gossip Friday: Honorary Referee
From November 1938: Clark Gable will be honorary referee of the National Air Races at Cleveland this year. His selection was announced by Cliff Henderson, managing director of the air races when the latter visited the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios to inform Gable of the honor. The nomination was made as a result of the star’s role in “Test Pilot,” now showing…in addition to his selection by motion picture fans as the foremost masculine star of the year. Gable said that he would spend three days in Cleveland during the races.
-
CMBA Blogathon: Why Test Pilot (1938) Should Be Your Third Clark Gable Movie
We interrupt Carole Lombard Month to bring you this post, which is part of the Classic Movie Blog Association’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles Blogathon. I’ve selected Test Pilot to talk about because, in my humble opinion, it should be the third Clark Gable movie you ever see if the first two are Gone with the Wind and It Happened One Night. Here are the reasons why: 1. It is truly a textbook example of a Clark Gable film. It’s got it all: adventure, romance, comedy, snappy dialogue and some intense drama. Clark is Jim Lane, a boozing, womanizing army test pilot who walks to the beat of his own drummer. On one…
-
Four Gable Films Just Released on DVD!
I love Warner Brothers Archive Collection! Thanks to them, the majority of Clark’s films are available to us fans for our home viewing pleasure. And FINALLY they have just released a few of the missing titles: After Office Hours (1935) with Constance Bennett! Buy it here. Hell Divers (1931) with Wallace Beery! Buy it here. Parnell (1937) with Myrna Loy! Buy it here. and Test Pilot, which I have been anxiously awaiting the release of for years! Buy it here.
-
Nutshell Reviews: Saratoga (1937), Test Pilot (1938), Too Hot to Handle (1938) and Idiot’s Delight (1939)
In a Nutshell: Saratoga (1937) Directed by: Jack Conway Co-stars: Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Walter Pidgeon, Una Merkel Synopsis: Gable is Duke Bradley, a bookie who acquires the deed to the Brookdale horse ranch because the owner, Mr. Clayton (Jonathan Hale) owes him a lot of money. When Clayton dies, his daughter Carol (Harlow), who dislikes Bradley, is determined to get the horse ranch back in the family by winning horse races to pay Bradley back. Meanwhile, Bradley tries to bait Carol’s rich fiancée (Pidgeon) to place bets with him. Best Gable Quote: “This is more work than I’ve done for a woman since my mother.” Not-So-Fun Fact:…
-
January Movie of the Month: Test Pilot (1938)
This month, Clark Gable is a fearless flyer, Myrna Loy is his worried wife and Spencer Tracy is his brooding sidekick in Test Pilot. Clark is Jim Lane, a boozing, womanizing army test pilot who walks to the beat of his own drummer. On one trip, his plane starts leaking gas and he lands on the field of a Kansas farm, where Ann Barton (Loy) lives with her parents. Their sparring turns to mutual attraction soon after and by the time Jim’s best friend and mechanic, Gunner Morris (Tracy) arrives to help fix the plane, they are in love. When Jim brings the plane home to New York, he has…
-
Spotlight on: Myrna Loy
I have a crush on Myrna Loy. That wasn’t hard to admit. Miss Loy (nee Williams) was one of the biggest stars of the studio era, largely due to the hugely successful Thin Man series, in which she was Nora to William Powell’s Nick. In 1938, she was elected the Queen of Hollywood along with the King–Clark, of course. After their crowning, from then on he affectionately called Myrna “Queenie.” Sadly, as Clark carried the King title to the end of his life (and beyond!), the Queen title slipped off Myrna quickly and unfortunately most non-classic movie lovers have no idea who she is. She has over 100 films in her filmography and…
-
Spotlight on: Virginia Grey
To me, the saddest in the line-up is Virginia Grey. Virginia was a pretty blonde starlet who never reached her full potential as an actress. Her father worked for Mack Sennett in the early days of filmdom and little Virginia made her screen debut at age nine. Her film resume lists over 140 credits, but most are not memorable. She was always the best friend or sister of the main actress, left to play second fiddle. One of her most memorable roles is that of Joan Crawford’s smart- alecky co-worker in one scene of 1939’s The Women (You can watch it here). She had a very small role in the beginning…