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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:…
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Gossip Friday: Clark Gable–Forgotten Man
From April 1939: …take the [Clark] Gable burial and its ramifications. This was in Too Hot to Handle. The scene had been shot a half a dozen times, but still it wasn’t right, in the opinion of Director Jack Conway. “We’ll shoot it again,” he decreed. Clark looked pained. “Hey, what is this?” he protested. “I suppose you think I LIKE being buried alive!” Myrna Loy, cool and comfortable in her easy chair, soothed him from the sidelines. “It’s for the sake of your art,” she said. At six o’clock, they were still at it and still Conway wasn’t satisfied. Clark was dirty, dishevelled, cranky. Walter Pidgeon remonstrated with him.…
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December Movie of the Month: Too Hot to Handle (1938)
Following on the heels of the very successful Test Pilot, Clark and Myrna Loy were teamed again in 1938 for another romantic adventure drama. This film is an interesting look behind the scenes at the now-extinct-thanks-to-television newsreel business. Gable is Chris Hunter, a newsreel cameraman who is always where the action is. Walter Pidgeon is Bill Dennis, a rival newsreel cameraman who is constantly trying to out-scoop Chris. Both of them are bored in Shanghai since they can’t get anywhere near the action of the Chinese-Japanese war. His boss (Walter Connolly) demanding action shots of the war, Chris starts making up fake shots using toy airplanes and sending them in.…
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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…
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Gossip Friday: On the set of Too Hot to Handle
From September 1938: Everywhere we turn something real inspires something romantic. Why, even Mussolini’s Ethipian adventure has landed Clark Gable a new thrill-packed adventure role! “Too Hot to Handle”, our first set invasion at Metro Goldwyn Mayer, really has nothing to do with Il Duce or his Fascisti friends. It’s an adventurous saga of a daredevil newsreel cameraman. But if Laurence Stallings, the war correspondent, and Leonard Hammond, the ace newsreeler, hadn’t sat idly for weeks sopping up Ethiopian rainfall and waiting for Mussolini to get going, Clark might very well have missed out on a dashing scenario to follow in the wake of “Test Pilot.” As it was, Stallings…