Articles
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{New Article} 1938: What’s Become of the Good Scout?
This article is lamenting the chatterbox lounge lizard Carole of the past–the pre-Clark Carole! Carole is the needle in the Hollywood haystack, and press, public and photographers all find her hard to track down. What’s happened to that good scout who was always available for a laugh, a picture, a gag or a cocktail? That’s what everyone is asking now. And not only us get-arounds in Hollywood, but fans write and want to know, too. “What about Carole? Why no interviews? Has she gone high hat? Where is she? What is she doing?” Well, here it is finally, not the awful truth, but the very acceptable truth which explains briefly,…
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{New Article} 1940: Two Happy People Part 3
In May 1940, the weekly magazine Movie and Radio Guide featured a new Clark and Carole article every week. I’m posting part 3 of 4, only because the articles came from a scrapbook and Part 3 seems to be the only complete one. While I try to put the pieces of the other parts together, here is Part 3, which is all about life on the ranch. I was rather surprised to learn that the Gables had no swimming pool. A private swimming pool is as much a part of Hollywood existence as ballyhoo, bread and bourgeois. In the South, to judge your social status, they might ask you who…
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Carole Goes Bang! Bang!
“Skeet shooting is Hollywood’s new rage and Carole Lombard is a consistent high scorer. Here she is in action, after a morning of work on the Made for Each Other set.” Click to enlarge:
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{New Article} 1938: Happiness Ahead for Clark and Carole
Here’s another article with the all-too-common theme of “Will Ria ever give Clark a divorce? Will Clark and Carole ever marry?” Today Carole and Clark have put their love to the test of companionship, deep sympathy and understanding and they have found it stronger than either of them. Their heads no longer in the clouds, Clark and Carole know now. In a quiet, deeply happy, strong knowledge they are aware that they have revolutionized each other’s lives to the extent that nothing else matters, not even their careers of the white blinding light of stardom. Their intimates know that serenely and calmly, in the face of all obstacles and gossip,…
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{New Article} 1941: She Knew What She Wanted
From 1941, this article, taking its title from her recent film, boasts the triumphs of Carole Lombard, a gal who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it! What makes Carole Lombard different from Ye Average Woman is that she knows what she wants. What removes her to another planet entirely is that she goes after it—and gets it. Most women lead lives of noisy desperation. They ask everyone, including the corner cop, just which man to marry, what dress to wear today, what car to buy, which recipes to use, and in the end what cemetery to choose for the final collapse. They haven’t the faintest idea of…
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Carole as Her Own Critic
A brief photo-essay from Life Magazine, September 1940: This episode in the making of a movie is a dramatic moment rarely, if ever, photographed before. The movie is RKO’s version of They Knew What They Wanted, from the play that won Sidney Howard a Pulitzer Prize in 1925. The characters are director Garson Kanin, Actors Carole Lombard and Charles Laughton. For two months they have worked like beavers on what they beleive is to be a great movie script. They have had the usual quarrels. On location at Napa, Calif., 550 miles from home, they have run into the usual location troubles: bad weather, delays, throngs of bothersome autograph hounds.…
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{New Article} 1941: The Gags of the Gables–Like Crazy!
This is a fun article detailing a lot of the pranks and gags Clark and Carole were notorious for pulling on each other. It all began, this frenzied funning, on the night Mammy and Pappy had their first date. They went to the Mayfair Ball on this history-making occasion. Clark, at that time, was living at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. Carole had her home in Brentwood. At the Ball, they had their first fight. Carole went home with friends. Clark, presumably, went home alone. Came the Dawn and Mr. G. was awakened by a loud and furry cooing. He opened his big, still-dreaming eyes and there were seven white doves…
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{New Article} 1957: I Call on Clark Gable
Folks, as far as articles go on Clark Gable, this one is a gold mine! If you’ve perused through our Article Archive here, you know that many interviews with Clark are pure fluff. MGM protected what was published about its stars and Clark was no exception. Most interviews never asked the questions people really wanted to know, and instead of a true sit-down interview, it was a quick conversation (if any at all) that was beefed up by the writer’s own assumptions and fluffy writing. This one is different. Of course by this time, it was the late 50’s and the “studio system” had dissapated. Clark was no longer under MGM’s protective wing,…
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{New Article} 1936: What are Clark Gable’s Plans for the Future?
This article from 1936 is a bit of a fluff piece, but I always find it interesting to see what the predictions are for Clark’s future, considering we all know the future. The most colorful chapter in Clark Gable’s life is just ahead of him. Until now, everything has been a prelude. All the struggle, the handicaps, the good fortune and the bad—they have each played a part in shaping the story of a fellow from Cadiz, Ohio, who has become one of the most famous men in the world. And the main part of his life story has only started! That’s true. Gone with the Wind, Carole Lombard and…
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{New Article} 1932: Will Clark Gable Last?
It’s interesting to read what public opinion was when Clark Gable was just a newcomer. This article from raises the question if Clark has staying power as a star or not, based only on his weak resume at the time. Clark, like Garbo, introduced a new vogue in screen personality. He became the pattern from which screen idols who followed him were moulded. He is the epitome of the ruthless, handsome, knock-‘em-down, treat-‘em-rough he-man, the strong, virile, modern cave man. And not only women in Keokuk and Medicine Hat went crazy about Clark, but the actresses of Hollywood as well. Once he had become a sensation, Hollywood backed up the…