Gossip
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Gossip Friday: Not a New Big Romance
From February 1954: The most absurd publicity stunt of the month: the wire service which released a photograph of Marilyn Monroe dancing with Clark Gable and captioned it: THE NEW, BIG ROMANCE OF HOLLYWOOD. Clark was seated at her table at a party and invited Marilyn to twirl around the floor with him, the one and only meeting they ever had.
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Gossip Friday: Hello? You There?
From 1944: Until recently, the romance between Captain Clark Gable and lovely Kay Williams has progressed only through the good offices of one of Kay’s neighbors. She has been unable to secure a telephone, so Clark–in calling her–had to dial the number of an MGM employee, who would then have Clark hold the wire while the neighbor or his wife rushed around the corner to fetch Kay to answer.
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Gossip Friday: No Strange Cats on Strange Cargo
From March 1940: Disappointment smacked down all the let’s-be-there-when-it-happens gang, who under one pretext or another managed to clutter up the sound stage on the first day of shooting for MGM’s Strange Cargo. That’s the picture in which, you know, Joan Crawford and Clark Gable share top billing. And for weeks, the rumor has hottened Hollywood, that Joan and Clark were about as friendly as a couple of strange cats, and that when they got together, the temperamental fur would fly all over the set. So what happened? So Joan smiled at Clark, and Clark smiled at Joan, and it remained for Joan’s famous dachshund “Puppchen” to provide the only…
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Gossip Friday: New Collector
From August 1938: Gable item for the month: Clark’s taken up stamp collecting! One of the prop boys explained the fun you get out of saving stamps of all nations and Gable promptly ordered his secretary to carefully put aside all the stamps that arrive on fan mail. Can you imagine Carole Lombard sitting on her parlor floor, calm as a cucumber, pondering the newest issue from Paraguay?
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Gossip Friday: Roland vs. Gable
From August 1934: A fist fight almost marred Samuel Goldwyn’s bridge party when Gilbert Roland misunderstood a remark made to his escort, charming Constance Bennett, by Clark Gable. Connie and Clark were playing at the same table when the latter uttered the words that so aroused Gilbert, seated nearby, and caused him to leap from his chair, remove his coat, and shout at Gable, “You quit picking on her and pick on me!” But all’s well that ends well!
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Gossip Friday: Things That May Never Happen?
From October 1932: Things that may never happen: That threatened Constance Bennett retirement. That Clark Gable divorce. A movie comeback for Alice White. A wolf at Charlie Chaplin’s door. ___ Well. Constance Bennett didn’t retire from the screen until 1966. Clark and second wife Ria divorced in 1939. Alice White worked pretty steadily through the 1930’s, puttered out in the 40’s. And I don’t know what they mean by the Charlie Chaplin comment. Might be about the fact he was reluctant to do talkies….which we all know he eventually did.
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Gossip Friday: Flustered by a Fan
From February 1957: Never thought I’d live to see the day, or night, when Clark Gable, that big he-man, would literally look scared out of his wits because of a mere female. But that’s exactly what happened at the Hollywood premiere of “The Ten Commandments.” Clark and his beautiful Kay were about the last to arrive, probably hoping they might slip into the theater without a lot of fanfare. That’s what they hoped! Instead, just as he stepped from his limousine, a large, middle-aged woman ducked under the restraining rope and literally tackled Gable! She flung herself at him headlong, grabbing his knees, pawing and clawing him–and if the police…
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Gossip Friday: The Legs Have It
From September 1940: On the set of Boom Town: The last time Claudette [Colbert] co-starred with Clark Gable was in “It Happened One Night.” It gave both of them Academy Awards, made both of them famous. The most memorable scene was the one in which, after Clark unsuccessfully tried to thumb a ride from passing motorists, Claudette stepped to the side of the road and stopped the first motorist who came along by showing a super-generous expanse of leg. We asked Claudette how she felt about that being her best-remembered scene. She laughed. “It was a nice little joke on me that the thing I had fought against all my…
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Gossip Friday: Whiskers and All
From March 1940: During “Gone with the Wind” Clark Gable often remarked that nothing could give him greater pleasure than a haircut. But since “Strange Cargo” has been before the cameras, the actor has decided a shave can mean more to a guy than a haircut. Relating his miseries over the nine-day growth of beard which his role required, Gable said he was awfully tired of being hailed as Mr. Zola. And worse than having someone ask you why you don’t get a haircut or a violin,”he said,”is to have someone ask why you don’t get a snood for the whiskers!”
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Gossip Friday: Another Victim
From June 1942: Clark Gable is another victim whom some have dared to criticize for remaining in civilian life. If Clark is aware of the cruel, ill-considered remarks that have been aimed at him, he has given no sign. In the past months, he has gone quietly about his work, attempting to restore some meaning to his life and, we hope, in some small measure, succeeding. What few people know is that Clark’s war work has already been cut out for him–and by no one less than the President of the United States! It has just been revealed that Clark wrote to President Roosevelt immediately after Pearl Harbor. He offered…
