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Gossip Friday: Carole Lombard’s Fashion Show
From December 1936: For weeks now, Carole Lombard has been trying to convince Clark Gable that she should be allowed to come along on the hunting trip Clark has planned with a bunch of the boys. She hasn’t had any luck. Then she heard, for the first time, about those red caps and scarlet jackets that most deer hunters wear to preserve life and limb. “An idea!” smiled Carole as she telephoned her modiste. When Clark called that evening, Carole ordered him into a large comfortable chair and informed him that she was about to put on her first “Hunting Wardrobe” show. Red hats…red lounging pajamas…red sports outfit…red shoes and…
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June Movie of the Month: Betrayed (1954)
Clark Gable reigned as the King of the MGM lot for 23 years. He felt safe on that big lot, protected by their scripts and directors and the familiar faces. Never very confident in his acting ability, his home playing field gave him the confidence he needed (although, ironically, two of his three Oscar nominations were for films in which he was on loan-out to other studios). Many actors free-lanced and hopped from studio to studio, but not Clark. He stayed on as MGM’s golden boy. But times changed. Clark returned from World War II older, grayer and emotionally damaged. Newer, fresher faces were emerging on the scene and Clark…
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{New Article} 1938: Gentle Gable
This article is the publicity team at Metro Goldwyn Mayer doing their job–depicting roughneck Gable as a simple, nice soul. And while it is sugary sweet, there are probably some seeds of truth here and there. Nor would anyone expect him, to take time out, away from his own problems, to sit down for hours at a time, every few months, and talk about a little shaver whom he has never seen, a little fellow named Bobby. Yet his understanding of children and their interests is so real to him that it stretches farther than the mere lessons in whittling that he can give to extra children on the set.…
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{Book Review} Good Stuff: A Reminisence of My Father, Cary Grant
My review of this book is rather timely, it being Father’s Day weekend and all! Jennifer Grant, the only child of screen legend Cary Grant, after years of pressure, finally wrote a book about her father. In my opinion, this book is just what you would want it to be. She doesn’t pretend to be an expert on his films or on his acting, admitting there are film scholars far more qualified to do that than she. She says how the man in Arsenic and Old Lace or Bringing Up Baby almost seems like another person to her. Instead, this book is a random collection of her memories. We hear about…
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75 Years Ago, Saying Good-bye to Jean Harlow
75 years ago today, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard attended the funeral of 26 year old Jean Harlow. Jean was a dear friend of Clark’s. They starred together in The Secret Six, Red Dust, Hold Your Man, China Seas, Wife vs. Secretary and Saratoga. He loved her lack of pretense and how casual and free spirited she was. While everyone else called her “The Baby,” he called her “Sis.” Theirs was not a romantic relationship; he was like her protective older brother. They were filming Saratoga together when, after weeks of looking bloated and feeling fatigued, she collapsed on the set. She died just a few days later. Carole Lombard…
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{Gossip Friday} Clark and Der Bingle Give Advice
From July 1941: Clark Gable and Bing Crosby pass out identical advice. If you want to be popular, successful and happy, say they, develop a sense of humor. “Because a sense of humor will let a girl be natural,” specifies Clark Gable. “It will act as a shock absorber for the rough spots a girl’s going to find wherever she goes. And because it’s a pleasure to work with jolly people, she will find herself in demand everywhere.” “A sense of humor makes affection impossible,” explains Bing. “A sense of humor and a sincerity set off a girl’s wholesomeness. That’s the best bit of happiness and success insurance any girl…
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Monogamy: Hollywood’s Problem
This is a pictorial layout that appeared in the August 9, 1938 issue of “PIC” magazine, which featured a divine shot of Carole Lombard on the cover: Why are there so many divorces in Hollywood? The world’s greatest lovers have the world’s worst divorce record. Lasting marriages among stars are the exception. Divorce is the rule. Boy meets girl, boy wins girl, boy divorces girl is the headline career of most movie stars. And “Pardon me, but haven’t we married before” is no joke in Hollywood. Are stars different from other people” Do they need more than one wife or husband? Is Hollywood to blame for their marital failures? On the…
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{Event} Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum–Belles, Beaus and Barbecue
Last weekend I headed down to Marietta Square for a Gone with the Wind event held by the Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum. I didn’t attend all the events, such as Friday night’s Sock Hop. You can see the full schedule here. Saturday we headed down to the square near the museum for Belles, Beaus and Barbecue! Summer in Atlanta is not pleasant, as any fellow resident will attest. It was 94 degrees on Saturday and it sure did feel like it! We managed to stay in the shade and we had our fancy hand fans to keep us cool. There were several brave souls who showed up in their…
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Gossip Friday: Lombard vs. Gable
From March 1937: At sporting events, Gable and Lombard are a wow. They are more fun than the show itself, usually–because invariably, they each root for opposing contestants. Football games, horse races, wrestling matches, prize fights–it doesn’t matter; Gable roots for one side, Lombard for the other. It got so funny that just during the fuss about who was to play in the annual Rose Bowl classis, some Hollywood wag proposed: “Why not Lombard vs. Gable?”
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Gossip Friday: “One Honey of an Actor”
From February 1940: ….we beat it for the “Strange Cargo” [set], which [includes] not only Gable and Crawford, but also Paul Lukas, Ian Hunter, J. Edward Bromberg, Peter Lorre, Albert Dekker, Eduardo Ciannellu, and John Arledge. They are all on the set as we mosey in and a worse looking crew you never lamped. They are escaping from the jungle. They have one small boat and Crawford between them. The idea is that the men are escaping convicts. Crawford is a babe from the streets whom Gable has picked up and dragged along, and love is beginning to gnaw them. You practically can’t see What-a-Man Gable behind the three days’…