-
A Photographer’s View on Gone with the Wind and Carole Lombard
In 1940, Fred Parrish, a well-known Hollywood photographer, mused on some of his favorite moments. Gone with the Wind For a scene of the evacuation of Atlanta in GWTW, a horse-drawn ammuniton wagon was to come down the street and explode just as the horse passed [a lamp post]. I picked the safe side of the street, but when the bomb in the wagon went off, the horse went the wrong way so fast he made Seabiscuit look sick. If it had not been for the iron safety bowl used in the wagon, I would have been blown right off the lot! I’ll bet the hardest work [Clark Gable] ever…
-
{Rumor Mill} Clark Gable, George Cukor and Gone with the Wind
It’s no secret that Clark Gable didn’t want to be in Gone with the Wind. Despite the public’s insistence that he was the only one who could play Rhett, he had no desire to step into the shoes of the rebellious blockade runner. “The reason I didn’t want to do Gone with the Wind–here is a novel that is the top seller of all time. Now, people form opinions about characters–they formed an opinion that I was going to play it. They already had a preconcieved idea of what they were going to see. That’s why I didn’t want to play, I said too many people know this character. My God, with…
-
Gossip Friday: All for a Bottle of “Pop”
From July 1941: [I’m a prop man at MGM and] would you believe it, I’ve actually seen that big he-man Clark Gable halt production on a picture while he was allowed to leisurely indulge in a bottle of pop. At MGM, I was filling the bookshelves on one of the adjoining sets and from this vantage point was watching a scene being filmed which called for some fast talk on the part of Clark. One of the sentences had turned out to be a tongue twister, and he stumbled on it over and over, becoming more annoyed at himself each time. Finally he went over and said something to the…
-
{New Article} 1933: Behind the Scenes with Jean and Clark
I was ecstatic to find this article because I love Clark Gable and Jean Harlow together, on screen and off, and Hold Your Man is my favorite film of theirs. So what could be better than a behind the scenes piece, written by Anita Loos herself, the author of Hold Your Man? One morning Jean was late in making her appearance on the stage. I happened to be there and Clark was plainly concerned. “I am worried for fear Jean’s sick,” he said. “She’s never late unless something’s wrong. Do you know,” he continued, “I can’t understand how that tiny kid stands up under such strenuous work. She only weighs…
-
{Photos} New in the Gallery Today
There are 40 new photos in the gallery today, some candids, some from films, including: See all the latest uploads in the gallery. Registration required. Next Wednesday: New photos of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard!
-
{Photos} Kiss Me, Clark
I’m sure you’ve heard the song by the Postal Service, which is titled “Clark Gable.” The line that features his name is “I’ll kiss you in a way Clark Gable would have admired.” Say what you want about Clark and his acting limitations, but that man was a born onscreen lover! Rosalind Russell recalled: “The only man who could make a love scene comfortable was Clark Gable. He was born graceful, he knew what to do with his feet and when he took hold of you, there was no fooling around.” Let’s get a lesson in the fine art of onscreen lip locking from Mr. Gable himself…
-
February Movie of the Month: The Hucksters (1947)
Voted on by you Gable fans…The Hucksters is the Movie of the Month for February! And the winner of The Hucksters on DVD is Debbie Moore, who voted via Facebook! The Hucksters is my personal favorite of Clark’s films after he returned from the war. The script is good and with a cast that includes Deborak Kerr, Ava Gardner, Sydney Greenstreet and Adolphe Menjou, Clark is surrounded by talent. It was the first script offered to him after the war that he actually liked. The film is considered a drama, but it has some comedic moments and is really more of a satire, ridiculing the advertising industry. Clark’s character, Victor “Vic” Norman…
-
{Rumor Mill} Clark Gable and Lana Turner
Clark Gable has been linked to a lot of women. Pretty much every co-star he ever had in the 1930’s was labeled as his off-screen romance too. Sometimes, in the case of Joan Crawford or Elizabeth Allan, it was true. Other times, in the case of Myrna Loy or Jean Harlow, it was not. But there’s one costar of his that seems to be a point of contention: Lana Turner. Lana, Clark’s pretty blonde co-star in Honky Tonk, Somewhere I’ll Find You, Homecoming and Betrayed, was known for dating her co-stars. Married seven times, she also reportedly had a flirtation with Robert Taylor, had an affair with Tyrone Power, hit the nightclubs with…
-
Gossip Friday: Good Lux from Carole
From September 1936: The latest gag present from Lombard to Gable was delivered to a somewhat bewildered Mr. G. at the close of a radio broadcast in which he was appearing in a dramatic skit with Marlene Dietrich. Just as the show ended an attendant brought in a huge floral horseshoe–the kind gangsters used to send their deceased colleagues. The card from Carole read “Good Lux.”
-
{New Article} 1961: Clark Gable as I Knew Him
I’ve had this magazine for years and years. I never posted this article in the archive on the site because it is just an abridged version of Kathleen Williams’ book, Clark Gable: A Personal Portrait, so I figured it wasn’t necessary. Recently, I have had quite a few people email me and ask me if I knew where they can find the book, as it is out of print (Ebay and Amazon usually have copies). So I figured it would be worthwhile to put up this article so everyone could at least read the abridged version if they can’t get their hands on a copy. I turned down the first invitation…