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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…
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Gossip Friday: Surefire Miss Crawford
Since it’s April Fool’s Day and Joan Crawford’s birthday was last week… From September 1934: Clarence Brown pulled a gag on Joan Crawford that worked to perfection. In a scene for “Chained” Joan was supposed to shoot off a double-barreled shotgun. When Joan was scared practically to a state of paralysis, Clark Gable volunteered to show her all the tricks. Finally Joan got to the point where she could pull the trigger without flinching. The scene started and Joan picked up the gun, pulled it over her shoulder and fired. There was a moment’s silence and then from somewhere up above, an old stuffed duck fell at her feet. Brown…
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{New Article} 1936: I Had a Date with Clark Gable
This is a cute little article about a girl from Detroit who won a magazine contest and got to have lunch with Clark. For one thing, Clark is a lot better looking off the screen than on the screen, particularly on account of his eyes. He has fine eyes and they’re a lovely color…sort of gray-green. And his teeth are very white and his skin burned bronze, which gives him a particularly effective smile. Oh, he’ll look grand in color pictures, all right! Sigh….What was it I was typing about…oh yeah… At this point Clark hadn’t appeared in a color picture yet, as GWTW was still three years off. I…
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72 Years Ago Today…
…Clark and Carole were married. Here is an interesting article I found from that year. It is a letter to Hollywood newlyweds, including Clark and Carole. It is interesting to note the fate of the marriages she mentions here. We all know, sadly, what became of Clark and Carole’s union. Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Eppling Hartford were married for 49 years, until her death in 1988. They had three daughters: Daphne, Victoria, and Melissa. He remarried a few years later and remained so until he died at the ripe old age of 91. Tyrone Power and Annabella lasted nearly nine years, divorcing in 1948. Annabella did not remarry. Tyrone married twice…
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{New Article} 1938: At Last! Mrs. Clark Gable Talks
Well now here’s a fluff piece. Clark and Carole’s romance was quite celebrated in the media, despite the fact that he was still technically married. Clark’s other dalliances over the years had been kept pretty much under wraps, save for a nightclub date here and there. But the public was enthralled by the matching of two of their most popular stars. This really ruffled the feathers of the current Mrs. Gable. Instead of being sympathisized with, she was instead the martyr, the mean estranged wife standing in the way of Clark and Carole’s true love. “The question of divorce has never arisen between us,” Mrs. Gable said. “Mr. Gable has…
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Gossip Friday: Ria Holds Out
From December 1938: And now Ria Gable comes forth with a denial of all the rumors that she has been holding up divorce proceedings between her and Clark. According to a friend of hers, Mrs. G. insists that the main reason Clark hasn’t got his divorce is that he has never asked for it. The same report states that Mrs. Gable is not interested in a settlement, since she has considerable money of her own. _____________ HOGWASH. It may be true that Clark hadn’t asked Ria for a divorce yet but only because he didn’t want to pay Ria all the money she wanted. A new article is coming…
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{New Article} 1937: Gable Fears Shirley Temple!
This is a strange little piece written for Modern Screen magazine in 1937. In the late 1930’s, Clark was certainly considered “the King of Hollywood” but his box office was exceeded by a certain little curly-topped hoofer. “Sure I’m afraid of Shirley Temple,” he agreed solemnly. “She haunts me. I can see her sitting up there, shaking her curls and twinkling her eyes at me. I can almost hear her: ‘Hey man down there, come on up and catch me.’ But I’m not playing tag with Shirley. I know my place. And mighty grateful that it’s even second.” Clark seems to be taking the whole interview very lightly. He…
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Gossip Friday: The Bride Wore Gray
Since a certain couple’s anniversary is coming up, here’s one from May 1939: And the bride wore gray. When Carole Lombard and Clark Gable announced their intentions to wed, the question of what the bride (a divorcee) should wear became important not only to Carole but to thousands of other women who were about to marry for the second time. Carole never faltered in her choice for a moment. “A gray suit,” was her decision. But the problem wasn’t solved that easily. There are grays and grays, some flattering, some hard and cold in tone, some unkind to blondes, as every woman knows. So, in order to secure exactly the…
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Gossip Friday: On the “Saratoga” set
Since “Saratoga” is Movie of the Month and we’re celebrating Jean Harlow’s centennial… From August 1937: On the “Saratoga” set, watching Clark Gable and Jean Harlow emote, the onlookers snicker when Gable does an impromptu imitation of the Harlow walk. Sitting on the sidelines, Peggy, Jean’s hairdresser, is wearing that super-colossal star sapphire ring. The scene is shot and lunch is called. Before she leaves for the commissary Peggy slips the ring off her finger and hands it to Jean, but Jean returns it. “Wear it to lunch, Peggy,” she says. “Maybe you’ll do yourself some good.” So Peggy rushes off to startle her friends, and Jean turns to us.…
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Movie of the Month: Saratoga (1937)
As we wind up our parade of Gable and Harlow pairings, it is only natural that the last one is their last film together and, sadly, Harlow’s last film period. 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 the 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. Jean, looking bloated and tired, was struggling…