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Movie of the Month: Hold Your Man (1933)
Probably the least-known of Clark and Jean Harlow’s pairings, Hold Your Man is a scandulous pre-code with a pretty good melodrama in its center. Gable is Eddie Hall, a small-time con man on the run from the cops when he bursts into Ruby Adams’ (Jean Harlow) apartment and finds her in the bathtub. Ruby and Eddie quickly realize they are two peas in a pod: she is somewhat of a con artist herself, seducing and manipulating men to get what she wants. This is definitely pre-production code stuff, as the film offers no innuendo to cover up the fact that Eddie and Ruby are sleeping together. One of Eddie’s cons…
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Gossip Friday: That Silly Soldier
From March 1944: When Captain Clark Gable, who has been off the screen for over a year, first met little Margaret O’Brien, he asked her if she, too, was in movies. Later Margaret, who was so taken aback, confided to her mother: “That soldier certainly doesn’t know much, does he? He must have never seen a movie in his whole life!” ____ New this week: Love on the Run screenshots in the gallery
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Carole Lombard Gable
Today we mourn the passing of Clark’s beloved little screwball, Carole Lombard. Her dying 69 years ago today at the age of 33 changed the path of his life forever. A letter to the editor from April 1942: Editor’s Note: It was heartwarming to read the number of letters received as tributes to Carole Lombard by Photoplay-Movie Mirror [magazine]. So sincere were they all, we found it difficult to choose this single one for publication: Carole Lombard She left a trail of laughter when she walked Across this world which needs a laugh so much. She did not care when pompous people talked About her lack of dignity and such.…
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Gossip Friday: “Disappearing into the blue”
From June 1940: Getting lost in their super-elegant station wagon is beginning to pall on the Clark Gables, and their latest diversion is learning to fly. As soon as they pile up sufficent flying hours, they plan to get their licenses, buy a plane and depart for parts unknown every weekend. Less hardy studios might blanch at the thought of their favorite children playing Lindbergh whenever the spirit moved them, but RKO and MGM are becoming calloused to the antics of these two renegades. Still, as one wistful Metro official put it, it was a little more comforting to think of them disappearing into Mexico than just disappearing into the…
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Movie of the Month (December): Red Dust
Yes, I am a very bad webmistress and didn’t post this in December. Holidays and all that…But I will make it up to you and post it now and post January’s Movie of the Month next week. Two Jean and Clark movies in one month ain’t a bad month! A Free Soul (1931) is usually described as being Clark’s breakout performance. I’ll agree with that. But if A Free Soul made people notice him, Red Dust truly thrust him into super stardom. He is at his swoon-worthy best here: always sweaty and dirty-looking, hair flopped aross his face, shirt haphazardy open, caught between two lovely ladies. Clark is Dennis Carson,…
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Where were Clark and Carole 70 years ago today?
All dolled up and out on the town for a worthy cause! There’s Clark and Carole looking quite dashing, posing in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The occaison? An all-star radio broadcast for Greek War Relief that was held seventy years ago today–January 8, 1941. I love all-star events like this because the pictures answer the questions of “Did so- and-so ever meet so-and-so?” For instance, the event was only one of two instances that I know of that Carole is pictured with Myrna Loy (and that’s Melvyn Douglas and Tyrone Power with them too): Carole, Myrna and Tyrone share a secret:The dashing duo with Dick Powell, Frank Morgan, Ann Rutherford and Shirley…
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Gossip Friday: What You Need is a Good Story
From September 1941: Maybe you assume that Clark Gable is one of those lucky actors in that he always seems to get good roles. I suspected a method to it all. Clark works hard to get them–and then works hard with them. Of course, he has the advantage of a strong personality. With half a chance, his role assumes proportions of charm and force it probably never had on paper. But drawing on that personality too often is dynamite. Let me quote Gable: “What’s the most important thing a star can do to hold his popularity? That’s easy. Just see to it that he has the good fortune to land…
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Gossip Friday: Clark Answers
From April 1940: I asked Clark Gable if he felt it dangerous to work so long in a single film such as “Gone with the Wind”. Fans forget easily. Will the role of Rhett Butler, no matter how colorful, be strong enough to hold Clark to the top, to overcome the long months of getting him on celluloid? Gable writes thus: “Rather than being dangerous to work too long in one picture, I can say from experience that it is of definite value to an actor and makes for a superior film. There is no substitute for adequate and superior preparation. ‘Gone with the Wind’ proves this. From an acting…
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Gone with the Wind hits Los Angeles
The Los Angeles premiere of Gone with the Wind was 71 years ago this very evening. Jean Garceau, Clark and Carole’s faithful secretary, attended the event with them. Here is how she described it: The theater was decorated inside and out in keeping with the background and theme of the film. Huge searchlights probed the sky, bands played, streets were roped off and uniformed attendants held back the crowds as the police permitted only those cars with passes to draw up in front of the theater. A long flower-decked canopy extended to the sidewalk and a master of ceremonies stood there to welcome the stars, announce their names over a…
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Gossip Friday: Dear Santa
Here’s a letter to a fan magazine that appeared in January 1942: Dear Santa Claus, You can leave Boyer in the foyer, Hang Fonda on the the tree, Keep Robert Stack in your bulging pack, But give Clark Gable to me. Drop he-man Brent in a windy tent, Put Flynn under lock and key, For Tyrone Power, a tinsel tower, ‘Cause Gable’s the man for me! Tops as an actor, that’s a factor, He brings both mirth and tears, A mighty fine guy, you can’t deny– And besides, I like his ears! –Marian Pehowski, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ____ Right on, Marian! Well, Clark never appeared in any Christmas films and…