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Gossip Friday: Drama with Dietrich
From September 1936: The debut of the Music Box Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, as a broadcasting station, was quite an auspicious occasion. Hundreds of people came to witness Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable give a stirring performance. However, there was just as much drama before the broadcast, as there was while the players were reading their lines. Marlene had to have her microphone adjusted so she could face her audience. It seems she is quite self-conscious about her profile. On the other hand, Clark prefers giving his audience a profile view, instead of meeting them full-face. After these little matters were adjusted, the play got off to a flying start.…
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Gone with the Wednesday: Via Col Vento Signed by Clark Gable
Clark Gable was famous for thirty years and in that time signed a lot of things–pictures, movie posters, books, handkerchiefs, napkins, hairbows, baseballs, hats…I’ve seen it all. This one, however, is new to me. Here Clark has signed–and inscribed–a copy of Gone with the Wind in Italian! Clark Gable writing in Italian! I would believe that this was inscribed while he was in Europe, either during his tax hiatus in 1952-1954 or while he was in Italy filming It Started in Naples in 1959. I am no expert on the various editions of GWTW so maybe someone can help me out with the year. I also know very little Italian, but this…
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It Happened One Night, 80 Years Ago
2014 has brought about the 75th anniversary of Gone with the Wind, which has been met with much deserving fanfare. No doubt, Rhett Butler is who draws the majority of people into Clark Gable fandom these days. But this year brings about another important film milestone: the 80th anniversary of It Happened One Night, the little-film-that-could, one of the greatest romantic comedies ever made and the first to win the Academy Award “grand slam”: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay. It is safe to say that if Clark had never played Rhett Butler, he would be remembered best for Peter Warne. Director Frank Capra, one…
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Gossip Friday: A Perfect Disguise
Happy Halloween! This “gossip” comes straight from fifth wife Kay Williams Gable: One year Bunker (his stepson) asked Clark to take him to the Halloween festivities at a nearby public park. Pa hesitated, remembering what had happened the year before when he had accompanied the children. he was quickly recognized and surrounded by autograph seekers the rest of the evening. Not only did he personally shy from such attention, Clark also felt all the commotion was unfair to the children. This time Bunker had it all figured out. He had been to the dime store where they were selling rubber masks fashioned in the likenesses of various movie stars. “Here,…
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{New Article} 1939: The Clark Gables at Home
What we have here is a largely fictional article written to prove that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had a simple home life–just like you do, the American public! When Clark and Carole bought that ranch and set up their home miles from Hollywood, spending time feeding chickens and mowing grass rather than attending premieres, the studio publicity depts and fan magazines decided to just play that up. So what you find are endless amounts of articles about their rustic domestic tranquility. This one is written by “Liza,” one of those first-name-only fan magazine writers that is probably not a real person. Nonetheless, it’s a cute little article: I drove…
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October Movie of the Month: Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
This month, Clark Gable is doin’ what he does best as the fast talkin’ rogue, Myrna Loy is his lady and William Powell is his conscience in Manhattan Melodrama. Gable is Blackie Gallagher, a gambling, gun-slinging gangster, who remains best friends with his childhood pal, Jim Wade (Powell), an ambitious lawyer. Blackie’s girl, Eleanor (Loy) grows tired of the shady side of life and soon falls in love with Jim and marries him. Jim is promoted to district attorney and starts a campaign to become New York’s next governor. When a blackmailer threatens Jim’s campaign, Blackie decides to handle the situation himself and kills the man. On trial, Jim has no…
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{Ohio} Akron, Where Clark Gable Caught the Acting Bug
In 1918, Clark Gable grew bored with farm life in rural Palmyra and was intrigued by the rubber tire boom happening in nearby Akron. Against his father’s wishes, he dropped out of school and headed there to start anew. Clark worked as an office clerk in the Firestone plant before moving to the Miller Tire and Rubber Company. He rented a room from a couple on Steiner Avenue, a short walk from work. Here’s what Steiner Avenue looks like today…not exactly an area we felt safe hanging out in for a long period of time: One night after work at the factory, Clark went to The Akron Music Hall and…
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Gossip Friday: Gone Garbo
From November 1936: Guess who really has gone Garbo on us in a big way? It’s none other than our own party-loving Carole Lombard, who hasn’t been seen out publicly in many a day. What’s more, Carole doesn’t want one single word printed about her romance with Clark Gable. Her close friends say it is still going on and much more serious than Carole wants the world to believe. And it was only yesterday that wild horses couldn’t have kept Carole home for an evening. It must be love.
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{Ohio} Palmyra, Where Clark Gable Lived
In 1917, Clark’s father Bill Gable packed up his family and moved from the little town of Hopedale north 50 miles to the rural outskirts of Ravenna, Palmyrna Township. The area is still very rural and quaint, with houses far apart and cows and horses visible from every yard. Here is Alliance Rd, where the Gables moved to: And here is the house, modernized and added on to, but still standing! Clark was not happy in Palmyra and missed all his friends from Hopedale. He attended Edinburgh High School, which has since burned down, but a new school was built in its place: In 1920, Clark traveled back to…
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Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and the Bracelet that Raises Questions
Back in the days before internet, before the “IT” couple of the moment is photographed everywhere from airports to grocery stores and gas stations, it wasn’t exactly easy to pinpoint the when, why and where of celebrity romances. Gable and Lombard were no different. As any Clark Gable and Carole Lombard fan knows, the much-publicized place of their first romantic spark was the Mayfair Ball in February 1936. But is that true? Were there romantic sparks before then? I have come across some people who claim that Clark and Carole had something going on during the filming of No Man of Her Own and off and on since…