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Gossip Friday: Two Worried Mothers
Letter to the editor, February 1935: We are two young mothers who feel it our duty to not let the evil influence of our cinema contaminate the innocent young minds of our children. You can imagine our distress when we found out that our little Freddie, aged ten, and Johnnie, aged eleven, had wandered into the neighborhood theater during the showing of “Dancing Lady.” We feel that such pictures are a menace to civilizaton and that they should be abolished. Our little ones now prefer to attend an evening show instead of hearing bedtime stories. “Peter Rabbit” and “Bunny Brown” are being sadly neglected these days. We wonder if such…
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Gone with the Wednesday: “Gone with the Wind Indeed!”
This week, featured is another article from the archive, Gone with the Wind Indeed!, Photoplay magazine, March 1937. This article is all about the pressing issue of casting the great civil war epic: Time was when you could call a man a rat in Hollywood and get yourself a stiff poke in the nose. But now what you get is–”Rhett? Rhett Butler? Well–I don’t know about that ‘profile like an old coin’ stuff, but I’ve been told I am rather masterful and–” Yes and there was a day when you could call a woman scarlet in this town and find yourself looking into the business end of a male relative’s…
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Remembering Mickey Rooney 1920-2014
Mickey Rooney died yesterday at the age of 93. A screen legend, his acting career boasts over 300 credits. The people he met, the places he saw, the film sets he walked on to…seriously it is mind boggling. To name just a few, Mickey shared the screen with the likes of: Judy Garland, Ann Rutherford, Lana Turner, Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, Elizabeth Taylor, William Powell, Robert Young, Mary Astor, Warren William, Ginger Rogers, Robert Montgomery, Gloria deHaven, Maureen O’Sullivan, Rosalind Russell, Audrey Hepburn, Wallace Beery, Dolores Costello, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone, Frank Morgan…the list goes on and on and ON. Mickey and Judy Garland at their best, singing “Our Love Affair” And…
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Gossip Friday: A Silly Business
From January 1935: Clark Gable shoves his hands into his pockets at every oppurtunity. Close-ups frequently prevent the audience from noticing this, but it is quite apparent in long shots. Clark always gives the impression that acting is a silly business for a man and that he never feels quite at ease when engaged in it. And when a man is ill at ease it’s the most natural thing in the world for him to stick his hands in his pockets.
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Gone with the Wednesday: The Wind is Here Again!
Magazine ad for the re-release of Gone with the Wind in 1941. This was met with great fanfare, as there were many people who didn’t get to see it the first time around due to high ticket prices and long lines.
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In a Nutshell: The Misfits (1961)
In a Nutshell: The Misfits (1961) Directed by: John Huston Co-stars: Marilyn Monroe, Eli Wallach, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter Synopsis: The last film of two icons of the screen, The Misfits is a poetic end to the careers of both Gable and Monroe. Gable is Gay Langland, an aging cowboy in Reno who avoids responsibility and anything tying him down. He and his buddy Guido (Wallach) run into Roslyn (Monroe), a depressed ex-dancer who is in Reno getting a divorce. She’s been staying with Isabelle (Ritter) to establish her residency requirement for the divorce. They all have nowhere to be and no one to answer to, so they decide to head…
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Nutshell Reviews: But Not For Me (1959) and It Started in Naples (1960)
In a Nutshell: But Not For Me (1959) Directed by: Walter Lang Co-starring: Carroll Baker, Lilli Palmer Synopsis: Gable is Russ Ward, an aging Broadway producer deep in debt and losing his touch. When he finally decides to throw in the towel, his much younger secretary, Ellie Brown (Baker), admits to being in love with him. Her speech to him gives him the idea for a great play and he sets to work on it, reviving his career, leading Ellie on in the process. She proves she can play the lead role and becomes a success. Russ starts to have feelings for Ellie but his ever-present meddling ex-wife, Kathryn (Palmer) interferes. Best Gable Quote: “That’s…
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Happy 75th Anniversary, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard
75 years ago today, on March 29, 1939, Clark Gable married Carole Lombard in Kingman, Arizona. Clark’s description of the day himself: It has been written since then that Carole and I had that wedding day planned out for months in advance, but that’s not true. It happened this way. On the afternoon of March 28, I was finished with my scenes [in “Gone with the Wind”] about three in the afternoon. While I was taking off my make-up, the assistant director came over and said I didn’t need to work the next day. I called Carole at once and with the aid of a close friend, we headed out that…
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{New Article} Two Happy People: Part 1
Let’s kick off the weekend of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard’s 75th wedding anniversary with a new article, shall we? There were a LOT of articles written about Clark and Carole from the second they started flirting in 1936 through 1942 and even beyond. But my favorites, by far, are the series of articles written by James Street for Movie and Radio Guide magazine in May 1940. They are straightforward, laid back, non-fluffy and make you think you are sitting there chatting with Clark and Carole yourself. The series was four parts, with one focusing on Carole, one on Clark, one on their ranch home, and the final on their…
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Gossip Friday: Clark Gable? No Such Person
From April 1937: The screen’s most forward sophisticate has evidently learned that yesteryear’s reticence is best for a fine romance. At Paramount there is just no such person as Clark Gable. Carole Lombard is aghast at any suggestion that she be linked in print with Clark. However, at MGM he admits his fondness for her. Carole’s friends say that she’s too much in love to risk any blunders, and silence is her best bet.