-
Gossip Friday: The Curtain Raiser?
From December 1936: YOU know, of course, that Clark Gable and his wife are merely separated—and that, until now at least, there’s been no move toward divorce. They’ve been living under a verbal agreement whereby they have arranged to live “peaceably apart.” BUT—just the other day, Clark started legal proceedings in open court, asking the California Superior bench to “define, compute and compound” the agreement between himself and his wife—so that there may be no misunderstanding when and if a divorce move is started by either. Wonder if that’s the curtain raiser?
-
CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: Gone with the Wind (1939)
When I saw what theme had been chosen for the Classic Movie Blog Association’s latest blogathon—what movie inspired your love of classic film, there was not even a second’s pause as to what my choice would be: Gone with the Wind. This will sound corny and somewhat cliché, but… Gone with the Wind changed my life. I was not born in the south, but I consider myself a southerner as I have lived in Georgia for 24 years. My mother was born and raised in Arkansas and her grandmother was a true Southern belle from Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t too long after we moved to Georgia that a fateful trip to…
-
{New Article} 1931: How Many Marriages for Clark Gable?
This short little article from 1931 is extremely tabloid-y but that is what makes it interesting! Published in the fall of 1931 when Clark was the newest heart throb, articles like this were the result of editors screaming at their writing staff, “I need pieces on Clark Gable NOW!” So, they grasp at whatever straws they have, which, back in the days before internet and uh, actual fact checking, were largely rumors. “No,” Clark Gable’s friends quote him as saying last summer. “I’m not married now. My wife just got a divorce in April.” “Yes,” Clark Gable admitted six months later to inquiring interviewers. “I’m married. But I’d rather not…
-
November Movie of the Month: Love on the Run (1936)
This month, Clark is a rogue newspaper reporter (again) and Joan Crawford is a spoiled heiress (again) in Love on the Run. Gable is Mike Anthony, a newspaper reporter always in competition with his college buddy, Barnabus Pell (Franchot Tone) who works for a rival paper. When Mike attends the wedding of socialite Sally Parker (Crawford) to a European prince, he becomes her confidante and helps her escape the nuptials. With Barnabus hot on their trail, Mike and Sally steal a spy’s plane and head across Europe. The spy wants his plane back (and his secret plans) and Barbabus wants his piece of the story, keeping them on the run,…
-
Gossip Friday: Poetry for the New Sheik
From October 1931: Metro is letting its news about its new screen sheik, Clark Gable, trickle out slowly to a breathless world. The latest bulletin is this: Clark’s dressing-room is filled with books of poetry with many underlined passages.
-
Gossip Friday: No Dinner Parties!
From January 1932: Clark Gable and his wife are pretty well reconciled to the fact that they are going to have to fight off divorce rumors from here on in. But just by way of keeping down the quantity, Clark has let it known that Mr. and Mrs. Gable “do not do any entertaining.” In other words, there wll be no chance for curious “friends” to be present at a party and mistable an innocent little difference of opinion for what would later pass as a “first-hand” report of an argument between the Gables. Social affairs are a hotbed of Hollywood gossip. You know how the whisper goes: “So-and-So arrived…
-
In Memory
After a long and tedious shooting schedule for The Misfits, Clark Gable was ready for a rest. He was set on not doing another movie until after his child was born, in March. On November 6, 1960, he spent what would be his final day at his beloved ranch. He toiled away the day working with his hunting dog, playing with his step-children, and relaxing. He told his wife Kay he felt tired and went to bed early. He tossed and turned all night. At about 8:00am, Kay awakened to see Clark standing in the doorway, pale and sweating. “Ma, I have a terrible pain.” he said simply. He told her not to…
-
Gossip Friday: Attacked by Small Town Vamps
From December 1931: Clark Gable almost had his coat and vest and golf knickers torn off at the preview of “Susan Lenox” in a small town near Hollywood. The only reason Clark didn’t come home in a barrel is because he managed to outrun the hysterical femmes who were waiting for him at the finish of the picture. Poor Gable! He tried to smile and “be nice” to the crowd until the ladies began to tear and pull at his necktie and his shirt. When one of the small-town vamps began to shout, “Give us a kiss,” and all the other small-town vamps seemed bent on putting the suggestion into…
-
{New Article} 1934: Are Women to Lose Clark Gable?
This article is from 1934 when Clark was the #1 heart throb, and it threatens that he may be jumping the Hollywood ship! Gasp! Eh. This one is really PR and I am pretty doubtful about most of the quotes in it as they don’t really sound like him. Women have idolized him, and women have made him what he is today. “So what?” asks Clark. What matters except living his own life again? He wants to escape from Hollywood and all that it means. He had time to think it all over, when he was ill! Clark Gable told me, “If I had enough laid aside so that I…
-
Gossip Friday: Grand New Rifle
From August 1935: Clark Gable has been hunting again–with that gr-r-rand new rifle of his, which has gold sights and mountings that catch the sunlight and warn any animal with range that he is on its trail. The plan to have his debutante step-daughter, Georgiana, screen-tested seems to be in abeyance for the moment. We understand that Clark is wholly in favor of the idea, but wants to take the tests with her and have her gowned by Adrian first. ______ This rumor of Clark’s stepdaughter being screen-tested appears quite often. I am not sure if it ever really happened, but “Jana” never became an actress. It also seems out…