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Goodbye, Mr. Gable
Fifty two years ago today, Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59. Described by many as a man they thought would live forever, his death came as a great shock to his friends, family and fans. The obituary piece that ran in the following week’s TIME magazine: A Hero’s Exit Time Magazine, November 28, 1960 “I’ve laughed about my so-called death before,” he said last year, when his health seemed excellent and he smilingly scotched the sort of morbid rumor that forever comes up in the career of an aging giant. Of course he was not dead. The lines of his face had deepened and the skin had…
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Veterans Day: Speaking of Heroes
A letter from the editor of Photoplay magazine, November 1942: Speaking of Heroes There isn’t a movie-goer among us who didn’t respond with quick emotion when Clark Gable enlisted as a private in the Air Corps of the United States Army, or who failed to feel a sense of elation reading the news less than three weeks later that Tyrone Power had been sworn in as private in the Marine Corps and that Henry Fonda, without advance word, had enlisted in the Navy. These men gave up adulation, riches and fame to become soldier, marine and sailor without rating. This did not make them heroes, but it did something else.…
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Gossip Friday: Too Many Dance Partners
From July 1934: Clark Gable was at the recent Spinsters’ Ball, exclusive social soiree of Los Angeles. At the Spinsters, girls cut in on the men. Five hundred eager debutantes! For Clark, the evening was something like a game of rugby. No sooner would one cooing, little, starry-eyed girl snuggle into his arms than a smack at her elbow would jerk her away and another was in her place. It went on until six the next morning.
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November Movie of the Month: Mogambo (1953)
This month’s film is the 1953 jungle romance-adventure Mogambo. The most interesting thing about this film is that it is a remake of Red Dust, with Clark reprising his role. What man could reprise the leading role of the jungle Lothario twenty years later? Only Clark Gable, of course. Gable is Victor Marswell, who earns his living in Africa by trapping wild animals for zoos and carnivals. His no-nonsense way of life is interrupted by the arrival of Eloise “Honey Bear” Kelly (Ava Gardner), a sassy showgirl from New York who is stranded there. They clash at first but soon are bedfellows. Just as Honey Bear leaves, anthropologist Donald Nordley…
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Gossip Friday: Gone with the Wind Chatter
From May 1937: You wouldn’t think that Willie Powell’s walking out on a production called “The Emperor’s Candlesticks” would have an influence on Clark Gable’s playing the role of Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind” now, would you? But that’s Hollywood for you. It did have–for Willie has a mind of his own, and one of the very best in the acting profession it is too, and he realized that another not-so-hot to follow “Mrs. Cheyney” would endanger all that terrific advance his career has made since his lucky accident of being cast in the original “Thin Man.” Hence he went on his own sit-down strike in the desert…
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Carole Lombard Behaving Like a Mugg!
One of the things that is so admirable about Carole Lombard is that she was never afraid to be the clown. She didn’t care if her hair was out of place, her makeup smudged or her manicure outdated. I have always thought it was this quality that most attracted Clark Gable to her–if there was anything he despised in women, it was those who put on frilly, prissy airs. Proof of Carole’s photogenic wackiness is evident in a series of photos printed in the November 1940 issue of Screen Guide magazine. Lombard: Why the Most Popular Career Girl in Movies Enjoys Behaving Like a Mugg! One big fault of Hollywood…
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Gossip Friday: Poor Carole
From June 1937: Two things Clark Gable brought back with him from that Arizona hunting trip–and Carole Lombard liked neither! One was a goatee! During his absence from civilization, in the mountain forests, Clark raised it. When Carole saw it, she nearly fainted. “Off with it, or else!” she [demanded]. Not liking the “else,” Clark shaved the trick beard. Other item he brought back was a mountain lion. It’s still a cub, but even so, it’s tough. And it doesn’t like Carole. It snaps at her. However, Clark still has it. Talking of Carole, the poor girl suffers from rashes that burst out all over her whenever she gets even…
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October Movie of the Month: The Easiest Way (1931)
This month is an eighth-billed, mustache-less Clark Gable as a noble laundryman in The Easiest Way. In this scandalous pre-code, Laura Murdock (Constance Bennett) is a young woman anxious to escape her impoverished family. She quickly realizes that the easiest way to do that is by being “kept” by rich men. She begins an affair with afluent businessman William (Adolphe Menjou), who keeps her in furs and expensive jewels. Although this brings her the riches and lifestyle she has always dreamed of, it alienates her from the man she really loves (Robert Montgomery) and her family. Especially her sister, Peg (Anita Page), who married hard-working blue collar Nick (Clark Gable), who…
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Happy Birthday, Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard, actress, patriot, everyone’s friend and Clark Gable’s third wife, among other things, would be 104 if she was alive today. Not impossible, but improbable. What did seem improbable was that such a sweet and beautiful soul could be taken from the earth at the age of 33. I think often of a famous quote by Clark: “That’s the funny thing about life. The tough ones don’t make it.” I don’t think Carole would have done too many things differently if someone had told her she would only live to be 33. I think perhaps having a child was the only big thing left on her bucket list; she…
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It’s Carole Lombard Month!
It’s that time of year again…Carole Lombard Month here on DearMrGable.com! Every October (well, last year it was September because of my trip to Hollywood), we highlight the love of Clark’s life, his third wife, Carole Lombard. Naturally, doing all the research on Clark Gable that I do, I come across a great deal of Carole Lombard stuff. But I don’t try to integrate too much of her film career and her pre-Clark years into the site, because if I started to do that, pretty soon this would be a Clark and Carole site rather than a Clark one! And besides, Carole Lombard is very expertly covered by Vincent at…