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Gossip Friday: Plenty Smart
From April 1956 (Louella Parsons): Clark Gable not only has a beautiful wife in Kay Williams, he has a perfect companion. Of course, Kay went along with The King when he left for Knabe, Utah, for weeks of location for “The King and Four Queens.” She took along her riding clothes (she may even work in some background scenes just for the kicks), just as when she goes to Palm Springs with Clark she takes her golf bags. And, come party time, Kay is dressed to the teeth–just as Clark likes her to be. A plenty smart wife, Mrs. Gable.
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Movie of the Week: But Not For Me (1959)
This week, Clark Gable is a Broadway producer stuck between his lovestruck secretary Carroll Baker and his ex-wife Lilli Palmer in But Not For Me (1959). 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…
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Gossip Friday: Radio Request
From February 1940: Whenever Clark Gable goes on the air he always asks for Paula Winslow to play opposite him. He even insists on her part being built up and that she gets billing. ___ Not sure how true that is. They did do two radio shows together: “Detour to Love” in 1937 and “Danger Lights” in 1938.
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Clark Gable, Loretta Young and Their Daughter Judy Lewis
The story of Clark Gable and Loretta Young’s brief romance on the set of Call of the Wild and subsequent pregnancy is a sad one. Nowadays it is nothing at all, merely the typical day’s news, to read that an unwed celebrity is pregnant. Nobody bats an eye. In 1935, it was exactly the opposite. Clark was married, albeit in name only, to Ria at the time. So not only was unwed Loretta pregnant, she was pregnant with a married man’s baby. I probably get more emails and comments on the site, Facebook and Instagram about this Loretta Young situation than any other Gable topic. “He abandoned his child with…
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Movies of the Week: Call of the Wild (1935) and Key to the City (1950)
This week, we’ve got a Clark Gable and Loretta Young double feature in Call of the Wild (1935) and Key to the City (1950). I’m not going to dive into the whole Loretta Young-got-pregnant-with-Clark-Gable’s-baby-during-filming story. That’s all here. This is about the film. Clark Gable is Jack Thornton, on the hunt for a gold mine through the tundra with his sidekick Shorty (Oakie). As they struggle through the mountains in the bitter cold, they encounter Claire Blake (Young) who is stranded alone after her husband left her to search for food. They discover that Claire and her husband were after the same gold mine. Aided by their trusty dog Buck,…
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Gossip Friday: That’s What You Get
From October 1955: I doubt if anyone can kid Clark Gable as successfully as his bride, Kay. She keeps The King chuckling even about himself. When they returned from their honeymoon, they accepted the invitation of their friends, the Ray Hommes, to go to the Mocambo. As expected, the autograph hounds nearly ruined their evening both outside and inside the nightclub. In the midst of furiously signing menus and what-have-you, Kay leaned over and whispered in Clark’s ear, “See what you got by marrying me?”
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Movie of the Week: Polly of the Circus (1932)
This week, Clark Gable is a preacher in love with sassy acrobat Marion Davies in Polly of the Circus (1932). Clark is Father John Hartley, a small town minister living a peaceful life. The circus comes to town, with its star attraction: trapeze artist Polly Fisher (Davies). She is enraged when her risqué posters are covered up and confronts Hartley, who admits that her posters aren’t appropriate in the town. The crowd mocks her at her next performance, causing her to fall. She recuperates at Hartley’s house at his insistence since he feels guilty. Soon they fall in love. But his parish and bishop uncle (C. Aubrey Smith) don’t support…
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Gossip Friday: Rhett on the Radio?
From April 1939: Latest bulletin from the Hollywood Front is that Cecil B. DeMille is dickering to present a radio version of “Gone with the Wind” on his regular Monday drama hour. And, by the way, they do some funny things in Hollywood occasionally. David O. Selznick spent thousands of dollars testing various candidates for the role of Rhett Butler…but Clark Gable, who was the first one signed for the picture, didn’t make one test! __ That never happened. Would have been quite the long radio program!
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Movie of the Week: The King and Four Queens (1956) and Band of Angels (1957)
This week, Clark Gable is in two back-to-back color features, the Western The King and Four Queens (1956) and the Civil War-era drama Band of Angels (1957). In this Cinemascope Western, Gable is Dan Kehoe, a fugitive outlaw on the hunt for gold. In one town, he hears the story of the bandit McDade brothers, who were blown up in an explosion after stealing a huge pot of gold. Three charred, unrecognizable bodies were found, meaning one brother escaped but nobody knows which one. The gold was hidden by their mother, who is guarding it and the sons’ four wives in the deserted town of Wagon Mound. Kehoe makes up a story…
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Gossip Friday: In Her Hands
From 1941: The most beautiful pair of book ends I ever saw hold a few of Clark Gable’s favorite books on a night stand beside his bed. They represent a pair of exquisitely molded bronzed hands. They are really the hands of Carole Lombard. From a plaster of Paris impression Carole had the arresting bronzes cast so she could feel she was always, personally, holding Clark’s books ready for him to choose.
