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Gossip Friday: Thank you, Youngster
From October 1936: Clark Gable plans a fitting reward for an honest little boy who evidently lives in Beverly Hills not far from the hotel where the actor resides. “The big moment” of millions of feminine fans entered a Beverly Hills drug store near the hotel, made a purchase and then departed. He was almost instantly overtaken by a small boy about ten or eleven years old, who thrust a wallet into Gable’s hand. It was the actor’s property. The boy explained that he had seen the actor drop it, and darted away as soon as he had returned the wallet, before Clark could learn his name. The star is…
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Gossip Friday: Stumped by Carole’s Gift
From October 1936: Carole Lombard has found a “topper” for the wreck of a car she sent Clark Gable as a Valentine gift. It is an antiquated fire engine. When the star learned the fire engine was for sale she hurried out and took an option on it. What Gable will do with the engine is a question. Gable turned the tables on Carole when she gave him the car, for he transformed the broken-down roadster into a snappy racing car. Carole feels that her latest gift will have him “stumped”!
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Gossip Friday: And The Next Mrs. Gable Is….
From January 1950, Hedda Hopper: A legal barrier is Clark Gable’s greatest protection against a married man’s date. Paulette Goddard is still married to Burgess Meredith–otherwise, I think that clever gal would have been the King’s queen by now. I never sell Paulette short in getting whatever she wants, and it certainly looks as if she wants Clarkie. I’m keeping my fingers crossed there for a long time to come, because I think Clark secretly longs to be wed again and he’s going to fall pretty hard when he does at last. _____ Funny that by the time this issue hit newsstands Clark WAS married….to Sylvia Ashley! Sorry Hedda…
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Marilyn Monroe and John Huston Remember Clark Gable
Clark Gable died 55 years ago today, at the age of 59. A heart attack struck him just days after finishing his final film, The Misfits, and a second one stilled his heart ten days after that. You can read more about his death and funeral here. See where he is buried here. The Misfits hit movie screens on February 1, 1961, on what would have been Clark’s 60th birthday. Clark had seen a rough cut and had declared it the best thing he’d ever done. Director John Huston and co-star Marilyn Monroe were both interviewed by the press around this time, and shared their memories of the late great…
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Gossip Friday: Surprising Fieldsie
From 1948: “I’m terribly sorry I won’t be able to be there for your birthday.” It was Clark Gable calling Mrs. Walter “Fieldsie” Lang from New York where he had gone to see “Command Decision.” (His next MGM movie). Eighteen hours later Clark walked in on the Langs–wearing a huge grin and carrying a magnum of champagne. “Fieldsie” Lang was Carole Lombard’s closest friend and secretary. Wild horses couldn’t have kept Clark away on that day.
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America’s Number One Glamour Boy Marches Like The Rest of Them
In honor of Veterans Day…. One of the random things I have in my possession is a collection of letters from a man named Bud, who was in Air Corps Officer Candidate School in Miami with Clark Gable in late 1942, to his sister. Here is an excerpt from one, dated Sunday, August 31, 1942. That is pretty consistent with all the other accounts I’ve heard–they doubted him at first but soon realized that Clark was the real deal. Hats off to you, Mr. Gable, and all the other servicemen and servicewomen!
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Gossip Friday: Happy as Larks
From November 1939: Lately I’ve seen both Clark Gable and Carole Lombard at lunch at Ruby Foo’s (this is the old Vendome) with decorator Tom Douglas and a few days later with Bill Haines at the Victor Hugo. They are deep in the business of buying advice and decorations for their ranch home. I can’t quite see streamlined, brittle Lombard on a ranch, even a very exceptional one. But they seem happy as larks.
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On the Auction Block, November 23
TCM has paired with Bonhams again for another classic-film themed auction, this time called “Treasures from the Dream Factory.” Everything is up for grabs on November 23. There are a few Clark Gable items; some of them I know I have seen sold at auction before, either on Ebay or in the 1996 Estate Auction. Clark’s personal bound screenplay for “The Hucksters.” (est. $3,000-$5,000) Clark Gable bound screenplay of The Hucksters Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1947. Mimeographed manuscript, screenplay by Luther Davis, 135 pp, November 15, 1946 (with revision pages as late as April 2, 1947), housed in yellow Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wrappers, with Script Department label to upper front cover, stamped “Complete,” with Script Department…
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Gossip Friday: No Snoopy for Carole
From March 1938: Carole Lombard’s learned to ride Western every Sunday and to roast a nifty duck; she jounces happily in a station wagon when she might be languishing in a limousine. All for Clark Gable’s company! Now, she’s resuming her interest in flying. In “Test Pilot” Clark’s had to fly so much for the director that he has enough hours in the air to get his pilot’s license. Carole took lessons out at the municipal airport a year or so ago, and she’s on the verge of starting over. She’ll never let it be said that she isn’t a swell sport. She isn’t going to be a fool about…
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Where He Waited, Paced and Grieved
On January 16, 1942, a grim Clark Gable boarded a plane to Las Vegas to find out the fate of his beloved wife Carole Lombard, her mother Elizabeth Peters and his friend Otto Winkler after hearing that their plane had gone down at Mount Potosi. Seeing the fire on the mountain at his arrival, he knew the news wasn’t good but still he wanted to go with the rescue team. He was persuaded not to, and considering the charred bodies that were found, it was certainly not a sight he would have wanted to see. After some time spent at the nearby Pioneer Saloon, Clark was taken to the El…