by David Bret
COMRADE X MGM, 1940 Director: King Vidor. Screenplay: Ben Hecht/Charles Lederer, based on the story by Walter Reisch. Photography: Joseph Ruttenberg. With Hedy Lamarr, Eve Arden, Oscar Homolka, Felix Bressart, Vladimir Sokoloff, Sig Ruman, Likhail Rasumy and Edgar Barrier.
Clark Gable was top billing. 90 minutes.
THEY MET IN BOMBAY MGM, 1941 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Anita Loos/Edwin Justus Mayer/Leon Gordon. Photography: William Daniels. With Rosalind Russell, Peter Lorre, Jessie Ralph, Reginald Owen, Matthew Boulton, Eduardo Ciannelli, Luis Albertini, Jay Novello and Rosina Galli.
Clark Gable was top billing. 83 minutes.
HONKY TONK MGM, 1941 Director: Jack Conway. Screenplay: Marguerite Roberts/John Sanford. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Lana Turner, Frank Morgan, Claire Trevor, Marjorie Main, Albert Dekker, Chill Wills and Veda Ann Borg.
Clark Gable was top billing. 103 minutes.
SOMEWHERE I’LL FIND YOU MGM, 1942 Director: Wesley Ruggles. Screenplay: Marguerite Roberts, based on a story by Charles Hoffman. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Lana Turner, Robert Sterling, Reginald Owen, Patricia Dane, Lee Patrick, Charles Dingle and Van Johnson.
Clark Gable was top billing. 106 minutes.
ADVENTURE MGM, 1945 Director: Victor Fleming. Screenplay: Frederich Hazlitt Brennan/Vincent Lawrence, based on the novel, This Strange Adventure, by Clyde Brion Davis. Photography: Joseph Ruttenberg. With Greer Garson, Joan Blondell, Thomas Mitchell, Tom Tully, Richard Haydn and Harry Davenport.
Clark Gable was top billing. 122 minutes.
THE HUCKSTERS MGM, 1947 Director: Jack Conway. Screenplay: Luther Davis, based on the novel by Frederic Wakeman. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Deborah Kerr, Sydney Greenstreet, Ava Gardner, Adolphe Menjou, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Gloria Holden and Aubrey Mather.
Clark Gable was top billing. 114 minutes.
HOMECOMING MGM, 1948 Mervyn LeRoy. Screenplay: Paul Osborn, based on the novel The Homecoming of Ulysses by Sidney Kingsley. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Lana Turner, Anne Baxter, John Hodiak, Gladys Cooper, Cameron Mitchell, Ray Collins and Marshall Thompson.
Clark Gable was top billing. 113 minutes.
COMMAND DECISION MGM, 1948 Director: Sam Wood. Screenplay: William Laidlaw/George Froeschel, based on the stage play by William Wister Haines. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, John Hodiak, Charles Bickford, Edward Arnold, John McIntire and Marshall Thompson.
Clark Gable was top billing. 110 minutes.
ANY NUMBER CAN PLAY MGM, 1949 Director: Mervyn LeRoy. Screenplay: Richard Brooks, based on the novel by Edward Harris Heth. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Alexis Smith, Audrey Totter, Mary Astor, Lewis Stone, Barry Sullivan, Marjorie Rambeau, Edgar Buchanan and Leon Ames.
Clark Gable was top billing. 110 minutes.
KEY TO THE CITY MGM, 1950 Director: George Sidney. Screenplay: Robert Riley Crutcher, based on a story by Albert Beich. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Loretta Young, Frank Morgan, James Gleason, Raymond Burr, Marilyn Maxwell, Lewis Stone, Raymond Walburn, Pamela Britton and Zamah Cunningham.
Clark Gable was top billing. 96 minutes.
TO PLEASE A LADY MGM, 1950 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Barre Lyndon/Marge Decker. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, Will Geer, Roland Winters, Lela Bliss, Emory Parnell and Lew Smith.
Clark Gable was top billing. 91 minutes.
ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI MGM, 1951 Director: William Wellman. Screenplay: Talbot Jennings, based on a story by himself and Frank Cavett. Photography: William Mellor. With Ricardo Montalban, Adolphe Menjou, John Hodiak, Maria Elena Marques, Jack Holt, J. Carroll Nash, Alan Napier and Richard Anderson.
Clark Gable was top billing. 78 minutes.
LONE STAR MGM, 1952 Director: Vincent Sherman. Screenplay: Howard Estabrook/Borden Chase, based on Chase’s story. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Ava Gardner, Broderick Crawford, Beulah Bondi, Lionel Barrymore, James Burke, Ed Begley, William Farnum, Moroni Olsen and William Conrad.
Clark Gable was top billing. 93 minutes.
NEVER LET ME GO MGM, 1953 Director: Delmer Daves. Screenplay: Ronald Millar/George Froeschel, based on the novel Came The Dawn by Roger Bax. Photography: Robert Krasker. With Gene Tierney, Richard Haydn, Kenneth More, Bernard Miles, Belita, Karel Stepanek, Theodore Bickel and Anna Valentina.
Clark Gable was top billing. 69 minutes.
MOGAMBO MGM, 1953 Director: John Ford. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin, based on the stage play Red Dust by Wilson Collison, and Mahin’s screenplay for the earlier film. Photography: Robert Surtees/Freddy Young. With Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Donald Sinden, Laurence Naismith, Philip Stainton, Dennis O’Dea and Eric Pohlmann.
Clark Gable was top billing. 113 minutes.
BETRAYED MGM, 1954 Director: Gottfried Reinhardt. Screenplay: Ronald Millar/George Froeschel. Photography: Freddy Young. With Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern, Wilfrid Hyde-White, O.E. Hasse, Ian Carmichael, Nora Swinburne, Roland Culver, Leslie Weston and Niall MacGinnis.
Clark Gable was top billing. 103 minutes.
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX, 1955 Director: Edward Dmytryk. Screenplay: Ernest K. Gann, based on his novel. Photography: Leo Tover. With Susan Hayward, Gene Barry, Michael Rennie, Alexander D’Arcy, Russell Collins and Tom Tully.
Clark Gable was top billing. 94 minutes.
THE TALL MEN TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX, 1955 Director: Raoul Walsh. Screenplay: Sydney Boehm/Frank Nugent, based on the novel by Clay Fisher. Photography: Leo Tover. With Jane Russell, Robert Ryan, Cameron Mitchell, Juan Garcia, Harry Shannon, Emile Meyer, Mae Marsh, Doris Kemper, Tom Fadden, Argentina Brunetti.
Clark Gable was top billing. 120 minutes.
THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS UNITED ARTISTS, 1956 Director: Raoul Walsh. Screenplay: Margaret Fitts/Richard Alan Simmons, based on a story by Fitts. Photography: Lucien Ballard. With Eleanor Parker, Jo Van Fleet, Barbara Nichols, Jean Willes, Jay C. Flippen, Arthur Shields and Sara Shane.
Clark Gable was top billing. 86 minutes.
BAND OF ANGELS WARNER BROTHERS, 1957 Director: Raoul Walsh. Screenplay: John Twist/Ivan Goff/Ben Roberts, based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren. Photography: Lucien Ballard. With Yvonne de Carlo, Sidney Poitier, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Patric Knowles, Torin Thatcher, Rex Reason.
Clark Gable was top billing. 125 minutes.
RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP UNITED ARTISTS, 1958 Director: Robert Wise. Screenplay: John Gay, based on a novel by Commander Edward Beach. Photography: Russ Harlen. With Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, Brad Dexter, Nick Cravat, Mary LaRoche, Joe Maross, Eddie Foy III, Don Rickles, Ken Lynch and John Bryant.
Clark Gable was top billing. 93 minutes.
TEACHER’S PET PARAMOUNT, 1958 Director: George Seaton. Screenplay: Fay and Michael Kanin. Photography: Haskell & Bloggs. With Doris Day, Nick Adams, Mamie Van Doren, Gig Young, Peter Baldwin, Marion Ross, Jack Albertson and Vivian Nathan.
Clark Gable was top billing. 119 minutes.
BUT NOT FOR ME PARAMOUNT, 1959 Director: Walter Lang. Screenplay: John Michael Hayes, based on the stage play, Accent On Youth by Samson Raphaelson. Photography: Robert Burks. With Carroll Baker, Lilli Palmer, Lee J. Cobb, Thomas Gomez, Barry Coe, Tommy Duggan, Charles Lane and Wendell Holmes.
Clark Gable was top billing. 104 minutes.
IT STARTED IN NAPLES PARAMOUNT, 1960 Director: Melville Shavelson. Screenplay: Melvyn Shavelson/Suso Cecchi d’Amico/Jack Rose, based on a story by Michael Pertwee and Jack Davies. Photography: Robert Surtees. With Sophia Loren, Marietto, Vittorio de Sica, Paolo Carlini, Claudio Ermelli and Giovanni Filidoro.
Clark Gable was top billing. 99 minutes.
THE MISFITS UNITED ARTISTS, 1961 Director: John Huston. Screenplay: Arthur Miller. Photography: Russell Metty. With Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach, Estelle Winwood, James Barton, Kevin McCarthy, Dennis Shaw, Philip Mitchell, Walter Ramage and Lew Smith.
Clark Gable was top billing. 124 minutes.
Additionally, he made guest appearances in the following productions:
1932
Jackie Cooper’s Christmas
1934
Hollywood On Parade Number 6
Hollywood On Parade Number 13
1935
Starlight Days At The Lido
1944
Hollywood In Uniform
Be Careful! (Narrator only)
Wings Up! (Narrator only)
1951
The Screen Actor
Calloway Went Thataway!
1953
Memories In Uniform
DOCUMENTARIES
CAROLE LOMBARD & CLARK GABLE (1987, 26 minutes) An episode of BBC Worldwide’s acclaimed Great Romances series, produced by Jonathan Martin, scripted by Robin Cross and narrated by Robert Powell.
This features brief biographical details of the two stars, clips from their early films, home-movie footage in colour of one of their hunting trips, a silent press-conference after their wedding (to blank out Carole’s cursing!) and actual out-takes from two of her films, where she lets rip. There is also footage of the final war-bonds rally and the plane-wreck. ‘The years with Lombard had been the happiest of Clark Gable’s life,’ Powell concludes, before adding, ‘Lombard had died for love, pure and simple.’
GABLE ON FILM: A BIOGRAPHY (2000, 30 minutes). Released by Delta Entertainment as a bonus to their restored DVD release of The Painted Desert. Produced by Roy Shakked, scripted by Tim Bartel and narrated by Barry Stigler. A misnomer on both counts, but a worthy addition to the Gable fan’s collection because it contains rare theatrical trailers: Lone Star (theatrical release, with Gable voiceover), China Seas, Mutiny On The Bounty, To Please A Lady, Run Silent, Run Deep and The Misfits.
LIVING FAMOUSLY: CLARK GABLE (2003, 58 minutes). An episode of the BBC television series directed by Steve Greenwood and narrated by Caroline Quentin. It could have been better researched and the producer stretches things (with the exceptions of Judy Lewis and Barry Norman) with an unrelated guest list. What does a daytime television fashion expert have to do with Clark Gable, and do we really need to see middle-aged Scarlett O’Hara lookalikes who confess to dreaming of being in Clark’s arms? Even so, it is the best of a pretty paltry bunch, though there are several howlers. Gable was not registered as a girl on his birth certificate, nor did he knock on Josephine Dillon’s door while working as a travelling salesman! Additionally, aside from the publicised event while shooting Call Of The Wild, he was not in the habit of frequenting brothels - women always served themselves to him on a plate. And he most definitely did not have a ‘hidden penthouse’ tucked away in Hollywood for ‘clandestine’ meetings with Carole Lombard. Barry Norman does his best to salvage the production by repeating Gable’s own take on how he wanted to be remembered: ‘He was lucky, and he knew it!’ Then fellow critic Derek Malcolm camps the whole thing up by opining, ‘If he went up to heaven and God asked him what he’d like to be remembered for, he’d have to say Gone With The Wind!’
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES
Albert, Katherine, ‘What’s Wrong With Hollywood Love?’ Modern Screen, undated.
— ‘What They Said About Joan Crawford’: Photoplay, 8/31
Alpert, Hollis, The Barrymores, Dial Press, 1964
Anger, Kenneth, Hollywood Babylon I & II, Arrow, 1986
Baskette, Kirtley: ‘Hollywood’s Unmarried Husbands & Wives 1, Photoplay, 1/39
Bret, David, Tallulah Bankhead, Robson Books, 1996
— Joan Crawford, Robson Books, 2006
— Interviews with Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks Jr, David Bret, 1993
Camp, Dan, ‘Career Comes First With Loretta’, Motion Picture, undated.
Chrisman, J Eugene, ‘Norma Takes A Dare’, Screen Book, undated.
Crawford, Joan, Portrait of Joan (with Jane Kesner Armore), Doubleday, 1962.
Eames, John Douglas, The MGM Story, Octopus, 1979.
Essoe, Gabe, The Films of Clark Gable, Citadel, 1972
Eyman, Scott, Lion of Hollywood: The Life & Legend of Louis B Mayer, Robson Books, 2005.
Gardner, Ava, Ava, My Story, Bantam, 1990.
Greif, Martin, The Gay Book of Days, W H Allen, 1985.
Hall, Gladys, ‘Gable: Why I Stay Married/ What’s The Matter With Lombard?’, Modern Screen, undated.
Harris, Warren G, Clark Gable, Aurum, 2002
— Gable & Lombard, Simon & Schuster, 1974.
Hopper, Hedda, The Whole Truth and Nothing But, Doubleday, 1963.
LaGuardia, Robert, Monty, A Biography of Montgomery Clift, Arbor House, 1977.
Lambert, Gavin, Norma Shearer, Knopf, 1990.
Lee, Sonia, ‘Jean Harlow, From Extra To Star’, Screen Book, undated.
Lewis, Judy, Uncommon Knowledge, Pocket Books, 1994.
Maddox, Ben, ‘What About Clark Gable Now?’, Screenland, undated, part-spiked.
— Jean Harlow, The One Star Who Has No Enemies’, Screenland, undated, part-spiked.
— ‘Jean Harlow Carries On’, Screen Book, undated.
— ‘Why Girls Say “Yes!”’, Silver Screen, undated, part-spiked.
Mann, William J, William Haines: Wisecracker, Penguin NY, 1988.
Manners, Dorothy, ‘The Girl Without A Past’, Photoplay, 10/35
Medved, Harry & Michael, The Golden Turkey Awards, Angus & Robertson, 1980.
Mooring, W H, ‘Prescription for Joan Crawford’, Film Weekly, 4/39.
Newquist, Roy, Conversations with Joan Crawford, Citadel, 1980.
Niven, David, Bring On The Empty Horses, Putnam, 1975.
Norman, Barry, The Hollywood Greats, Hodder & Stoughton, 1979.
Parsons, Louella, Tell It To Louella, Putnam, 1961
Porter, Darwin, The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart, Georgia Literary Association, 2003
Quinlan, David, Quinlan’s Film Stars/ Character Actors, Batsford, 1981 & 1986.
Quirk, Laurence J, Fasten Your Seat Belts: The Passionate Life of Bette Davis, Robson Books, 1990.
— The Films of Joan Crawford, Citadel, 1968.
Ramsey, Walter, ‘Franchot Tone, Gentleman Rebel’, Photoplay, undated.
Rooney, Mickey, Life Is Too Short, Hutchinson, 1988.
Stenn, David, Bombshell, The Life & Death of Jean Harlow, Lightning Bug, 1993.
Swindell, Larry, Screwball, The Life of Carole Lombard, Morrow, 1975.
Thomas, Bob, Thalberg, Life & Legend, Doubleday, 1969.
Tornabene, Lyn, Clark Gable: Long Live The King, Putnam, 1976.
Turner, Lana, Lana: The Lady, The Legend, The Truth, Dutton, 1982.
Wallace, Irving, with Wallace, Amy; Wallace, Sylvia & Wallechinsky, David, The Secret Sex Lives of Famous People, Chancellor Press, 1993.
Wayne, Jane Ellen, Golden Girls of MGM, Robson Books, 2003
— Golden Guys of MGM, Robson Books, 2003.
— Crawford’s Men, Robson Books, 1988.
— Ava Gardner, Her Life & Loves, Robson Books, 1990.
Wilson, Ivy Crane, Hollywood Album, Sampson Low & Marston, 1953.
INDEX
Across The Wide Missouri
Adams, Nick
Adventure
After Office Hours
Alexander, Ross ,
Allan, Elizabeth,
Any Number Can Play
Arledge, John
Arnold, H H
Ashley, Lady Sylvia
Astaire, Fred
Anna Christie
Astor, Mary
Baker, Carole
Band Of Angels
Bankhead, Tallulah
Barrymore, Lionel
Bartholomew, Freddie
Bartlett, Sy
Baskette, Kirtley
Bautzer, Greg
Beery, Wallace
Bello, Mama Jean
Bello, Marino,
Ben Hur
Bennett, Constance
Berman, Pandro S
Bern, Paul
B
etrayed
Billy The Kid
Black Widow
Bleck, Timothy,
Boom Town
Boyd, William
Brady, Alice
Brown, Chamberlain
Brown, Johnny Mack
Brown, Lansing
But Not For Me
Cain and Mabel
Capra, Frank
Call Of The Wild
Carroll, Nancy
Chained
Chicago
China Seas
Chisolm, Betty
Christian, Fletcher
Clift, Montgomery,
Cohn, Harry
Colbert, Claudette
Colby, Anita
Colman, Ronald
Columbo, Russ
Command Decision
Comrade X
Confidential
Copperhead, The
Cortez, Ricardo
Cowl, Jane
Craig’s Wife
Crawford, Christina
Crawford, Joan
Crews, Laura Hope
Crowther, Bosley
Cukor, George
Dadolle, Suzanne
Dance, Fools, Dance
Dancing Lady
Davenport, Dorothy
Davies, Marion
Davis, Bette
Davis, Elmer
Day, Doris
Dean, James
Dekker, Albert
Dees, Mary
De Havilland, Olivia
Dietrich, Marlene
