During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.
I think this is a really important cause. Several members on my Dad's side of the family have been severely affected by man-cancers, and I'm all for fundraising for it. I think It's very important indeed, and that's why I developed this blogathon.
Ok, so evidently I can't grow a tache for Movember in support of prostate cancer because... I'm a girl. BUT I can blog about moustaches! So I'm hosting a little blogathon in support of Movember, "Classic Moustaches For Movember". Bloggers, gather 'round. All you have to do is post about something to do with moustaches in your own classic-movie-blogging way, and link to the donation page (that one is for the US, but it's easy to find the UK one too) on the Movember website! There are more famous, debonaire classic actors with moustaches than you can fit in one book, let alone one post, so there should be lots to blog about :-)Your post can go up any time before the end of November. I hope this gives everyone time to participate!
Just comment with a link to your blog on this post and I'll add you to the list of blogs participating. Naturally, normal blogathon etiquette applies, so in your post just link back to this one if you don't mind :-), and this blogathon will be going on until the 31st November. It would be cool, no? *twiddles moustache* If you'd like to join, grab one of my badges for it and spread the word! We can have a classic moustache party :-D
My post for the blogathon will go up sometime next week. Happy moustaching!
{I've named this post "Part 1" because I might see more screwball comedies and want to add to my list. Plus, there are way too many to list all in one go :-D}
{My Badge :-D}
I have recently grown to like to screwball comedies. I don't like all of them, but some of them are really funny. The thing that strikes me is, that the main component of a screwball comedy is the characters. Put them in any situation you want, but the characters need to be really intriguing or interesting for the story to work. Therefore, the actors playing them need to be able to pull their weight. Believe me. Put a bad actor in even a good screwball comedy and everyone in the audience will squirm in their seats. It makes the whole thing awkward. I've written about some of these as couples, because I love them both and they are both awesome together. I need to do one about favourite screwball comedy animals soon... Asta anyone? But I've given it some thought and here are my favourite characters as they were performed by the actor, in the screwball comedies I've seen - in no particular order.
Susan Vance and Doctor David Huxley played by Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant respectively in Bringing Up Baby 1938
{Scanned by me}
Susan Vance is the sweet, troublemaking, ditzy heiress-female lead of Howard Hawks's comedy about a girl who gets a leopard in the post and drags her new paleontologist acquaintance into taking it to her farm in Connecticut on the day he is meant to be getting married. Add to this a pre-historic dinosaur bone and a playful dog and you have a fantastic screwball comedy! I just adore Susan. Whenever I trip over a coffe table, or spill something or lose something important I just think to myself, that was so Susan Vance. Katharine Hepburn plays her wonderfully as well and she more than holds her own against Cary Grant. Oh yeah, and she deals pretty well with the leopard.
Cary Grant on the other hand...
Well, lets just say, he and the cat weren't the best of friends. He was so scared of the leopard that - according to legend - the cast and crew threw a stuffed leopard through the air-shaft of his dressing room and he ran out as fast as lightening :-D. I love Doctor David Huxley. Geek specs and all. Cary Grant is absolutely crazy in this role, and you just have to love him for it, because in the end you know the result will be fantastic. I shall remain a Cary Grant fan 'till the end. He is my favouritest and my best of everything... Ever. If only all paleontologists were as amazing as Doctor Huxely. *Weeps silently to self over the insanely awesome fantasticness of Cary Grant in geek gear*.
Peter Warne played by Clark Gable in It Happened One Night 1934
I love Clark Gable. I mean, who doesn't really? And he is so funny in this film, the classic Frank Capra directed rom-com. Peter Warne is a journalist who finds the runaway heiress everyone is looking out for (always an heiress involved) and offers to help her get back to her husband who her father disapproves of - if she'll give him a story. One of my all time favourite scenes in any comedy is Clark Gable's stupendous hitch-hiking scene which goes from teaching Claudette Colbert the rules of hitchhiking to running through all of his hitch-hiking techniques in a row to attract several hundred cars that all pass by at once. It's hilarious and his whole performance is great too :-)
Alice Sycamore and Tony Kirby played by Jean Arthur and James Stewart respectively in You Can't Take It With You 1938
I had to pair these as a joint favourite because it has to be the "rat with hair on it" scene that swayed me.
You Can't Take It With You is a film about an eccentric family with a daughter who decides she wants to marry Tony Kirby, the only interesting member of a boring banking family. But what will happen when the two families meet? Jean Arthur and James Stewart work so well together. I adore them in this, and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Jean Arthur is always so lively and James Stewart is playing one of his awesome characters of the Macaulay Connor variety where he gets to go absolutely bonkers. This time in a restaurant. It is seriously hilarious.
Capt. Henri Rochard played by Cary Grant in I Was A Male War Bride 1949
I Was A Male War Bride is the story of the French army officer Henri Rochard who is always being teamed with Lt Catherine Gates, much to his dismay. They don't get along at first but then find that they love each other and want to get married. But Catherine realises that she has to be shipped back to the US, and the only way for Henri to come with her is for him to get a visa as a "War Bride". It's actually too funny for words. everyone says that their favourite scene from this movie is when Cary Grant dresses as a woman to get across to the US, but my favourite is when he gets stuck in Ann Sheridan's room after he has massaged her to sleep (sounds weird out of context but believe me it is hysterical). Cary Grant is so great at physical "clowning". There isn't a moment when you can't see that he is really thinking about his movements. Such a funny film.
Irene Bullock played by Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey 1936
Irene Bullock finds Godfrey living on a city dump in the great depression while she is on a scavenger hunt (upper class style... they have to find a "forgotten man"!). He likes Irene, but hates her sister Cornelia and pushes her into a pile of rubbish and lets Irene take him to the scavenger hunt head quarters so she will win. But Irene starts falling for Godfrey and hires him as their butler. I'd never seen any Carole Lombard films before (I know, shock horror), and I loved her in this film! She's hilarious with William Powell - who even on his own is pretty darn awesome - and I love this film. Afterwards I was a bit like, "Whoa. That was crazy." But then I realised that it was not only crazy, but REALY GOOD TOO! All I have to say is, "GODFREY LOVES ME! HE PUT ME IN THE SHOWER!"
So there is Part 1. There will be a Part 2 following sometime in the future. I hope you enjoyed this post!
By the by, I got braces on my teeth the other day and they hurt for the first day or two. Ouch! But it reminded me of this really sweet scene in My Favourite Wife (1940) with Irene Dunne, so I hit photoshop and made a graphic for it! Hope you like it :-)
Too Hot to Handle(1938). Cast: Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Walter Pidgeon. Many of the gags in this film were put together by Buster Keaton.
Journalist Chris Hunter, is famous for being a trickster and he and his assistant Joselito decides to send footage of a fake bombing raid to his rival, Bill Dennis. To get even, Bill stages a "mercy flight" to bring cholera serum to China. As the plane lands Chris drives onto the field in an ambulance and photographs the arrival of the plane, but.. the ambulance gets in the way causing the plane to crash. After Chris saves pilot Alma Harding, she tells him that it was all a joke. Which begins Chris Hunter's and Bill Dennis's, friendly rivalry trying to scoop each other for news. The rivalry gets a little too intense when Alma Harding, becomes their love interest. You will love the zingers and the direction the plot moves from one fun situation to the next.
Video: First of 8.
Virginia Weidler (March 21, 1926 – July 1, 1968), made her first film with Mickey Rooney in, Love Is a Headache (1938). After which Weidler, was cast in larger roles. She was one of the all-female cast of the 1939 film The Women, as Norma Shearer's daughter.
Her next major success was, The Philadelphia Story (1940) in which she played Dinah Lord, the witty younger sister of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn). After a string of box-office disappointments, her film career ended with the 1943 film, Best Foot Forward.
At her retirement at the age of 17, Weidler had performed in more than forty films, and had acted with some of the biggest stars of the day, including Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in, Too Hot to Handle, Bette Davis in, All This and Heaven Too and Judy Garland in, Babes on Broadway.
{All Teacher's Pet graphics in this post were made by me. Not photos, only graphics. Feel free to use them, but I'd be grateful for a credit!}
I have recently been having a ball making GIFs on a this graphic maker site, and when I watched Teacher's Pet I had a complete field day making GIFs from it. As you can see, Clark Gable's double takes just had to be immortalized in GIF form. Forever. Full stop. {Ignore the man walking past who looks like he has been abducted by aliens, I am not an experience graphics maker.}
So, yes - I just love this film! My goodness, everything about it is just beyond amazing. And I just watched It Happened One Night so I am still in a "Dear Mr. Gable" phase. But then I looked on wikipedia and found out he was 57 when he made this movie and Doris Day was in her thirties... But who cares. HE IS CLARK GABLE!!!
The film is about this tough, wisecracking newspaper editor, James Ganon (sound familiar? :-D) who hates education. He never even got to high school, but he takes it in his stride and promotes experience against education. One day, a journalism teacher writes him a letter requesting him to talk to her class. Needless to say he is furious and writes her a letter that includes phrases like, "When you are the editor of a major New York paper the job leaves you little time for such pleasantries as the canning of crab-apples, tours around Rockerfeller Centre and visits to journalism classes." But when he visits the class to apologise under the order of his superiors he sees the teacher, Erica Stone (or in other words, Doris Day).
He pretends to be a wallpaper salesman and after submitting one great story in class (he should be writing them, he is a professional journalist!) he gets other bright sparks at his paper to write assignments for him.
"He's a phsycologist!"
He realizes that the affections of Erica Stone are being taken by psychologist, Hugo Pine (Gig Young) so he tries to make her jealous by knowing more than him. They meet at a nightclub where Ganon's girlfriend is singing. Ganon and Hugo Pine end up spiking each other's drinks until finally Hugo collapses. I won't tell you any more for fear of ruining the end.
I can't believe this is such a little known film! It is so hilarious and clever. The script was written by director, Garson Kanin's brother and his wife, Micheal and Kay Kanin. It won the Academy Award it so rightfully deserved. You all know how I feel about Clark Gable and Doris Day, but the performance that always really stands out for me is Gig Young's performance as Hugo Pine.
Not many people know all that much about Gig Young, and I've only seen him in this and Young At Heart. I know he was married to Bewitched (which is the best TV show ever, do not try and deny it) star Elizabeth Montgomery. His comic timing is sheer genius. The scene in the club where he starts playing the bongo is one of the funniest things I've seen in my life.
The other star performance is from Mamie Van Doren, the Marilyn Monroe wannabe. She turns a relatively small role as Clark Gable's girlfriend into one of the key parts of the scene.
I have practically grown up with this film, as it's a favourite of my parents.
Recently in my English class we have been doing gothic novels and watching lots of movies. The last one we watched was Kenneth Braghnah's Frankenstein *shudder*. What happened to real gothic films! Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), Jane Eyre (1944) and Great Expectations (1946)? Or just plain reading a book! The best ones we've seen so far though, have been an animation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart" narrated by the spectacular James Mason:
And today we saw the beginning of The House On Haunted Hill (1959). Vincent Price officially freaks me out. It really depressed me that when the teacher put on the 1931, Boris Karloff + Basil Rathbone version of Frankenstein children in my class moaned and cried "But it's in black and white!" :-( One girl even hid under the table and I asked her what she was doing and she said "It's in black and white. I won't watch it." The teacher also thought it was made in the 50s... A little weird as they are all decked out in thirties outfits and the film quality really looks old... Rant over. Go watch this film now!
~Bette P.S. I'm so grateful to all the bloggers who are tagging me from their Stylish Blog Award posts! At the moment I have counted three tags, and the last one I read was from Meredith at Forever Classics, so there is your link, Meredith! You have a great blog :-)
Wife vs Secretary(1936),is a comedy film directed and co-produced by Clarence Brown. Cast: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy and James Stewart, in one of his first memorable roles. The film was the fifth of six collaborations between Gable and Harlow and the fourth of seven between Gable and Loy.
The story begins when, Magazine publisher Van Stanhope gives his wife a diamond bracelet for their third wedding anniversary. However, Van's secretary, "Whitey", is thought by Van's mother to be a temptation to Van. As well as.. Whitey's boyfriend Dave, who also is not too happy about her relationship with her boss. When Van has to be very secretive to buy J. D. Underwood's weekly, for fear that his rival will buy it out from under him, which causes problems between Van and his wife.
When Van returns from his business meeting with Underwood, he tells Linda that he has been at the club all day, but Linda knows that he has been out with Whitey, who was helping him get ready for his meeting with Underwood. At a skating party, Linda hears from one of the wives that Van and Whitey are most likely having an affair. Linda and Van, get into an argument about it on their way home.
Van plans a trip for himself and Linda, but when he learns that Underwood is at a conference in Havana, changes his plans. Whitey learns of important information about the rival paper, which Van decides that it is best to bring her along to Havana to close the deal. While celebrating the successful closing of the deal, Linda calls and Whitey answers the phone and now she also believes that they are having an affair.
Van returns to New York only to have Linda asking for a divorce. Broken hearted, he asks Whitey to join him on a trip to Bermuda as a friend. Realizing that Van will never love her as much as he loves Linda, she goes to see Linda on the boat to Europe, telling her that she would be a fool to let him go. Will Linda decide to reconcile with Van?
This is one of the, fluffy romantically fun, dramatic classic movies.
Key To The City(1950). Romantic comedy film. Cast: Clark Gable and Loretta Young. This was the second (and final) time that Gable and Young performed together in a film, the first being in the 1935 film, Call of the Wild.
The story begins, during a convention of the nation's mayors in San Francisco, Steve mistakes Clarissa for Sheila, his balloon dancer date for the evening, which insults Clarissa. Clarissa, forgives Steve's mistake and they soon develop a close friendship.
Steve's friend, Puget City fire chief Duggan, warns Steve that Henshaw, a crooked Puget City council member, is waging a campaign against him and that he should avoid any bad publicity while in San Francisco.
Steve holds an informal committee meeting with other mayors and their wives at the Blue Duck nightclub in Chinatown, The festivities come to a end when Steve sets off a huge fight. Clarissa tries to stop the fight by playing the piano and singing the song "San Francisco," but Steve insists that she leave the club before the police get there.
Unfortunately, Steve and Clarissa are arrested in a police raid. Police sergeant Hogan, tries to keep the matter quiet, but, as Clarissa leaves the station, a photographer takes her picture in front of a "Sobriety Test" room.
Though the picture causes problems for her in her hometown of Wenonah, Clarissa's uncle, Judge Silas Standish, is happy to see her having a good time.
As luck would have it, Clarissa and Steve are arrested on the street dressed as children for a costume party, but are soon released. While Steve and Clarissa ride back to the hotel in a taxi, the taxi swerves to miss some people and the two are thrown into each other's arms. During a romantic walk down the foggy streets of Telegraph Hill, Clarissa and Steve, fall in love and they make plans to marry. The engagement is soon called off, when Steve accuses Clarissa of being ashamed of his background. Steve, soon learns that Henshaw plans to override his veto of a pork barrel construction contract, Steve decides to leave the convention and return to Puget City. Clarissa, is heartbroken when she sees Sheila enter Steve's room.
Will Steve arrive in time to make sure his veto is not overridden and then save his relationship with, Clarissa?
This is one of those classic/funny/romance films staring Clark Gable, who is as charming as always and you can see the wonderful chemistry he has with, Loretta Young.
Fun Facts:
The scenes that are supposed to be in Chinatown, really were filmed in Chinatown Los Angeles. Production also included interiors of the "Rice Bowl" restaurant as well as the bar areas. They were not sets on a Hollywood stage, but the real locations.
Final film of Frank Morgan.
Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972), best known for being a sexy blond she performed in several films and radio programs, and entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War on USO tours with Bob Hope.
She started her professional entertaining career as a radio singer while still a teenager before signing with MGM in 1942 as a contract player. One of her first performances was in, The Abbott and Costello Show. Some of her other film roles include: Lost in a Harem (1944), Champion (1949), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)and Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958).
Jean Harlow, is probably most remembered for the films she made with Clark Gable. Gable and Harlow sparkled together on screen, with a sense of playfulness and fun. The two were close friends off screen. Gable's wife Carole Lombard, once said that she loved Jean Harlow, because Gable thought of her "as one of the guys."
Clark Gable once said, " She didn't want to be famous. She wanted to be happy."
Harlow and Gable, co-starred in a total of six films. The first on screen film was, The Secret Six (1931). Pre-Code crime film. Cast: Wallace Beery as a character loosely based on Al Capone. Also featuring: Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Marjorie Rambeau and Ralph Bellamy. The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by George W. Hill for MGM.
Clark Gable and Jean Harlow followed with their second film, Red Dust(1932). A Romantic drama directed by Victor Fleming. Produced during the Pre-Code era of Hollywood. Gable's performance in Red Dust, soon made him MGM's most important male star.
Next, they performed in the huge hit, Hold Your Man(1933). A story about a young girl who falls in love with con man, who accidentally kills the man they were setting up. The con man takes off and leaves the young girl behind to take the rap..
Soon after, MGM recognized the goldmine of the Gable-Harlow pairing, putting them in a couple more films, China Seas(1935). A adventure film where Clark Gable plays a sea captain and Jean Harlow as his ship mate.
Next they went on to perform together in the film, Wife vs. Secretary(1936). A story about wife of a publishing executive who believes that her husband's relationship with his sexy secretary is more than professional.
In their sixtieth and final film collaboration., Saratoga(1937). Directed by Jack Conway. After bookie Bradley wins a horse ranch he turns his attentions to the daughter of the now deceased gambler. When filming was 90% completed, Harlow collapsed on the set and died about a week later, reportedly of uremic poisoning. Harlow, was a wonderful comedic actress, I can not imagine how far she would have gone in Hollywood if she a lived longer.
Everyone on the MGM lot called her The Baby with the exception of Clark Gable. A very close friend, he always called her Sis.
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, first met when they worked together in their only film, No Man of Her Own(1932). The story begins when, Gambler Babe Steward is in trouble with the law and decides to hide out in a small town. There he meets librarian Connie Randall. They flip a coin to decide whether or not to get married, which of course it does. Babe, meanwhile, continues his gambling while Connie believes that he has a respectable job working on Wall Street. Then one day, Connie finds Babe's marked cards in his desk. She shuffles the cards and when Babe plays a game of poker, he loses. Angry, Babe leaves for Rio de Janeiro. But, realizing that he loves Connie, he gives himself up to serve his jail sentence. Will the couple be reunited when he is free?
After filming was over Carole Lombard gave Clark Gable a ham with his picture on it.
Gable makes a very charming card shark and Lombard makes a very playful librarian, with a bit of a wild side. They both performed well together. I'm very surprised they only did one film together.
They met again and fell in love in 1936 while attending the Mayfair Ball hosted by Lombard. Gable, at the time, was married to oil heiress, Rhea Langham. It was major factor in Gable accepting the role of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, Louis B. Mayer sweetened the deal for Clark Gable by giving him enough money to settle a divorce agreement with Langham and marry Lombard. Gable divorced Langham on March 7, 1939 and proposed to Lombard in a telephone booth at the Brown Derby.
Gable and Lombard drove out to Kingman, Arizona on March 29, 1939 and were married. They bought a ranch previously owned by director Raoul Walsh in Encino, California, where they raised chickens and horses.
Unfortunately, On January 16, 1942, Lombard was a passenger on Trans-World Airlines Flight 3. She had just finished her 57th movie, To Be or Not to Be, and was on her way home when the flight's DC-3 airliner crashed into a mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada, killing all aboard. Clark Gable was never the same.
Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960). Was nicknamed "The King of Hollywood". During his film career, Gable performed with some of the most famous actresses of the time: Joan Crawford, who was his favorite actress to work with was partnered with Gable in eight films, Myrna Loy performed with him seven times and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six films. He also starred with Lana Turner in four films and with Norma Shearer in three.
A young Gable wanted to become an actor after seeing the play, The Bird of Paradise. Gable first found work in small theater companies and he worked as a necktie salesman in a department store to help make ends meet. While there, he met actress Laura Hope Crews, who encouraged him to go back into acting.
His acting coach was a theater manager, Josephine Dillon. They traveled to Hollywood, where she became his manager and his first wife. He changed his stage name from W. C. Gable to Clark Gable. He found work as an extra in silent films, The Merry Widow (1925), The Plastic Age (1925), with Clara Bow.
Soon after, Gable returned to the stage, becoming lifelong friends with Lionel Barrymore. During the 1927-28s Gable acted with the Laskin Brothers Stock Company. Gable then moved to New York and Dillon found work for him on Broadway.
In 1930, after his wonderful performance in the stage production of, The Last Mile, Gable was offered a contract with MGM. His first role in a sound picture, The Painted Desert (1931). Gable's wonderful performance as Rance Brett, a criminal who does not feel sorry about the crimes he has committed, made him a very popular supporting actor.
Gable's timing in arriving in Hollywood could have not worked out better for him, as MGM was looking for more male stars. Joan Crawford asked for him as her co-star in, Dance, Fools, Dance (1931). A pre-code feature film about a reporter investigating the murder of a colleague. The film is loosely based on Chicago real-life events of the production's period such as reporter Jake Lingle's murder by underworld gangsters and the St. Valentine's Day massacre.
He also performed in the well known films: A Free Soul (1931), Susan Lenox Her Fall and Rise (1931), Possessed (1931), in which he and Joan Crawford steamed up the screen with the passion they shared in real life.
Unfortunately, Joan was still married at the time and Louis B. Mayer threatened to terminate both their contracts and for a while they kept apart and Gable shifted his focus on Marion Davies.
Gable's performance in the film, Red Dust (1932) made him MGM's most important star. After the film, Hold Your Man (1933), MGM recognized the goldmine of the Gable-Harlow pairing, putting them in two more films: China Seas (1935) and Wife vs. Secretary (1936). A very popular combination, on-screen and off-screen, Gable and Jean Harlow made six films together, the most popular, Red Dust (1932) and Saratoga (1937). The story about Carol Clayton the daughter of a horse breeder at Saratoga, who is engaged to wealthy Hartley Madison.
Gable was not the first choice to play the lead role in the film, It Happened One Night. A comedy directed by Frank Capra, a story about a spoiled rich girl who tries to get out from under her father's thumb and falls in love with a rogue reporter. The plot was based on the story Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams. It Happened One Night was one of the last film romantic comedies created before the MPAA began enforcing the 1930 production code in 1934.
Robert Montgomery was originally offered the role, but he did not like the script. Gable won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his 1934 performance.
Gable also earned an Academy Award nomination in, Mutiny on the Bounty(1935). A story about a man named Fletcher Christian, who leads a revolt against Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. Bligh returns one year later, wanting revenge on his captors. Gable once said that this was his favorite film of his own, even though he did not get along with his co-stars Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone.
Even though Gable did not want to play the role, he is best known for his performance in one of my favorite films, Gone with the Wind (1939). A historical epic and romance-drama adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel. Set in the 19th century American South. Costars: Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, and Hattie McDaniel.
The film received 10 Academy Awards (8 competitive, 2 honorary), a record that stood for 20 years. "Gone With the Wind" has sold more tickets in the U.S. than any other film in history, and is considered one of the greatest and most popular films of all time. Carole Lombard may have been the first to suggest that he play Rhett Butler and she play Scarlett.
Carole Lombard was quoted as comforting Gable after his loss, with the comment "don't worry, Pappy. We'll bring one home next year". Gable replied that he felt this had been his last chance to which Lombard was said to have replied, "Not you, you self-centered blankly blank. I meant me.
Gable's marriage in 1939 to his third wife, actress Carole Lombard, was the happiest time in his life. Lombard enjoyed hunting and fishing with Gable and his friends. Unfortunately, On January 16, 1942, Lombard was a passenger on Trans-World Airlines Flight 3. She had just finished her 57th movie, To Be or Not to Be, and was on her way home when the flight's DC-3 airliner crashed into a mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada, killing all aboard.
A month later, he returned to the studio to work with Lana Turner in the movie, Somewhere I'll Find You. Gable was devastated by the tragic death of his wife and he began to drink heavily. However, he carried out his performances without a hitch. He acted in twenty-seven more movies, and he re-married twice.
Gable is also well known for his wonderful performance in, The Hucksters (1947) and soon followed by, Never Let Me Go (1953), opposite Gene Tierney. A story about Philip Sutherland, who is an American news writer stationed in Moscow since the war. While there he falls for a Russian ballet dancer, Marya Lamarkins. They marry, only to find that the Soviet nation has become a police state. Sutherland is forced to leave without Marya, but he's determined to get her back. Tierney was a favorite of Gable and he was very disappointed when she was replaced in, Mogambo(1953) by Grace Kelly. Mogambo, was directed by John Ford and was a remake of his earlier film, Red Dust.
Gable refused to renew his contract with MGM, and began to work independently. His first two films were, Soldier of Fortune and The Tall Men.
In 1955, Gable formed a production company with Jane Russell and her husband Bob Waterfield, and they produced , The King and Four Queens. His next project was, Band of Angels, with Sidney Poitier and Yvonne De Carlo. Next he paired with Doris Day in, Teacher's Pet. The film was good enough to bring Gable more film offers, including, Run Silent, Run Deep. At 57, Gable said, "Now it's time I acted my age". His next two films were light comedies, But Not for Me with Carroll Baker and It Started in Naples with Sophia Loren .
Gable's last film was, The Misfits, written by Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and co-starring Marilyn Monroe, Eli Wallach, and Montgomery Clift. The Misfits takes place in Reno, about a chance meeting and friendship of a divorcee, Roslyn Tabor, and Gay Langland, an aging ex-cowboy who likes to gamble and makes a living by rounding up mustangs. This was also the final film completed by Monroe. Many critics believe this film to be Gable's best performance.
I actually have a brand new obsession. I predict that I am going to become uncontrollably obsessed with It Happened One Night after I watched it this evening. At the weekend we ordered three brand new Frank Capra films, It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936)and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939). As you can imagine, I was all jumping up and down when they arrived, but I had to wait until today as I am now completely almost homework-less. I decided to start off with It Happened One Night. I adore Clark Gable and I think my little sister looks like Claudette Colbert. What could possibly go wrong? NOTHING, I TELL YOU!!!!! NOTHING!!!!!
Rich daughter of wall street journalist Alexander Andrews, Ellie, has married fortune hunter, "King" Westly against her father's wishes. Before the marriage can be properly made official, Ellie is stolen away by her father and put on his boat with her. He threatens to annul the "Non-Existent" marriage, but Ellie has other ideas, and jumps off the boat and swims away from sight. Planning to run away on a night bus, hoping no one will recognize her and notify the police (who are now scouring America for her), Ellie bumps into wisecracking tough-edged newspaperman Peter Warne.
After an initially frosty start, they get to know each other and Peter ends up blackmailing her into letting him write a story about her stay away from home.
Blanket drawn...
At first she isn't crazy about the idea, but when her journey gets tough, Peter helps her along the way and she starts to fall for him (Sorry to interrupt the plot summary, but how could you not?) in secret.
Stranded and starving (and sleeping on hay) Peter gets some raw carrots for them to eat, but she refuses to eat them unless they are cooked.
She's like, "Really?"
Peter decides that there is no choice but to hitchhike. He tells her that there are three basic types of hitchhiking.
One: The independent *Short, quick, thumb up, backwards gesture*, The Smile (or something, I can't remember :-S) *Cheesy grin, backwards gesture with thumb up, shaking hand while moving it*, The Desperate one *Long sweeping gesture with hand, thumbs up, melancholy face*. None of them work. Suddenly, a long line of speeding cars drive past and he has to do them all in quick succession with no success. Exhausted, Peter dares Ellie to do any better. She goes up to the road and simply raises her skirt just above the knee.
A car immediately pulls up. After a series of unfortunate events, they settle in a hotel for the night. Ellie tells Peter that she loves him, but he seems to have no reaction, and because they insist on having a blanket drawn to separate the two halves of the room, Ellie doesn't see Peter leave the room.
Blanket still drawn.
She gives herself up to the police and is escorted home. It turns out, however, that Peter was going to collect some money from his newspaper firm so he can propose to Ellie. She gets engaged to her old beaux again, but just before the wedding, she tells her Father that she is still in love with Peter Warne, the man she met while she was on the road. Funnily enough, Peter has asked Ellie's father if he can repay him for the costs of looking after Ellie. While Peter is with him, Alexander asks Peter if he still loves Ellie. Peter says yes, and the next day, as Ellie is walking down the aisle, her father tells her that she is making a great mistake and that Peter still loves her. She runs away and she and Peter are together at last.
Yay!!! *Happy dance* :-)
Review
Frank Capra, Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable
This has to be one of the best romantic comedies ever made. Not only is Frank Capra a spectacular director, but Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable is one of the best screen pairings ever! The plot reminds me a little of Roman Holiday if Audrey Hepburn knew that the man was actually a newspaperman. I have to start using Clark Gable's OMG phrase, "Holy jumpin' catfish!". When Clark and Claudette are on the hay in that forest...
HOLY JUMPIN' CATFISH!!! AWESOMENESS COUPLE-ONIFIED *HYPERVENTILATES*!!!! I CAN'T EVEN...
This film is just amazing, and I will never look at a raw carrot in the same way again. Nor will I ever get over Clark Gable in this film... Watching all these amazing people in films (as well as my own awesome family who watch them with me) are setting my standards of people communication ridiculously high. It can't be good for me.
If you'll excuse me, I intend to read Bette Davis' autobiography until the small hours of the morning go to sleep.
