Relax, pumpkins... This isn't going to be one of my long-winded tributes to the long and legendary career of a Hollywood icon. It's mostly a photo essay celebrating the comparatively unheralded younger years (primarily pre-stache!) of "The King," movie superstar Clark Gable.
If you only know Gable from
Gone with the Wind (1939), in which he was half of one of the cinema's all-time most famous romantic pairings opposite Vivien Leigh, you're only getting part of the story. Certainly, he was magnetic in the part (and the public would hear of no one else in the role, practically demanding en masse that he take it!), but by that time he was already an established, Oscar-winning leading man. (His statuette came for
It Happened One Night, 1934.)
Today, we're going to take a peek at him in his earlier years, when his unique features (which drove young exec Darryl F. Zanuck to describe him as "an ape" with "floppy, taxi cab ears!" and pass him over for work at Warner Brothers) had not yet settled into the familiar lined granite with that signature, pencil-thin mustache above his lip.
Some of his earliest studio portraits reveal a lack of confidence in his posture, an almost round-shouldered, stooped aspect that, fortunately, he would soon overcome.
His home studio of MGM began to fabricate a rugged, outdoorsy image of riding, hunting and fishing which, incredibly enough, eventually came true when he realized he actually enjoyed each of those things.
Never one known for his imposing physique, he nonetheless caused a nationwide sensation during
It Happened One Night when he removed his shirt and revealed no undershirt beneath. Male audience members figured that if Clark Gable could do without a t-shirt, then so could they and allegedly sales dipped remarkably for a time.
He did play some shirtless scenes in the classic
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), seen here with Movita...
...and here with costar Franchot Tone.
He also played a boxer in
Cain and Mabel (1936) opposite Marion Davies, in which he was probably at or near his most fit.
This later portrait (during 1935's San Francisco?) shows quite a flash of thigh/glute!
On his way to the top of the MGM heap, Gable was paired with most of the roster of leading ladies. Surely the most unusual was in 1931's
Susan Lenox, with Greta Garbo. She had chosen him herself for the honor, but the two unlikely costars didn't hit it off at all.
He costarred three times with Norma Shearer (seen here in 1932's
Strange Interlude.) I'm not a huge fan of Shearer's but I do like her beguiling expression in this portrait.
A frequent costar (and lover) of his was Joan Crawford. They worked opposite each other no less than eight times including 1931's
Laughing Sinners depicted here.
And here they are in
Dancing Lady (1933), though some of their other teamings are more famous such as
Possessed (1931) and
Strange Cargo (1940.)
Probably my favorite Clark Gable film is 1932's
Red Dust, which placed him with both Mary Astor and Jean Harlow (the first of five costarring roles for them.) In it, he is strong, capable and, for my money, at his all-time most handsome.
The combination of the closely-trimmed hair (unusual for him at any time), which was often mussed into the way some men wear theirs now, and five o'clock shadow combined to give him a devastating handsomeness.
Even his "floppy taxi cab ears" can be forgiven when they are separated by eyes such as these!
I love the sweaty, dewy, steamy setting and his safari clothing.
This being Poseidon's Underworld, you know I have to include a shot of his bulge while assisting Mary Astor through the jungle. His third wife Carole Lombard once flippantly remarked, "If Clark had one inch less, he'd be 'The Queen' of Hollywood instead of 'The King!'" Indeed his package seems to contain more berries than twig, so to speak.
Twenty-one years later, Gable remade
Red Dust as
Mogambo, this time with Grace Kelly and a sultry Ava Gardner (who gleaned her sole Oscar nomination for the movie, losing to Audrey Hepburn for
Roman Holiday.)
Gable preferred black and white films versus color ones because he felt that monochromatic film helped to disguise the effects of age, though this one and many of his late-career movies were in color. One could argue that a tan reads better in color than in black and white, though by 1960, the year of his death from a heart attack, nothing could truly disguise the many years of drinking and a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit. He's seen below on the set of
The Misfits (1961), released posthumously. He was but fifty-nine years old...
Regarding the aforementioned Lombard, she was unquestionably the love of Gable's life and he gave up most of the money he had in the world (in a prickly divorce settlement) in order to be free to marry her in 1939. Not that there wasn't more dough to come since he was still a major box office attraction.
Their idyllic happiness was short-lived, however, when she - a tireless war bond promoter - was killed in a plane crash on the way home from a bond drive in January 1942 at only age thirty-three. (She was, in fact, awarded a posthumous Medal of Freedom by FDR and was considered the first U.S. female killed in the line of duty during WWII due to her extensive efforts.) Though he would marry twice more after her passing, most agreed that the light went out of his life the day she died.
And now some more early publicity shots of Mr. G., many of which point up his handsomeness and studio-influenced style.
These next four are my own personal favorites!
We hope you liked this glimpse of Mr. Gable and heartily encourage you to watch
Red Dust the next time it pops up on TCM!
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You will note in the comments section of this post that a few of my readers pointed out a similarity between Mr. Gable and one George Clooney. Looking into this further, I did a little doctoring of a George Clooney photo and realized that there is indeed a surprising similarity! With a little bit of makeup, I think Mr. C. could do a credible recreation of Mr. G. Look below and see what you think!
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