Clark Gable

by David Bret

  On 20 March 1961, Kay was delivered of a blond-haired, blue-eyed baby boy by Caesarian section. He was baptised John Clark and because he did not resemble Clark - lacking the large ears and melon-smile inherited by Judy, and taking into consideration that his mother was no saint - there have always been rumours that he was not Gable’s child at all. Having learned how Marilyn Monroe was still feeling guilty over Clark’s death - no real surprise since Kay had been the first to accuse her of killing him - Kay decided to make amends. Marilyn had recently been discharged from the Payne Whitney Clinic, having been sectioned by a psychiatrist. Kay went to see her, apologised and Marilyn was guest of honour at John Clark’s christening.

  After attending Los Angeles’ Buckley School, John Clark finished his education in Switzerland, then returned to the United States to open a car-repair business. He would briefly submit to the acting bug: in 1990, married with two small children, he starred alongside James Brolin and Rory Calhoun in a Western, Bad Jim. The promoters considered it so bad it was denied a cinema release and went straight to video - confirming the fact that there would only ever be one Gable. Indeed, along with many other Hollywood progeny (one instinctively thinks of the daughters of Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford whose tell-all books failed majestically to sully their legend) John Clark Gable’s one moment of fame may well have been when he offered what could be considered the supreme insult to his father. He sold his Oscar for It Happened One Night for $600,000 to Steven Spielberg. However, to be fair, he then made amends, and deserves credit for, part-funding the Clark Gable Foundation in Cadiz, Ohio, turning the house in Charleston where he was born into a museum and shrine to his memory.

  Kay Gable was romantically linked with numerous men after Clark’s death, but refrained from remarrying, claiming no man could ever replace Gable. This might well have been true, but the likeliest reason for her remaining single may perhaps have had more to do with her wishing to hang on to her wealth - though she was extremely generous towards the charities she supported. Whether their marriage would have survived, had Clark lived longer, is also open to question given their track records. In 1973, Kay sold the Encino ranch for $1 million: its 20 acres would subsequently be redeveloped into a luxury-housing complex named the Clark Gable Estates in his memory. Kay died in May 1983, aged 66, leaving her fortune to her son. She was entombed in the crypt next to Clark, enabling him to lie between his two favourite wives, something that would doubtless have amused him.

  The New York Times observed in its obituary, ‘Clark Gable was as certain as the sunrise. He was consistently and stubbornly all man.’ That he was, and will forever remain definitive and inimitable goes without saying - proof of this lay in the positively putrid biopic, Gable And Lombard (1976), with James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh, voted one of the worst films of all time by the Golden Turkey Awards.

  Seven years after Gable’s passing, Joan Crawford, the greatest love of his life after Carole Lombard, would be bleeped when speaking to David Frost on his television show. When asked by Frost what Clark’s special attraction had been, Joan looked him in the eye and replied, ‘Balls - he had them!’

  FILMOGRAPHY

  Clark Gable appeared as an extra in several silent and early sound productions. In some of these he was left out of the final print: even when he does appear, such as in crowd scenes, he is difficult to spot. Among these early ventures were White Man, Forbidden Paradise, The Merry Widow, Ben Hur, Déclassée, The Pacemakers (serial), released 1925-6. Released 1926-8 were The Johnstown Flood, North Star, The Plastic Age and Fighting Blood (serial). His feature films are listed below.

  THE PAINTED DESERT RKO/PATHE, 1931 Director: Howard Higgin. Screenplay: Howard Higgin/Tom Buckingham. With William Boyd, Helen Twelvetrees, J. Farrell MacDonald, William Farnum, Charles Sellon.

  Clark Gable was fifth billing. 77 minutes.

  THE EASIEST WAY MGM, 1931 Director: Jack Conway. Screenplay: Edith Ellis, based on the stage play by Eugene Walter. With Constance Bennett, Robert Montgomery, Adolphe Menjou, Marjorie Rambeau, Anita Page, Clara Bandick.

  Clark Gable was fifth billing. 86 minutes.

  DANCE, FOOLS, DANCE MGM, 1931 Director: Harry Beaumont. Screenplay: Richard Schayer/Aurania Rouverol. With Joan Crawford, Lester Vail, William Bakewell, William Holden,* Cliff Edwards, Hale Hamilton.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 80 minutes.

  *not the William Holden

  THE SECRET SIX MGM, 1931 Director: George Hill. Screenplay: Francis Marion Crawford. With Wallace Beery, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Lewis Stone, Marjorie Rambeau, Ralph Bellamy, Paul Hurst and John Miljan. Clark Gable was third billing. 83 minutes.

  THE FINGER POINTS FIRST NATIONAL, 1931 Director: John Francis Dillon. Screenplay: Robert Lord, based on a story by J. Monk Saunders and W.R. Burnett. With Richard Barthelmess, Fay Wray, Robert Elliott and Regis Toomey.

  Clark Gable was third billing. 86 minutes.

  LAUGHING SINNERS MGM, 1931 Director: Harry Beaumont. Screenplay: Bess Meredyth, based on the stage play Torch Song by Kenyon Nicholson. Photography: Charles Rosher. With Joan Crawford, Neil Hamilton, Marjorie Rambeau, Guy Kibbee, Roscoe Karnes and George F. Marion.

  Clark Gable, replacing Johnny Mack Brown, was second billing. 70 minutes.

  A FREE SOUL MGM, 1931 Director: Clarence Brown. Srceenplay: John Meehan, based on the screenplay by Adela Rogers St Johns. With Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, Lucy Beaumont and James Gleason.

  Clark Gable was fourth billing. 91 minutes.

  NIGHT NURSE WARNER BROTHERS, 1931 Director: William Wellman. Screenplay: Oliver Garrett/Charles Kenyon, based on the novel by Dora Macy. With Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell, Charles Winninger, Ben Lyon and Vera Lewis.

  Clark Gable was fifth billing. 70 minutes.

  SPORTING BLOOD MGM, 1931 Director: Charles Brabin. Screenplay: Willard Mack/Wanda Tuchock, based on the novel Horseflesh by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Madge Evans, Ernest Torrence, Marie Prevost, Lew Cody, J. Farrell MacDonald and Harry Holman.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 80 minutes.

  SUSAN LENOX - HER FALL AND RISE MGM, 1931 Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Screenplay: Wanda Tuchock/Zelda Spears/Edith Fitzgerald, based on the novel by David Graham Philipps. Photography: William Daniels. With Greta Garbo, Jean Hersholt, John Miljan, Alan Hale, Russell Simpson, Hilda Vaughan and Cecil Cunningham.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 83 minutes.

  POSSESSED MGM, 1931 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Lenore Coffee, based on the stage play The Mirage by Edgar Selwyn. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh. With Joan Crawford, Wallace Ford, Skeets Gallagher, John Miljan, Frank Conroy, Clara Blandick and Marjorie White.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 75 minutes.

  HELL DIVERS MGM, 1931 Director: George Hill. Screenplay: Harvey Gates/Malcolm Stuart Boylan, based on a story by Lt Commander Frank Wead. With Wallace Beery, Conrad Nagel, Marie Prevost, Cliff Edwards, Marjorie Rambeau, Dorothy Jordan and John Miljan.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 98 minutes.

  POLLY OF THE CIRCUS MGM, 1932 Director: Alfred Santell. Screenplay: Carey Wilson/Laurence Johnson, based on the stage play by Margaret Mayo. Photography: George Barnes. With Marion Davies, C. Aubrey Smith, David Landau, Ruth Selwyn, Raymond Hatton and Ray Milland.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 71 minutes.

  RED DUST MGM, 1932 Director: Victor Fleming. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin, based on the stage play by Wilson Collison. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Jean Harlow, Mary Astor, Gene Raymond, Donald Crisp and Tully Marshall.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 83 minutes.

  STRANGE INTERLUDE MGM, 1932 Director: Robert Z Leonard. Screenplay: Bess Meredyth/C. Gardner Sullivan, based on the stage play by Eugene O’Neill. Photography: Lee Garmes. With Norma Shearer, Ralph Morgan, Robert Young, Alexander Kirkland, Maureen O’Sullivan and May Robson.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 108 minutes.

  NO MAN OF HER OWN PARAMOUNT, 193
2 Director: Wesley Ruggles. Screenplay: Maurine Watkins/Milton H. Gropper, based on a story by Edmund Goulding and Benjamin Glazer. With Carole Lombard, Dorothy Mackaill, Grant Mitchell, George Barbier, Elizabeth Patterson, Tommy Conlon and J. Farrell MacDonald.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 84 minutes.

  THE WHITE SISTER MGM, 1933 Director: Victor Fleming. Screenplay: Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the novel by Francis Marion Crawford and the stage play by Walter Hackett. Photography: William Daniels. With Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Louise Closser Hale, Edward Arnold and May Robson.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 107 minutes.

  HOLD YOUR MAN MGM, 1933 Director: Sam Wood. Screenplay: Anita Loos/Howard Emmett Rogers, from Loos’ story. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Jean Harlow, Stuart Erwin, Muriel Kirkland, Dorothy Burgess, Garry Owen and Elizabeth Patterson.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 88 minutes.

  NIGHT FLIGHT MGM, 1933 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Oliver Garrett, based on the novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh/Charles Marshall/Elmar Dyer. With John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy and William Gargan.

  Clark Gable was third billing. 82 minutes.

  DANCING LADY MGM, 1933 Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Screenplay: Allan Rivkin/Zelda Spears/P.J. Wolfson, based on a story by James Warner Bellah. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh. Costumes: Adrian. With Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Fred Astaire, May Robson, Ted Healy & His Three Stooges and Nelson Eddy.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 93 minutes.

  IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT COLUMBIA, 1934 Director: Frank Capra. Screenplay: Robert Riskin, based on the story, Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams. Photography: Joe Walker. With Claudette Colbert, Roscoe Karns, Walter Connolly, Alan Hale, Jameson Thomas and Ward Bond.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 105 minutes.

  MEN IN WHITE MGM, 1934 Director: Richard Boleslawski. Screenplay: Waldemar Young, based on the stage play by Sidney Kingsley. Photography: George Folsey. With Myrna Loy, Elizabeth Allan, Jean Hersholt, C. Henry Gordon, Wallace Ford, Russell Hardie and Otto Kruger.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 78 minutes.

  MANHATTAN MELODRAMA MGM, 1934 Director: W.S. Van Dyke. Screenplay: Oliver Garrett/Joe Mankiewicz, based on a story by Arthur Caesar. Photography: James Wong Howe. With William Powell, Myrna Loy, Mickey Rooney, Leo Carrillo, Nat Pendleton, George Sidney, Isabel Jewell and Muriel Evans.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 93 minutes.

  CHAINED MGM, 1934 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin, based on a story by Edgar Selwyn. Photography: George Folsey. With Joan Crawford, Stuart Erwin, Otto Kruger, Una O’Connor and Akim Tamiroff.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 73 minutes.

  FORSAKING ALL OTHERS MGM, 1934 Director: W.S. Van Dyke. Screenplay: Joe Manckiewicz, based on the stage play by E.B. Roberts and F.M. Cavett. Photography: George Folsey/Gregg Toland. Costumes: Adrian. With Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Charles Butterworth, Rosalind Russell and Billie Burke.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 81 minutes.

  AFTER OFFICE HOURS MGM, 1935 Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Screenplay: Herman Mankiewicz, based on a story by Laurence Stallings/Dale Van Every. Photography: Charles Rosher. With Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, Stuart Erwin, Harvey Stephens, Katherine Alexander and Hale Hamilton. Clark Gable was second billing. 75 minutes.

  CALL OF THE WILD TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX, 1935 Director: William Wellman. Screenplay: Gene Fowler/Leonard Praskins, based on the novel by Jack London. Photography: Charles Rosher. With Loretta Young, Jack Oakie, Frank Conroy, Reginald Owen, Katherine DeMille, Sidney Toler, Herman Bing and James Burke.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 93 minutes.

  CHINA SEAS MGM, 1935 Director: Tay Garnett. Screenplay: Jules Furthman/James McGuiness, based on the novel by Crosbie Garstin. Photography: Ray June. With Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Rosalind Russell, Lewis Stone, C. Aubrey Smith, Donald Meek, Hattie McDaniel and Dudley Digges.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 89 minutes.

  MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY MGM, 1935 Director: Frank Lloyd. Screenplay: Talbot Jennings/Jules Furthman/Carey Wilson, based on the trilogy (Mutiny On The Bounty, Men Against The Sea, Pitcairn Island) by Charles Nordhorff and James Norman Hall. Photography: Arthur Edeson. With Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Eddie Quillan, Herbert Mundin, Donald Crisp and Movita Castenada.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 130 minutes.

  WIFE vs SECRETARY MGM, 1936 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Norman Krasna/Alice Duer Miller/John Lee Mahin, based on the novel by Faith Baldwin. Photography: Ray June. With Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, May Robson, Hobart Cavanagh, Gloria Holden, Gilbert Emery and Margaret Irving.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 86 minutes.

  SAN FRANCISCO MGM, 1936 Director: W.S. Van Dyke. Screenplay: Anita Loos, based on the story by Robert Hopkins. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh. With Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Ted Healy, Shirley Ross, Margaret Irving, William Ricciardi and Harold Huber.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 113 minutes.

  CAIN AND MABEL WARNER BROTHERS, 1936 Director: Lloyd Bacon. Screenplay: Laird Doyle, based on a story by H.C. Witwer. Photography: George Barnes. With Marion Davies, Allen Jenkins, Roscoe Karns, Walter Catlett, E.E. Clive and Ruth Donnelly.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 89 minutes.

  LOVE ON THE RUN MGM, 1936 Director: W.S. Van Dyke. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin/Manuel Seff/Gladys Hurlbut, based on the story by Alan Green/Julian Brodie. Photography: Oliver T. Marsh. Costumes: Adrian. With Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Reginald Owen, Mona Barrie, Ivan Lebedeff and William Desmarest.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 8 minutes.

  PARNELL MGM, 1937 Director: John M Stahl. Screenplay: John Van Druten/S.N. Behrman, based on the stage play by Elsie Schauffer. Photography: Karl Freund. With Myrna Loy, Edna May Oliver, Edmund Gwenn, Donald Meek, Alan Marshall, Billie Burke, Montagu Love and George Zucco.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 96 minutes.

  SARATOGA MGM, 1937 Director: Jack Conway. Screenplay: Anita Loos/Robert Hopkins. Photography: Ray June. With Jean Harlow (doubled by Mary Dees), Lionel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Walter Pidgeon, Hattie McDaniel, Una Merkel, Cliff Edwards, Jonathan Hale and George Zucco.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 100 minutes.

  TEST PILOT MGM, 1938 Director: Victor Fleming. Screenplay: Vincent Lawrence/Waldemar Young, based on a story by Lt-Commander Frank Wead. Photographer: Ray June. With Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, Marjorie Main, Samuel S. Hinds, Virginia Grey and Gloria Holden.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 117 minutes.

  TOO HOT TO HANDLE MGM, 1938 Director: Jack Conway. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin/Laurence Stallings, based on a story by Len Hammond. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Myrna Loy, Walter Pidgeon, Walter Connelly, Leo Carrillo, Virginia Weidler, Johnny Hines, Marjorie Main and Willie Fung. Clark Gable was top billing. 105 minutes.

  IDIOT’S DELIGHT MGM, 1939 Director: Clarence Brown. Screenplay: Robert E. Sherwood, based on his stage play. Photography: William Daniels. With Norma Shearer, Edward Arnold, Charles Coburn, Burgess Meredith, Joseph Schildkraut, Laura Hope Crews, Skeets Gallagher, Fritz Feld and Virginia Grey.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 102 minutes.

  GONE WITH THE WIND MGM, 1939 Directors: Victor Fleming/George Cukor/Sam Wood. Screenplay: Sidney Howard, based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell. Photography: Ernest Haller/Lee Garmes. Music: Max Steiner. With Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Thomas Mitchell, Butterfly McQueen, Ann Rutherford, Evelyn Keyes, Ona Munson, Victor Jory, Laura Hope Crews, Barbara O’Neill, Harry Davenport, Isabelle Jewell, Ward Bond, Cammie King and many more.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 223 minutes.

  STRANGE CARGO MGM, 1940 Director: Frank Borzage. Screenplay: Lawrence Hazard, based on the novel Not Too Narrow, Not Too Deep by Richard Sale. Photography: Robert Planck. Music: Franz Waxman. With
Joan Crawford, Ian Hunter, Peter Lorre, Paul Lukas, Albert Dekker, Eduardo Ciannelli and John Arledge.

  Clark Gable was second billing. 110 minutes.

  BOOM TOWN MGM, 1940 Director: Jack Conway. Screenplay: John Lee Mahin, based on a story by James Edward Grant. Photography: Hal Rosson. With Claudette Colbert, Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, Lionel Atwill, Frank Morgan, Chill Wills, Marion Martin, Richard Lane, Minna Martin and Curt Bois.

  Clark Gable was top billing. 114 minutes.