Known as the King of Hollywood, he was an actor of limited skill but almost limitless popularity. Despite his prominent ears and a thin mustache, Clark Gable was adored by women. And males liked him because he was not a softy who would let women push him around. But MGM loved him the most, because he brought more money to the famed studio than any other actor in their vast stable of stars. He had the astonishing record of having made 39 films in the 1930s with only one box-office dud (Parnell, 1937).
His reputation as an actor started to grow in the latter 1920s, but he was by no means a big Broadway star. Thanks to his friendship with another theater actor, Lionel Barrymore, he was given a screen test at MGM. For no apparent reason, Clark Gable was dressed like a South Seas native, complete with a flower behind his ear for the test. MGM didn't want him. Neither did WARNER BROS., which gave him their own screen test when they considered him for the role of Rico in Little Caesar (1930). But with the sound film revolution, Hollywood was hungry for Broadway actors with good voices. Clark Gable just barely grabbed hold of the brass ring, winning the role of the villain in a minor western, The Painted Desert (1931). IRVING THALBERG at MGM had a change of heart. Perhaps seeing Clark Gable in western garb helped, but whatever the reason, Hollywood's premier studio signed Clark Gable to a two-year contract for $350 per week. They got their money's worth.
After supporting roles just four films, Clark Gable was the talk of the industry—and not just for his acting. His highly publicized romance with JOAN CRAWFORD (who was already a major star) galvanized fan interest in Clark Gable. The lovers were paired in a number of films such as Dance Fools Dance (1931), Laughing Sinners (1931), and Possessed (1931). MGM rushed him from one film to the next to take advantage of his sudden popularity. It was in A Free Soul (1931) that his roughhewn masculinity came to the fore as he pushed his leading lady, NORMA SHEARER, around on the screen (much like JAMES CAGNEY had done to Mae Clarke in Public Enemy earlier that same year). Though he hardly seemed the type, Clark Gable was called the second Valentino in the early 1930s. His sexy image was enhanced by his risqué movies with JEAN HARLOW, Red Dust (1932) and Hold Your Man (1933).
Meanwhile, Clark Gable was becoming annoyed with the way MGM was casting him. He felt he was being run into the ground by repeatedly playing the same kind of role. He refused to act in his next movie for MGM, and the studio retaliated (they thought) by loaning him out to Columbia Pictures, a small, poverty row studio, for FRANK CAPRA's film It Happened One Night (1934). The movie was the biggest hit of the year, winning Clark Gable a Best Actor Oscar. The impact of his performance can best be gauged by the fact that T-shirt sales plummetted when he took off his shirt in the film revealing a bare torso. Clark Gable was bigger than ever, and even without his mustache in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), he had women swooning in the aisles. Among his many projects, several excellent movies followed, including Too Hot to Handle (1938) and Idiot's Delight (1939).
Clark Gable was not DAVID O. SELZNICK's first choice to play Rhett Butler in the film version of Margaret Mitchell's bestseller GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), but Clark Gable was the public's first choice. Wisely, Selznick listened to the fan magazine polls and changed his mind. Ironically, Clark Gable didn't want the part. MGM owned his contract and insisted that he play Rhett. Clark Gable would never regret his forced hand. According to author David Shipman, in The Great Movie Stars, "Clark Gable once said to David O. Selznick: 'The only thing that kept me a big star has been revivals of Gone With the Wind. Every time that picture is re-released a whole new crop of young movie-goers gets interested in me.'"
Also in 1939, Clark Gable married the popular and talented movie star CAROLE LOMBARD. It was his third marriage, and this one seemed like a perfect match—even his fans approved. Her tragic death in a plane crash in 1942 was a terrible blow to Clark Gable, and it came just as he left Hollywood to go to war. After he returned in 1945 he had two hit films, Adventure (1945) and The Hucksters (1947), but after 1947 he was no longer the sure box-office bet he had been during the 1930s. A number of duds led MGM to drop Clark Gable after his contract ran out in 1953. But Clark Gable's Mogambo (1953), which was a lesser remake of his 1932 hit Red Dust, was a surprise moneymaker. MGM decided they wanted Clark Gable back after all. The actor, however, would have none of it. Bitter over the treatment he had received at the hands of the studio, he decided to freelance.
Clark Gable's films in the mid- to late 1950s, such as The Tall Men (1955) and Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), were well received by critics and fans. Though the star was aging, he still had the magic in his voice, his eyes, and in that wonderful smirk. His last film, The Misfits (1961), was also MARILYN MONROE's last. Clark Gable had been paid $750,000 with a guarantee of $58,000 per week in overtime. It was by far his highest salary for a film (excluding percentage arrangements), and he was the perfect lover/father figure for Monroe. But Clark Gable insisted on doing his own stunts for the film, and the strain apparently brought on a heart attack that killed him just a few weeks after shooting was completed.
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1. Don Ameche was one of the leading men of 20th Century Fox
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