I am not career minded at all any more

When in early November 1941 Carole Lombard started filming To Be Or Not To Be (1942), it had been a year since she made her last film (i.e. Alfred Hitchcock's Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)). Lombard was quite happy focusing on her home and marriage to Clark Gable and was selective in choosing her projects. In a letter to her friends, socialites and polo stars Babs and Eric Tyrell-Martin, dated 29 November 1941, Lombard writes how she is "not career minded at all any more", being mostly concerned with pleasing her husband. The letter was written just six weeks before Lombard would meet her untimely death in a plane crash on 16 January 1942, returning home after a war bond rally. To Be Or Not To Be was released after Lombard's death, the film reportedly the happiest experience of her career.    

Beautiful Carole Lombard, below pictured with husband Clark Gable. There had been rumours that the couple was experiencing marital problems in 1941 and had separated and then reconciled. Lombard was also trying to get pregnant but had problems conceiving.

Source: RR Auction

Ranch life with husband Clark Gable (above) and on the set of To Be or Not To Be with co-star Robert Stack and Ernst Lubitsch, the latter Lombard's favourite comedy director whom she had long wanted to work with (below).

Grace Kelly's letter from the set of "Mogambo"

In November 1952, location shooting started on John Ford's Mogambo (1953). Cast and crew members flew to Africa, where in the ensuing months scenes were filmed in Tanganyika, Uganda, Belgian Congo and Kenya. The shoot was not without problems, though. With the Mau Mau Uprising taking place in Kenya, MGM had hired armed guards to protect the cast and crew in case of an attack. For extra security everyone was given a weapon, so they could also defend themselves. Apart from the tense situation with the Mau Mau, production was plagued by rain and mud and bad quality roads. As a result, three of the crew members were killed in road accidents, among them assistant director John Hancock.

There were also things happening on a more personal level. Leading lady Ava Gardner had learned that she was pregnant —at the time her marriage to Frank Sinatra was on shaky ground— and took a break from filming to return to London, reportedly to receive medical treatment for a tropical illness but in reality she had an abortion. The film's male lead Clark Gable got sick some time later, having developed a gum infection and briefly left Africa to see his own dentist in Los Angeles. And there was also a romance going on behind the scenes between Grace Kelly (Mogambo's second female lead) and Gable, which ended shortly after production had moved from Africa to the MGM studios in London. 

So it was a turbulent production, yet ultimately with positive results. Mogambo became a huge commercial hit and received generally good reviews. Both Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly were nominated for Oscars (resp. for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress), and Grace also won a Golden Globe.

Above: Grace Kelly knitting on the set of Mogambo while co-star Clark Gable looks on. After the shooting had moved from Africa to London, Grace's mother flew to London and started chaperoning the couple; the affair ended not long thereafter. Below: Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner on the set in Africa; the women became good friends and remained friends until Grace's untimely death in 1982.

Grace Kelly and her friend Prudy Wise

While in Africa on location, Grace Kelly wrote several letters to Prudence Wise, her close friend and personal secretary. Here is one of those letters, written just before Christmas in December 1952. 

Source: icollector.com

Transcript:

Dear Prudy, 

Ava just arrived in camp and with her came your letter- I’m sorry I haven’t written very much - but mother told me she was sending you that letter so I didn’t want to send more of the same news- The other letter I wrote - I sent to Florida - I hope your mother will forward it - Oh God! I just this very minute thought - How dumb can I be? I sent the other letter to Mallory St. - Anyway all I said in it was to tell John when you want to come back to the apt. after Christmas - 

This is the first day off we’ve had in a long time. It’s about 4 o'clock and Gable and I are sitting in front of my tent sipping warm beer - It’s a disgrace how fat I’m getting - The food is so starchy and I am always so hungry - Haven’t heard from Phillippe - but then of course I haven’t written -

Excuse the horrible writing but am leaning on my knees and the wind is blowing - 

Ava just came into my tent and she + Clark are running a scene they are going shoot tomorrow - so it’s hard to concentrate. There really isn’t too much news we’ve been working hard- It’s hot as can be during the day - I miss New York so much this time of year - I imagine the stores are so beautiful - Please give my love to everybody and apologize to them all for my not writing - My baby giraffe - the one named after me - arrives in camp tomorrow she is so sweet - I’ll send pictures as soon as I get them - 

Clark + I went shooting the other day - shot game for the natives and a guinea hen - we ate for dinner - It was simply delicious - 

Later - 

It is now 7:30 am waiting for Gable to have his bath and pick me up for dinner - he got rather high cocktailing with old Ava next door - about 6 o'clock we all went out in the wagon with Bunny Allen - a divine looking guy - who is the white-hunter in charge of the camp - We went to see the lion down the road - a lioness + her two grown sons - they were just beautiful - we were able to get quite close to them - They put out game every few days for them to feed - in order to tame them a bit - I took pictures with the movie camera - so I hope they turn out - but it was rather dark - 

Got a letter from Sherman today as well as old John Foreman - Was in the sun a lot today and my poor nose is like a red light - 

Am sitting by a kerosene lamp as I write this being eaten by mosquitos. The hippos are starting their series of evening grunts + Gable should be along any minute so I will sign off - 

with love - 

Gracie

Above: Frank Sinatra had accompanied his wife Ava Gardner to the set of Mogambo in Africa, the two photographed here at Nairobi airport with Grace Kelly. Sinatra was in between acting jobs and during production flew back to Hollywood to do a screen test for the role of Maggio in From Here To Eternity (1953), eventually landing the role and winning the Oscar. Below: The Christmas holidays took place during the Mogambo shoot and thanks to Sinatra the cast and crew could still enjoy Christmas. In the photo Ava Gardner is seen with some of the Christmas decorations Sinatra had brought back from Nairobi. (Watch Grace Kelly in this lovely clip tell the story of how Sinatra had saved their Christmas.)

I must face the fact that you are married to Clark ...

Clark Gable was no fan of David Selznick -- to put it mildly. Ever since they had worked together on Night Flight (1933), Gable did not like nor trusted Selznick and hated the producer's relentless perfectionism. (Due to Selznick's constant changes, production of Night Flight had run weeks over schedule causing Gable to miss one of his beloved fishing trips.) Although Gable wasn't eager to work with Selznick again after Night Flight, they made three more films together, i.e. Dancing Lady (1933), Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and of course the epic Gone With the Wind (1939).

While Gable disliked Selznick, Selznick found Gable "a very nice fellow", but at the same time "a very suspicious one", a man who "very quickly and not infrequently [got] the notion in his head that people [were] taking advantage of him" (said Selznick in a 1939 memo). Selznick did his best to please Gable, especially during production of Gone With the Wind. For instance, when Gable complained about his ill-fitting costumes, Selznick commissioned Gable's favourite tailor Eddie Schmidt to provide Gable with a whole new wardrobe. Also, after George Cukor had been fired as director of GWTW, Gable's preferred director Victor Fleming (his longtime buddy) was hired to replace Cukor. But despite Selznick's actions to keep his star happy, Gable's hostility towards Selznick remained.

It was because of Gable that Selznick was reluctant to work again with Carole Lombard, Gable's wife from 1939 until her death in 1942. Lombard had a contract with Selznick for one more film following their collaboration on Nothing Sacred (1937) and Made for Each Other (1939). Seeing how Gable felt about him, however, Selznick wondered if another film with Gable's wife would be such a good idea. In a letter dated 22 January 1940, Selznick expressed his doubts to Lombard and, understanding the awkward position she was in, relieved her of the obligation to do another picture for him. While he mentioned a possible collaboration in the future, Selznick never worked with Lombard again. (Two years later Lombard was tragically killed in a plane crash.)

Above: Carole Lombard, Clark Gable and David Selznick-- also pictured below with Victor Fleming and Vivien Leigh.

January 22, 1940  

PERSONAL 

Dear Carole:   

I have received your messages through Myron [Selznick], and am anxious to get together on the [writer Norma] Krasna idea as soon as possible....  

Before we proceed, there is something I would like to discuss with you very frankly. Are you sure, Carole, that we should make another picture together? I know from countless sources how highly you think of me, both as a person and as a producer, and this is a source of great gratification to me. And I shall always look back on our past associations as among the most pleasant of my career. Certainly I have always held you up as the shining example of what a joy it can be to work with a star when that star appreciates a producer's problems and cooperates in their solution. But I must face the fact that you are married to Clark, and that Clark obviously feels quite differently about me.

I had hoped that my dealings with Clark on Gone With the Wind would once and for all disabuse him of any notions he had about me. I cannot think of any particular in which I could have gone further to make him happy in anything ranging from such details as his costumes to such important factors as the script and direction. I even cost myself a very substantial amount of money through keeping him idle, and paying his salary, in order to accommodate him on the schedule as he desired. All through the picture he was frank in expressing his suspicions that I intended to do him in, and I kept pleading with him to wait until the picture was finished and then tell me his opinion. I was under the impression that he was delighted with the final result, but he apparently disassociates me from this final result, if I am to judge from what has been reported back to me, and from items in the press. I regret all this more than I can say, because there has been nothing whatsoever on my side against Clark; and because, as I have repeatedly told him, he contributed in my opinion a really great performance to the effort that meant so much to me.

But if I couldn't and didn't satisfy Clark about myself, as person or producer, on Gone With the Wind, it is not likely that anything I could ever do with him or with his wife would change his opinion. On the contrary, it is much more likely that anything we did together would be regarded with suspicion by him; that you would forever have to be in the position of defending me and my moves to him; that if everything turned out all right, it would still not obviate any embarrassment you may be under through working with me, any more than Gone With the Wind did; and that, if, as can happen to everyone, things turned badly, he would have confirmation of his opinions and suspicions to point to.... Neither of us is used to such strained and peculiar situations as that on the night of the local opening of Gone With the Wind, when I like to believe we should have been in each other's arms. I certainly recognize the awkward position you are in, and cannot expect to come out on the right side when your loyalties are divided. And perhaps some day in the future, attitudes may change, as they do in this business, and it will again be possible for you to do a picture for me with the wholehearted pleasure that we once both knew in our endeavors.

The decision, however, is entirely yours. You would suffer much more from the repercussions in your personal life than would I; and I can stand it if you can. My principal thought in writing this letter is to tell you that freely, and with my blessings and steadfast affection, I will relieve you of your obligation to do a picture for me, provided only that I know in sufficient time to avoid making any commitments for it... And believe me, whichever way you decide, Carole Lombard can have no more earnest fan, personally or as an actress, than

Yours, affectionately and sincerely,

Source: Memo from David O. Selznick (1972); selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer.

Carole Lombard, director John Cromwell and David Selznick on the set of Made for Each Other (1939).

Do take care of yourself

The day after filming had ended on The Misfits (1961), Clark Gable suffered a massive heart attack. He died ten days later on 16 November 1960, 59 years old. It was speculated that his psychically demanding role in the excruciating Nevada heat had caused the heart attack, but Gable's then pregnant widow Kay said in an interview with gossip columnist Louella Parsons: "It wasn't the physical exertion that killed him. It was the horrible tension, the eternal waiting, waiting, waiting. He waited around forever, for everybody. He'd get so angry that he'd just go ahead and do anything to keep occupied" [via]. 

Although no names were mentioned, the interview implied that Kay Gable blamed Marilyn Monroe for her husband's death. Marilyn, who was one of Clark Gable's co-stars on The Misfits, was always late on the set, sometimes not appearing until three or four in the afternoon and sometimes not showing up at all. Naturally, Marilyn was terribly upset when she read the article. She had idolised Clark Gable since childhood, was devastated by his death and now it seemed as if Kay, whom she had befriended during production, held her in some way responsible for Gable's death. In ill health due to her drug and alcohol addiction and having just separated from husband Arthur Miller, Marilyn soon spiralled into a deep depression and was hospitalised in February 1961.

On 20 March 1961, Kay Gable gave birth to a son, John Clark. Several weeks later, on 11 April, Kay wrote to Marilyn inviting her (and Joe Di Maggio who had just re-entered Marilyn's life) to spend time with John Clark and her at the ranch. Another month later, Kay invited Marilyn to attend John Clark's christening, an invitation Marilyn gladly accepted. It clearly showed that Kay didn't harbour any hard feelings towards Marilyn, and rumours that she blamed Marilyn for her husband's death were finally put to rest. 

Via: live auctioneers

Transcript:

April 11, 1961

Dearest Marilyn,

How about our little 'carbon copy lover boy' - I am certain you have seen his press pictures. Just exactly like Clark. The ears are too close to his dear little head- I'll fix that dept. later.

Do let me know when you plan to return to California- I'll let you be second nanny in charge- later you may take him fishing. Guess I will be the one to teach him to shoot ducks. My work is really cut out for me. I feel certain his dearest father is watching his every move from heaven. 

I miss Clark each day, I'll never ever get over this great loss, but God has blessed me with my three dear children and precious memories Clark and I shared together. 

Went to confession after 24 years - (nope the priest did not call the cops) seriously you can't imagine how much this has helped me. Prayer helps, when I start to fly apart.

I plan to spend the summer at our ranch with John Clark. Joan and Bunker will be off to summer camp.

It would be so pleasant if you could spend some time with us, bring Joe too if you wish. Very private at our happy home.

I loved the beautiful plant you sent to the hospital.

Have seen pictures of you in the paper, was pleased to see you looking very well. Do take care of yourself.

I should talk. I broke three stitches, lost my voice. My Dr gave me hell for overdoing. Then to top it all, he keeps reminding of my age- John Clark doesn't seem to mind my age. 

Give my best to Mae.

I hope this letter finds your heart full of happiness.

Love,

Kay

The advertising of borrowed stars

Under the studio system, it was common practice for a studio to loan out a contract star to another studio. Since actors were owned by the studios, they really didn't have a choice in the matter (to refuse a role usually meant suspension without pay). It is said that loaning out their stars was a way for the studios to discipline them and keeping them in line. For instance, when Clark Gable objected to being typecast by MGM, the studio punished him by loaning him out to Columbia --at the time considered a lesser studio-- to do It Happened one Night (1934). (This 'punishment' eventually got Gable the Best Actor Oscar). But even more than that, these loan-outs were simply very profitable as the borrowing studio had to pay the loaning studio an extra fee on top of the star's salary.

In 1936, Warners Bros. made Cain and Mabel, starring Clark Gable and Marion Davies. Davies' lover, the influential publisher William Randolph Hearst, wanted Gable to play Davies' leading man and convinced Jack Warner, an old friend of his, to hire Gable from MGM. Although the deal with MGM was a one-picture deal, in advertisements of a few Australian trade papers it was made to look as though Gable was one of Warners' contract players. The letter for this post --addressed to Harry Warner, President of Warner Bros.-- refers to this matter, saying that "such unethical advertising should be avoided in future". The letter is unsigned but presumably written by Will Hays, head of the MPPDA. 

Trade magazine advertisement for "Cain and Mabel"

Source: mppda digital archive

Transcript:

January 2, 1937

Mr. Harry M. Warner

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

321 West 44th Street

New York, N.Y.

Dear Mr. Warner:

At a meeting of the directors of publicity and advertising of member companies, constituting our Advertising Advisory Council, at the Association offices on December 29th, it was unanimously agreed that the companies should refrain in their advertisements from giving misleading impressions regarding borrowed stars and talent.

An example was cited of advertisements in two trade papers in Australia. The advertisements of a company which had borrowed a star for a single picture were so worded that it was made to appear that the borrowed player was a regular player of the company which in fact had obtained his services for one picture only.

The meeting agreed that this type of advertising was unfair and unjust to the company which had the player under regular contract and which had merely lent the player to the other company. As a matter of policy, those present at the meeting felt that such unethical advertising should be avoided in future. While a company is perfectly justified in advertising borrowed talent, it should not attempt to convey the impression that the player is on its regular studio roster. I know that you will readily agree with the fairness of this proposal.

It was suggested at the meeting that I bring this problem to your attention with the request that you pass the matter along to foreign and sales department managers as well as to your advertising and publicity executives. 

With kindest personal regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

Harry Warner

Clark Gable's letter to his Dad

When Clark Gable was seventeen years old, he knew he wanted to be an actor. His father William, an oil driller and farmer, didn't approve of his career choice at all, feeling that acting was for "sissies". But Clark Gable was determined to pursue his dream, and after several jobs (selling neckties, working in stock companies and oil fields) he had his first big success in 1928 with the lead role in Machinal on Broadway. The role had been secured for him by his acting coach and first wife Josephine Dillon. (Their marriage was one of convenience with Dillon teaching Gable the tricks of the trade and grooming him for his film career.) In 1930, Gable was finally noticed in Hollywood (by MGM), and within a few years his Hollywood career took off. But even after he had become a big star, his father would maintain that acting was for "sissies".

Shortly after arriving in New York and just before getting the part in Machinal, Clark Gable wrote to his father from whom he had just received a letter and whom he had not seen in years. Gable was quite desperate to restore their relationship and clearly wanted his father to be proud of him. Written in the fall of 1928 on hotel stationery ("The Shelton New York"), this is a heartwarming letter that gives us a glimpse into the life of 27-year-old Clark Gable.

Images courtesy of profiles in history.

Transcript: 

Sunday Morn

Dear Dad:

Well at last I have heard from the Senior member of the family! There is so much to tell you that I hardly know where to start. I have been married since I last heard from you, but it didn't hold so we're separated. When I look at it now I am surprised it lasted the two years it did, she was twelve years my senior and why I did it is more than I will ever be able to explain. I am telling you this so you will understand what is to follow. We separated just a year ago this month when I was in Houston, Texas, working there in a Stock Company. In fact I was in Houston all last winter and nearly all of this summer. If I could have been in touch with you, then we could very easily have seen each other. Well to get on with the story, when we separated she came on here to N.Y. and was here last winter and this summer.

The letter you wrote on May 26th was delivered to me when I arrived in N.Y. Aug 1st, she had opened it, read it, and didn't have the decency to forward it to me. They gave it to her at the Actors Equity Ass'n on June 2nd. The only thing that interested her in the least was the inheritance you spoke of, and she immediately wrote Uncle Tom regarding it. He never answered so she dropped the whole thing until I arrived here in August and then she quite casually announced that she had a letter from you to me. I sent two letters Air Mail to San Angelo but they were both returned and that is the whole story. I too have been wanting to get in touch with you for a long time but not even Uncle Frank could give me your address, now that we are in touch with each other again I want it to continue, you must write me every week now so we won't lose each other again. Because you are my Dad and I love you.

I have taken up the stage as a means of making a living, and have been successful to a certain extent, although it is a very uncertain game in many ways, the compensation is high if you can hit. This is my first year in N.Y and naturally it is a hard one but I have a wonderful outlook here and I may be able to do something really big. If I should make a hit here in my next show it means that I will be practically independent of anyone. Now Dad, since you are going to California I have a little plan which may be good for both of us, it all depends on how things go here this winter. You take whatever you can get there this winter and I will try and get some money together here. If I have any luck at all this winter I should have three or four thousand dollars by next May. I will then come out to California next summer and see if we can't start some sort of a little business together, and I will help you during the summer and then get back into N.Y. for the fall season. That would give us both something to rely on in case of a slip up in the show business.

Of course that is only a rough outline of my idea but you can see that it is plausible and practical. It may be that things will be hard here this winter and I won't have the money next summer, but it is at least worth trying for. I know Southern California pretty well and I think you will like it very much. If I should make a hit here this winter will try the pictures again next summer and that game is unlimited if you can click. I will send you a set of pictures tomorrow so you can see what kind of a looking son you have. Nothing to brag about, but at least I am a man like my Dad. Now remember, write to me every week, and I will keep you informed how things are going here. Of course, my plan may be only dreams but there's nothing like trying. Lots of love Dad and don't forget to write every week.

Clark

Clark Gable and his father William: circa 1919 (left) and in later years.

Josephine Dillon (to whom Clark Gable was married from 1924 to 1930) was very important to Gable's career. Not only did she teach him how to act, but she also taught him how to move, trained his voice and had his teeth repaired.

Extortion note to Clark Gable

Throughout his career, Clark Gable received several letters of extortion. In 1937, a British woman named Violet Norton claimed Gable was the father of her daughter and sent him a number of letters to extort money from him. A year earlier, a man from Philadelphia sent Gable an extortion letter demanding $5,000. He threatened to physically harm Gable, if the money was not paid. And there were several other letters, including the following one from an Iowa farmhand in  1938.

On 9 February 1938, 30-year old Gaylord Forsyth from Fonda, Iowa, sent a note to Clark Gable, demanding payment of $1,000. Signing the note, Forsyth used the name of a neighbour, Alice Schnetter, against whom he held a grudge. Forsyth was in love with the girl but she wasn't interested in him, and he later confessed to having sent the letter just to spite her. By the end of February, Forsyth was apprehended by the FBI. He was ultimately convicted on federal charges.

Source: the smoking gun

Transcript: 

CLARK GABLE.

IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FUTURE THEN SEND ME ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS RIGHT AWAY AND TELL NO ONE OR ELSE! I AM DISGUISING MY WRITEING [sic] BY PRINTING. SO NOTHING CAN BE PROVED. MY DAD IS HARD UP ON HIS FARM AND I AM GOING TO GET MONEY IF I HAVE TO STEAL IT. SAY NOTHING TO NO ONE OR ELSE!

ALICE SCHNETTER

ROUTE ONE

FONDA. IOWA.