Читать книгу Movie Confidential - Andrew Schanie - Страница 11

DURING THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD THERE have been two men who could wear the pencil mustache without being thought of as creepy kid touchers. One being the infamous Baltimore director John Waters, who is also known as the Pope of Trash. The other is Clark Gable, who was also known as the King of Hollywood. But before Clark Gable could be King, a womanizer, or even grow a mustache, he had a long road with many obstacles to overcome.

On February 1, 1901, William Clark Gable was born at home in a small coal mining town in Ohio. Ten months later his mother died. Clark’s father, Will Gable, was said to be a womanizer and a heavy drinker. Will Gable eventually remarried. His bride, Jennie Gable, was introduced to young Clark as his stepmother. Clark would be her only child, and she spoiled him constantly.

While Clark Gable was finishing up grade school, World War I was erupting. When Gable was a teen, the war was still raging on. Gable paid his father $175 for his Ford and moved to Akron, Ohio, to work in the factories. At seventeen he saw the stage play The Bird of Paradise and was so taken by the story and the actors that he finagled his way into working behind the scenes and eventually got his first taste of the stage with one line, “Your cab is here, madam.” That one line was all it took to hook young Gable.

Clark Gable was twenty-three years old. Josephine Dillon was forty-one.

Although Gable wanted to stay in Akron, his father persuaded him to move out West to work on the oil fields. At age twenty-one, Clark Gable left the business of drilling for black gold permanently. He spent time working with traveling theaters and performed physical labor when the theater troops didn’t pan out. During this time, Gable was introduced to the woman who would be his first wife, Josephine Dillon, an acting coach. She was able to bring out his strength and abilities, making him a full-fledged actor.

Gable and Dillon moved to Los Angeles together to chase their acting dream. In December of 1924, they married. Clark Gable was twenty-three years old. Josephine Dillon was forty-one.

In his early Hollywood years, Gable mainly appeared as an extra in silent movies and worked his way into more prominent roles in live theater. During one of his tours with live theater, Gable began an affair with a wealthy actress named Pauline Frederick. Like Gable’s wife, Frederick was much older than he was–eighteen years older. Though his wife seemed willing to look the other way, Gable moved out of their home. This would be the beginning of the end for their marriage.

Gable continued to tour and struck up another affair with an older woman, Ria Langham, a wealthy widow who was seventeen years older than Gable. Langham felt Gable had what it takes to be famous and offered to support him in New York City with the stipulation that he marry her. One problem: Clark Gable’s current wife wasn’t ready to let go, and to prove her support and love for her husband, she made a bee line to the big city to track down roles. Using this to his advantage, the future King of Hollywood didn’t bother giving Josephine Dillon the final boot until he was situated.

Ria Langham was seventeen years older than Gable.

With Dillon out of the picture, Ria Langham moved to New York to be with her man. She kept her word by buying him expensive clothes and paying his bills to live in expensive apartments. Gable attempted to keep his end of the bargain, but Dillon stretched out the divorce for as long as possible … can’t really blame her.

With Dillon finally out of the picture, Gable and Langham claimed to have married on March 31, 1930. The legitimacy of their nuptials would eventually be scrutinized, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Though Gable was in a committed relationship—if not already married—that didn’t stop him from romancing his female costars.

Gable continued acting in live productions as he made his way back to California. It didn’t hurt to have sugar mama Ria Langham on his side. Once in California, a new talent agent was hired, and motion picture work finally began to drizzle in. His earliest work was as an extra or very minor roles. Nonetheless, he had his foot in the door, appearing in movies like The Painted Desert, The Easiest Way, The Finger Points, and Night Nurse (all filmed in 1931).

With his relentless grab for the golden ring, Gable convinced MGM he was a capable actor. MGM signed Gable to a year contract for $650 a week. If studio bosses decided they liked what they saw, his contract would be renewed with a pay increase at the end of the year. Little did anyone know he would out perform all expectations and grow into a movie star big enough to match his physique.

Critics began to take notice, commenting on his magnetic personality and solid acting ability. Work was picking up and parts were getting bigger. By the end of 1931 he would also act in Dance, Fools, Dance, The Secret Six, and A Free Soul among others. All the hard work, hard living, and occasional shady maneuver had paid off. Clark Gable got his first starring role in a motion picture. He landed the lead in Sporting Blood.

Around this time Gable’s second wife, Ria Langham, began voicing her displeasure with her “husband,” rising star Clark Gable. She was suspicious of his relationships with various women and rightfully so. It’s not like the man was single when she started dating him. She also began talking about how she and Gable weren’t actually married. The studio had no desire to be involved in the scandal, and Gable didn’t want to lose his studio contract. To make everyone happy, an appointment was made in a judge’s chamber where the two said/resaid their vows.

Gable went back to working on Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise and Possessed (both 1931). Ria went on as Mrs. Clark Gable. While shooting Possessed, Gable began a love affair with Joan Crawford. In Warren G. Harris’s biography of Clark Gable, he quotes Crawford as saying, “In the picture, Clark and I were madly in love. When the scenes ended, the emotion didn’t.” To add fuel to the fire of forbidden love, Gable and Crawford were both married. Again the studio feared scandal, and future projects with the two actors working together were axed. Filming for Possessed wrapped, and Gable kept on working without missing a beat, appearing in Hell Divers (1931) and Polly of the Circus (1932).

Not caring or having not learned his lesson, Gable began an affair with his Polly of the Circus costar, Marion Davies, who was also married. During the affair with Davies, Gable’s contract came up for renewal. Through contacts, Davies was able to raise Gable’s pay to $1,500 a week.

Gable continued to have many affairs that he attempted to keep secret. Billy Grad, an MGM executive, said of Gable, “He’d screw anything. A girl didn’t have to be pretty or even clean.” Gable spent 1933 working on The White Sister, Hold Your Man, Night Flight, and Dancing Lady. Dancing Lady would be the first time Gable and Crawford worked together since their adulterous relationship almost went public while filming Possessed. Dancing Lady was anything but a good time for Gable, who missed weeks of shooting due to illness and Crawford ending their liaison to take up with a different costar.

Always looking forward, Gable recovered and began work on It Happened One Night (1934). Initially Gable wanted nothing to do with the project, but it ultimately led to a big surprise and an even bigger boost to his career. From there, Gable went on to star in Men in White (1934) where he again romanced his costar. This time it was Elizabeth Allen, who was already well known in her homeland, Great Britain. And in case you were wondering—she was married.

Time rolled on and Gable moved to his next project, playing a thug named Blackie Gallagher in Manhattan Melodrama (1934). Catapulting Manhattan Melodrama from Hollywood blockbuster into the realm of pop culture was a man named John Dillinger: The man who went on bank robbing sprees and landed a slot on the most wanted list was a huge Clark Gable fan. He never missed one of Gable’s movies even if it meant he had to risk being captured. It turns out the risk was greater than Dillinger had imagined, and authorities gunned him down after he left a screening of Manhattan Melodrama.

Bank robber John Dillinger was a huge fan of Clark Gable.

In Clark Gable’s next movie, Chained, he would costar with Joan Crawford again. While filming, the two rekindled their affair except this time it was casual and purely physical. Chained was well received, and the studio placed them together again in Forsaking All Others. Gable moved on to work on Call of the Wild, where once again he struck up an affair with costar Loretta Young. Sure, he was still romancing Elizabeth Allen, just finished with Joan Crawford (again), and ignoring his second wife, the independently wealthy Ria Langham. But Clark Gable had fame now, and if he saw something he wanted, he went after it.

If he saw something he wanted, he went after it.

During all this work and bedding, Gable was notified he was nominated for an Academy Award. It was a best actor nomination for his role in It Happened One Night. Gable attended the Academy Awards and collected his statue. As a result of this win, his pay rose from $2,000 to $4,000 a week. Pay increase and award in hand, Gable went to work on Mutiny on the Bounty, where he argued nonstop with some actors and partied wildly with others.

After the premier of Mutiny on the Bounty, Gable moved out of the house he shared with Langham, who told reporters no other woman was involved. This was a half truth since multiple women were involved. Not wanting to lose half of what he had worked for, Clark Gable held off on getting divorced and instead opted to pay Langham a monthly fee for living expenses. Gable would go on making movies and sleeping with starlets. Ria would go on getting to enjoy the perks of being married to a movie star.

Clark Gable then received his second best actor Academy Award nomination—this time for Mutiny on the Bounty. Gable attended the ceremony, taking as his date Merle Oberon, who received a best actress nomination for The Dark Angel. Gable did not win an Oscar that year. Neither did his date.

Around this time Gable began pursuing an actress named Carole Lombard. Initially Lombard had no interest in Gable outside of friendship. Her rejections to his advances made Gable crazy. Her penchant for practical jokes, like releasing two doves in his apartment as a peace offering after an argument, made him crazier. Once, as a payback gag, Gable gave her a live cougar cub when she asked him to bring her back a wildcat from one of his hunting trips. Their flirting and pursuit of the heart was a cat-and-mouse game usually reserved for the movies.

It was clear why Clark Gable lusted after Carole Lombard. She was a blonde firecracker with the ability to swear a serious blue streak. She took her acting very seriously and enjoyed sports. She was eight years younger than Gable and would eventually become his wife. It would be the third marriage for Gable and the second for Lombard.

“He’d screw anything. A girl didn’t have to be pretty or even clean.

In the meantime Gable found himself in such high demand he began working in Radio Theater. The work was easier than movies or stage acting, and he was able to up his pay again to $6,500. Gable had no intention of leaving the movies behind. This was simply a side business. And why not take the money if it’s easy?

Back at MGM studios Gable was teaming up with Joan Crawford yet again in Love on the Run. Crawford’s career was in a serious slump, and the studio saw appearing with Gable as the only way to pull her back out. Love on the Run would also costar Crawford’s real-life husband, Franchot Tone. Gable and Tone had previously worked together on Mutiny on the Bounty and got along well. It would be Tone and Crawford, the husband and wife, who would cause the tension. Tone was frustrated over being cast as a supporting actor to his wife … again.

She was a blonde firecracker with the ability to swear a serious blue streak.

Gable’s affair with Carole Lombard grew more serious. His other affairs soon dried up and died. Gable’s wife Ria, no longer happy being a wife in name only, began collecting what she needed for a divorce. The Gable/Lombard love connection had been receiving press attention, and Ria couldn’t take it any more.

If Clark Gable needed any more trouble it came in the form of a forty-seven-year-old Essex woman named Violet Norton. Norton had hired a private detective who showed up at the gates of MGM studios. The private dick also came with a story that Gable had impregnated Norton in 1922 while using the alias Frank Billings. As author David Brent points out in his book, Clark Gable, “Clark had not been issued with a passport until 1930,” and “[additionally] he had never been to England.” The case went to trial by jury, and Gable’s former lover, Franz Dorfler, testified Gable was living on her parents’ farm during 1922–1923, making it impossible for him to have fathered a child in another country. The jury found Gable innocent, and the accuser, Violet Norton, was deported. Perhaps Clark Gable coined the term “Eurotrash.”

Carole Lombard, Gable’s third wife, was the love of his life.

What no one knew was that Clark Gable did father a child outside of his marriage. His affair with actress Loretta Young produced a daughter, who Gable visited just once. With no father or husband in the picture, Loretta Young traveled to San Francisco and put the child up for adoption. Young would later adopt her own child, hiding the truth from everyone. When the child grew older and asked where her father was, Young told her he was dead.

Clark Gable was a man’s man.

The love triangle between Ria Gable, Clark Gable, and Carole Lombard was in full swing. Gable would have divorced Ria Gable earlier to make Lombard his wife but he detested the idea of losing money in a divorce settlement. Then, while Gone With the Wind was in preproduction, a tabloid ran an article on all three of them. MGM was once again stuck in the middle of a Clark Gable love affair, but this time religious groups were writing complaint letters in response to the article. Carole Lombard was a free agent in the studio system. Gable, on the other hand, was bound by his contract. He was given the option to divorce Ria Gable and marry Lombard or end his relationship with the young actress.

In the early part of 1939 the divorce between Ria and Clark Gable was finalized. He would pay half his current pension, and she would agree to not slow down the process—though the idea of causing her now ex-husband unnecessary complications pleased her. During a brief break in filming Gone With the Wind, Gable and Lombard eloped, telling no one until after the fact. The two were ecstatic. They truly seemed to be soul mates.

Even though the two loved each other deeply, Clark Gable would again be unfaithful. Lombard was aware Gable still carried on sexual relations with other women. She acknowledged she couldn’t stop him if she wanted to. So as long as his extramarital affairs were only physical, she allowed it.

In the midst of all the marriage drama, Gone With the Wind began preproduction in 1938. The Civil War period novel, written by Margaret Mitchell, was a smash hit and stayed on the best-seller lists for three-and-a-half years. The studios wanted Gable to play Rhett Butler. The fans wanted to see Gable play Rhett Butler. Gable had no interest in playing Rhett Butler. He almost passed on the movie entirely—the movie that continued to make him a movie star for generations after his death. What made Gable decide to act in Gone With the Wind was simple: money. He was given a bonus of $50,000 on top of his going contract rate.

During the early stages of filming, Gable was having a hard time on the set. He felt the character of Rhett Butler did not fit the mold of characters he was used to playing. Characters that made him famous. Clark Gable was a man’s man. Women pursued him. He didn’t pursue women. Clark Gable didn’t cry, but Rhett Butler did. Tensions were also high between Gable and director George Cukor. The studio intervened and removed Cukor from the job, replacing him with Wizard of Oz director Victor Fleming. Gossip began to circulate Gable was a homophobe and had the homosexual director fired. Later the gossip mutated into Clark Gable being a homosexual. After a brief regrouping, production on Gone With the Wind resumed. The tension eased, and Gable became more comfortable with his part.

Come Oscar time, Gable was nominated for best actor but would lose to Robert Donat for his role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Hattie McDaniel who played Mammy was nominated and won best supporting actress. McDaniel was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. Gone With the Wind would also take home best picture, beating out The Wizard of Oz. Victor Fleming, who was also a director on The Wizard of Oz, won best director. By the end of the night, Gone With the Wind won a record of eight awards.

Though Gable did not walk away with a second golden statue, Gone With the Wind broke all box office records. As a result Gable’s contract was renegotiated for an additional three years. His pay went up to $7,500 a week and would rise to $10,000 a week in the contract’s final year.

Gable was crushed.

Earning more than ever, Gable went on to star in Boom Town and Comrade X (both 1940). Both films would feature Hedy Lamarr as Gable’s love interest. Lamarr was a rising sexpot, and Carole Lombard was known to stop by the set to supervise shoots. Clark Gable had become so famous, and his pay so high, that he no longer needed to make movies back to back. In 1941 Gable appeared in only two films, They Met in Bombay and Honky Tonk.

The Gables had it all. They were famous, wealthy, and, for the most part, made their own work schedule. The couple had bought a small ranch and were enjoying the life of luxury. While not working, the biggest disturbance the husband and wife faced was the occasional fan who overstepped their boundaries. Then news arrived of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. would be entering World War II, and Lombard encouraged Gable to enlist. Gable, while patriotic in spirit, had no intention of leaving his plush lifestyle. While Clark did not volunteer to fight in the war, the Gables did contribute in other ways: They entertained troops during their R&R breaks, donated money and even the use of their horses from the ranch. Lombard toured the United States selling war bonds. Her spirit energized audiences, and she sold more than double the amount of bonds anticipated.

On January 16, 1942, Clark Gable was preparing a glamorous welcome-home party for his wife, who would soon be back to the ranch from her tour of selling war bonds. Gable received a call: The plane in which Carole Lombard was traveling had collided with Double Up Peak just outside of Las Vegas. At first there was hope of finding survivors, but in the end, all the passengers had perished. After an investigation, the cause of the crash would be attributed to pilot error.

Gable was crushed. Friends said he never fully recovered, becoming more of a quiet and serious man. For her dedication and achievements for the war effort, a naval ship was named after Carole Lombard.

Gable took time off from shooting Somewhere I’ll Find You to mourn. He lost weight. He spent most of his time on the ranch he shared his wife, reflecting on their life together. He ordered her belongings in the bedroom to remain the way she left them. He’d return to the set February 23. Until then they’d have to shoot around his scenes. Co-star Lana Turner later called Gable a “consummate professional” in reference to his ability and dedication during this tragic time.

The loneliness and loss became too much for the widower. He thought of his wife’s words encouraging him to enlist. The United States Air Force would be getting a new recruit. The King of Hollywood was enlisting. While he believed in defending his country, it was clear he made the personal sacrifice in memory of his wife.

The media was buzzing with the news of Clark Gable entering the fight. MGM was worried about losing their biggest male star. Fans couldn’t stop talking about it, including the leader of the German Nazi party, Adolph Hitler. When Hitler had heard Clark Gable was changing careers, he got his autograph book ready. Hitler was a huge film buff and a fan of Gone With the Wind. Gable was one of his favorite actors. A Nazi radio broadcast even sent out a message, “We’ll be seeing you soon in Germany, Clark. You will be welcome there too.” A German journalist went so far as to attempt to make a connection between Clark Gable and Joseph Goebbels. (Supposedly, the name “Gable” had previously been anglicized from “Goebel.”)

While in the service, Clark Gable was an aerial gunner and also helped produce a combat film for the Office of War Information. Gable walked away from gunning and back to MGM a decorated war hero in 944. His contract was extended another seven years, obligating him to make two films a year. His return to the studio was celebrated but Gable played down the hero angle. To him the real heroes were still fighting.

Hitler never did get his autograph.

As a sign of respect Gable refused to make another movie until the war ended. He kept his promise by not stepping in front of the camera until thirteen days after victory was declared in Europe. What’s that? The war was still going on in the Pacific? Oops.

Gable did go back to dating, and he dated many women including Dolly O’Brien, who was six years his senior. He was lonely but had no intentions of taking another bride. Because of the emotional tolls suffered, his drinking became out of control. He was behind the wheel of a very public and much gossiped about one-car accident. During a hunting trip he was arrested for shooting more ducks than allowed. As hard as he tried, the women and booze weren’t filling the hole left by Carole Lombard.

During World War II, some tried to make a connection between the names “Gable” and “Goebbels.” Joseph Goebbels (above left) was a prominent figure in the Third Reich. It was rumored that Adolf Hitler loved Gable’s movies.

Gable also continued to make movies, but as he was growing older, the critics were growing less kind. References to his jowls and leathery skin began popping up. Hemorrhoid cream was applied to his face, and the skin behind his ears was taped back in an attempt to make him look younger. His aging really stood out when he was teamed again with Loretta Young, the mother of his secret love child, in Key to the City (1950). Young still looked vivacious next to Gable, whose hard living showed on his face.

Gable needed companionship. Whether because of loneliness or love, he would marry two more times. First he married Sylvia Ashley, a socialite three years younger than Gable. Ashley was also a model and stage actress, who found her stardom fading due to her age. The fourth Mrs. Gable was horrible when it came to her husband’s hobbies like camping, fishing, or hunting. She had no interest for it. Instead she preferred to spend money to maintain a lavish lifestyle. The two may have been great lovers but not ideal husband and wife. One year and five months into the marriage, Gable announced he wanted out, and Ashley filed for divorce.

Gable continued making movies to mixed reviews and uneven box office results. When it came time to renew his contract with MGM, he wanted a percentage of the profits for the movies he starred in. MGM balked at the idea, refusing to get involved in the profit sharing that many freelance actors enjoyed. As a result, Gable walked away from his twenty-three-year relationship with the studio to go freelance. He never worked with MGM again.

Gable still had a talent for wowing the ladies, never needing to be lonely. One of the more notable flings was with Grace Kelly, whom Gable began seeing while working on Mogambo together in 1953. Gable genuinely cared for Kelly and eventually let her go, realizing that, at twenty-eight years her senior, he was too old for the saucy starlet.

At twenty-eight years her senior, he was too old for the saucy starlet.

Clark Gable met his fifth and final wife in Kay Williams, who was fifteen years younger than he was. Williams was a model and an actress who usually obtained small roles. Sparks did fly between the two lovers but not with the same intensity Gable shared with Lombard. Williams loved the outdoors and enjoyed accompanying her husband on hunting or fishing trips. Gable took her and her two children from a previous marriage into his home. He enjoyed the family life and cherished the company. Unlike the previous wife, Williams was not preoccupied with material things. Friends pointed out that Kay had a physical resemblance to Lombard. She could also belt out the blue language, and had a gift for trading barbs with her husband. Perhaps Gable was subconsciously trying to replace Carole Lombard with an imitation. But one thing was clear: Clark Gable loved Kay Williams and made her Kay Gable.

Professionally, Gable didn’t just acknowledge his age, he often joked about it. He wanted to start making movies that better reflected his strong but aging persona. No longer was it appropriate to play romantic leads—especially when the love interest was twenty plus years younger. So, in 1960, Clark Gable signed on for what would be his final performance, playing an aging cowboy in The Misfits. He was paid $750,000 for the sixteen week shoot (which went over schedule, creating additional pay for Gable) as well as profit sharing. It was his biggest check for making a single movie.

During filming, Kay Gable announced she was pregnant. Gable was ecstatic and made his own announcement. The King would retire after one more movie to become a full-time family man. Weeks after completing the most dangerous and physically demanding scenes, Clark Gable was hospitalized, suffering from coronary thrombosis. November 16, 1960, Gable was in the hospital recovering, when he suffered a massive heart attack and died. On the day of his funeral, all the Hollywood studios flew their flags at half-staff.

Kay Gable gave birth to John Clark Gable on March 20, 1961—four months after his father’s death. For the second time, Clark Gable fathered a child who would never know him.