Silver Screen (Nov 1938-Apr 1939)

Women Know Why Clark Gable Has The Kind Of Popularity That Survives Poor Pictures And The Passing Years, And Why He Never Loses A Friend. MY EDITOR was rather late coming across with my Christmas present this past year. For a while there he had me worried and I was beginning to regret that finely knitted scarf I sent him. But when it did come I was so deliriously pleased that you can be quite certain that I didn't exchange it at the January sales for a dozen hand embroidered sheets. It came by Western Union and it read, "I AM GIVING YOU GABLE FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECTION." Well, really now, there's nothing better than receiving Gable, even if it is only by wire. So it is with little chirrups of joy that I fall upon my typewriter, breaking a dandy set of finger-nails. Although Hollywood doesn't go back so far m actual years, however, I do recall several glacial periods on the Metro lot— we have our traditions just the same as Boston, Charleston, and New Orleans. It has long been one of our better traditions that a young man cannot succeed to stardom in Hollywood unless he is handsome (Robert Taylor) or lavishly gifted (Paul Mum), or an ardent playboy (Errol Flynn). It has also long been an accepted tradition that a star can't keep on having flops and retain his popularity. Well, I might say, in fact I will say, that Mr. Gable simply kicks hell out of those fine old traditions. He isn't particularly handsome, he isn't particularly gifted, he isn't particularly fond of the gay night life, and he's had two bad pictures lately that would send any other star deep into the glooms. But Clark is more popular today than he was yesterday. He never loses a friend; he gains them steadily. What about this Gable guy? What's he got that the other leading men in Hollywood haven't got, and would give their eye teeth to have? Well, I'll tell you. -He's got charm. Great gobs of charm. And you don't have to grope into the Barrie whimsies to explain the Gable charm. The secret of Clark's charm is his enthusiasm. He has probably never been bored in his life. He was born with plenty of the joy of living, and the wealth and fame of his last few years haven't managed to make him the least bit blase about anything. He does everything with the enthusiasm and excitement of a first time. For instance, when girl friend Carole Lombard says, "Let's drive down to the beach tonight and ride on the roller coasters," Clark immediately responds, "Oh swell, let's go right away." Other men (the men I know) snarl, "Aw, nuts, we've done that a hundred times. I'm sick of roller coasters. Isn't there anything new to do?" But not Mr. Gable. Roller coasters suddenly become the most exciting thing in his life. Clark has seen litters of puppies and kittens ever since he was a shy little boy playing on his grandparents' farm way back in Pennsylvania, but all you have to do today is tell Clark about a new litter, or a new foal, and he will jump in his car and drive hundreds of miles to see it. The last puppies and kittens, and the last foal, are always the cutest and best. The Gable enthusiasm is about the most exhilarating thing we have in this neck of the woods. His simplicity is also a definite part of his charm. Clark will gladly give you all the night clubs in Hollywood for one day at a county fair. The annual county fair at Pomona, California, is a big Event in his life, and if he is making a picture at the time he'll juggle his schedule somehow or other to get in a day at the fair. He and Carole will climb into his station wagon early in the morning and set out for Pomona. In a park along the way they will spread their picnic lunch (Clark is simply daffy on the subject of picnic lunches) and gobble down great quantities of Jessie's fried chicken. Jessie, the Lombard cook for years, is the best chicken fryer West of the Rockies, and you can be sure Mr. Gable never misses a chance to tell her so. Once in the fair grounds Clark is in seventh heaven. "I'm only a country kid," he'll tell you, and boyoboy, the country certainly pops out of him at a county fair. He gives Carole his critical opinion of all the cows, bulls, hogs and goats. He is very fond of the horses and spends hours with them. Then he goes through all the bazaars, tastes the jellies and the jams, jollies the old ladies from the Ladies Aid, and most intelligently discusses crops with the orange growers of southern California. If there are prizes to be awarded he'll gladly award them; little things like microphones and impromptu speeches don't phase Mr. Gable in the least — though they have been known to send some of our other stars to bed for weeks. After a dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs and root beer he will play all the concessions and win a flock of prizes, everything from Mae West dolls to ash trays, which he divides among the kids that gather around. All the way home he sings at the 20 Silver Screen