It Would’ve Been Amazing If…
Like most (or all!) of the Old Hollywood actors, Clark Gable could’ve acted in some amazing films, but from a number of circumstances, he didn’t. Here are some roles I wish he took, it would’ve made him even more famous!
Little Caesar (1931)
Gable was originally chosen to play Joe Massara, Rico’s (Edward G Robinson) sidekick. However, he was rejected and the role was given to Douglas Fairbanks Jr when production head Darryl F Zanuck saw Gable’s screentest and declared it a waste (his ears were too big for Zanuck to handle!). But, alas, Gable’s rejection from Warner Bros was what brought him to MGM. Can you imagine a film with Gable and Robinson?! Amazing!!!
Tarzan, The Ape Man (1932)
Clark was so close to playing the legendary jungle man, but lost the role to Johnny Weissmuller’s muscular body and sick swimming skills (Weissmuller was an Olympic swimmer, after all). Why oh WHY did we get cheated out of Gable running around in nothing but a loincloth for an hour and a half?!
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Katharine Hepburn (who always wanted to make a film with Gable) originally wanted Clark in Cary Grant’s role and Spencer Tracy in Jimmy Stewart’s role (if Spencer took it, would his romance with Kate have started earlier? Hmmm). Tracy had other commitments, so the role went to Stewart. Gable too, had other commitments, but it seemed he would have taken the role if it were a bit different! He deemed the script “too wordy” and the the character to boring: “other than pushing the dame down, I don’t have anything to do”. So C.K. Dexter Haven went to Cary Grant!
Woman of the Year (1942)
Carole Lombard was initially interested in making Woman of the Year with Clark. She thought it would be an excellent vehicle for them to re-team on the screen. However, Katharine Hepburn quickly snapped up the rights to the film, which disappointed Lombard. I hate to put a damper on everything, but Woman of the Year was released on January 19, 1942, only three days after Lombard died. I can’t help but think that if Hepburn didn’t take the film, Lombard would never have died…
Carole Irene
Baby Jean
Interesting…I can’t see Gabe and Heppy. I don’t think they’d have had much chemistry.
February 24, 2011 at 3:34 pm
I agree. She’s too…high and mighty, and he’s so earthy and vital. They’re too different.
February 24, 2011 at 4:13 pm
It would’ve been interesting though to see how they played against each other. I wish Gable and Lombard had made “Woman of the Year”. I think it’d been excellent, because they already had (clearly!) a natural chemistry and their love was strong, but they had a sort of jokey attitude to each other (moreso Carole to Clark) which would have caused sparks on the screen!
Now, “Little Caesar”… I’m not sure he would’ve been effective in Douglas Fairbanks Jr’s role. It’s more of a passive role but Gable had a natural charisma and dominance.
“Tarzan” would have been…interesting!
February 24, 2011 at 6:47 pm
I watch Woman of the Year and can’t help but think about how amazing (it’s a great film, don’t get me wrong) it would’ve been with Gable and Lombard! It would’ve been a lot wilder for sure! Then again, Spence and Heppy would probably never have met…
February 24, 2011 at 6:55 pm
But Carole would have lived :’(
Spence and Heppy are a couple I don’t quite get. Don’t get me wrong, they were so amazing together but privately they seem so different!
Spence was your average Joe Q. Public, came from an average background, not particularly attractive, devoutly religious and socially conservative.
Heppy was by all accounts (to quote you) high and mighty, had a VERY privileged background (“rally ah do”), beautiful in a classical way, more or less an atheist or agnostic and something of a radical!
February 24, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I knowww!! Strange how one film could impact so much. I read that Spence and Heppy’s relationship was more respectful and supportive than romantic.
February 24, 2011 at 7:27 pm
I read that Spence was a bit of a womanizer, effectively cheating on the woman he was cheating on his wife with!
Ah, love. It’s a tangled web!
February 24, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Whoa whoa really? So he’s cheating on his wife, but he’s cheating on the lady who he’s cheating on his wife with, so he’s double cheating on the wife but single cheating with lover #1…would lover #2 (and so on) be considered as cheated on, because even though he’s cheating with them, he would go back to lover #1…confused? Good.
February 24, 2011 at 7:46 pm
I don’t know what to say
February 24, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Sorry. Actually I’m double sorry. Sorry for leaving you at a loss for words and sorry for taking so goddamn long answering. I practically died trying to wave my hair. It. Would. Not. Wave. I stood in front of the stupid bathroom mirror for a freaking HOUR trying to get my effing hair to cooperate with me! By the end, the bathroom was littered with bobby pins, combs, and about ten water bottles. I also swore more than all the other times I’ve sworn combined. I’ve even made up a few.
Sorry. Triple sorry. For making a gent like you read through my dame- related issues.
February 24, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Hahaha I quite enjoyed the mental image that conjured up, so there’s no need to be sorry.
February 25, 2011 at 8:44 am
It gets better. It’s raining buckets here so my hair is going to end up being a total mess anyway. I hate being a dame.
February 25, 2011 at 8:57 am
You need an umbrella! Are there no gentlemen who will follow you around with one?!
PS- are there lots of Jews in your neighborhood? I’ve always wanted to meet a Jew
February 25, 2011 at 9:03 am
Comment 1: I have my own umbrella and I can hold it too, thank you very much.
Comment 2: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! You’ve never met a Jew? Oh wow! Well, I guess I would say that the Jews are beginning to take over my neighborhood. They practically live in the department store a block away from my house, but I wouldn’t call my area Jewish…not yet anyways. I need to pass through the REAL Jewish neighborhood to get to school (and to get home) everyday, and before I pass the Jewish area I need to pass Chinatown. So the bus is always filled with Asians and Jews
February 25, 2011 at 7:14 pm
1. That comment, in my mind, sounded exactly like Ellie Andrews
“I don’t need any old man to help! I’m a free-spirited little dame!” that’s you talking 
2. Oh. My. God. I am so envious! Hobart, where I live, has the oldest Synagogue in Australia and yet I’ve never seen one
(Jews are a novelty!). I went to Melbourne and saw a few Hasidic Jews but they wouldn’t have a photo with me 
February 25, 2011 at 8:37 pm
1. I sound like Ellie Andrews? Hooray! People usually just think I’m mean
2. Come to Brooklyn. Please!!! All the Jews are Hasidic Jews here…I don’t think I’ve ever met a not-Hasidic Jew! Sadly, though, I don’t think they’d take a picture with you here either
They kinda stick to their own community.
February 25, 2011 at 9:01 pm
1. Rubbish! You’re not mean at all! Why if I ever heard someone say that, I’d sock them but good!
2. Well I’ll be in the US next year, so I’ll definitely make a stopover in Brooklyn for a few days now that I have a pal there! Surely your family would take in a wayward traveller for a tiny fee?
3. I’ll coax them into having a photo with me. I’ll pretend I have a moral crisis involving religion and they’ll swarm to me, then you can snap a picture!
February 25, 2011 at 9:13 pm
1. Thanks!
2. I must confess…My parents are too strict to house a strange male, and they don’t even know about this blog, so I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do…which would probably get me beaten up
(you’re talking to a boy online?! *Gets socked in the face*) but there is a hotel literally two blocks away from where I live, so I can always tell my strict parents I’m going to hang out with the girls and hang out with you instead 
3. Good idea! I just remembered there’s a synagogue near where I live too, so there’s more than one place to grab a Jew!
February 25, 2011 at 9:34 pm
1. You’re welcome
2. Goodness me! Surely they wouldn’t mind you talking to an American-Australian?! But that is a good alternative
3. We will pretend to be Jewish and go to the synagogue
February 25, 2011 at 9:49 pm
1. Yes, they would mind
oh well.
2. YAY! If we get caught…I don’t want to know what would happen!
February 25, 2011 at 11:40 pm
1. Even if this American-Australian is the last of the old school gentlemen? And is speaking to you in a solely platonic manner?
2. They would flay us alive!
February 26, 2011 at 4:34 am
1. Yeah maybe.
2. AGH!
February 26, 2011 at 5:39 am
1. I have a cunning scheme. I will travel to Brooklyn and meet your parents “by chance”. I will win them over with my charisma and they will invite me for dinner. They will then ask me on the car ride what my interests are. “Well sir”, I shall say (presuming your father asks the question), “my main interest in life is spreading the word of the Lord and promoting good old fashioned values”. Your parents will be impressed and nod their heads in approval. “But surely a dear, sweet, innocent boy like you has a hobby?” your mother will say, patting me on the head with affection. “Well ma’am”, I will say humbly, “I do enjoy watching films from the Golden Age, back when folks were decent to one another and decency prevailed”.
Again they will be impressed and possibly offer me candy “Well Mr Carole Irene, doesn’t that sound just like our daughter Carole Irene!” your mother will whisper to your father, whilst I pretend to be taking in the scenery.
“Mark”, your father will say, “my daughter loves those films too! I do believe you and her will get on like a house on fire!”.
I will nod and say “well sir, if she’s anything like you and Mrs Carole Irene, I am sure her company will be a pleasure of the highest order!”
They will blush and we will chat idly for the rest of the trip.
Then when we get to your place, your father will go to read his paper in his favorite chair whilst your mother walks me to the foot of the stairs. “Wait just here Mark”, she will whisper, “I will go upstairs and fetch my daughter Carole Irene.” and she will climb the stairs. After a while she will come back down, telling me “Carole Irene will be down in just a moment” and she will go off to prepare lasagna for dinner, as I mentioned in passing it was my favorite meal. Then you will reach the top of the stairs, I will hear you, turn, and look like Rhett when you first see him in GWTW
Pretty clever, huh?
February 26, 2011 at 8:24 am
WOW. Seems pretty clever! It just might work
February 26, 2011 at 9:52 am
I will even wear a wool cardigan and a little bowtie as proof of my innocence
February 26, 2011 at 10:14 am
Get rid of the wool cardigan. They might think you’re gay.
February 26, 2011 at 10:32 am
Hmmm…you’re right. I will wear a sensible outfit!
February 26, 2011 at 10:50 am
That’s the way to do it!
February 26, 2011 at 11:11 am
Perhaps like Gabe’s in “It Happened One Night”!
February 26, 2011 at 6:46 pm
I like that! It Happened One Night is coming on TCM here in about an hour!!! I will watch it…even though it would be the 173,485,038,282,925th time
February 26, 2011 at 6:57 pm
It’s my favorite film! I love the bit where Gabe pretends to be a gangster!
February 26, 2011 at 7:43 pm
“Bugs Dooley”!!! Cracks me up all the time. Then he spits on his suit
Random question: is driving hard? I’m starting driving classes on Monday and I’m scared to death! What if I crash into a wall or something?!
February 26, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Oh that Gabe! He made every role unique
I drive a motorcycle so I’m not sure about a car. I don’t reckon it would be! Just drive safely and you’ll be ok
February 26, 2011 at 11:34 pm
You drive a motorcycle?! Awesome!!!
February 26, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Haha thanks! I’m no “Wild One” though. I drive quite cautiously. I ALMOST got into a drag race with another bike once on the highway, but then I realized it’s not worth the risk.
February 27, 2011 at 12:35 am
Haha good for you! That’s sensible thinking! Still, it’s cooler than a car. If I ever learn to drive like a normal human being, I plan to buy a vintage car
February 27, 2011 at 12:39 am
Get a 1940 Ford! That’s what my grandpa drives and it’s so cool!
February 27, 2011 at 3:35 am
Your grandpa drives a vintage car? Wow, you were right when you called him a relic! If I ever meet him, I think I’d become his best friend lol.
February 27, 2011 at 7:46 am
He’d probably approve of you! You sound like his “type of dame”. He reminds me of Foghorn Leghorn because he’s awful tall (6’6″) and quite large (I think he said he’s 310lb) and has a thick southern accent! He’d probably chat with you for hours about Clark Gable or tell you about the time he met John Wayne!
February 27, 2011 at 8:43 am
Oh my goodness, he seems intimidating! My grandpa was tall too, but he was so skinny he could have been blown away on a strong wind!And HE MET JOHN WAYNE?!?! TELL!!!
February 27, 2011 at 10:51 am
He’s not really intimidating
well, maybe when you first see him 
Well he went to California to live in the late 40s for some reason (I think he got a HUGE inheritance from his grandfather and wanted to fritter it away!) and he went to a gym in Hollywood and as he was going in, John Wayne and his entourage were leaving and my grandpa recognized him and said hello and the Duke shook his hand and said it was the first time he’d met anyone taller than him and then he signed a dollar bill for my grandpa!
February 27, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Oh. My. God. I need to BE your grandpa! Did he meet any other stars while in California?
February 27, 2011 at 6:45 pm
He saw Betty Grable, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner (his 2nd cousin), Burt Lancaster, Rory Calhoun and Shelley Winters. He met Lana, Duke, Gregory Peck, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Zeppo Marx, William Conrad, Robert Mitchum and Gary Cooper.
February 27, 2011 at 11:44 pm
Oh my God!!!! He is my hero! Zeppo Marx?! Second cousin to Lana Turner?! Oh my God you’re related to Lana Turner!! Sort of. Sorry I got so excited.
February 28, 2011 at 9:29 am
Hahaha it’s cute when you gush
Veeeery distantly, though enough to boast!
He told me that Zeppo was actually very sharp and had a surprisingly quick wit!
February 28, 2011 at 11:29 am