I'm currently reading Clark Gable: a Biography by Warren G. Harris. While not great, it's certainly pretty good. I'm almost finished it and I have to be honest, what I find most interesting is how uninteresting Clark Gable is. Perhaps a more rigorous biography might have helped this - a bit more psychological focus, assuming there is sufficient information available to do that.
The book itself is interesting enough, but it just seems a bit odd that someone of that "star" stature should be so ... well, bland. But perhaps that's the real story of Gable - a huge success in that Hollywood world, yet really just an average guy.
Of course, I should also say that while I've never disliked Clark Gable movies, and there are few I like quite a lot (Gone With the Wind and Run Silent Run Deep, for instance) I've never been a huge fan of his.
Tag: Classic Film, Movie Classics, Clark Gable
1 comment:
Well, for one thing Clark Gable volunteered to fly as a tail gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress during WW2 after his wife, Carol Lombard, was killed in a plane crash bond raising war effort. I don't know if you can immagine what this would be like unless you see the plane up close and personnal. The Army Air Force could not find enough tail gunners to fill spots on the planes as it was the most dangerous gunnery position on the plane. Firing dual mounted 50 Caliber Machine Guns at high altitudes wearing sheep skin linning clothing to keep from freezing to death is something he voluntered to do as an example to help get other young men to follow his example. He was in his thirtys at the time and far past the draft age. He was discharged as a major. If you think this was part of a bland life style then perhaps you ought to see one of these planes and imagine it yourself during daylight raids of Germany while being shot at by German figher planes. No Hollywood star would do this today. Clark led a very interesting life which can't be matched by many.
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