Carole & Co.

That's Carole Lombard with Clark Gable, part of a huge batch of Carole clippings recently emailed my way by Tally Haugen, whose comment accompanied them: "Saw THE BOX gathering cobwebs in the corner, and so just opened her back up, coughed after the dust subsided...(kidding!)"

"The box," as we've noted previously, is a gargantuan treasure trove of Lombard odds and ends from various magazines and newspapers of Carole's era. Many of these images have not been seen for more than seven decades, so they'll be new to just about all of us.

Incidentally, the photo above has this caption: "CLARK GABLE and CAROLE LOMBARD -- Hollywood buzzes with romantic rumours about these two -- were going to the pictures together when the camera man caught them." (It's probably from a British publication, as the "rumours" attests, but darned if I know which one.)

Now, more Gable and Lombard goodies...

First, something from veteran Hollywood photographer Jack Albin, who wrote a 1940 article for Screen Guide on why Gable was a favorite among professional picture-takers (http://dearmrgable.com/?page_id=3751). This image is from 1938, and while Carole herself looks charming, her shoes look silly:



This one looks to be from after their elopement, when they announced their marriage to the press:



From a fan magazine before the marriage, Clark and Carole at Ciro's:



A newspaper ran this the day after the elopement, but the darkened background makes it apparent that the image was retrieved from its files and altered:



Wish I could see the entire caption here -- is the key missing word "last" or "first"? And something about Clark's expression here makes him look almost artificial, as if Carole were escorting an early example of animatronics:



The following photo triggers the question, "Who the heck is May C. Kelley?" Well, she apparently was editor of Modern Movies (although in his book "Inside The Hollywood Fan Magazine," author Anthony Slide lists her as May C. Kelly). One wonders whether the Gables really enjoyed spending eight hours with her:



Clark and Carole attended the premiere of the 1937 "A Star Is Born" and said they liked it, and they may well have...but since David O. Selznick was making her next picture and giving him a signature role in his blockbuster, did you expect them to say anything differently?



Here's "Ma" and "Pa" with "Ma-in-law," just after the marriage:



Now, "La Lombard" as satin doll, alongside Clark at the 1938 premiere of "Marie Antoinette" at the famed (and missed) Carthay Circle:



The Gables are shown at Samuel Goldwyn's Greek war relief benefit in early 1941. What publication did this run in? The Time-speak in the accompanying blurb makes it evident. "Mighty-eared Cineman," indeed:




Not long before the Greek war benefit, Clark and Carole were at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for what Gable called "not anything terribly serious." And while his shoulder may have been treated, the couple really (and privately) wanted to find out why they couldn't conceive. This looks to be from the New York Daily News:



Finally, Gable and Lombard at the Northridge horse show. The caption says the Gables had to cancel a trip abroad because of film schedules; therefore, this may be from June 1939, a few months before Germany invaded Poland:



We'll have more pics of Clark and Carole, via Tally, sometime soon.