Mick LaSalle in his book Dangerous Men, captioned this photo "Clark Gable suffering a rare attack of innocuous- ness, circa 1931." In this photo Gable was exhibiting the qualities that were considered appealing in a leading man in the twenties: a big grin, a sort of slumping deference and jaunty elegance. It's hard to believe that he played the screen dominating villain, Nick the Chauffer in Night Nurse, the very same year he took this picture. Luckily for film history Gable fits so poorly into the affable hero mold and he didn't quite take off as a villain either. He was forced to put his screen presence to good use making a hybrid of these two types: the lovable rogue.I've added three new items, to the media room: Dangerous Men, Ten Cents a Dance and Ever in My Heart.
9 comments:
Somehow Gable does not look at home to me on this photo, with this neckerchief a la Fred Astaire from 1950th. He has a strained smile as if a ceiling is going to fall on him.
I love him in the movies though, even as a villain.
That is ... so ... wrong.
Well, that's my private opinion - is not supposed to be neither wrong nor right, just how I feel about it.
Oh Irena - I am so sorry. No, I was commenting on the picture. The picture is so wrong because he looks so awkward. I should have made that clear. Please forgive me.
I totally agree with everything you said - you are ... so ... right. :-)
Oh, I am sorry I misunderstood you and that's exactly how I feel about this photo - he looks awkward.:)
I think even if I had not known him being so energetic and relaxed from other images he would made the same expression on this photograph.
It is certainly not the most flattering picture of Gabe. He actually looked a like a bit of a wuss in it. I think the studio was still trying to figure out how to cast him, as well as the photographer finding his best side to shoot and this is what they ended up with. It's hard to believe the huge difference a pencil thin mustache can make on a guy's face. I actually think he looked okay clean shaven, but the 'stache certainly added something.
Found a nice blog on Kay Francis and precode cinema. It's at
http://precodecinema.blogspot.com
Thanks kda. I'd seen that a while ago, but it hadn't been updated in months. I am set to tape a bunch of Kay Francis movies today!
Yes, I saw the TCM schedule and there are a couple of them that I have yet to record. I hope you didn't miss this morning's broadcast of The Dark Horse, starring Warren William and Bette Davis. A brilliant political satire.
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