Pawsome Pet Pictures: Leslie Howard, Carole Lombard and Gary Cooper.

Great picture of Leslie Howard, Carole Lombard, Gary Cooper and what looks like an Afghan Hound. Picture taken in 1933.

Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon: Cary Grant and Carole Lombard.

Who, does not love a classic movie Dynamic Duo? My personal pick for one of the most romantic movie couples of all time for this Blogathon, is Cary Grant and Carole Lombard. Their performance are realistic and believable and they made it look easy. The memory of their love stays with you long after the classic movie, In Name Only is over. The only movie that they were a romantic couple.

I fell in love with the performances of Lombard and Grant in the classic film, In Name Only(1939). Alec, who in a loveless marriage, still looking for a true love. Alec, is kind and trusting and Julie is patiently waiting for her man, dealing with the pressures of society and what other people might think. Will Julie and Alec ever get to be together? A wonderful drama directed by John Cromwell. Music by Roy Webb created the mood.

Video: A charming scene "gone fishing".



I would have also liked to see them as a Dynamic Duo in the classic films:

They co-starred early in their career in The Eagle and The Hawk(1933) with Fredric March, but they shared no scenes together. March is Grant's training officer and he washes him out as a pilot. Grant resents this and slugs him and becomes tail-gunner. Eventually, March becomes an air ace. But soon all the deaths of his comrades really takes it's toll on him. He's a sensitive soul and he starts to crack up. By then Grant is on the scene as his tail-gunner, but they're still not getting along. Cary Grant plays very much against type. Jack Oakie is around to do the comic relief. Carole Lombard is in this as well for about 10 minutes as a woman March encounters while on a 10 day leave. It's a good anti-war film and the ending will surprise you.

Cary had a small role in one of Carole's earlier films, Sinners in The Sun(1932). A beautifully written movie, where Chester Morris and Carole Lombard love each other, but she is terrified of the life of poverty. So they break up and they drift into lives as a kept woman and a gigolo. Cary Grant, in his second movie, but if you're not paying attention you could easily miss him, his voice was far more distinctive than his good looks at this stage of his career..

Participating Blogs

The Hollywood Revue – Greta Garbo and John Gilbert

Outspoken & Freckled - Nick and Nora Charles

Bogie Film Blog – Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre

Picture Spoilers – Dynamic Duos in Libeled Lady

Stardust – Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck

Caftan Woman – Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Comet Over Hollywood – Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear – Martin and Lewis

Silver Scenes – Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson

Movies Silently - Vilma Banky & Ronald Colman in The Winning of Barbara Worth

Critica Retro – Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp film depictions

Shadows and Satin – Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake

The Joy and Agony of Movies – Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

Greg McCambley on Citizen Screenings - Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in The Third Man

Durnmoose Movie Musings – Abbott & Costello

Silver Screenings – Bob Hope & Bing Crosby in a “Road” picture

The Nitrate Diva – Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich

Weird Flix - Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, 50th Anniversary of Beach Party

The Man on the Flying Trapeze — Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, focus on Hold Your Man

Viv and Larry — Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier (on-screen and off-screen)

The Baz – Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone

Lime Reviews - Charlie Chaplin and Claire Bloom in Limelight

Furious Cinema - Lemmon and Matthau in The Odd Couple

Vienna’s Classic Hollywood – Thelma Ritter and Connie Gilchrist

Cinematic Catharsis – Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula

Krell Laboratories - Special Japanese legends Pairings

Film Flare - Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren

Lindsay’s Movie Musings – Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda’s friendship

The Vintage Cameo – Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra

The Jeanette MacDonald Blog – Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy

The Great Katharine Hepburn – Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant

Classic Movie Man – Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

Virtual Virago – Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney

Be Careful! Your Hand! - Maleficent and her crow Diablo from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty

Noir and Chick Flicks – Carole Lombard and Cary Grant

The Motion Pictures – Cary Grant and Joan Bennett in Big Brown Eyes and Wedding Present

The Stop Button – Lon Chaney Jr and Bela Lugosi

She Blogged by Night – Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi

Hitless Wonder Movie Blog – Evelyn Ankers and Lon Chaney Jr.

Movie Classics – Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Hero Histories – The Lone Ranger & Tonto – film incarnations – Part 1

Secret Sanctum of Captain Video – The Lone Ranger & Tonto – Part 2

Western Comics Adventures – The Lone Ranger & Tonto – Part 3

The Last Drive In – Bette vs. Joan, “Get Back in the Chair Blanche”

The Last Drive In – Bette vs. Joan, “I wouldn’t piss on Joan Crawford if she were on Fire”

Trocadero Baby – Farley Granger and Robert Walker in Strangers on a Train

Terrible Movies – Godzilla and Mothra

Frankly My Dear - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Too Many Girls, The Long Long Trailer and Forever Darling

We Recycle Movies – Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson

The World’s Funniest Dissertation – Laurel and Hardy

Cinemalacrum – Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Godard’s Breathless

Classic Movie Hub – Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont

Citizen Screenings – Batman (1966)

Once Upon a Screen - Crawford and Gable

Topic TBD

Wide Screen World

Goosepimply Allover

Pawsome Pet Pictures: Carole Lombard.

Considered by many to be the prototype for the icy blondes in Alfred Hitchcock's films.

Happy 4th of July!!

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard

Nothing is better than eating watermelon on 4th of July. Every one have a fun and safe  holiday!!

This movie is part of the Carole Lombard Glamour DVD Collection: Man of the World (1931).

Man of the World (1931). Directed by Richard Wallace. Cast: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Wynne Gibson, Lawrence Gray. This was the first of three movies that Powell and Lombard made together. They met on the set and married the same year the movie was released.

Michael Trevor, began his career as a newspaper writer named Jimmie Powers, but because of a huge scandal he leaves the United States. He now runs a scandal newspaper in Paris, making a living on exposing wealthy American men, who come to Paris with their mistresses, but.. as a gentleman, Michael refuses to blackmail women.

Michael's latest story is about Harold Taylor, the soft coal baron of Pennsylvania. Saying that he is a novelist, Michael befriends Taylor, by suggesting that he prosecute the editor of a scandal newspaper, who is about to print a story about him and a beautiful blonde.

Taylor asks Michael to give the editor $2,000 to keep quiet. Soon after he meets Taylor's niece, Mary Kendall, who is in Paris with her boyfriend, Frank Thompson.

After, Frank leaves for business in London, Mary and Michael spend time together and fall in love. He decides to tell her the truth about himself and promises to be a better man, she believes him and accepts his marriage proposal.

Michael's, soon to be ex-girl friend, Irene Harper, who works with him on the scandal sheet, was hoping that Michael would swindle Taylor, out of the money she needed to post bail for her brother back in America.

When Michael tells her that he and Mary are going to marry, Irene goes into a jealous rage and convinces Michael he will never change and that marriage to an ex-con would be unfair to Mary. He agrees with her and tries to convince Mary, that he can not change after all with a scandalous story about Mary and Michael visiting a inn, and wants $10,000 to keep quiet. Will Mary, agree to have her uncle write Michael a check and will Irene, get her revenge for being dumped?

If you are in the mood for a slower paced Powell and Lombard film and the film that brought about their marriage. This film is for you.

Wynne Gibson (July 3, 1905 – May 15, 1987), began her stage career in chorus and was soon playing leads.

She toured Europe then returned to America and tried for a dramatic part but failed and returned to musical comedy.

Paramount signed her on when she was about to film, Nothing But the Truth (1929), which starting her success which continued in 50 films between 1929 and 1956 although many were B movies.

Gibson was a long-time companion of former Warner Brothers actress, Beverly Roberts.

Gibson died in 1987 of a cerebral thrombosis in Laguna Niguel, California, after suffering an attack in the home she shared with Roberts.

Pawsome Pet Picture: Carole Lombard.

Personal Quote:

 "An at-home costume or hostess gown is absolutely essential for the woman who entertains, and for two reasons. First, this type of costume is extremely flattering, and that does wonders for any woman's poise, and secondly, it eliminates the possibility of appearing overdressed in case a guest shows up in a simple daytime outfit. If a woman has a limited wardrobe, it would be wise to sacrifice a second dinner or evening frock for one hostess gown. She'll soon rate it the most valuable asset in her clothes collection".

Love Hollywood Style: Carole Lombard.

Carole Lombard, may have been one of the most beautiful woman to perform on the silver screen. She performed in over 20 films. In October 1930, Lombard met William Powell. They had worked together in the films: Man of the World and Ladies' Man. Unlike many of Lombard's other suitors, Powell was sophisticated.

He loved her humor and charm. They married on June 26, 1931. Lombard commented to fan magazines that she did not believe their sixteen-year age difference would be a problem, but friends felt they were missed matched.

They divorced in 1933, but remained good friends and worked together in the film, My Man Godfrey.

During this time she carried on relationships with actors:

Gary Cooper, was paired with and had a personal relationship with Carole Lombard in, I Take This Woman (1931). A romance film directed by Marion Gering. Based on the 1927 novel Lost Ecstacy by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the film is about a wealthy New York socialite who falls in love and marries a cowboy while staying at her father's ranch out West.

After her father disinherits her, and after a year of living the life of a cowboy's wife, she leaves her husband and returns back east to her family. The film may remind you of the 1940 film, I Take This Woman, starring Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr.

Carole began a relationship with George Raft, while performing in the musical drama, Bolero (1934) . The movie was a rare chance for Raft to star and to play a dancer, which had been his profession in New York City, rather than a gangster. The film takes its title from the Maurice Ravel composition Bolero (1928).

The film opens shortly before World War I. Raoul De Baere is a dancer from New York City, wanting to European nightclub circuit by storm. He tries to get Annette (famed exotic dancer Sally Rand) to be his dancing partner, but she refuses. He hires Helen Hathaway and choreographs a very athletic routine to be accompanied by Ravel's Bolero (an anachronism, as the composition was not written until 1928). He falls in love with Helen, but she marries Lord Robert Coray.

Raoul serves in the United States Army in World War I and returns with a weakened heart. He does not let that stop him and opens a  nightclub in Paris, and hires Annette (now looking for work) as his new partner.

On the opening night,  he finds her to drunk to perform. As luck would have it, Helen is in the audience and agrees to fill in. He overdoes his athletic routine, collapses and dies.

The film predates the Hays Code, and at least two scenes would have been banned by the code:

In one scene: George Raft tells Carole Lombard, to audition in his hotel room, in her underwear and she does.

Later, Rand performs her famous fan dance, in which she hides her nudity with two properly positioned ostrich feather fans. A double was used for Lombard in many of the shots in the dance scenes. Although regarded as a musical, the film has no singing.

Later, Lombard met and began a serious relationship with singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words". Columbo reportedly proposed marriage, but was killed in a shooting accident at the age of 26.

Lombard's most famous relationship came in 1936 when she became involved with Clark Gable. They had worked together  in the film, No Man of Her Own(1932), but at the time, Lombard was still married to Powell.

Unbeknownst to each other they had worked as extras on a silent epic film, The Johnstown Flood(1926). When Gable and Lombard, met again at the Mayfair Ball, of which Lombard was hostess, their romance began to take off.

Gable was married at the time to oil heiress Ria Langham, and the affair was kept quiet. The situation proved a problem in Gable accepting the role of Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. MGM head Louis B. Mayer, made a deal for a reluctant Gable by giving him money to settle a divorce agreement with Langham and marry Lombard.

Gable divorced Langham on March 7, 1939 and proposed to Lombard at the Brown Derby. On March 29, 1939, during a break in production on Gone with the Wind, Gable and Lombard drove out to Kingman, Arizona and were married in a quick ceremony. They bought a ranch in Encino, California previously owned by director Raoul Walsh. They lived there until Lombard's untimely passing.

 

Dueling Divas Blogathon: In Name Only(1939).

In Name Only(1939). Cast: Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. Based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer. This movie was intended to be a reunion for Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, but following the failure of Bringing Up Baby at the box office, Hepburn left RKO after being named "Box Office Poison". Carole Lombard was brought in as her replacement.

Alec Walker, finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage, to a woman who married him only for his money. When he meets Julie, a widow and her daughter Ellen, he quickly falls in love with her.



His wife Maida, has Alec's parents convinced that she is the perfect wife, so when, Alec asks for a divorce, Maida, says that she will sail to Paris to stay with his parents, hoping to prolong the divorce.

Alec, follows Julie to New York, where he proposes to her, Julie accepts. After, returning home on Christmas Eve, Maida promises Julie, that she will never give Alec a divorce, and if he files for one, she will sue Julie for alienation of affections and have her daughter testify in court against her.

After which, Alec and Julie decide to go their own way. It is not long before Alec, becomes very ill with pneumonia. When the doctor says that his only the hope is to be with with Julie, she comes up with the lie that Maida has agreed to a divorce. Maida tells Julie, that she wants all of the Walker family's money and Alec's parents happen to overhear her. Now what will happen to Maida, after she is exposed for the Gold digger she is?

This is the perfect movie to celebrate dueling divas. The performances are wonderful and Lombard, is absolutely gorgeous. I think another good reason to see this film, is to see Kay Francis performance as Maida, Cary Grant's vindictive wife, which is great fun to watch. Lombard's fans won't be disappointed either with her heart-breaking performance.

Both actress break new ground in this classic film, In Name Only(1939). Carole Lombard brings it down a notch from her sexy blonde of screw-ball comedy fame to perform a straight dramatic role. Kay Francis, plays the woman you love to hate. She should have received an academy award for her performance.

Merry Christmas Pictures From all of us here at N and CF.

Carole Lombard

Betty Compson

Carole Lombard

Louise Brooks

Alice White

"Queen of Screwball Comedy": Carole Lombard.

Fun Facts:

At the christening of the California Shipbuilding Corporation's Liberty Ship "S.S. Carole Lombard", Irene Dunne (right) was sponsor and Mrs. Walter Lang, Carole's closest friend (left) was Matron of Honor.

Clark Gable stood on the launching platform during the ceremony which took place one day short of two years from the tragic death of Carole Lombard in a plane accident while returning from a War Bond tour.

After her death, a Liberty ship was named after her.

A 1926 car accident badly cut her face and she was was worried that use of anesthetic during the operation would leave worse scars, so she went under reconstructive surgery without an anesthetic.

Linked romantically to crooner Russ Columbo until his accidental death late in 1934. (January 14, 1908 – September 2, 1934). Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his songs: "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words".

Lombard was listed in the credits of Safety in Numbers (1930), her first Paramount release, as Carole (instead of Carol as in her previous billings). They decided that this would now be the official spelling and she went along with it. She legally changed her name to Carole Lombard in 1936. Only in her first film, A Perfect Crime (1921) did she use her real name, Jane Peters.

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Trust, on the left hand side, next to Clark Gable.

Second cousin of director Howard Hawks, Kenneth Hawks and William B. Hawks.

Cousin-in-law of Mary Astor, Athole Shearer, Bessie Love, Dee Hartford and Eden Hartford.

A natural tomboy who joined in her brothers roughhousing.

She was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the first woman killed in the line of duty in WWII. Roosevelt greatly admired her work for the war effort, and ironically she was returning from an engagement selling War Bonds when her plane crashed.

Her film To Be or Not to Be (1942) was in post-production when she died in a plane crash, and the producers decided to leave out a part that had her character ironically saying, "What can happen in a plane?"

Was called the "Queen of Screwball Comedy".

The Jack Benny radio show that followed her death was cancelled because Benny, a good friend and admirer, was grief-stricken. The time was filled with music instead.

Lucille Ball said she finally decided to go ahead with "I Love Lucy" (1951) when Carole, who had been a close friend, came to her in a dream and recommended she take a chance on the risky idea of entering television.

Considered by many to be the prototype for the icy blondes in Alfred Hitchcock's films.

The plane crash that killed her took place less than a month before the Oscars. Despite her mother's premonition of the disaster, she refused to take a train to Los Angeles. She was in a hurry to get to her husband after hearing of an alleged affair between her husband Clark Gable and Lana Turner who were filming, Somewhere I'll Find You (1942).

Interred next to Clark Gable at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

The decision to take the plane which eventually killed Carole and her mother was decided literally by the flip of a coin, with Carole winning the toss. The plane they took was a military convoy which made many stops in order to pick up troops. After the first stop, an officer requested Carole, her mother and publicist to get off the plane to make room for more troops. Carole reportedly argued with him, stating the fact she had raised more than half a million dollars in war bonds and had the right to stay on. The officer finally conceded, and shortly after, the plane crashed.

Part of her honeymoon with Clark Gable was at the Willows Inn in Palm Springs was built in 1924, with eight rooms featuring luxurious private baths, hand-made tiles, stone fireplaces, hardwood floors, private garden patios and mountain and garden vistas. The Inn continues to operate to this day and anyone can stay in the same room, called "The Library Suite" today. The room remains largely unaltered since the Gables stayed there more than 60 years ago.

Carole Lombard had a little dachshund named Commissioner that ignored Clark Gable completely. After her death in 1942, the dog would not leave Gable's side.

Carole read and loved the book "Gone With the Wind". Excited, she sent a copy of the book to Gable, with a note attached reading "Let's do it!". Gable wrongly assumed she was making a sexual advance to him, and called Carole to organize a date. When he found out Carole wanted to make a film of the book with him as Rhett Butler and herself as Scarlett, he refused, and kept the copy of the book she had given him thereafter in his toilet.

Attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. Was elected "May Queen" in 1924. Quit soon thereafter to pursue acting full time.

She was often doubled by her old school friend, Dixie Pantages. Dixie had an even more unusual background than Carole herself did: she was born in extreme poverty, but when her mother died, she was adopted by the wealthy Pantages family so that their own daughter, a childhood playmate of Dixie's, could have a sister. When that happened, her name changed legally from Dixie Nelson to Dixie Pantages as a result of the adoption becoming legal.

Twice turned down opportunities to play a newspaperwoman, in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and His Girl Friday (1940).

She never had a dressing room when shooting a movie. Instead, she preferred to socialize with the cast and crew members during her breaks.

After her death, the Van Nuys News ran an unusual front page tribute: "Down deep in their hearts, those who had chatted with her over the back fence or across a garden row knew that Carole Lombard wanted more than anything else to be a model housewife and a good neighbor. And she was just that. She was a loveable person, just as much at home in blue denims and ginghams as she was in furs and jewels.".

She was good friends with Gloria Swanson.

Gable and Lombard first met in late 1924 while working as extras on the set of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925). They would make three films together as extras, Ben-Hur, The Johnstown Flood (1926) and The Plastic Age (1925) and star together in No Man of Her Own (1932), but not become romantically attached until 1936.

Turned down the part of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night (1934). Claudette Colbert was then given the role and won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. (1999).

When touring Hearst's Castle, San Simeon, they show you a second floor bedroom where they say Carole Lombard and Clark Gable spent their wedding night. It's a room with a beautiful view and a huge water storage tank rests hidden above it. The water was gravity fed from an adjoining hill to provided water to the Castle.

In 1938, Carole Lombard spent one day as Honorary Mayor of Culver City. Her first official duty was to declare the day a holiday, and tell all the studio employees they could go home!

Carole Lombard’s first screen kiss was Buck Jones in Durand of the Badlands (1925). Buck was a motion picture star of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, best known for his work starring in western movies.

She made a screentest for Charlie Chaplin’s Goldrush movie.

Her favorite color was white.

She hated the color pink.

Her legendary outbursts of profanity were actually fashioned after silent movie star, Mae Murray(pictured above).  Please click here to learn more about, Mae Murray.

Carole Lombard’s favorite flower was the lily.

Of all her films, Lombard considered “Nothing Sacred” to have been her personal favorite. A screwball comedy film. It was directed by William A. Wellman and produced by David O. Selznick, from a screenplay credited to Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street. Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Walter Connolly, Charles Winninger, Margaret Hamilton, Hattie McDaniel, Frank Fay and Max Rosenbloom. The music score was by Oscar Levant, with additional music by Alfred Newman and Max Steiner and a swing number by Raymond Scott's Quintette.

New York newspaper reporter Wally Cook tries to pass off a African-American as an African nobleman hosting a charity event. But things backfires for Cook, who is demoted to writing obituaries. He begs his boss Oliver Stone for another chance. Wally is sent to the (fictional) town of Warsaw, Vermont, to interview Hazel Flagg, a woman supposedly dying of radium poisoning.

Cook finally locates Hazel, who is crying because her doctor has told her that she is not dying. Unaware of this, he invites her to New York, where she receives a ticker tape parade and the key to the city. She and Wally fall in love. When it is discovered that Hazel is not dying, the city officials decide that it would be better to avoid embarrassment by saying she committed suicide. Hazel and Wally get married and set sail on their honeymoon.