- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (Oct 25 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307237141
- ISBN-13: 978-0307237149
- Product Dimensions: 15.6 x 2.2 x 23.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 558 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #309,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
While throngs of female fans may have worshiped Gable, Harris illustrates that the "King of Hollywood" 's true self was barely visible beyond the camera's glare. Born in 1901 in rural Ohio to a "wildcatter" father and a mother who died not a year after he was born, Gable seemed more suited to becoming an oilrig operator than a movie star. But by the early 1920s, he had found his road to the big time: women. Harris pulls no punches in describing how the man who would become the "King" used many a queen including his first two wives to reach the status of celebrity. From Gable's early days with traveling stage shows to his fast climb up the Hollywood ladder, Harris (Gable and Lombard) presents a not-so-attractive side of Gable to combat his romanticized star image. His never-ending womanizing, utter denial of an illegitimate daughter and his insecurity over his acting abilities are qualities never before so illustrated in print. To most, Clark Gable stood alone atop the motion-picture world in 1939. He'd won an Oscar for his performance in It Happened One Night, had just completed his role as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind and had finally settled down with actor Carole Lombard, his third and he was sure would be final wife. Three years later, Lombard died in a plane crash. Her death changed everything. While Harris never says so explicitly, his description of Gable's string of box-office bombs, increased appetite for Scotch, and bitterness toward MGM executives make it plain that Gable had lost his one true love and his vigor for life. Those who wish to keep Gable on the pedestal Hollywood built for him should beware. Harris isn't as kind as Hollywood. Agents, Dan Strone and Owen Laster.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
A recent trend in Hollywood biographies is to abandon the tabloid style in favor of a more scholarly approach. These two new biographies on Clark Gable follow this trend. Harris (Gable and Lombard) has produced a thoroughly researched account of Gable, complete with facts on the writers, producers, studios, costars, and Gable's many lovers. The biography also offers a history of how Hollywood moguls controlled every aspect of a star's creation. The most appealing chapters are on the Gable-Lombard romance, which tragically ended when Lombard perished in a plane crash. Spicer, who teaches professional writing at Victoria University, Australia, offers a take on Gable that is close to Harris's in style and content, sometimes even using the same quotes and description of events. Factual inconsistencies do exist e.g., Harris states that Gable's best friend, Eddie Mannix, called him with the news of Lombard's death, while Spicer has the call coming from Gable's publicist, Larry Barbier. But both bios follow the same format and progression of Gable's life and career, and both offer new information not found in what are at least 15 previous biographies on Gable, one of the best being Lyn Tornabene's 1976 Long Live the King. There are, however, differences between the two books. Harris used his previous research, which includes mostly firsthand accounts from Gable's associates, while Spicer relied heavily on secondary sources that include newspaper and magazine articles as well as Harris's Gable and Lombard. Harris's filmography is more detailed, and he includes an eight-page photo spread, while Spicer's book features photos throughout. Finally, Harris's style is crisper, faster paced, and more interesting; Spicer adds too many little details and becomes too wordy. Both books are recommended, but considering writing style, content, accuracy, and price, Harris's work should be first choice. Rosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., FL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intreging look at the life of Clark Gable,
By
This review is from: Clark Gable: A Biography (Hardcover)
I found this book to be very informative. If you want to know more about Clark Gable this is the book for you. The book gives alot of detailed information about his life growing up in Oklahoma, the early struggles and sucessess he had growing up, his growing ambition to be an actor and his MANY romances(Joan Crawford, Loretta Young, William Randolph Hearst's mistress, and Grace Kelly to name a few) and marriages(most notably to Carole Lombard and Kay Spreakles) along the way to stardom. It tells in great detail his grieve at the death of Carole Lombard and how he joined the air force after in the hopes that he would crash his plane and be reunited with the love of his life. It also goes into detail about his last years, happy and contented with two step children and his wife, and finally his last days making The Misfits and very happy in the fact that he was going to have a child he could claim as his own (he has a daughter Judy Lewis by Loretta Young) and the heart attack that claimed his life at the age of 59 before he could see his son John Clark Gable who was born the March after he died. (Ironically Clark had his heart attack on his daughters 25th birthday and died on his granddaughter's 1st birthday). The book goes into detail about the early years of Clark's acting career doing plays and gives details about every single one of Clark's movies as well as amousing anecdotes that happened during such movies as Parnell (during a death scene the directer had Clark and Myrna Loy listen to sad music to get them in a somber place and Clark complained to Carole about it. The next day when the director called for the sombor music they got a blues verson of "I'll be glade when your dead you rascal you) or Gone With the Wind (After the scene when Bonnie Blue Butler is being born and Mamie and Rhett are celebrating with alcohol Clark and Hattie McDaniels were drinking water. After several takes Hattie complained about it so Clark switched it with real alcohol and did not tell her until after she had drinken it. The next day when he saw her on the set he called to her "Hey Mamie how's your hangover?) It is really a very good book, and I would recommend it to any Clark Gable fan.
1.0 out of 5 stars
An insult!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Clark Gable: A Biography (Hardcover)
Another terrible bio about Gable. A big insult to his artistry, an offence to his memory.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Drivel,
By Theodora T. Tauber (Palm Springs, Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Clark Gable: A Biography (Hardcover)
Tragedy is the first word that comes to mind after reading the latest effort by biographer, Warren G. Harris. A tragedy it is that such a very poorly written and long-winded diatribe could have made it to press. This book is no more than a collage of information, better written by biographers preceding Mr. Harris. Awful does not even begin to describe the book's lack of journalistic bearing.Mr. Harris' personality takes center stage even if the book is about the life of the notable Mr. Gable. Barbed comments abound which instead of shedding light on the book's subject matter, seem to be included to ridicule its subject. Instead of delving deeper into the life of Mr. Gable, Mr. Harris belabors whatever industry gossip he unearths and uses this unsubstantiated information to propel paragraphs of his own personal musings. He poses rhetorical questions, which with a little bit of research on his part could have been answered factually, the rhetorical query causally becoming completely moot.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
