I was doing a read up on Mutiny on the Bounty which i'll be watching tonight and I came across this in the facts section of IMDB's entry of the film
Irving Thalberg cast Clark Gable and Charles Laughton together in the hope that they would hate each other, making their on screen sparring more lifelike. He knew that Gable, a notorious homophobe, would not care for Laughton's overt homosexuality and would feel inferior to the RADA-trained Shakesperaean actor. Relations between the two stars broke down completely after Laughton brought his boyfriend to the island.
How true is that little story? and how did Laughton keep his sexuality so under wraps or was it an open secret even to moviegoers of the day?
I have no idea about the truth of the story, but having read comments from his contemporaries it would appear that it wasn't much of a secret that Laughton was gay. I get the impression it was less of an issue because he was by no means a sex symbol, and also he wasn't American.
He was married to an actress named Elsa Lancaster, who also happened to be gay, and I think their marriage helped deflect a lot of attention.
I have read various accounts of Clark Gable's homophobia and his insecurity about his ability, so the story seems plausible at the very least.
There were others who were schedule for roles.Wallace Beery turned down the role of Capt Bligh because he didn't like Clark Gable. Clark Gable was disappointed when Franchot Tone was cast as Byam. The two actors had been bitter rivals for the affections of Joan Crawford, and did not like each other at all.
MGM wanted Cary Grant to play Byam, but Grant was under contract to Paramount, which refused to release him. Franchot Tone's role was originally intended for Robert Montgomery. from imdB.COM
Interesting, it would of been different picture.
Bill (vallo)
"We're all forgotten sooner or later. But not films. That's all the memorial we should need or hope for."
-Burt Lancaster
[quote]Irving Thalberg cast Clark Gable and Charles Laughton together in the hope that they would hate each other, making their on screen sparring more lifelike. He knew that Gable, a notorious homophobe, would not care for Laughton's overt homosexuality and would feel inferior to the RADA-trained Shakesperaean actor. quote]
I'd bet hard cash that Irv also knew exactly why Gable was such a galloping homophobe, as he was also an old chum of Georgie Cukor.
The only surprise to me is that Selznick & the studio heads at MGM ever tried putting Gable & Cukor together on the set of GWTW!
I've got a bit lost about Cukor and Gable. Gable didn't like Cukor, he was a ladies director, he didn't like him either because he was a homophobe.
I'm I a little slow on the uptake here. Why was Gable such a homophobe in the first place? If it can't be described on a thread would somebody fill me in via PMs
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
I think that we can talk about this here. After all, it only refers to rumors that are at least 75 years old now!
Here's what I've heard about the rumors in a nutshell:
Clark Gable, as a struggling actor in the theatre and movies was constantly having to deal with many homosexual men and women. There are rumors, all hearsay and presented without any proof, that Mr. G. had been "involved" in one night stands with several men in a position to help his career during his rise to movie stardom. Many of these rumors have been perpetuated by "writers" such as Kenneth Anger or the Charles Higham variety who a.) don't mind defaming the dead, b.) really think that everyone good looking must be gay, or that all humans are bisexual (yeah, right, as though liking one sex isn't confusing enough for most of us), c.) don't mind making a buck off dead famous people who can't defend themselves and d.) weren't there and don't know much, though that never stopped these guys.
Of course this is all between Gable's numerous intensely heterosexual affairs with a series of smitten women and two marriages, both, prior to Carole Lombard, to older, moneyed women who could and did help him in his career and in building up his self-confidence. Oh, yes, he also had a smidge of talent too, but people like to forget that. Btw, Lombard, who reportedly famously said that her beloved husband wasn't Mr. Macho in the sack, seemed to love him anyway...so, who cares?
Here's my opinion, worth about 2 cents:
We'll never know what might have happened to Clark Gable during his life. Nor should we.Clark Gable was a kid from Ohio with no education and few family ties who had to get by as best he could. He worked hard in the theatre for 15 years before getting anywhere. I don't think he was a very sophisticated guy in some ways, but he had some street smarts, and, any good-looking kid on his own attracts all kinds of people. He worked hard, developed his verbal skills to a high degree, (a fact that many overlook), became more polished in his appearance, (many biographers credit his second wife for really helping him in the sartorial grooming area), and, thanks to an appearance in a small role in The Easiest Way (1931) as an angry working class husband, he arrested audience attention, including that of Norma Shearer, who brought him to her husband Irving Thalberg's attention.
In Eli Wallach's recent memoir, he recalled long hours spent in Gable's bemused, down to earth and literate company (he did read, contrary to another rumor). During this time, Gable mentioned that Lionel Barrymore was instrumental in getting him a screen test after seeing him in the West Coast production of The Last Mile. Clark thought the test was awful, especially since he was dressed in a sarong of some sort, with a flower behind his ear for some south seas pic. Gable always feared looking foolish or incompetent, and he looked both in that ill fated screen test. Shaving off his moustache, wearing his hair in pony tail, and wearing britches in the 18th century style all felt awkward to the rather new MGM star and all were requirements for Fletcher Christian.
Charles Laughton, according to his biographer Simon Callow, was somewhat effeminate on the set at times but could also be a bit forbidding to work with even then, though he was obviously highly talented. However, especially in the early stages of his movie career, Laughton was known for an excessive hamminess on the set as he strove to "find his characters", and this was often--fortunately, edited down in many of his greatest screen portrayals of that stage of his career, as in Ruggles of Red Gap and Inspector Javert in Les Misérables. Laughton was also a very professionally dedicated person, despite his eccentricities and according to Callow, was often quite shy, especially about his homosexuality, which caused him great conflict as a person.
Re Cukor: Given the above elements, I don't think that Gable would be comfortable with Cukor on GWTW either. Gable's antipathy toward Cukor may have been a manifestation of his aversion to openly gay men, it may have stemmed from an encounter with Cukor during Gable's early years in Hollywood, or it may also have been a manifestation of his frustration over his lousy contract at MGM, forcing him to work as a salaried hired hand (with no profit participation) in something he didn't want to do once again, such as GWTW. Another aspect of Cukor's working style that might have put Gable off was that he would often act out a part for a person he was working with, including asking an actor or actress to mimic precisely his inflections in a role. Many actors (straight and gay) found this maddening and sometimes felt like puppets. Unfortunately for their egos and artistic license, Cukor's puppetmaster manipulations also resulted in some darn fine performances. But, Victor Fleming was much more laid back and a personal friend of Gable's too.
Thank you Moira that has given me a clearer insight. I thought perhaps there was something concrete I didn't know about with Cukor and Gable. I share your annoyance with 'authors' who malign the dead. 2 + 2 = whatever they want it to to sell a book. It makes for a much more interesting story if you add a bit of sex in to spice it up, that way you have more chance of selling syndication rights. I get more and more cynical with each passing day.
I read a biography not so long ago that didn't mention the animosity between Gable and Cukor apart from saying that Gable was a man's man so was uncomfortable with Cukor, the biggest reason was that Cukor spent all his energies directing Vivien and Olivia.
My question with Cukor is did any other actors have problems being directed by him or do rumours just concern Gable?
I think people also don't take account of how much Clark Gable didn't want to play Rhett Butler. He didn't think he could do it credit and this was the most talked about role and everybody wanted him. He could have been lousy, he could have failed miserably under the pressure.
The biography did impress on my how different the finely MGM polished Gable was from the boy born in near poverty with no real supportive family to call his own. The difference was huge and he transition amazing. It didn't happen overnight, it took two wives and MGM to help but the change had to come from Clark himself.
Clark Gable has always come across as one of the least big headed stars in Hollywood. He remembered where he came from and seemed bemused at all the female attention he got.
When they called him the king, I don't think they got him far wrong.
Charles Laughton, I honestly don't know that much about. I suspected he was homosexual but I didn't know. Perhaps he is more know here for being a big ham and his role in Hobson's Choice. In my mind he is the person who directed The Night of the Hunter. A pity he was never given another directing job.
Thanks again for filling me in Moira
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Glad I could help a little CCfan. You might enjoy the British actor Simon Callow's books. His biographies of Orson Welles & Charles Laughton are very understanding and insightful and when he doesn't know something, he tends to say so, but, will report what aspects of a person's life he can accurately report as fact, and let the reader know that other things are not verifiable at all times.
I've never come across a good biography of Clark Gable yet, has anyone else? He seems overdue for a decent writer like Scott Eyman or Jeffrey Meyers or Neal Gabler to take a crack at his life and the strange fact that his reputation has simply fallen away to dust among the general public since his death. Why, I wonder? Too old fashioned? Not edgy enough? Too many of the same sort of roles in his long career at MGM? At least he had a great last part as the aging cowboy in The Misfits, (though I would love to have seen him and Bogart in the John Huston planned adaptation of "The Man Who Would Be King").
My question with Cukor is did any other actors have problems being directed by him or do rumours just concern Gable?
George Cukor is said by several sources, including his own biographer Patrick McGilligan in A Double Life: George Cukor and Anthony Quinn in one of his autobiographies, One Man Tango to have occasionally expressed a personal romantic interest in some of the young men he worked with in the movies, most of which went unrequited. The talented and generous Cukor, who is sadly said to have regarded himself as too ugly to be lovable, seemed to separate his work and private life as best he could, though they sometimes affected one another and he had a group of longtime friends, some straight and many gay, as well as drifters, as part of a regular Sunday gathering at his home. In addition to this, he was especially noted for helping those older actors in need of financial and emotional assistance throughout his life. When he could he would employ them in his pictures and often arrange for others to hire them. He occasionally even helped some people he met on the fringes of Hollywood to get the heck out of the shaky world of show biz and to get a college education. Some were gay, some were straight. Among those best known figures he is noted for helping a great deal behind the scenes are Billie Burke, Constance Collier, and Ethel Barrymore, among others.
Moira, I think you've hit the nail on the head with your summation of Gable's pre-fame life.
And, not giving away too much dirt, I will tell you that 'the casting couch' in Hollywood didn't only welcome the ladies - I can tell you that the 5 top male box office stars of the Golden Age were all "had" one way or another. I've heard it from people who knew.....
Gable's first wife, Josephine Dillon, was a drama and dialogue coach and one of her clients was Mae Murray. Presto-bongo, who became an extra in "The Merry Widow"? And, who got his teeth fixed after arising from 'the merry widow's couch'???
Gable's second wife, Ria Langham, was a great friend of my grandmother and when Clark married Lady Sylvia Ashley in the late 40's, she said, "Well, he's come a long way from selling his dick to the first comer!"... I heard her say it......
But don't get me wrong, I still think he was the "King of the Movies" and nobody's come close to him for star screen presence - ever....
I have to add one last thing about Gable and Rhett. Did you ever closely read the description of Rhett Butler when Scarlett sees him the first time at the bottom of the stairway at Twelve Oaks? The description is a "to the tea" picture of Clark Gable. Long ago I read an interview with Margaret Mitchell who said she had a crush on Clark since the first time she saw him on screen and when she was writing GWTW, she had Clark in mind when describing Rhett.
Anne
Anne
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Anne, Rhett is Clark so completely in description, it was a massive character for him to give life too.
I wouldn't rate the biogrpahy I read about Gable, bad grammar for one, too much supposition about what Gable was thinking when nobody knows.
I will look out for the Simon Callow book on Orson. I've long wanted to read a good biography of this fascinating man.
Thanks for filling me in on Cukor too. He was best known for women's films. Your description of his private life shows a very kind, considerate man who had his fair share of low self esteem.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
And lest it be thought that I posted-in just to splash a little mud on the gifted-but-troubled Mr. Cukor, let me bounce another couple nickels off the curb by stating that I stand in pretty fair appreciation of his career achievements, and in particular, shall always be grateful for his directorial contributions to one of my all-time faves: 1949's Adam's Rib.
Lifestyle expressions notwithstanding, the man knew his craft!
I have to agree with you there my favorites are Dinner At Eight and The Philadelphia Story.
There's someone else that rumours have always flown around, Cary Grant, even in the newish biography on him by Mark Eliot. All because he lived with Randolph Scott. I've never to this day read anything to suggest that the relationship was anything but buddies, . Perhaps someone else has?
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
I HATED that Marc Eliot bio, Alison, even though I read the dang thing, (I feel guilty if I start a book and don't finish it. dumb, huh?). Please don't take this as a criticism of you at all, but I thought that the author ascribed all kinds of self-serving motives to every action in 70 odd years of living to Cary Grant. Not only was he certain Mr. Grant was completely homosexual, (The very funny, blunt comments of Betsy Drake in the wonderful, even handed documentary Cary Grant: A Class Apart seem a lot more reliable on this topic than Eliot's book, which I actually wound up throwing across the room). Maybe Grant and Scott were bisexual, big deal, maybe they also knew that things might not pan out in Hollywood so they could save a few pennies by rooming together. Does it matter?
According to this Eliot guy, Grant pinched every penny (anyone who grew up in the poverty he did might have good reason to be frugal), only married five times to protect his gayness from revelation,(maybe he just wasn't cut out for marriage, huh?), and this "writer" even makes up thoughts that he says Cary Grant had in the 1930s. Yeah, right. He also uses a bibliography that consists largely of already published secondary sources.
Frankly, I think Marc Eliot was, like a million other guys, jealous of Cary Grant, 'cause, hell, he wasCary Grant and, though the actor started out life with a thousand reasons to feel sorry for himself and never make anything of himself and plenty of real misfortune bordering on tragedy in his young life, (especially when he was told that his mentally ill mother was dead), he chose to do the best he could with the bounty nature gave him and for 50 wonderful years, the man made millions of people happy to see him. Oh, yeah, one more thing---he made it all look easy!
End of rant. Climbing down from soap box now...shuffling away. Sorry.
