Sorry, your browser doesn't support Java. Plot Synopses of My Favorite Gable Films Across the Wide Missouri Gable plays outdoors man Flint Mitchell in this Western about French and Scottish trappers in Indian territory. He marries Indian princess, Kamiah (Maria Elena Marques) and has a son, which enrages cruel Ironshirt (Ricardo Montalban), who wanted her for himself. Memorable scenes involve fellow trapper Pierre (Adolphe Menjou) madly running around in clanking armor, a warm scene of the trappers singing Christmas carols in French on a snowy winter night, & the murder of Kamiah's father, Bear Ghost (Jack Holt), by one of the trappers, which leads to the film's climax. Ironshirt, seeking revenge against Flint for marrying Kamiah and against the trappers for the murder of Bear Ghost attacks them and kills Kamiah. Her horse, with the baby still strapped in his papoose, is frightened by the rifle fire and races off with Ironshirt hot in pursuit, intent on killing the child. Flint chases after them and defeats Ironshirt after an intense battle. Flint then devotes his life to raising his son. Major Credits Producer - Robert Sisk Director - William A. Wellman Adventure "Gable's Back and Garson's Got Him!" was the advertising slogan for his first film after service in World War II. Gable plays Harry Patterson, a hard-drinking, womanizing sailor, who falls in love with San Francisco librarian, Emily Sears (Greer Garson), while on leave. Emily is not your ordinary librarian. She punches a man in a bar, has a floozy, Helen Melohn (Joan Blondell), for a roommate and wins the respect and admiration of Gable's best friend and fellow sailor Mudgin (Thomas Mitchell), who's searching for the soul he's sure he lost through his bad deeds. Harry marries Emily in Nevada and then takes her back to her San Francisco apartment where she nobly sets him free to live his life at sea. Harry and Mudgin set sail and Mudgin is killed during the trip, finding his soul on his deathbed and convincing Harry to go back to Emily. When Harry returns he finds out that Emily is due to have their baby. She hadn't told him about her pregnancy for fear he would return to her only out of a sense of obligation. Emily gives birth to an apparently stillborn son until Harry says the first prayer he's ever said in his life and the child lives, reuniting Harry and Emily. Major Credits Producer - Sam Zimbalist Director - Victor Fleming Band of Angels Gable plays Hamish Bond in this Civil War costume drama based on a novel by Robert Penn Warren. Amantha Starr (Yvonne DeCarlo) is definitely having a bad day. First, her father dies and leaves her penniless forcing her to leave the expensive girls' school she's been attending, then she finds out that her mother was African and is sold as a slave. She's bought by handsome, rich plantation owner Hamish and he sets her up in the lap of luxury. At first, she hates him, but eventually falls in love with him and becomes his mistress. The Civil War breaks out and they are driven from their plantation. RauRu (Sidney Poitier) is Hamish Bond's African overseer. RauRu was adopted by Hamish as a child and was well treated. RauRu joins the Union Army to get back at Hamish for what he feels was patronizing behavior. He also wants to hurt Amantha for giving herself to Hamish. After destroying the plantation's crops, Amantha and Hamish attempt flight to a different residence, but are discovered by RauRu (say that 10 times fast), who realizes Hamish was actually good to him and permits their escape. Major Credits Director - Raoul Walsh Gone with the Wind (1939) Gone with the Wind is arguably the greatest motion picture ever made. Based on Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winning novel of 1936, it tells the tale of Georgian Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) from immediately preceding the Civil War through Reconstruction. Gable, in his most famous role and one he had to be convinced to play, portrays Charlestonian Rhett Butler, a handsome, devilish adventurer and ladies' man. Scarlett resides with her parents, Gerald and Ellen (Thomas Mitchell and Barbara O'Neil), two sisters, Suellen and Careen (Evelyn Keyes and Ann Rutherford) and numerous servants, most notably Mammy, Pork, Prissy and Big Sam (Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Polk, Butterfly McQueen and Everett Brown) in Georgia on the beautiful plantation Tara. Scarlett is entertaining the Tarleton twins Brent and Stuart (Fred Crane and George Reeves) on Tara's veranda, flirting and trying to get information from them about Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), the man she loves obsessively. She sees her father riding wildly and runs to meet him. She complains about life at Tara and her Irish father tells her "land is the only thing worth living for, worth dying for -- it's the only thing that lasts". Scarlett dresses for the barbeque at Twelve Oaks, Ashley's father's plantation, and decides to wear a dress Mammy finds inappropriate, "you can't show your bosom before three o'clock". Scarlett wears the dress anyway. Much takes place at the Twelve Oaks barbeque. Scarlett is surrounded by beaus with the notable exception of Ashley. She confronts Ashley in the library and discovers he's engaged to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton (Olivia De Havilland). She slaps his face and he exits the room. Still in a rage she flings a vase at the mantel and Rhett sits up on the sofa where he had been concealed from Scarlett and Ashley and had overheard their entire conversation. Rhett immediately knows Scarlett for what she is and when she tells him he's no gentleman he responds, "And you, Miss, are no lady". The men have a heated debate about the prospect of war with the North and Rhett is the only one who thinks the South will lose, provoking Melanie's brother Charles Hamilton (Rand Brooks) to challenge him to a duel, which Rhett declines, not out of cowardice, but knowing he's a great shot and would certainly kill Charles. A rider arrives at Twelve Oaks and announces the Civil War has begun. All the men, except Ashley and Rhett, are jubilant. Scarlett, meanwhile, has been flirting with Ashley's sister India's fiance, Charles Hamilton. Charles proposes marriage and Scarlett accepts after seeing Ashley kiss Melanie. Ashley and Melanie and Charles and Scarlett are married before the men go off to war. Scarlett is soon a widow as Charles dies of pneumonia. To bring her out of her depression, Ellen suggests a trip to Aunt Pittypat's in Atlanta. Scarlett is more than happy to go and Mammy is the only one who realizes she only wants to go to Atlanta because Melanie is there and she'll get to see Ashley when he's home on leave. In Atlanta Scarlett meets Rhett again at a ball and scandalizes the crowd when she dances with him while still in mourning. Ashley comes home on leave and Scarlett begs him to tell her that he loves her. Being a weak-willed man, he complies with her request. He then returns to the war, which the South is losing badly, leaving Scarlett and a pregnant Melanie behind. As Sherman advances on Atlanta, Melanie goes into labor. Scarlett goes to get Dr. Meade (Harry Davenport) at the railroad yard, which serves as a makeshift hospital to thousands of wounded Confederate soldiers, and is told he can't leave to deliver a baby. Scarlett goes back to Aunt Pitty's hoping Prissy, who bragged about being a midwife, will be able to handle the birth. Scarlett slaps Prissy when she finds out Prissy lied about her abilities, "I don't know nothin' about birthin' babies". Scarlett manages to deliver Melanie's son, Beau, with little assistance from Prissy. Scarlett learns that the Yankees have entered Atlanta and sends Prissy to the local bordello run by madam Belle Watling (Ona Munson) to get Rhett. He arrives with a nag and a wagon and takes Scarlett, Melanie and Prissy out of a burning Atlanta toward Tara. Rhett is touched by the bedraggled Confederate soldiers and ashamed he hadn't joined them in battle. He kisses Scarlett good bye against a fiery sky and leaves to join the Confederate Army. Scarlett manages to get back to Tara, which has been ravaged by the war. She finds her mother dead of typhoid fever, her father gone mad, her sisters ill with fever and the only servants remaining are Mammy and Pork. There's no food and no prospects of getting any. Scarlett, starving, runs to the field, eats a root, vomits and standing with fist raised declares, "I'll lie, cheat, steal or kill, but I'll never be hungry again! As God is my witness!" Scarlett, determined to revive Tara, puts everyone to work picking cotton, much to the dislike of her family. One day a Yankee deserter appears and attempts to steal Ellen's jewels. Scarlett shoots him and Melanie and she hide the body and keep the shooting a secret. The Civil War ends and Ashley comes home. Scarlett wants them to run away to Mexico, but Ashley won't leave Melanie and Beau. Scarlett owes $300 in back taxes on Tara and has no way to pay the debt. Tara's former overseer Jonas Wilkerson (Victor Jory), now a rich carpetbagger, offers to buy the plantation and Scarlett throws dirt in his face. Jonas drives away screaming threats and Gerald takes off wildly on horseback, is thrown and dies. Scarlett, desperate to save Tara, gets Mammy to make her an outfit from the living room drapes and is off to Atlanta to convince Rhett, who's being held prisoner by Union soldiers, to give her the tax money. Rhett believes her act until he sees her hands, roughened from hard work. He refuses to give her the money. Outside the jail Scarlett spots Suellen's beau Frank Kennedy (Carroll Nye), a successful businessman. She plays up to him and gets him to marry her and save Tara. Ashley plans to take Melanie and Beau to New York, but Scarlett complains to Melanie that Ashley is being mean not wanting to stay and help her build a lumber business in Atlanta. Melanie chastises Ashley and, of course, he gives up his plans and stays. Scarlett builds a thriving lumber mill and becomes quite brazen, driving her buggy alone through Shantytown where she's attacked and saved by Tara's former foreman, Big Sam. Ashley, Frank and some other men carry out a vigilante raid on Shantytown. Ashley is wounded and Frank is killed. Rhett saves them from arrest by telling the Union officer that they were with him at Belle Watling's. Rhett proposes to Scarlett while she's between husbands and they get married and go to New Orleans on their honeymoon. Rhett spends a fortune to restore Tara to its original grandeur and builds a lavish mansion in Atlanta. They have a daughter, Bonnie Blue (Cammie King), but afraid of spoiling her figure, Scarlett doesn't want more children and refuses to sleep with Rhett. At the lumber mill Scarlett comforts a depressed Ashley by holding him which is seen by onlookers and reported back to Rhett, who believes it was a lover's embrace. Rhett gets drunk and forces himself on Scarlett, then goes to London taking Bonnie with him. Bonnie has nightmares and wants her mother, so Rhett brings her back to Atlanta. When they arrive, Rhett remarks that Scarlett isn't looking well and she informs him she's pregnant. They have a vicious argument and Scarlett falls down the stairs causing a miscarriage. Scarlett calls for Rhett after the accident, but no one hears her ask for him. Adding to this tragedy, Bonnie is killed in a horseback riding accident. Rhett takes her body to the nursery and refuses to allow anyone in or for her to buried because she was so frightened of the dark. Mammy asks Melanie to speak to him and she convinces Rhett to permit the burial. After talking to Rhett, Melanie collapses and asks to be taken to her own home to die. Scarlett visits Melanie on her deathbed and Melanie asks her to look after Ashley and little Beau. After Melanie's death Scarlett realizes, too late, that she's really loved Rhett all along. Rhett is no longer in love with her and plans to leave for Charleston. Scarlett asks him, "But if you go what'll I do"? As Rhett exits he says, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!". A distraught Scarlett comforts herself with thoughts of Tara, her source of strength, and says, "Tara ... Home ... I'll go home ... There must be some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day". Awards Nominated for Best Actor of 1939 - Clark Gable Nominated for Best Supporting Actress of 1939 - Olivia De Havilland Nominated for Best Score of 1939 - Max Steiner Nominated for Best Sound Recording of 1939 - Thomas T. Moulton Nominated for Best Special Effects of 1939 - John R. Cosgrove, Fred Albin, Arthur Johns Winner Best Picture of 1939 Winner Best Actress of 1939 - Vivien Leigh Winner Best Supporting Actress of 1939 - Hattie McDaniel Winner Best Director of 1939 - Victor Fleming Winner Best Screenplay of 1939 - Sidney Howard Winner Best Art Direction/Set Direction of 1939 - Lyle Wheeler Winner Best Color Cinematography of 1939 - Ernest Haller, Ray Rennahan Winner Best Film Editing of 1939 - Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom Winner Honorary and Other Awards of 1939 - William Cameron Menzies Major credits Producer - David O. Selznick Director - Victor Fleming, George Cukor and others. Hold Your Man Gable plays Edward Huntington Hall (Eddie) a wise cracking petty crook in this Anita Loos story. Eddie and pal Slim (Gary Owen) are trying to pull off a jewelry scam, but their pigeon gets wise and calls the cops. Eddie is desperate for a place to hide and runs into Ruby Adams'(Jean Harlow) unlocked apartment catching her in the tub. When the cops come Ruby tries to get rid of them but they insist on searching the place and find Eddie in the tub. He pretends to be Ruby's husband, she gets the drift, follows his lead and the cops leave. Ruby and Eddie are noticeably attracted to each other. Ruby makes her date Al Simpson (Stuart Erwin), from whom she has just scammed her rent money, take her to a club that she knows is Eddie's hangout. Sure enough, Eddie is there and Ruby and he pretend they're old school chums. They dance and Eddie asks her to ditch Al and come to his apartment. She refuses at first, but eventually makes the excuse of illness and has Al take her home. Later, she goes to Eddie's apartment and they dance to the song "Hold Your Man". In bursts Slim with 2 floozies, one of them Eddie's old girlfriend Gypsy (Dorothy Burgess). Gypsy is drunk and furious. She says to Ruby, "Who are you?". Ruby replies, "The Queen of Sheba". Gypsy goes after Ruby and Ruby slugs her. Slim quickly takes the 2 floozies elsewhere, leaving Eddie and Ruby alone and they become lovers. Ruby is very hurt the next morning when Eddie treats her like a tramp, but she still loves him. Slim tells Eddie about an easy "job" that can't miss. They go through with the scheme and Slim gets away, but Eddie goes to jail. Eddie gets out of jail shortly before Christmas and comes home to an apartment that Ruby has fixed up for him. Ruby leaves a letter from one of her wealthy admirers, Aubrey C. Mitchell (Paul Hurst) where Eddie will see it to make him jealous. Slim and Eddie come up with a plan to scam Aubrey and Ruby writes to him and asks him to come see her for Christmas. When Aubrey arrives the scam goes awry, Eddie and Aubrey fight and Aubrey is accidently killed, although Slim, Eddie and Ruby think he's just knocked out. Eddie asks Ruby to marry him and they go get a license, but when they come back to the apartment building, a crowd has gathered and Ruby is arrested. Eddie and Slim get away. Ruby is sent to the Women's Reformatory and ends up with Gypsy as one of her roommates. Ruby also discovers she's pregnant with Eddie's baby. Al Simpson comes to visit and offers to marry her, but she refuses. Eddie finds out she's pregnant and shows up at the prison so Ruby and he can be married, although this puts him at great risk of being captured for Aubrey's murder. With much help from the friends she's made in prison, they're reunited in a tender scene and married, just before Eddie is taken to prison. After Eddie has served his time, Al Simpson arranges for Eddie to get a job with his firm in Cincinnati and Eddie, Ruby and their son reunite at the depot to begin their new life together. Major Credits Producer & Director - Sam Wood It Happened One Night [IHON] Gable, on loan to Columbia Pictures, plays Peter Warne, a hard-drinking, two-fisted newspaper reporter, in this wonderful Frank Capra comedy. Spoiled, rich Ellen "Ellie" Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is planning to marry King Westley (Jameson Thomas), who only wants her for her money. Ellie's father Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly) sees Westley for what he really is and has private detectives kidnap Ellie to prevent her from marrying him. Ellie won't hear anything her father has to say about Westley. She sasses her father driving him to the breaking point and he slaps her. Ellie dives off the yacht anchored off Miami and buys a bus ticket to New York where she's to meet and marry Westley. Ellie finds herself jammed in a small seat at the back of the bus with Peter, who's presently out of a job after being fired by his boss over the phone. As Ellie is sleeping she puts her head on Peter's shoulder and is embarrassed when she wakes up and finds herself there. This prompts a disagreement between Peter and Ellie and she changes seats, ending up next to Oscar Shapeley (Roscoe Karns), who comes on to her, much to Peter's delight. Peter recognizes her as the heiress who's father is willing to pay a $10,000 reward for her safe return and he becomes determined to stay close to her so he can get an exclusive story and his job back. Unfortunately, Oscar also learns of the reward and wants to cash in, but Peter scares him off by pretending to be a gangster that has kidnapped Ellie. The bus makes an overnight stop at an auto court and Peter and Ellie share the same cabin, hanging a blanket, "The Walls of Jericho", between the 2 beds. Ellie isn't happy about the sleeping arrangements, but Peter gives her a pair of his pajamas and begins to undress. He wasn't wearing any undershirt, which thrilled the female audience and began a fashion trend that almost put undershirt makers out of business. When Peter reaches for his belt buckle, Ellie scrambles to the other side of the blanket. In the morning Peter teaches Ellie the art of doughnut dunking, then detectives arrive and Peter and Ellie pretend to be a married couple in the middle of a fight to put the detectives off. Peter and Ellie decide it's no longer safe to ride the bus, so they begin to walk. The next night Peter makes Ellie a bed at the edge of a haystack. Ellie awakens and finds Peter is gone and panics, but he returns and gives her a carrot to eat for breakfast, which she refuses. On the road again, Peter attempts to teach Ellie the art of hitchhiking, but none of his methods work. Ellie raises a her skirt and shows her legs to a passing motorist, Danker (Alan Hale), who stops to pick them up. When they stop for food Danker drives off with Peter's suitcase. Peter chases him and comes back with Danker's car and tells Ellie he gave the thief a beating and borrowed his car. The couple spend another night in a motel with a blanket separating the 2 beds. Peter and Ellie are now in love and when Ellie goes to sleep, Peter drives to New York to get $1,000 to write the story from his editor and then drives back to the cabin with the intention of marrying Ellie. When Ellie awakens and finds Peter gone she thinks he deserted her and calls her father who sends a limousine to pick her up. Peter thinks he's been played for a fool and returns the money he got from his editor. He writes Alexander demanding cash for his expenses. Ellie now thinks Peter was just a fortune hunter and plans to marry King in a lavish ceremony where King lands on the lawn of the estate in an autogyro (helicopter). Peter shows up at the Andrews' estate just before the wedding and demands $36.60 from Alexander, the money he spent on Ellie during their trip. Alexander realizes Peter really loves Ellie. As Ellie walks down the aisle on her father's arm, he whispers the truth to her about Peter. Ellie can't go through with the ceremony and runs to her waiting car. Alexander pays King to forget the whole thing. In the last scene the auto court manager and his wife are wondering why Peter and Ellie have requested a blanket, ("The Walls of Jericho"), a rope and trumpet (to blow the Walls of Jericho down). Major Credits Producer - Harry Cohn Director - Frank Capra Awards AA - Best Picture of 1934 AA - Best Actor of 1934 - Clark Gable AA - Best Actress of 1934 - Claudette Colbert AA - Best Director of 1934 - Frank Capra AA - Best Screenplay of 1934 - Robert Riskin Mutiny on the Bounty Gable plays first mate Fletcher Christian, courageous leader of the mutineers who revolt against sadistic Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton) aboard the H.M.S. Bounty. The film opens in 1787 with the Bounty preparing to set sail for Tahiti from England. Midshipman Roger Byam (Franchot Tone) toasts the coming voyage with excitement. As the ship sails toward Tahiti life aboard ship becomes a nightmare. Captain Bligh cruelly punishes the men for the smallest infraction of the rules and withholds their rations. Fletcher discovers that several large cheeses that were to be aboard ship were delivered to Captain Bligh's house before the ship left England. Fletcher confronts Captain Bligh with this information and is called a liar. When Fletcher complains to Captain Bligh about his horrible treatment of the crew, he's told by Bligh that "they respect one law -- FEAR". Things are calmer when they reach Tahiti until Bligh tries to sabotage Fletcher's affair with Polynesian princess Tehani (Movita Castaneda). Her father Hitihiti (William Bambridge) tells Captain Bligh that Fletcher's freedom is the price of the breadfruit they've been collecting, which causes Bligh to hate Fletcher even more. As the ship sails back to England Bligh's treatment of the crew is even worse than before. He makes sick men climb the masts and puts men in chains for sneaking a drink of water. The ship's elderly doctor Bacchus (Dudley Digges) is very ill but Bligh orders him to the deck to witness a flogging. Bacchus makes it to the deck, but the effort kills him. Fletcher can't stand any more. He goes to the brig and sees Bligh's men beating Burkitt (Donald Crisp) who's chained to the wall. Fletcher stops the beating and tells crew members he knows want mutiny that he's taking over the ship. The mutineers easily defeat the crew members still loyal to Bligh and tie him to the mast. Fletcher won't permit the crew to injure or kill Bligh. He puts Bligh and any crew still loyal to him in a longboat along with necessary supplies and sets them adrift with Bligh threatening vengeance with a raised fist. Fletcher and his crew sail back to Tahiti with some unwilling passengers, including Roger. Captain Bligh manages to cross more than 3600 miles of open sea to reach safety in Timor and is determined to find the mutineers and watch them hang. He gets a new ship, the Pandora, and sets sail for Tahiti to catch the mutineers. When the Pandora reaches Tahiti, Fletcher, the rest of the mutineers, their Tahitian girlfriends and some male Tahitian recruits board the Bounty and sail away. Roger and some of the others stay behind because they want to go back to England, but Bligh puts them irons and orders that they be thrown in the brig. Fletcher sails the Bounty beyond known landfalls and accidentally finds tiny Pitcairn Island, which is wrongly noted on British maps as being hundreds of miles from where it actually is making it virtually impossible to find. The men empty the ship and burn it, stranding them on the desolate island which is surrounded by cliffs on all sides making landings very difficult. Captain Bligh searches for the mutineers with reckless abandon and drives his ship onto a reef. The crew and prisoners make it to lifeboats and eventually back to England where the prisoners are put on trial. Roger and all the others are convicted, but he pleads for their lives telling of Captain Bligh's cruelty to his crew. Roger is pardoned by the king and Bligh is shunned by his peers for his terrible treatment of his men. Major Credits Producer - Irving Thalberg Director - Frank Lloyd Awards AA - Best Picture of 1935 AA - Nominated for Best Actor of 1935 - Clark Gable AA - Nominated for Best Actor of 1935 - Charles Laughton AA - Nominated for Best Actor of 1935 - Franchot Tone AA - Nominated for Best Director of 1935 - Frank Lloyd AA - Nominated for Best Screenplay of 1935 - Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings and Carey Wilson AA - Nominated for Best Film Editing of 1935 - Margaret Booth AA - Nominated for Best Score of 1935 - Nat W. Finston and Herbert Stothart Red Dust Gable plays Dennis Carson, the overseer of a rubber plantation in Indochina, in this sizzling drama. Dennis whiles away the hot, lonely nights in the jungle with his assistant McQuarg (Tully Marshall) drinking an playing cards until a boat arrives from Saigon, (pronounced SAY-GONE by the cast) with prostitute Vantine (Jean Harlow) who's seeking refuge from the police and Guidon (Donald Crisp), a plantation worker. Dennis, afraid having Vantine around will cause problems because all the men would want her, tells Vantine she can stay only until the next boat comes. Dennis and Vantine are extremely attracted to each other and after a time become lovers, but Dennis still makes her leave when the next boat arrives. This boat brings engineer Gary Willis (Gene Raymond) and his seemingly proper wife Barbara (Mary Astor) to the plantation. Dennis doctors Gary when he comes down with malaria and it doesn't take long for Barbara to become attracted to Dennis. When Gary is recovered, Dennis sends him to build a bridge in the jungle and has an affair with Barbara. Vantine comes back to the plantation because the boat she was on broke down and quickly figures out what has been going on, causing fireworks. In an especially charged scene she takes a sexy bath in a barrel of drinking water while Dennis is doing his best to get her out of the barrel. Dennis goes to check on Gary's work, realizes Gary is a decent man, and feels guilty for having an affair with his wife. Dennis decides to get away from Barbara by pretending to favor Vantine, causing Barbara to wound him in a jealous rage. Gary walks in and Vantine lies, telling Gary that Dennis had been chasing Barbara and she had to fight him off with a gun. Gary and Barbara leave the plantation and Dennis and Vantine are together again. Major Credits Producer & Director - Victor Fleming San Francisco Gable plays Blackie Norton in this historic motion picture with some of the most awesome special effects sequences ever put on film. Blackie is the boss of the infamous Paradise gambling hall and beer garden in San Francisco. Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald), a starving singer, applies for a job and Blackie wants to see her legs before he makes her a $75 a week offer to work for him. Mary doesn't answer him, she faints. Mary is next seen in Blackie's apartment eating a large meal, her hunger the reason for the fainting spell. Blackie realizes Mary is not just a saloon girl, he gives her some money and tells her she can sleep in his parlor. He goes to his bedroom and returns with a key that he places on HER side of the door. The next day Blackie is in a gym boxing with Father Tim Mullen (Spencer Tracy) when he finds out from an employee that Mary never showed up for rehearsal. He tells the man to forget it and continues boxing. Blackie ends up on the canvas when Father Tim lands a punch to Blackie's jaw. Later, Blackie sees that Mary has finally shown up and tells her to speed up the tempo. Blackie replaces the piano player and bangs out a tune at a fast pace, but Mary refuses to sing the song that way and Blackie is furious. That evening Mary is on stage in a gaudy costume singing the song the way Blackie told her do it. She gets noticed by rich Jack Burkey (Jack Holt) and Baldini (William Ricciardi), the city opera house maestro, who want her to sing at the opera. Blackie informs them she's under a 2 year contract, but Jack says he won't give up. Blackie asks her to sing for Father Tim and he's astounded when he hears her sing with choir. Later Mary confesses to Father Tim she's afraid of Blackie. He tells her Blackie and he were kids together and that Blackie really has a good heart, although Father Tim's attempts at making him follow the straight and narrow haven't been successful. Blackie runs for the office of supervisor and in his speech gets huge applause when he tells the crowd he'll do his best to get tougher fire laws passed for the Barbary Coast. Mary begins to like Blackie and goes for a buggy ride with him. Jack shows up at the club and asks Mary to sing at the opera and Blackie has her reject the offer. Mary later leaves the Paradise with no notice to sing at the opera. Blackie shows up at the Tivoli on opening night with a process server intent on preventing Mary's performance, but when he hears her sing he can't do it. Blackie proposes and Mary accepts and is going to sing at the Paradise looking like a dance hall girl. Tim is appalled at her appearance, Blackie and he argue and Tim takes Mary with him when he leaves. Meanwhile the police are breaking up the Paradise under Jack's order. Mary goes to Jack, gets engaged to him and becomes a star at the Tivoli. Jack has seen to it that the Paradise is closed and Blackie is on the skids. On the night of the "Chicken's Ball" Mary appears to represent Blackie and the Paradise at the Lyric Hall, singing an upbeat tempo, "San Francisco", which brings down the house and wins first prize. As Mary stands on stage holding a gold cup with $10,000 in gold in it, Blackie appears and says he never told her she could represent him and dumps the cup at Mary's feet. Blackie leaves with a stunned Mary left standing on the stage. A humiliated Mary is being escorted from the stage by Jack when an earthquake strikes. Mary cries out for Blackie as the Lyric Hall and the entire city crumble around her. Blackie stands up inside the wrecked theater and begins a frantic search for Mary. He goes through the city seeing horrible destruction and loss of life. He looks for Mary all night and ends up at Tim's mission. Blackie and Tim continue to search for Mary and finally Blackie hears her singing "Nearer My God to Thee". She's standing with a group of refugees, her white dress in tatters. Blackie is overcome and Tim and he sink to the ground in prayer. Blackie and Mary embrace and the ruined city is shown dissolving into a shining new city. Major Credits Producer - John Emerson and Bernard H. Hyman Director - W.S. Van Dyke, II and D.W. Griffith Awards AA - Nominated for Best Picture of 1936 AA - Nominated for Best Actor of 1936 - Spencer Tracy AA - Nominated for Best Director of 1936 - W.S. Van Dyke, II AA - Nominated for Best Screenplay of 1936 - Robert Hopkins AA - Nominated for Best Assistant Director of 1936 -Joseph Newman AA - Winner for Best Sound Recording of 1936 - Douglas Shearer Teacher's Pet Gable plays tough, self-educated newspaper editor Jim Gannon and Doris Day plays Erica Stone, a journalism instructor in this Perlberg/Seaton comedy. Jim thumbs his nose at the educated newspaper man going so far as to send a flaming note of refusal when he's asked to lecture at a night school journalism class taught by Erica. He encourages young copy boy Barney Kovak (Nick Adams) to learn the business the way he did, from the ground up. Jim's publisher, sensing there's a good story here, forces him to attend the lecture. Later, at the night school class, Jim finds the teacher very attractive. Erica, the daughter of a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, reads the students part of Jim's letter ridiculing higher education and blasts him. Jim is now intrigued and joins the class under an assumed name, soon becoming its top student (of course, he's had years of experience). Jim does his best to get a date with Erica, but she's engaged to know-it-all Dr. Hugo Pine (Gig Young). One evening Jim is seated at a table in a night club where his friend, exotic dancer Peggy DeFore (Mamie Van Doren), is performing and in walks Erica and Hugo. Jim ends up sitting with them and is one-upped by Hugo at every turn, infuriating him. Hugo claims he can't get drunk, but when the three exit the night club, Hugo takes a huge breath of fresh air and passes out cold. Jim tends to Hugo in his drunken state, helps him through his hangover and the two become friends. Jim tells Hugo of his deceit and Hugo tells him to come clean with Erica before its too late. Erica has fallen in love with student Jim, unaware he's really the hated Jim Gannon. She gives Jim her father's cigarette lighter as a token of their relationship. Jim feels awful for deceiving her and goes to Hugo's apartment to talk about it with him. Erica shows up and overhears Jim talking about her father's newspaper in a negative way, realizes he's the real Jim Gannon and tells him off. Jim is in a sorry state at first, but with Hugo's help, becomes his old fiery self and goes to Erica to tell her to take an honest red pencil to her father's old newspaper and gives her back the lighter. Erica, reluctantly at first, does as Jim suggested and finds her father's newspaper to be full of errors. At the end of the movie Jim has gained respect for education, encouraging Barney to quit the newspaper and attend college. Erica has gained respect for the self-made man and the two reunite. Major Credits Producer - William Perlberg Director - George Seaton Awards AA - Nominated for Best Original Screenplay of 1958 - Fay and Michael Kanin AA - Nominated for Best Supporting Actor of 1958 - Gig Young Support freedom Help support Meredy's Place by shopping here. CLICK HERE to search for Clark Gable merchandise Clark Gable Poster and Print Store from Meredy's Place and AllPosters.com Webmasters Make $$$ NurseTips Free health tips from a registered nurse 24/7/365. Web www.meredy.com This site is purely a fan tribute to Clark Gable and is not endorsed by his estate. © Meredy - all rights reserved. Many thanks to Jeff Fain and Uwe Reber for the permission to use their portraits. DISCLAIMER: The information presented here was collected from publicly aired and published sources. All materials are used without permission of their creators (who legally hold their respective copyrights). Where known, all articles and photos include credit information. 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