Gable and Lombard (1976)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Excellent but underrated film

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

If there would have been a zero instead of a 1 I would have selected that. The supporting actors that appear here in small and bit parts are more believable and certainly less annoying than Brolin and Clayburgh. James Brolin was made up with mustache, hair/wig, and bizarre prosthetic ears that don't enhance his portrayal as Clark Gable. The Brolin to Gable transformation generally consists of a silly contortion of his facial expression that he had difficulty holding and really does nothing to bring forth any recollection of the real Clark Gable. Nor will you recognize any similarity in Brolin's voice mimicking of Gable and a very bad impersonation of the real man. Of the two lead actors Brolin is better than Jill Clayburgh, so what does that say? When I first started watching this I felt it was so bad it must have been a TV movie till I heard Clayburgh's loud curse word language that I imagine wouldn't have passed TV censors of the 1970s. Despite the 1930s glamour getups for Ms. Clayburgh she manages to look completely unattractive and bears no resemblance to Carole Lombard. There are lots of silly scenes as she carries her "Lombard banter" sometimes as a drunk /foul/life of the party Lombard who seems adored by the supporting actors who appear as party goers (of course). In those scenes she flits from one person to the next with lots of one liners that are must have been designed to show Lombard's personality, but are not well delivered, funny or interesting. This is one 'portrayal' that if you encountered a Miss Clayburgh behaving this way with anyone in real life would have made you wonder "what the hell is wrong with this annoying person?" Fortunately she went on to make a few much better movies where her looks and physical acting adequacy do not take away from the memory of lifestory of anyone else or the whole movie.

I saw this movie when I was a teenager when it first came out. I didn't know a lot about Gable or Lombard at the time, but I had seen some of their films since I was getting into old movies at the time. Since I only knew a little about them, I loved the movie.Now watching it in 2013, I still enjoyed it, but I agree with many other reviewers that too much fiction was added for the sake of entertainment. I have read biographies of Gable and the book the film was based on, but that was YEARS ago, so now even watching it last night, I had forgotten how much was fiction and how much was reality. For example, I suspected that the courtroom scene when Lombard was coming in to defend Gable for his paternity suit in the manner she did was totally fabricated, but other parts of the film made me wonder whether they could have been true.Someone in the board discussion posted a link where the screenwriter Barry Sandler discusses the film. I would like to post it here too since I enjoyed the insight I received from it. It helps to answer some of the many questions other reviewers have asked. It's: jeffcramer.blogspot.com and then click on the right where it lists names. Go to Barry Sandler. Regarding the music, even though the Michel Legrand love theme was used very often, I have always enjoyed it. It didn't bother me that it was a bit repetitive.Sure, it's a flawed film, but it's fun. If you can put aside the truth and watch it for the story, it's fine.I do think Brolin did a magnificent job in capturing Gable's essence and I think Clayburgh (who died before her time) was also good.

In addition to the points made by other viewers, one of the historically most out of place scenes comes at the end, when "Carole" tells "Clark" that the radio news just reported that Corregidor has fallen and MacArthur left the Philippines. Trouble is that the real Carole was killed January 16, 1942, two months before MacArthur left Corregidor (March 11) and almost four months before it surrendered (May 6, 1942). The real Clark had suggested his wife for a war bond tour because he was in the middle of making a film with Lana Turner. He volunteered for military service out of guilt over her death and the scene at the end in a military camp (as well as the opening scene, both of which have him in uniform) is pure invention. There is a lot more that could have been done in playing out this love story, and unfortunately, Clayburgh's portray of the character emphasizes her vulgar side but not her very human one. I hope they do a remake of this some day and pay more attention to the facts, which are compelling enough on their own. Gable worshiped his wife and collapsed emotionally after she died.

One of the best love stories ever told. I am looking for information to purchase this movie. Jill and James light up the screen. I always ask people if they have seen this movie and many have not. This is a classic movie and should be re-released.