Clark Gable filmography
Clark Gable publicity photo, 1938
Clark Gable appeared as an extra in 13 films between 1924 and 1930. He then appeared in a total of 67 theatrically released motion pictures, as himself in 17 "short subject" films, and he narrated and appeared in a World War II propaganda film entitled Combat America, produced by the United States Army Air Forces.
Films as an extra
During the period 1924–1930 Clark Gable established himself as a major stage actor. Also during this period, Gable supplemented his income by working as an extra in motion pictures. Below is a listing of the films that Gable is known or believed to have appeared in as an extra.
Filmography
Excluding his work as an extra, short films, and war time documentaries, Clark Gable appeared in a total of 67 theatrically released motion pictures. These films are listed below with the names of the characters Gable played, his leading ladies, directors, and co-stars. Except where noted, all of Gable's films were produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
1930s
Year |
No. |
Title |
Role |
Leading Lady |
Director |
Notes |
1931 |
1 |
The Painted Desert |
Rance Brett |
Helen Twelvetrees |
Howard Higgin |
A Pathé Exchange Production. With William Boyd, William Farnum, J. Farrell MacDonald. |
2 |
The Easiest Way |
Nick Feliki, Laundryman |
Anita Page |
Jack Conway |
With Constance Bennett, Adolphe Menjou, Robert Montgomery. |
3 |
Dance, Fools, Dance |
Jake Luva |
Joan Crawford |
Harry Beaumont |
With Cliff Edwards. The first of eight films Gable did with Crawford. |
4 |
The Finger Points |
Louis J. Blanco |
Fay Wray |
John Francis Dillon |
With Richard Barthelmess, Regis Toomey. |
5 |
The Secret Six |
Carl Luckner |
Jean Harlow |
George W. Hill |
With Wallace Beery, Johnny Mack Brown. The first of six films Gable made with Harlow. |
6 |
Laughing Sinners |
Carl Loomis |
Joan Crawford |
Harry Beaumont |
With Neil Hamilton. |
7 |
A Free Soul |
Ace Wilfong, Gangster Defendant |
Norma Shearer |
Clarence Brown |
With Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore.[1] |
8 |
Night Nurse |
Nick, the Chauffeur |
Barbara Stanwyck |
William A. Wellman |
A Warner Bros. Production. With Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell. |
9 |
Sporting Blood |
Warren "Rid" Riddell |
Madge Evans |
Charles Brabin |
Gable's first starring role. |
10 |
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) |
Rodney Spencer |
Greta Garbo |
Robert Z. Leonard |
With Jean Hersholt, Alan Hale. |
11 |
Possessed[2] |
Mark Whitney |
Joan Crawford |
Clarence Brown |
With Wallace Ford, Marjorie White. |
12 |
Hell Divers |
CPO Steve Nelson |
Dorothy Jordan |
George W. Hill |
With Wallace Beery, Conrad Nagel. |
1932 |
13 |
Polly of the Circus |
Reverend John Hartley |
Marion Davies |
Alfred Santell |
With C. Aubrey Smith. |
14 |
Red Dust[3] |
Dennis Carson |
Jean Harlow |
Victor Fleming |
With Gene Raymond, Donald Crisp. |
Mary Astor |
15 |
Strange Interlude |
Dr. Ned Darrell |
Norma Shearer |
Robert Z. Leonard. |
Based on the play by Eugene O'Neill. This is the first film where Gable sports a moustache. |
16 |
No Man of Her Own |
Babe Stewart |
Carole Lombard |
Wesley Ruggles |
A Paramount Picture. With Dorothy Mackaill. Gable's only film with Lombard, whom he later married. |
1933 |
17 |
The White Sister[4] |
Giovanni Severi |
Helen Hayes |
Victor Fleming |
With Louis Stone |
18 |
Hold Your Man |
Eddie Hall |
Jean Harlow |
Sam Wood |
With Stuart Erwin. |
19 |
Night Flight |
Jules |
Helen Hayes |
Clarence Brown |
With John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy. |
20 |
Dancing Lady |
Patch Gallagher |
Joan Crawford |
Robert Z. Leonard |
With Franchot Tone, Robert Benchley, Fred Astaire,[5] Nelson Eddy, and the Three Stooges. |
1934 |
21 |
It Happened One Night[6][7] |
Peter Warne |
Claudette Colbert |
Frank Capra |
A Columbia Picture. With Walter Connolly, Alan Hale. Generally regarded as one of the all-time great romantic comedies. Gable and Colbert won Academy Awards for their performances. |
22 |
Men in White |
Dr. George Ferguson |
Myrna Loy |
Richard Boleslavsky |
With Jean Hersholt, Otto Kruger. |
Elizabeth Allan |
23 |
Manhattan Melodrama[8] |
Edward J. "Blackie" Gallagher |
Myrna Loy |
W. S. Van Dyke |
With William Powell. |
24 |
Chained |
Michael "Mike" Bradley |
Joan Crawford |
Clarence Brown |
With Otto Kruger, Stuart Erwin. |
25 |
Forsaking All Others |
Jeffrey "Jeff"/"Jeffy" Williams |
Joan Crawford |
W. S. Van Dyke |
With Robert Montgomery, Charles Butterworth, Billie Burke. |
1935 |
26 |
After Office Hours |
James "Jim" Branch |
Constance Bennett |
Robert Z. Leonard |
With Stuart Erwin, Billie Burke. |
27 |
The Call of the Wild |
Jack Thornton |
Loretta Young[9] |
William A. Wellman |
A 20th Century Production, released through United Artists. With Jack Oakie, Reginald Owen. Loosely adapted from the novel by Jack London. |
28 |
China Seas |
Captain Alan Gaskell |
Jean Harlow |
Tay Garnett |
With Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, C. Aubrey Smith, Robert Benchley. |
Rosalind Russell |
29 |
Mutiny on the Bounty[10][11] |
Lt. Fletcher Christian |
|
Frank Lloyd |
With Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Donald Crisp, Henry Stephenson. One of Gable's most famous films. He received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.[12] Based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. |
1936 |
30 |
Wife vs. Secretary |
Van Stanhope |
Jean Harlow |
Clarence Brown |
With May Robson, James Stewart. |
Myrna Loy |
31 |
San Francisco [13] |
Blackie Norton |
Jeanette MacDonald |
W. S. Van Dyke |
With Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Shirley Ross. Another of Gable's biggest hits. |
32 |
Cain and Mabel |
Larry Cain |
Marion Davies |
Lloyd Bacon |
A Cosmopolitan Production released by Warner Bros. |
33 |
Love on the Run |
Michael "Mike" Anthony |
Joan Crawford |
W. S. Van Dyke |
With Franchot Tone, Reginald Owen. |
1937 |
34 |
Parnell |
Charles Stewart Parnell |
Myrna Loy |
John M. Stahl |
With Edna May Oliver. Generally regarded as Gable's worst film.[14] |
35 |
Saratoga |
Duke Bradley |
Jean Harlow[15] |
Jack Conway |
With Lionel Barrymore, Frank Morgan. Gable's last film with Harlow. |
1938 |
36 |
Test Pilot [16] |
Jim Lane |
Myrna Loy |
Victor Fleming |
With Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore. |
37 |
Too Hot to Handle |
Christopher "Chris" Hunter |
Myrna Loy |
Jack Conway |
With Walter Connolly, Walter Pidgeon. Gable's last film with Loy. |
1939 |
38 |
Idiot's Delight |
Harry Van |
Norma Shearer |
Clarence Brown |
Based on the play by Robert Sherwood. Gable performs Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz". |
39 |
Gone with the Wind[17][18] |
Rhett Butler |
Vivien Leigh |
Victor Fleming[19] |
A Selznick-International / MGM Production. Filmed in Technicolor. With Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel. Based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell. One of the best-loved movies of all time. Gable received an Academy Award nomination for what is generally regarded as his most famous performance. |
Olivia de Havilland |
1940s
Year |
No. |
Title |
Role |
Leading Lady |
Director |
Notes |
1940 |
40 |
Strange Cargo |
André Verne |
Joan Crawford |
Frank Borzage |
With Ian Hunter, Peter Lorre, Paul Lukas. Gable's last film with Crawford.[20] |
41 |
Boom Town |
Big John McMasters |
Claudette Colbert |
Jack Conway |
With Spencer Tracy, Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill. |
Hedy Lamarr |
42 |
Comrade X |
McKinley B. "Mac" Thompson |
Hedy Lamarr |
King Vidor |
With Oscar Homolka. |
1941 |
43 |
They Met in Bombay |
Gerald Meldrick |
Rosalind Russell |
Clarence Brown |
With Peter Lorre, Reginald Owen. |
44 |
Honky Tonk |
"Candy" Johnson |
Lana Turner |
Jack Conway |
With Frank Morgan, Marjorie Main, Albert Dekker. Gable's first film with Turner. |
Claire Trevor |
1942 |
45 |
Somewhere I'll Find You |
Jonathan "Jonny" Davis |
Lana Turner |
Wesley Ruggles |
With Robert Sterling, Reginald Owen. Gable's last film before enlisting in the Army Air Corps during World War II. |
1945 |
46 |
Adventure |
Harry Patterson |
Greer Garson |
Victor Fleming |
With Joan Blondell and Thomas Mitchell. Gable's first post-World War II film and the one with the now classic tag line, "Gable's back and Garson's Got Him!" |
1947 |
47 |
The Hucksters |
Victor Albee Norman |
Deborah Kerr |
Jack Conway |
With Sydney Greenstreet, Adolphe Menjou, Keenan Wynn, Edward Arnold. |
Ava Gardner |
1948 |
48 |
Homecoming |
Col. Ulysses Delby "Lee" Johnson |
Lana Turner |
Mervyn LeRoy |
With John Hodiak. |
Anne Baxter |
49 |
Command Decision |
Brig. Gen. K.C. 'Casey' Dennis |
_ |
Sam Wood |
With Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford, John Hodiak, Edward Arnold, Marshall Thompson. |
1949 |
50 |
Any Number Can Play |
Charley Enley Kyng |
Alexis Smith |
Mervyn LeRoy |
With Wendell Corey, Audrey Totter, Frank Morgan. |
1950s
Year |
No. |
Title |
Role |
Leading Lady |
Director |
Notes |
1950 |
51 |
Key to the City |
Steve Fisk |
Loretta Young |
George Sidney |
With Frank Morgan,[21] James Gleason, Marilyn Maxwell, and Raymond Burr. |
52 |
To Please a Lady |
Mike Brannan |
Barbara Stanwyck |
Clarence Brown |
With Adolphe Menjou, Will Geer, Roland Winters. |
1951 |
53 |
Across the Wide Missouri |
Flint Mitchell |
María Elena Marqués |
William Wellman |
Filmed in Technicolor. With John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalbán, Adolphe Menjou, Jack Holt. |
54 |
Callaway Went Thataway |
Himself |
_ |
Norman Panama |
With Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, Howard Keel. Gable, Esther Williams, and Elizabeth Taylor made guest appearances in this film. |
Melvin Frank |
1952 |
55 |
Lone Star |
Devereaux Burke |
Ava Gardner |
Vincent Sherman |
With Broderick Crawford. |
1953 |
56 |
Never Let Me Go |
Philip Sutherland |
Gene Tierney |
Delmer Daves |
With Richard Haydn. |
57 |
Mogambo[22][23] |
Victor Marswell |
Ava Gardner |
John Ford |
Filmed in Technicolor on location in Africa. With Donald Sinden. |
Grace Kelly |
1954 |
58 |
Betrayed |
Col. Pieter Deventer |
Lana Turner |
Gottfried Reinhardt |
With Victor Mature, Louis Calhern. Gable's last film under his MGM contract. |
1955 |
59 |
Soldier of Fortune |
Hank Lee |
Susan Hayward |
Edward Dmytryk |
A 20th Century-Fox Production. With Michael Rennie, Gene Barry. Filmed in Cinemascope and Deluxe color. Gable's first wide-screen film. |
60 |
The Tall Men |
Colonel Ben Allison |
Jane Russell |
Raoul Walsh |
A 20th Century-Fox Production. With Robert Ryan, Cameron Mitchell. Filmed in Cinemascope and Deluxe color. |
1956 |
61 |
The King and Four Queens |
Dan Kehoe |
Eleanor Parker |
Raoul Walsh |
A Russ-Feild-Gabco Production, released through United Artists. With Jo Van Fleet, Jean Willes, Barbara Nichols. Filmed in Cinemascope and Deluxe color. Gable's only attempt at producing one of his films. |
1957 |
62 |
Band of Angels |
Hamish Bond |
Yvonne de Carlo |
Raoul Walsh |
A Warner Bros. Production. With Sidney Poitier, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Patric Knowles. Filmed in WarnerColor. |
1958 |
63 |
Run Silent, Run Deep |
Cmdr. P.J. "Rich" Richardson |
Mary LaRoche |
Robert Wise |
A Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Production, released through United Artists. With Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, Don Rickles. |
64 |
Teacher's Pet |
James Gannon/James Gallagher |
Doris Day |
George Seaton |
A Paramount Production. With Gig Young, Nick Adams. Filmed in VistaVision. |
Mamie Van Doren |
1959 |
65 |
But Not for Me |
Russell "Russ" Ward |
Carroll Baker |
Walter Lang |
A Paramount Production. With Lee J. Cobb. Filmed in VistaVision. |
Lilli Palmer |
1960s
Short subjects
During his career as a movie star Gable appeared as himself in the following short subjects:
Year |
No. |
Title |
Notes |
1931 |
1 |
The Christmas Party |
|
2 |
Jackie Cooper's Birthday Party |
|
1932 |
3 |
Screen Snapshots |
|
1933 |
4 |
Hollywood on Parade No. 9 |
|
1935 |
5 |
Hollywood Hobbies |
|
6 |
Starlit Days at the Lido |
|
1937 |
7 |
Hollywood Party |
|
8 |
The Candid Camera Story |
MGM Pictures 1937 Convention |
1938 |
9 |
Hollywood Goes to Town |
|
1939 |
10 |
Screen Snapshots: Stars on Horseback |
|
11 |
Hollywood Hobbies |
|
1940 |
12 |
Northward, Ho![25] |
|
1941 |
13 |
You Can't Fool a Camera |
|
1943 |
14 |
Show Business at War |
|
15 |
Wings Up |
|
1943 |
16 |
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood in Uniform |
|
1950 |
17 |
Screen Actors |
|
Box Office Ranking
For a number of years US movie exhibitors voted Gable among the most popular film stars in the country:
- 1932 – 8th (US)
- 1933 – 7th (US)
- 1934 – 2nd (US)
- 1935 – 3rd (US)
- 1936 – 2nd (US)
- 1937 – 2nd (US)
- 1938 – 2nd (US)
- 1939 – 4th (US)
- 1940 – 3rd (US)
- 1941 – 2nd (US)
- 1942 – 2nd (US)
- 1943 – 10th (US)
- 1947 – 7th (US)
- 1948 – 7th (US)
- 1949 – 10th (US)[26]
- 1950 – 13th (US)
- 1951 – 18th (US)
- 1952 – 17th (US)[27]
- 1953 – 12th (US)[28]
- 1954 – 19th (US)
- 1955 – 10th (US)
- 1957 – 19th (US)
Documentary feature
In 1943 Clark Gable narrated and appeared in World War II propaganda film entitled Combat America, which was produced by the United States Army Air Forces.
Academy Awards
During his career as a motion picture actor Clark Gable was thrice nominated for the Best Leading Actor Academy Award. Below is a complete list of his nominations along with his fellow nominees.
The winner for each year is in bold face text against a |
yellow |
background. |
References
- Notes
- ↑ Barrymore won an Academy Award for his performance.
- ↑ Joan Crawford also starred in a 1947 film entitled Possessed. This film is not a remake of the earlier one.
- ↑ Remade as Mogambo (1953) with Gable again in the lead.
- ↑ Previously filmed in 1922 with Ronald Colman in the Gable role.
- ↑ Astaire's film debut.
- ↑ Best Picture Academy Award winner for 1934.
- ↑ Remade as You Can't Run Away From It (1956) with Jack Lemmon in the Gable role.
- ↑ Reputedly the film that gangster John Dillinger saw just before being gunned down.
- ↑ Young and Gable had an affair during the making of this film, resulting in Young bearing Gable's child.
- ↑ Best Picture Academy Award winner for 1935.
- ↑ Other versions of the Bounty mutiny include In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), and The Bounty (1984) with, respectively, Errol Flynn, Marlon Brando, and Mel Gibson in the Gable role.
- ↑ Laughton and Tone also received Academy Award nominations.
- ↑ Lost the 1936 Best Picture Academy Award to The Great Ziegfeld and Tracy was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
- ↑ "This performance was one of the real disasters of his career, prompting many indignant letters from admirers." – Gabe Essoe. The Films of Clark Gable. Secaucus, New Jersey. Citadel Press, 1970.
- ↑ Harlow died during production of this film. The film was completed using her stand-in Mary Dees.
- ↑ Lost the 1938 Best Picture Academy Award to You Can't Take It With You
- ↑ Best Picture Academy Award winner for 1939.
- ↑ A made-for-TV sequel entitled Scarlett (1994) starred Timothy Dalton in the Gable role.
- ↑ Although Fleming is the film's sole credited director, portions of the film were directed by George Cukor and Sam Wood.
- ↑ Although Gable received top billing in the advertisements for this film, Crawford has top billing in the film's opening credits.
- ↑ This was Morgan's last film. He died before the film was released.
- ↑ Previously filmed as Red Dust (1932), also with Gable in the lead.
- ↑ "Magambo" is the Swahili word for "Passion."
- ↑ Also Marilyn Monroe's last film.
- ↑ A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Northwest Passage (1940) starring Spencer Tracy.
- ↑ "BOB UPSETS BING—AT THE BOX OFFICE.". The Daily News. Perth: National Library of Australia. 31 December 1949. p. 9 Edition: FIRST. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ↑ "BOX OFFICE DRAW.". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. 29 December 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ↑ "GARY COOPER TOP FAVOURITE.". The Cairns Post. Qld.: National Library of Australia. 9 December 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- Bibliography
- Essoe, Gabe (1970). The Films of Clark Gable. Secaucus: Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0806500119.
- Jordon, René (1973). Clark Gable. New York: Galahad Books. ISBN 978-0515029291.
External links