Fashion Friday #2, Beaded Gown by Lanvin

In 2003, one of Vivien Leigh's dresses went on the auction block at Sotheby's. This stunning evening gown was created by Lanvin and sold for 1,320 GBP, inclusive of the buyer's premium.

This white silk evening dress is only a size two. Vivien was tiny! The fitted bodice features embroidery and beading in an intricate pattern, while the floor-length skirt flares out into a tulip-shape. Vivien wore a purple wrap with this dress.

The evening gown was designed by Antonio del Castillo for Lanvin in 1957. The House of Lanvin was created by Jeanne Lanvin in 1889, when she was just twenty-two years old. Jeanne began her career at sixteen, as a milliner, and later moved into dressmaking. After Jeanne's death in 1946, her daughter, Marie, hired Castillo to design for the house. Castillo had been working for Elizabeth Arden when he left them to join Lanvin in 1950. Castillo also designed costumes for the stage and screen, winning an Academy Award in 1971 for Nicholas and Alexandra.

A peek inside Jeanne Lanvin's House

Though the dress was designed by Castillo, the bodice's beaded design was created by Francois Lesage, an embroiderer with his own workshop, Maison Lesage. Lesage's skills were utilized by several Parisian fashion houses including Balmain, a favorite designer of Vivien's.

Sotheby's website gives the following description: shaped and boned bodice with elaborate amethyst chenille and floss silk embroidery studded with blue and pink pastes and faux pearls, with matching deep purple stole, bust 86cm (34in), waist 66cm (26in). 

Vivien wore this gorgeous dress on at least three occasions in the 1960s. The first two times were in 1961, when she attended the ballet and a revival showing of Gone With the Wind. On both occasions, she's wearing the floor-length purple shawl as seen in the first image on this post from Sotheby's. The pictures above and below are from the Gone With the Wind showing.

Vivien also stepped out in this Lanvin number for a performance at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. She attended the opening night of the Leningrad State Kirov Ballet's season. She accented the dress with a three strand pearl necklace with a diamond drop pin, which she also wore to the GWTW revival. 

Vivien at the ballet (Photo from Alamy)

The third time we see Vivien in this Lanvin dress is at a party for Tovarich in 1963. The party was held at the Americana Hotel to celebrate their first night on Broadway. Vivien is pictured below with her co-star, Jean Pierre Aumont, and a gigantic cake complete with candles for the occasion. 

Below is another detailed shot of the bodice. Francois Lesage was a complete genius when it came to beading and embroidery. To see some of his other beautiful creations, click here for an article on him originally published in Elle Magazine.

Lanvin made several of these dresses for their clients. These detailed images are from one of those dresses; the difference being ownership and size.

Vivien Leigh loved to wear French designers. In the spring of 1957, it was reported by the newspapers that she had just spent $4,500 on clothes from Paris, which is about $40,000 in today's money. 

A lot of women will tell you that the most elegant person in London is Vivien Leigh, and I see what they mean. Miss Leigh is one hundred percent the perfect modern woman. -Leonard Mosley

Thanks for joining me for today's Fashion Friday post!

Fashion Friday #1

In 1958, Vivien Leigh attended a charity event for the Boys and Girls Exhibition. At the National Spastics Society's stand, Vivien recruited youngsters for The Whistlers, a new club for children with Cerebral Palsy. The club's motto was "whistle for the kids who can't."

From the National Spastics Society's webpage: In 1952, three parents of children with cerebral palsy set up The Spastics Society because no one would educate their children. The organisation grew and changed to become a household name. But attitudes to disabled people changed as well. The word 'spastic' became a term of abuse. Suddenly, The Spastics Society's name was holding it back. We wanted to say something positive about disability. In 1994, The Spastics Society became Scope. To read more about this organization, please click here.

For the occasion, Vivien topped her curls with a white boater hat, traditionally made from straw, and which featured a dark band and veil. The outfit she chose to wear for this event was a blue, trapeze-line dress by Dior. A trapeze-line dress is one which is fitted at the shoulders, then progressively flares out as it travels down the female form. Trapeze-line dresses were the new rage from Paris, as seen in the 1958 spring collection from the House of Dior.

A Dior trapeze-line dress from the spring 1958 collection.

These dresses were designed by 21 year-old Yves Saint Laurent, who had recently taken over the helm at Dior. Just a few months before his passing, Christian Dior had personally chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him after his death. The trapeze-line dresses were a continuation of Dior's 1955 A-line collection.

Yves Saint Laurent and an assistant make a few adjustments on one of his trapeze-line dresses, being modeled by Svetlana Lloyd. According to Svetlana, Yves was unbelievably shy.

In between whistling and signing autographs (about 300 in thirty minutes), the forty-four year old Vivien bragged that she would soon be a grandmother. My daughter Suzanne is having a baby in December. I'm fixed up in films and plays until mid-1960-- not bad going for a grandmother. Not bad at all!

Kenneth More on the Well Endowed Actress

British actor, Kenneth More, Jayne Mansfield's latest movie costar, said Sunday that bust size, rather than measure of talent, has become the gauge for an actress' success at the box office.

More said Miss Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren were killing off such sophisticated performers as Lauren Bacall, Rosalind Russell and Barbara Stanwyck.

He told United Press International in an interview that he likes the last three because- "I like a little bit of wit and polish, but that kind of actress has sort of died out due to the bosom cult."

More, [who is] in the United States for the opening of his latest movie, "A Night to Remember," in which he is costarred with the sinking liner Titanic, offered these evaluations of the bosomy actresses:

On Miss Loren: "I don't see much in this woman at all."

Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield at a Paramount party for Miss Loren

On Miss Mansfield: "Her talent is very limited, but she is a good trooper. She's always on time and always knows her part. She knows all the other parts, too. She never fluffs."

On Miss Monroe: "She is wonderfully effective on the screen. She's like Lassie- one bark and she steals a scene."

Marilyn Monroe

More said he did not understand how Ingrid Bergman, a non-bosomy type, has remained popular at the box office in the face of this voluptuous competition.

"The idea that girls can get to the top on bosoms is extraordinary," he said. "It is not merely a passing phase, either. Films are bigger and showier than ever before. Bigger screen plays require bigger screens. Bigger screens require bigger girls. Perhaps there is no place for the flat-chested girl any more."

More, a veteran actor, has costarred with Vivien Leigh and Kay Kendall, both slender, witty and polished. His next picture will be with Miss Bacall, who, in his view, is even more so.

Kenneth More and Vivien Leigh in a scene from The Deep Blue Sea, 1955

He said that he had been less worried about appearing opposite the liner Titanic than with Miss Mansfield in a film they recently finished called "The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw."

"The idea of me getting the best of three falls with Jayne was amazing," he said. "People are still wondering how I got close enough to her to kiss her."

More said his fellow Britons rely mainly on American imports for their "bust pictures," despite the existence of Diana Dors and Sabrina.

"There are no British bust pictures," he said. "We haven't got any busts in England. We're flat-chested. Our actresses are deflated when it comes to bosoms. It must be because there is too much rain."


Article published by UPI, 1958

Evil Under The Sun

Evil Under The Sun is a 1982 murder mystery, based on an Agatha Christie book with the same name. The movie was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Guy Hamilton. Peter Ustinov once again utilizes the little grey cells as Christie's Belgium sleuth, Hercule Poirot.

The setting for this whodunnit is an island situated off the coast of Albania and the year is 1937. When the King of Tyrania decided to marry, he gave his former mistress an old summer palace. She turned it into a resort and named it Daphne's Place. The movie is actually filmed on location on Majorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean. 

We begin with a death on the moors and Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate. Sadly, he can't find the perpetrator of this murder, but the insurance company he works for has another assignment for him. Sir Horace Blatt (Colin Blakely), a millionaire industrialist, wants to insure a diamond brooch, but the brooch he sent in is a fake. Monsieur Poirot is sent to find out why. Sir Horace shares with Poirot how he met a stage actress named Arlena (played by the fabulous Diana Rigg) who left the play she was starring in to run away, across the ocean, with him. He gave her the brooch as an engagement gift, but then she met someone else on board and dumped Sir Horace for her new love, to whom she is now married. As Sir Horace says, a diamond brooch is too much to pay for three days fondling on the high seas.

Sir Horace and Hercule agree to meet at Daphne's Place, run by Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith). Sir Horace is delayed by a day while Hercule arrives with the Marshalls. Arlena's new husband is Kenneth Marshall (Denis Quilley), a widower with a teenage daughter, Linda (Emily Hone).

Soon everyone at the resort is acquainted and reacquainted.  The producers of the play that Arlena walked out on, Myra and Odell Gardener (Sylvia Miles and James Mason) are also there. They lost a great deal of money when Arlena left. Yet as the Gardeners harbor their bitter hatred, they still hope to convince Arlena to return to the stage in their new production. Then there's Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowall), a shallow gossip columnist, who's written a scandalous biography of Arlena, but can't get it published without her release.

The proprietress, Daphne, is an old acquaintance of Arlena's and the two had once tread the boards together. Smith and Rigg have some delicious dialogue in the movie. Daphne on Arlena: She could always throw her legs up in the air higher than any of us [pause] and wider. The two actresses play very well off each other with their catty remarks. Daphne also knows Kenneth Marshall, who'd been at the resort three years ago after the death of his first wife. The last guests are the Redferns, Christine and Patrick (Jane Birkin and Nicholas Clay). The Redferns argue a great deal and it's made clear from the beginning that Patrick is an adulterer. 

The cast of Evil Under The Sun-- Standing: Peter Ustinov, Colin Blakely, Jane Birkin, Nicholas Clay, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Emily Hone and Denis Quilley; Sitting: Sylvia Miles and James Mason; Reclining: Roddy McDowall

Unfortunately, one of these characters will be murdered shortly and it will be up to Hercule Poirot to figure out who the killer is before he or she leaves the island. The biggest obstacle for determining the murderer is that everyone has an alibi.

Daphne: You mean nobody did it?
Poirot: And yet we still have a body, madame. 

The costumes in this movie are almost another character. They are visually stunning in color and style. The costumes were designed by Anthony Powell and created by: Barbara Matera, Germinal Rangel, Bermans & Nathans; hats were made by Freddie Fox and Woody Shelp. 

Diana Rigg wears no less than three swimsuits: a polka dot kind of print; a red one with a white leaf design at the neck; and a white one with a red Chinese hat. 

Jane Birkin is so plain and dowdy in this movie, it's hard to believe that Hermes named a purse after her. She plays a shy and timid wife, always nagging at her husband, yet bending to his will. Christine Redfern has delicate skin and burns easily in the sun, hence the head scarves, long sleeves and long skirts. Everything is billowy on her and centered in the beige family.

Jane Birkin as Christine Redfern

The opening credits are not to be missed as they feature the fine artwork of Hugh Casson, while the film is filled with the music of Cole Porter. There's even a scene where Arlena sings You're the Top, with some help from Daphne, of course.

Besides the costumes and music, there's the amazing photography of Christopher Challis. Challis takes full advantage of the natural beauty of Majorca. You can almost feel the heat from the sun, hear the gentle lapping of the water against the shore and taste the salty air, all through the lens of his camera. There are glorious shots of the Mediterranean with the light bouncing off of the water and the island's cliffs become a place one aspires to hike. 

Sylvia Miles as Myra and Nicholas Clay as Patrick go for a spin around the island.

Ustinov is absolute perfection as the brilliant, picky, Belgium detective. He'd previously tackled the role of Poirot in the 1978 movie Death On The Nile (and would later reprise the role in four more movies). The summation Poirot gives is a not-to-be-missed scene. As the murderer says, Poirot is the well-known romancer and teller of tales.

This is one of my favorite Agatha Christie movies. It's well worth watching if you've never seen it. I really can't discuss the plot in more detail without giving away the victim or the murderer, because quite frankly, that's half the fun of a whodunnit.

The most notable side-effect of watching Evil Under The Sun is that after viewing, you may want to pack your bags and head off to Majorca.

This post has been my contribution to The Beach Party Blogathon (click here for more entries). Thanks for stopping by!

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Happy 75th Anniversary, Waterloo Bridge!

This weekend marks the 75th Anniversary of Waterloo Bridge, which premiered on May 16th, 1940. Waterloo Bridge is a beautifully filmed, romantic melodrama, directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. The movie was based on the stage play (same name) by Robert Sherwood and had already received the Hollywood treatment once before in 1931. The pre-code version is definitely worth watching for the fantastic performance given by Mae Clarke in the lead role. In 1940, the play was adapted for the screen by Hans Rameau, Samuel Behrman and George Froeschel, and produced by Sidney Franklin.

Waterloo Bridge was a very important movie for Vivien Leigh as it marked the first screen role she undertook after her Academy Award winning performance as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With Wind. Everyone was waiting to see if she was a flash-in-the-pan or if she was here to stay. Vivien portrayed Myra with a beauty and sensitivity that left no movie-goer, critic or Hollywood mogul in doubt that here indeed was true talent.

The movie opens in London during World War II. The screen is a dark gray matte, then a man's voice comes over a loudspeaker with wartime instructions for the Londoners. The camera spans over the crowds, then focuses on a group of schoolchildren. It's a grim reminder of war and the tragedy it brings. Joseph Ruttenberg's dramatic photography earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Waterloo Bridge for Cinematography (B&W).

Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor) is a Colonel in the British army, who pauses on Waterloo Bridge and reminisces about a dancer named Myra (Vivien Leigh) he met when he was a young man, during World War I on that same bridge.

Roy and Myra met back then as sirens blasted through the air, warning of impending air raids. They sought shelter together, huddling among the masses, in an underground bomb shelter. Roy's a captain in the army and Myra's a ballet dancer for a troupe run by a strict Madame, played by Maria Ouspenskaya.

Roy and Myra embark on a whirlwind, forty-eight hour romance, which director Mervyn LeRoy vividly captured in close-ups, music and lighting. Though Herbert Stothart received an Oscar nomination for Music (Original Score), the song that stays with the viewer the most is Auld Lang Syne. It's the song that Myra and Roy dance to for the first time and marks the scene in which they fall in love. It's a significant, tender scene in which LeRoy decided no words would be necessary to convey the characters' thoughts.

Unfortunately for Myra, and their romance, Roy is called away to the front. Then disaster strikes her heart as she reads Roy's name on the casualty list and she falls into a tailspin of despair. Destitute and unable to find work, Myra now makes her living on the streets. One night, while plying her trade at the train station, a miracle happens: Roy returns. He's overcome with joy at seeing Myra and gushes nonstop, completely unaware of her emotional struggle. Vivien Leigh's expressive face shows well the inner turmoil Myra experiences: shock, disbelief, hope, love, tears and misery. All these emotions cross her face in a matter of seconds. What now for these two? Will they recover from the time apart or will their love be crushed by all that's happened since Roy went away?

Vivien gives a poignant performance, most notably during her reunion with Roy and later with his mother. In a rare moment, Vivien even gives us a taste of her comedic skills when she spies Roy waiting for her in the rain and rushes to get ready. Taylor's performance is all happiness as his character sees nothing but the good in Myra.

Other members of the cast include: Virginia Field as the memorable Kitty, Myra's best friend; Lucille Watson as Roy's mother; and C. Aubrey Smith as his uncle.

Robert Taylor, while in the midst of filming Waterloo Bridge, had this to say: This is the first good picture I've had in a year. I'm lucky to have Vivien Leigh with me. She's the biggest bet in Hollywood. People will come to see her who'd never dream of wanting to see me. 

On wanting to do a role like Myra as opposed to another role like Scarlett, Vivien said: The danger is one every actor dreads. It is being typed. Nothing could be more fatal. It would be pleasant to be able to live in the past. I cannot deny that playing Scarlett was a great satisfaction. I am not unaware of my good fortune. At the same time, I am sure audiences would soon tire of me as a perennial Scarlett. I know I would tire of a continuous Scarlett portrayal. It is variety that keeps an actor interesting. Besides, I am always keenly enthusiastic in whatever I am doing. The past can take care of itself.

Some trivia about Waterloo Bridge:

• This was the second pairing of Taylor and Leigh. Vivien had a co-starring role in Taylor's film A Yank at Oxford.
• Waterloo Bridge was remade once again as Gaby in 1956, with Leslie Caron and John Kerr in the lead roles.
• Mervyn LeRoy fell ill for a few days during filming and W.S. Van Dyke stepped in as director.
• Waterloo Bridge was Mervyn LeRoy's first time back in the director's chair since he'd given up the megaphone to be on the producing side of things.
• In between scenes, when Vivien wasn't entertaining guests, she: knitted woolen helmets for soldiers; studied lines for her upcoming play, Romeo and Juliet, with Laurence Olivier; and played chinese checkers and battleship with her co-stars.
• Due to the unsavoriness of the plot, the movie was marketed for "adults only."
• Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor were in the middle of a kissing scene, when "lights fell from the rafters" and crashed on the ground near the couple.

This post is part of My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon and National Classic Movie Day, hosted by Rick from Classic Film and TV Cafe. Please pop over to see other contributions.

Summertime

I'm really excited to be joining The Great Katharine Hepburn Blogathon, hosted by Margaret Perry.

For my entry, I've chosen to write about Summertime, a bittersweet, romantic movie from 1955, directed by David Lean. The film's based on the play, The Time of the Cuckoo, by Arthur Laurents and was adapted for the screen by Lean and H.E. Bates.

Summertime, also known as Summer Madness, premiered in June, 1955 with the first opening in Venice and the second opening in New York City. The NYC premiere was held at the Astor Theater with approximately 1,300 people in attendance. A large crowd gathered outside the theater to catch glimpses of the stars as they arrived.

There are many reasons to love this movie, which is set, and filmed entirely, in Venice, Italy. The cinematography by Jack Hildyard almost plays like another character as he adroitly captures Venice and all her charm with vistas of centuries old buildings that sit alongside the city's watery veins. Then there's the movie's brilliant soundtrack by Alessandro Cicognini, which is perfectly scored, and haunts the viewer at all the right moments.

Katharine Hepburn plays Jane Hudson, an unmarried, middle-aged, 'fancy secretary,' from Akron, Ohio. Jane's been saving quite awhile for her first trip abroad and the movie opens with her arriving in Venice by train. Her excitement is palpable. She's drunk with delight, giddy for Venice and for some romance in her ordinary life. She's in love with the idea of being in love and is "looking for a wonderful, mystical, magical miracle." But as she later finds out, sometimes miracles "need a little push" in order to happen.

Jane's staying at Pensione Fiorini, run by the widow Signora Fiorini, played by Isa Miranda. Other guests include an American couple Jane met earlier en route to the Pensione: Lloyd and Edith McIlhenny (MacDonald Parke and Jane Rose). They are a little crass and Venice is but one European stop of many for them. The other couple we are introduced to are the Yaegers (Darrin McGavin and Mari Aldon); Eddie's an artist and his wife, Phyl, likes to shop.

Signora Fiorini: Is this your first trip to Europe?
Jane: How did you guess?
Signora Fiorini: You don't mind traveling all alone?
Jane: No, I like it.
Signora Fiorini: Oh, I would hate it.
Jane: I'm the independent type, always have been.

We feel Jane's first stirrings of loneliness at the Pensione as the two couples and the landlady all have dinner plans and no one wants to have a quick drink with her. She's left alone on the terrace and the film's music invades the viewer, giving Jane's loneliness a life of its own. The large terrace, with its multiple seating areas, is used as backdrop in several scenes to showcase Jane's solitary existence.

Jane ventures out by herself to Piazza San Marco, where she finds herself slightly shocked at the forwardness of some of the young men. It's here in the Piazza that we have our first glimpse of Renato di Rossi (Rossano Brazzi), an antiques dealer with a shop nearby. She catches him admiring her and becomes embarrassed by his attention. Unnerved, she fumbles for her sunglasses and il conto.

The next day, Jane is out sightseeing and is drawn to a shop with a ruby red goblet in the window. The shop is Renato's. Later, that night, they meet again at Piazza San Marco. Romance is about to enter Jane's life. No more lies to her married friends at home: "This time we'd be a quartet [instead of a trio]."

The best known scene in the film is when Hepburn falls into the canal. Her character is busy with her movie camera, filming Renato's store, when she starts backing up to get a better shot and falls into the water. She's horribly embarrassed when she comes out of the canal and calls for Mauro to return her to the Pensione. Mauro is a street urchin, whom Jane hired to guide her through the streets of Venice.

Of course, Renato hears of her ignominious fall and comes to see her at the Pensione. Jane's not used to being on the receiving end of male attention, therefore, she's nonplussed by Renato's visit.

Renato: I thought everything happened so fast in America.
Jane: Not this sort of thing, not to me.

Spoilers ahead!

They meet the next day and he buys her a gardenia, a flower that's been haunting Jane's romantic dreams since her college days. It represents the past, present and future. It foreshadows the movie's ending as the gardenia reappears later in the film and is as elusive to Jane then as the one that gets away now, floating down the canal, out of reach of her's and Renato's grasping hands.

Then comes heartbreak for Jane before their affair even begins, when she finds out that Renato's married with four children.

Renato: You are like a hungry child who's been given ravioli to eat. 'No,' you say, 'I want beefsteak.' My dear girl, you are hungry. Eat the ravioli.
Jane: I'm not that hungry.

Oh, but she is that hungry. He soothes her with a tale of separation and before long, she's back in his arms, dancing. Eventually, they make their way to his apartment. The viewer is left with the image of this one red shoe on the balcony, which touchingly says what doesn't need to be said.

Jane only has one way out of this summer affair. Her moral code and semi-sheltered life she led at home won't permit another choice. She tells Renato, It's the happiest time in my whole life. She has one last glimpse of Renato as he rushes to see her off at the train station: in his hand, a white gardenia.



This is an amazing role for Katharine Hepburn. She plays Jane Hudson with a fine nuance, showing the character's longing in simple glances and gestures. There are moments when no dialogue is needed, simply the expression on Jane's face is enough to convey her thoughts. There is no confident character here, rather a false bravado front with vulnerability stirring close to the surface. In her autobiography, Kate wrote: It was a very emotional part and I tell you I had to be on my toes to give David enough of what he wanted practically on call. 

Rossano Brazzi is brilliant as the Venetian shop owner emitting old world charm. He's suave, masculine and knows what he wants. For him, there is no fear in pursuing a woman like Jane Hudson. Though Brazzi had been acting since 1938, appearing in over fifty movies, this part for him acted as a breakout role. He received international fame, along with several thousand female hearts.

After watching the movie, Katharine Hepburn gave the characters an alternate ending and said: In real life, she gets off [the train] at Mestra, only 7 miles away and goes right back to him. 

Behind the scenes with Kate and David Lean (next to her)

At the start of filming, Brazzi and Hepburn had what one newspaper called a royal tussle, which culminated with Hepburn walking off the set. Brazzi recalled, "No one ever thought I would finish my picture with Katharine. We are good friends now, but the first day she was telling me: 'Look at me, Mr. Brazzi, when I speak.' I say nothing to this, but I didn't look at her. Then she said, 'Mr. Brazzi, I don't think there will ever be a picture released with Rossano Brazzi and Katharine Hepburn.' Miss Hepburn, I say, that's fine with me... Now we are the best of friends and I think she's the greatest actress in the world."

Five fun facts about Summertime:
1. Katharine Hepburn received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
2. David Lean received an Oscar nomination for Best Director.
3. Kate's character's name 'Jane Hudson' reappeared a few years later in the Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?"
4. Katharine Hepburn did her own stunts, including the fall into the canal, which gave her a lifelong eye irritation.
5. Rossano Brazzi was nine years younger than Kate. He was born in 1916 and she was born in 1907.


Thanks for joining me in this celebration of Katharine Hepburn!

Clark Gable Takes a Selfie

Article by Harrison Carroll, 1948

This week I walk along the row of portable dressing rooms on the "Command Decision" set. Signs upon the doors proclaim the names of famous occupants: Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford and so on.

There are few sounds of life from within the dressing rooms. Only Walter Pidgeon is standing outside. He is talking in desultory fashion to some other men.

Clark Gable's door is ajar. I peer in. Clark is sitting in a chair pointing a small German camera at a mirror. He sees me and grins. "How conceited can you get," he says, "taking your own picture?"

I come in at Clark's invitation and flop down in a red leather chair. One of the MGM photographers is giving Clark some pointers on the camera, which Gable will take along on his trip to Europe. [Clark will sail to England on July 9th aboard the Queen Mary, but his vacation will be cut short due to his father's death on August 4th].

Hanging on the wall, to Clark's right, is the best proof in the world of his lack of conceit. It is one of the most exaggerated caricatures of Gable and his ears that has ever been drawn. It's been hanging in Clark's dressing rooms since he made "Honky Tonk."

This is the first Gable picture with an all-male cast. "How does it feel?" I ask.
"Very strange," says Clark, "let's not have this happen again."
"Nobody to talk to between scenes, huh?"
Clark flashes that famous smile. "I'm not crippled, am I?" he asks. "I can visit the other stages."

An assistant pops his head in the door. "We're ready, Mr. Gable." We go out to the set, a command headquarters of an American bomber squadron in England, and I watch director Sam Wood rehearse a scene.

Almost everybody is in it except Marshall Thompson, one of the younger members of the cast. He sits beside me. On his coat is a string of ribbons. Marshall examines them curiously. "Gee," he says, "I've sure been around, haven't I?"

A scene from "Command Decision"

Out on the set, Gable and Pidgeon now are lighting up big, fat cigars. "I thought you had quit smoking," I yell to Walter. "That was cigarettes," he shouts back, "And I haven't had one in five days."

Gable is puffing gingerly. It strikes me that I have never seen him before with a cigar in his mouth. He wanders over toward us and I ask him about it. "Don't tell anybody," he says, "but I smoke a cigar about once every four years."

"Did you hear about Mickey Rooney?" I ask. "He got dizzy on [a cigar] the other day on the 'Words and Music' set."

"You're a big help," says Clark. Suddenly, he looks over my shoulder and his eyes snap with interest. I crane my neck. Four pretty visitors have come onto the set. You guessed it. That's the last I see of Gable.