GABLE AND LOMBARD

US, 1976, 131 minutes, Colour.
James Brolin, Jill Clayburgh, Allen Garfield, Red Buttons.
Directed by Sidney J. Furie.

Gable and Lombard was part of the fashion for 30s Hollywood stories, and set in the Love Story tradition, this film satisfies best on the level of magazine romance with a dash of interest in the problem of private lives and public moral stances of popular movie stars. It is quite enjoyable, even if somewhat predictable. James Brolin's Gable is a clever impersonation of manner and self-belief in a rugged masculinity, but does not suggest Gable's screen presence and power. Jill Clayburgh's Lombard is a much more complex study and an impressive performance, making sense of the person behind the image with her needs, inferiority, courage and love. Enjoyable, but not a must.

1. The interest of audiences in the film, in the characters? Their reputation, each, together? Over the years?

2. Audience interest in the personal story. a hero of the screen, a love story, a melodrama of defiance. tragedy? Did the screenplay blend well these elements?

3. The film's place in the Hollywood trend? Atmosphere of nostalgia for Hollywood, for the past? For the life of the stars in Hollywood in the past? Nostalgia for the stars themselves and their screen impact?

4. Did the film portray real persons? What ideas about each of them did the screenplay have? Did it communicate these insights in the characters and situations?

5. The importance of the flashback structure? Audience knowledge that Carole Lombard died, that Clark Gable lived another twenty years? The atmosphere of war and Gable's involvement, Lombard's bond-selling? The flashback from Gable's point of view?

6. The presentation of Hollywood: the wild and anti-Depression atmosphere, parties and wealth, practical jokes, the studios. the building up of careers. publicity, studio sequences as with 'Gone With The Wind'. Louis B. Mayer and his regime, standards set. fans and their expectations of stars' behaviour -sensational headlines but proper behaviour in private? The film's critique of this Hollywood of the past?

7. How well did James Brolin capture Gable's manner. style? A successful impersonation or character drawing? How much insight did the performance give into the character and strength of Gable? The initial sequence with the car and the party, his anger, his clashes with Carole Lombard? The bet with Ivan Cooper and his ruse about the muggers? Engineering their meeting on a calculated basis, the transition to mutual respect, love? The beginnings of an affair? Was it credible that Gable would enter into this affair?


8. The important background of his failed marriage, the attitudes of his wife, Ria, her refusal to give a divorce? Gable's motives in his relationship with Carole Lombard. his decisions? Louis B. Mayer and his attitude, lecturing Gable, the nature of his advice? Standards and appearances? Broderick's similar advice to Carole Lombard? The account taken of this advice for their decisions?

9. How well did Jill Clayburgh portray Carole Lombard, give insight into her character? The wild and effervescent character, her language, the party and her practical jokes, irresponsibility, push? The fact that these were masks and which took a long time to break down? Her tantrums? Her star quality? Her hostility towards Gable? Their encounter in the home, friction in discussion, the breaking down of her attitudes? What helped the transition from hostility to love? The basis of her decision to begin the affair with Gable?

10. The repercussions of their affair, their not seeing one another publicly, the devices and lengths they had to go to see one another? The avoiding of publicity? The rights and wrongs of these attitudes?

11. Louis B. Mayer as personalizing the attitudes of Hollywood officialdom? His ambiguous way of speaking and giving lectures? His wanting to tidy over things for the good of his industry? The build-up to the speech to the Daughters of the American Revolution? Gable's ascent? Lombard's turning up as a floozy and the chaos that ensured? How necessary a liberating device was this?

12. The hostile publicity, the articles, the question of the paternity suit and Gable's decision to shield Lombard? The importance of the court sequences and their melodrama? The waitress and her attitudes? Gable and his patience? The clash with Lombard and her not being present?

13. How courageous was she in coming to testify? The ruining of reputation for the sake of love? Their decision to go away? The irony of their going to the premiere and their being vindicated?

14. The sadness of Lombard's death and Gable's in retrospect?

15. Comment on the contributions of the minor characters: Ivan Cooper, the publicity man and his relationship with Gable, Mayer and his role in Hollywood, Ria and her hostility and final giving in? The importance of the sequences showing us Ria Gable and her reactions?

16. How valuable is this kind of film? The equivalent of magazine coverage of the stars, deeper insight into human beings in prominent places and their choices and the repercussions on their lives?