Clark Gable filmography

Main article: Clark Gable

Contents

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.

Year # Title
1924 1 White Man
2 Forbidden Paradise
1925 3 The Pacemakers
4 Declassée
5 The Merry Kiddo
Year # Title
1925 6 What Price Gloria?
7 The Merry Widow
8 The Plastic Age
9 North Star
Year # Title
1925 10 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1926 11 The Johnstown Flood
12 One Minute to Play
1930 13 Du Barry, Woman of Passion

Main 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 # Title Role Leading Lady Director Other players / 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[1] 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 Hill With Wallace Beery, Conrad Nagel.
1932 13 Polly of the Circus Reverend John Hartley Marion Davies Afred 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.
17 Broadway to Cheyenne Brett Marceline Day Harry L. Fraser From Monogram Pictures Corporation.
1933 18 The White Sister[4] Giovanni Severi Helen Hayes Victor Fleming With Louis Stone
19 Hold Your Man Eddie Hall Jean Harlow Sam Wood With Stuart Erwin.
20 Night Flight[2] 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[3] 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. Loosey 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 # Title Role Leading Lady Director Other players / 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 to serve in combat during WWII.
1945 46 Adventure Harry Patterson Greer Garson Victor Fleming With Joan Blondell and Thomas Mitchell. Gable's first post-WWII 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 # Title Role Leading Lady Director Other players / 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 Montalban, 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[4] 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. "Rich" Richardson Mary LaRoche Robert Wise A Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Production, released through United Artists. With Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, Don Rickles.
64 Teacher's Pet James Gannon/James Gallangher 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

Year # Title Role Leading Lady Director Other players / Notes
1960 66 It Started in Naples Michael Hamilton Sophia Loren Melville Shavelson A Paramount Production. With Vittorio De Sica. Filmed in Technicolor on location in Italy.
1961 67 The Misfits Gaylord "Gay" Langdon Marilyn Monroe John Huston A Seven Arts-John Huston Production, released through United Artists. With Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach. Gable's last film,[24] released after his death.

Short subjects

During his career as a movie star Gable appeared as himself in the following short subjects:

Year # Title Year # Title
1931 1 The Christmas Party 1939 10 Screen Snapshots: Stars on Horseback
2 Jackie Cooper's Birthday Party 11 Hollywood Hobbies
1932 3 Screen Snapshots 1940 12 Northward, Ho![25]
1933 4 Hollywood on Parade No. 9 1941 13 You Can't Fool a Camera
1935 5 Hollywood Hobbies 1943 14 Show Business at War
6 Starlit Days at the Lido 15 Wings Up
1937 7 Hollywood Party 1943 16 Screen Snapshots: Hollywood in Uniform
8 The Candid Camera Story (Very Candid of

the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention

 1950 17 Screen Actors
1938 9 Hollywood Goes to Town

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

Awards
Preceded by
Charles Laughton
for The Private Life of Henry VIII		 Academy Award for Best Actor
1934
for It Happened One Night		 Succeeded by
Victor McLaglen
for The Informer

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.
- 1934 - - 1935 - - 1939 -
Actor Film Actor Film Actor Film
Clark Gable It Happened One Night Clark Gable Mutiny on the Bounty Robert Donat Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Frank Morgan The Affairs of Cellini Charles Laughton Mutiny on the Bounty Clark Gable Gone with the Wind
William Powell The Thin Man Victor McLaglen The Informer Laurence Olivier Wuthering Heights
– – Paul Muni Black Fury Mickey Rooney Babes in Arms
– – Franchot Tone Mutiny on the Bounty James Stewart Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Notes

  1. ^ Barrymore won an Academy Award for his performance.
  2. ^ Joan Crawford also starred in a 1947 film entitled Possessed. This film is not a remake of the earlier one.
  3. ^ Remade as Mogambo (1953) with Gable again in the lead.
  4. ^ Previously filmed in 1922 with Ronald Colman in the Gable role.
  5. ^ Astaire's film debut.
  6. ^ Best Picture Academy Award winner for 1934.
  7. ^ Remade as You Can't Run Away From It (1956) with Jack Lemmon in the Gable role.
  8. ^ Reputedly the film that gangster John Dillinger saw just before being gunned down.
  9. ^ Young and Gable had an affair during the making of this film, resulting in Young bearing Gable's child.
  10. ^ Best Picture Academy Award winner for 1935.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Laughton and Tone also received Academy Award nominations.
  13. ^ Lost the 1936 Best Picture Academy Award to The Great Ziegfeld and Tracy was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.
  14. ^ "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, NJ. Citadel Press, 1970.
  15. ^ Harlow died during production of this film. The film was completed using her stand-in Mary Dees.
  16. ^ Lost the 1938 Best Picture Academy Award to You Can't Take It With You
  17. ^ Best Picture Academy Award winner winner for 1939.
  18. ^ A made-for-TV sequel entitled Scarlett (1994) starred Timothy Dalton in the Gable role.
  19. ^ Although Fleming is the film's sole credited director, portions of the film were directed by George Cukor and Sam Wood.
  20. ^ Although Gable received top billing in the advertisements for this film, Crawford has top billing in the film's opening credits.
  21. ^ This was Morgan's last film. He died before the film was released.
  22. ^ Previously filmed as Red Dust (1932), also with Gable in the lead.
  23. ^ "Magambo" is the Swahili word for "Passion."
  24. ^ Also Marilyn Monroe's last film.
  25. ^ A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Northwest Passage (1940) starring Spencer Tracy.

Bibliography