Carole Lombard
Encyclopedia
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies
of the 1930s. She is listed as one of the American Film Institute
's greatest stars of all time
and was the highest-paid star in Hollywood in the late 1930s, earning around US $500,000 per year (more than five times the salary of the US President). Lombard's career was cut short when she died at the age of 33 in a plane crash.
Queen of the 1930s screwball comedies, she personified the anxiety of a nervous age
. Graham Greene
praised the "heartbreaking and nostalgic melodies" of her faster-than-thought delivery. "Platinum blonde, with a heart-shaped face, delicate, impish features and a figure made to be swathed in silver lamé, she wriggled expressively through such classics of hysteria as Twentieth Century
and My Man Godfrey
."
. Her parents were Frederick C. Peters (1875–1935) and Elizabeth Knight (1877 – January 16, 1942). Her paternal grandfather, John Claus Peters, was the son of German immigrants, Claus Peters and Caroline Catherine Eberlin. On her mother's side, she was a descendant of Thomas Hastings
who came from the East Anglia
region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1634. Lombard was the youngest of three children, having two older brothers, Fred C. Peters Jr. and Stuart Peters. She spent her early childhood in a sprawling, two-story house at 704 Rockhill Street in Fort Wayne, near the St. Mary's River. Her father had been injured during a work related accident and was left with constant headaches which caused him to burst out in paroxysms of anger which disturbed the family. Lombard's parents divorced and her mother took the three children to Los Angeles
in 1914, where Lombard attended Virgil Jr. High School
and then Fairfax High School
. She was elected "May Queen" in 1924. She quit school to pursue acting full-time, but graduated from Fairfax in 1927. Lombard was a second generation Bahá'í
who formally enrolled in 1938.
Lombard made her film debut at the age of twelve after she was seen playing baseball
in the street by director Allan Dwan
; he cast her as a tomboy
in A Perfect Crime (1921). In the 1920s, she worked in several low-budget productions credited as 'Jane Peters', and then later as 'Carol Lombard'. Her friend Miriam Cooper
helped Lombard land small roles in her husband Raoul Walsh
's films. In 1925, she was signed as a contract player with Fox Film Corporation (which merged with Daryl Zanuck's Twentieth Century Productions in 1935). She also worked for Pathé Pictures and appeared as one of Mack Sennett
's Bathing Beauties in 1928. She quickly became a well-known actress and made a smooth transition to sound film
s, starting with High Voltage
(1929). In 1930, she won a contract with Paramount Pictures
after having been dropped from both Twentieth Century and Pathé.
Lombard achieved a few minor successes in the early 1930s in 1930's Safety in Numbers with Charles "Buddy" Rogers and 1932's No Man of Her Own
with Clark Gable
, but she was continually cast in second-rate films. It was not until 1934 that her career began to take off. That year, director Howard Hawks
encountered Lombard at a party and became enamored with her saucy personality, thinking her just right for his latest project. He hired her for Twentieth Century
, alongside stage legend John Barrymore
. Lombard was at first intimidated by Barrymore, but the two quickly developed a good working rapport. The film bolstered Lombard's reputation immensely and brought her a level of fame that her previously lackluster career had denied her.
Also in 1934, she starred in Bolero
with George Raft
and it was for this film that she turned down the role of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night
. In 1935 she starred in Mitchell Leisen
's Hands Across the Table
which helped to establish her reputation as a top comedy actress. 1936 proved to be a big year for Lombard with her casting in the screwball comedy
My Man Godfrey
alongside ex-husband William Powell
. Her performance earned Lombard an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. It was followed by Nothing Sacred
in 1937, casting her opposite Fredric March
and under the direction of William A. Wellman
. It was Lombard's only film in Technicolor
and was regarded a critical and commercial smash. Nothing Sacred put Lombard at the top of the Hollywood tier and established her as one of the highest paid actresses in the business.
In 1938, Lombard suffered a flop with Fools for Scandal
and moved on to dramatic films for the next few years. In 1939, Lombard took roles opposite James Stewart
in producer David O. Selznick
's Made for Each Other
(1939) and Cary Grant
in In Name Only
(1939). She also starred in the dramatic Vigil in the Night
in 1940.
Audiences did not respond as well to Lombard in dramatic roles and she made a return to comedy, teaming with director Alfred Hitchcock
in Mr. & Mrs. Smith
(1941). The film gave Lombard's career a much needed boost and she followed her success with what proved to be her last film, and one of her most successful, To Be or Not to Be
(1942).
In October 1930, Lombard met William Powell
. They had worked together in the films Man of the World and Ladies' Man. Unlike many of Lombard's other suitors at the time, Powell was urbane and sophisticated. He also appreciated her blunt personality and bawdy sense of humor. They married on June 26, 1931. Lombard commented to fan magazines that she did not believe their sixteen-year age difference would present a problem, but friends felt they were ill-suited, as Lombard had an extroverted personality while Powell was more reserved. They divorced in 1933, but remained good friends and worked together without acrimony, notably in My Man Godfrey.
In 1934, following her divorce from Powell, Lombard moved into a house on Hollywood Boulevard
. She lived with a friend from the days of Mack Sennett
, Madalynne Fields, who became Lombard's personal secretary and whom Lombard called "Fieldsie." Lombard became known as one of Hollywood's great hostesses for her outrageous parties with unconventional themes. During this time she carried on relationships with actors Gary Cooper
and George Raft
, as well as the screenwriter Robert Riskin
.
Also during 1934, Lombard met and began a serious affair with crooner Russ Columbo
. Columbo reportedly proposed marriage, but was killed in a freak shooting accident at the age of 26. To reporters, Lombard said Columbo was the love of her life.
Lombard's most famous relationship came in 1936 when she became involved with actor Clark Gable
. They had worked together previously in 1932's No Man of Her Own
, but at the time Lombard was still happily married to Powell and knew Gable to have the reputation of a roving eye. They were indifferent to each other on the set and did not keep in touch.
It was not until 1936, when Gable came to the Mayfair Ball that Lombard had planned, that their romance began to take off. Gable, however, was married at the time to oil heiress Ria Langham, and the affair was kept quiet. The situation proved a major factor in Gable accepting the role of Rhett Butler
in Gone with the Wind
, as MGM head Louis B. Mayer
sweetened the deal for a reluctant Clark Gable by giving him enough money to settle a divorce agreement with Langham and marry Lombard. Gable divorced Langham on March 7, 1939 and proposed to Lombard in a telephone booth at the Brown Derby
.
On March 29, 1939, during a break in production on Gone with the Wind, Gable and Lombard drove out to Kingman, Arizona
and were married in a quiet ceremony with only Gable's press agent, Otto Winkler, in attendance. They bought a ranch previously owned by director Raoul Walsh
in Encino, California and lived a happy, unpretentious life, calling each other "Ma" and "Pa" and raising chickens and horses. They also attempted to have children but were not successful.
Off-screen, Lombard was much loved for her down-to-earth personality and well known for an earthy sense of humor and use of blue language. Friends of Lombard's included Alfred Hitchcock
, Marion Davies
, William Haines
, Jean Harlow
, Fred MacMurray
, Cary Grant
, Jack Benny
, Jorge Negrete
, William Powell
, and Lucille Ball
.
at the end of 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana
for a war bond
rally with her mother, Bess Peters, and Clark Gable's press agent, Otto Winkler. After raising over $2 million in defense bonds, Lombard addressed her fans, saying: "Before I say goodbye to you all, come on and join me in a big cheer! V for Victory!" On January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother, and Winkler boarded a Transcontinental and Western Air
DC-3 airplane to return to California. After refueling in Las Vegas
, TWA Flight 3
took off and 23 minutes later, crashed into "Double Up Peak" near the 8300 ft (2,529.8 m) level of Mount Potosi, 32 smi southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 aboard, including 15 army servicemen, were killed instantly.
On January 18, 1942, Jack Benny did not perform his usual program, both out of respect for Lombard and grief at her death. Instead, he devoted his program to an all-music format.
Shortly after her death at the age of 33, Gable (who was inconsolable and devastated by her loss) joined the United States Army Air Forces
. After officers training, Gable headed a six-man motion picture unit attached to a B-17 bomb group
in England to film aerial gunners in combat, flying five missions himself. Gable attended the launch of the Liberty ship
, named in her honor, on January 15, 1944.
Lombard's final film, To Be or Not to Be
(1942), directed by Ernst Lubitsch
and co-starring Jack Benny, a satire about Nazism
and World War II
, was in post-production
at the time of her death. The film's producers decided to cut part of the film in which Lombard's character asks, "What can happen on a plane?" as they felt it was in poor taste, given the circumstances of her death.
At the time of her death, Lombard had been scheduled to star in the film They All Kissed the Bride
; when production started, her role was given to Joan Crawford
. Crawford donated all of her pay for this film to the Red Cross.
Lombard is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
. The name on her crypt marker is "Carole Lombard Gable". Although Gable remarried, he was interred next to her when he died in 1960. Bess Peters was also interred beside her daughter.
In 1999, the American Film Institute
ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the 50 greatest American female screen legends
. She received one Academy Award for Best Actress
nomination, for My Man Godfrey. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, at 6930 Hollywood Blvd.
Lombard's Fort Wayne childhood home has been designated a historic landmark. The city named the nearby bridge over the St Mary's River the "Carole Lombard Memorial Bridge."
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
of the 1930s. She is listed as one of the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's greatest stars of all time
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars is a list of the top 50 greatest screen legends of American cinema, 25 male and 25 female...
and was the highest-paid star in Hollywood in the late 1930s, earning around US $500,000 per year (more than five times the salary of the US President). Lombard's career was cut short when she died at the age of 33 in a plane crash.
Queen of the 1930s screwball comedies, she personified the anxiety of a nervous age
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
praised the "heartbreaking and nostalgic melodies" of her faster-than-thought delivery. "Platinum blonde, with a heart-shaped face, delicate, impish features and a figure made to be swathed in silver lamé, she wriggled expressively through such classics of hysteria as Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century (film)
Twentieth Century is a 1934 American screwball comedy film. Much of the film is set on the 20th Century Limited train as it travels from Chicago to New York. The film was directed by Howard Hawks, stars John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, and features Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns and Edgar Kennedy...
and My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on "1101 Park Avenue", a short story by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her...
."
Ancestry and early life
Lombard was born Jane Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, IndianaFort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
. Her parents were Frederick C. Peters (1875–1935) and Elizabeth Knight (1877 – January 16, 1942). Her paternal grandfather, John Claus Peters, was the son of German immigrants, Claus Peters and Caroline Catherine Eberlin. On her mother's side, she was a descendant of Thomas Hastings
Thomas Hastings (colonist)
Thomas Hastings was a prominent English immigrant to New England, one of the approximately 20,000 immigrants who came as part of the Great Migration. A Deacon of the church, among his many public offices he served on the Committee of Colony Assessments in 1640 and as Deputy for Watertown to the...
who came from the East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
region of England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
in 1634. Lombard was the youngest of three children, having two older brothers, Fred C. Peters Jr. and Stuart Peters. She spent her early childhood in a sprawling, two-story house at 704 Rockhill Street in Fort Wayne, near the St. Mary's River. Her father had been injured during a work related accident and was left with constant headaches which caused him to burst out in paroxysms of anger which disturbed the family. Lombard's parents divorced and her mother took the three children to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1914, where Lombard attended Virgil Jr. High School
Virgil Middle School
Virgil Middle School, formerly known as Virgil Junior High School, is a middle school in Los Angeles, California. This school is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District and teaches classes to students who range from grades 6 through 8. The present enrollment of Virgil is approximately 2,200...
and then Fairfax High School
Fairfax High School (Los Angeles)
Fairfax High School is a Los Angeles Unified School District high school located in Los Angeles, USA, near the border of West Hollywood in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles...
. She was elected "May Queen" in 1924. She quit school to pursue acting full-time, but graduated from Fairfax in 1927. Lombard was a second generation Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
who formally enrolled in 1938.
Career
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
in the street by director Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
; he cast her as a tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
in A Perfect Crime (1921). In the 1920s, she worked in several low-budget productions credited as 'Jane Peters', and then later as 'Carol Lombard'. Her friend Miriam Cooper
Miriam Cooper
Miriam Cooper was a silent film actress who is best known for her work in early film including Birth of a Nation and Intolerance for D.W. Griffith and The Honor System and Evangeline for her husband Raoul Walsh...
helped Lombard land small roles in her husband Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
's films. In 1925, she was signed as a contract player with Fox Film Corporation (which merged with Daryl Zanuck's Twentieth Century Productions in 1935). She also worked for Pathé Pictures and appeared as one of Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
's Bathing Beauties in 1928. She quickly became a well-known actress and made a smooth transition to sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s, starting with High Voltage
High Voltage (1929 film)
High Voltage is an American film, released by Pathé and directed by Howard Higgin.The film stars William Boyd, Carol Lombard, Diane Ellis, Owen Moore, Phillips Smalley, and Billy Bevan....
(1929). In 1930, she won a contract with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
after having been dropped from both Twentieth Century and Pathé.
Lombard achieved a few minor successes in the early 1930s in 1930's Safety in Numbers with Charles "Buddy" Rogers and 1932's No Man of Her Own
No Man of Her Own (1932 film)
No Man of Her Own is a 1932 light comedy film starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard as a married couple in their only film together, several years before their own legendary marriage in real life...
with Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
, but she was continually cast in second-rate films. It was not until 1934 that her career began to take off. That year, director Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
encountered Lombard at a party and became enamored with her saucy personality, thinking her just right for his latest project. He hired her for Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century (film)
Twentieth Century is a 1934 American screwball comedy film. Much of the film is set on the 20th Century Limited train as it travels from Chicago to New York. The film was directed by Howard Hawks, stars John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, and features Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns and Edgar Kennedy...
, alongside stage legend John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
. Lombard was at first intimidated by Barrymore, but the two quickly developed a good working rapport. The film bolstered Lombard's reputation immensely and brought her a level of fame that her previously lackluster career had denied her.
Bolero (1934 film)
Bolero is a musical drama film starring George Raft and Carole Lombard. The movie was a rare chance for Raft to star and to play a dancer, which had been his profession in New York City, rather than a gangster. The film takes its title from the Maurice Ravel composition Boléro .-Plot:The film...
with George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
and it was for this film that she turned down the role of Ellie Andrews in It Happened One Night
It Happened One Night
It Happened One Night is a 1934 American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter . The plot was based on the story Night Bus by Samuel...
. In 1935 she starred in Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen was an American director, art director, and costume designer.-Film career:He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments...
's Hands Across the Table
Hands Across the Table
Hands Across the Table is a 1935 American romantic screwball comedy film released by Paramount Pictures. It stars Carole Lombard as a manicurist looking for a rich husband and Fred MacMurray as a poor playboy, with Ralph Bellamy as a wealthy but handicapped ex-pilot...
which helped to establish her reputation as a top comedy actress. 1936 proved to be a big year for Lombard with her casting in the screwball comedy
Screwball Comedy
Screwball Comedy is an album by the Japanese band Soul Flower Union. The album found the band going into a simpler, harder-rocking direction, after several heavily world-music influenced albums.-Track listing:...
My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on "1101 Park Avenue", a short story by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her...
alongside ex-husband William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
. Her performance earned Lombard an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. It was followed by Nothing Sacred
Nothing Sacred (film)
Nothing Sacred is a 1937 Technicolor screwball comedy film made by Selznick International Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by William A. Wellman and produced by David O. Selznick, from a screenplay credited to Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street...
in 1937, casting her opposite Fredric March
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr...
and under the direction of William A. Wellman
William A. Wellman
William Augustus Wellman was an American film director. Although Wellman began his film career as an actor, he worked on over 80 films, as director, producer and consultant but most often as a director, notable for his work in crime, adventure and action genre films, often focusing on aviation...
. It was Lombard's only film in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and was regarded a critical and commercial smash. Nothing Sacred put Lombard at the top of the Hollywood tier and established her as one of the highest paid actresses in the business.
In 1938, Lombard suffered a flop with Fools for Scandal
Fools for Scandal
Fools for Scandal is a 1938 comedy film starring Carole Lombard, Fernand Gravey, and Ralph Bellamy. It is now best remembered today as one of Lombard's worst films and one that set her on the course for seeking dramatic roles for the next few years.-Plot:...
and moved on to dramatic films for the next few years. In 1939, Lombard took roles opposite James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
in producer David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
's Made for Each Other
Made for Each Other (1939 film)
Made for Each Other is a 1939 drama film directed by John Cromwell and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Carole Lombard and James Stewart as a couple who get married after only knowing each other very briefly.-Plot:...
(1939) and Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
in In Name Only
In Name Only
In Name Only is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. It was based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer.-Plot:...
(1939). She also starred in the dramatic Vigil in the Night
Vigil in the Night
Vigil in the Night is a 1940 film based on the 1939 serialized novel Vigil in the Night, by A. J. Cronin...
in 1940.
Audiences did not respond as well to Lombard in dramatic roles and she made a return to comedy, teaming with director Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
in Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 1941 screwball comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Norman Krasna, and starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery...
(1941). The film gave Lombard's career a much needed boost and she followed her success with what proved to be her last film, and one of her most successful, To Be or Not to Be
To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel...
(1942).
Personal life
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
. They had worked together in the films Man of the World and Ladies' Man. Unlike many of Lombard's other suitors at the time, Powell was urbane and sophisticated. He also appreciated her blunt personality and bawdy sense of humor. They married on June 26, 1931. Lombard commented to fan magazines that she did not believe their sixteen-year age difference would present a problem, but friends felt they were ill-suited, as Lombard had an extroverted personality while Powell was more reserved. They divorced in 1933, but remained good friends and worked together without acrimony, notably in My Man Godfrey.
In 1934, following her divorce from Powell, Lombard moved into a house on Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
. She lived with a friend from the days of Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
, Madalynne Fields, who became Lombard's personal secretary and whom Lombard called "Fieldsie." Lombard became known as one of Hollywood's great hostesses for her outrageous parties with unconventional themes. During this time she carried on relationships with actors Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
, as well as the screenwriter Robert Riskin
Robert Riskin
Robert Riskin was an American screenwriter and playwright, best known for his collaborations with director-producer Frank Capra.-Career:...
.
Also during 1934, Lombard met and began a serious affair with crooner Russ Columbo
Russ Columbo
Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolpho Colombo , known as Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune, "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words", and the legend surrounding his early...
. Columbo reportedly proposed marriage, but was killed in a freak shooting accident at the age of 26. To reporters, Lombard said Columbo was the love of her life.
Lombard's most famous relationship came in 1936 when she became involved with actor Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
. They had worked together previously in 1932's No Man of Her Own
No Man of Her Own (1932 film)
No Man of Her Own is a 1932 light comedy film starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard as a married couple in their only film together, several years before their own legendary marriage in real life...
, but at the time Lombard was still happily married to Powell and knew Gable to have the reputation of a roving eye. They were indifferent to each other on the set and did not keep in touch.
It was not until 1936, when Gable came to the Mayfair Ball that Lombard had planned, that their romance began to take off. Gable, however, was married at the time to oil heiress Ria Langham, and the affair was kept quiet. The situation proved a major factor in Gable accepting the role of Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler
Rhett Butler is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.-Role:In the beginning of the novel, we first meet Rhett at the Twelve Oaks Plantation barbecue, the home of John Wilkes and his son Ashley and daughters Honey and India Wilkes...
in Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, as MGM head Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
sweetened the deal for a reluctant Clark Gable by giving him enough money to settle a divorce agreement with Langham and marry Lombard. Gable divorced Langham on March 7, 1939 and proposed to Lombard in a telephone booth at the Brown Derby
Brown Derby
The Brown Derby was the name of a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and most famous of these was shaped like a men's derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood....
.
On March 29, 1939, during a break in production on Gone with the Wind, Gable and Lombard drove out to Kingman, Arizona
Kingman, Arizona
Kingman is located in a desert climate on the edge of the Mojave Desert, but its higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley tempers summer high temperatures and contributes to winter cold and rare snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F ...
and were married in a quiet ceremony with only Gable's press agent, Otto Winkler, in attendance. They bought a ranch previously owned by director Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
in Encino, California and lived a happy, unpretentious life, calling each other "Ma" and "Pa" and raising chickens and horses. They also attempted to have children but were not successful.
Off-screen, Lombard was much loved for her down-to-earth personality and well known for an earthy sense of humor and use of blue language. Friends of Lombard's included Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, Marion Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
, William Haines
William Haines
Charles William "Billy" Haines was an American film actor and interior designer. He was a star of the silent era until the 1930s, when Haines' career was cut short by MGM Studios due to his refusal to deny his homosexuality...
, Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
, Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, Jorge Negrete
Jorge Negrete
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno is considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time....
, William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
, and Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
.
Death
When the US entered World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
at the end of 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
for a war bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
rally with her mother, Bess Peters, and Clark Gable's press agent, Otto Winkler. After raising over $2 million in defense bonds, Lombard addressed her fans, saying: "Before I say goodbye to you all, come on and join me in a big cheer! V for Victory!" On January 16, 1942, Lombard, her mother, and Winkler boarded a Transcontinental and Western Air
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
DC-3 airplane to return to California. After refueling in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, TWA Flight 3
TWA Flight 3
TWA Flight 3 was a twin-engine Douglas DC-3-382 propliner, registration NC1946, operated by Transcontinental and Western Air as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from New York, New York, to Burbank, California, via Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Louis, Missouri; Albuquerque, New Mexico and Las...
took off and 23 minutes later, crashed into "Double Up Peak" near the 8300 ft (2,529.8 m) level of Mount Potosi, 32 smi southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 aboard, including 15 army servicemen, were killed instantly.
On January 18, 1942, Jack Benny did not perform his usual program, both out of respect for Lombard and grief at her death. Instead, he devoted his program to an all-music format.
Shortly after her death at the age of 33, Gable (who was inconsolable and devastated by her loss) joined the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
. After officers training, Gable headed a six-man motion picture unit attached to a B-17 bomb group
USAAF bombardment group
A bombardment group or bomb group was a group of bomber aircraft the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was the equivalent of an infantry regiment in the Army Ground Forces, or a bomber wing in the British Commonwealth air forces...
in England to film aerial gunners in combat, flying five missions himself. Gable attended the launch of the Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
, named in her honor, on January 15, 1944.
Lombard's final film, To Be or Not to Be
To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel...
(1942), directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
and co-starring Jack Benny, a satire about Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was in post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
at the time of her death. The film's producers decided to cut part of the film in which Lombard's character asks, "What can happen on a plane?" as they felt it was in poor taste, given the circumstances of her death.
At the time of her death, Lombard had been scheduled to star in the film They All Kissed the Bride
They All Kissed the Bride
They All Kissed the Bride is a Columbia Pictures feature film starring Joan Crawford, Melvyn Douglas, Roland Young, and Billie Burke in a story about a trucking firm executive who falls in love. The screenplay by P. J. Wolfson was based on a story by Gina Kaus and Andrew P. Solt. The film was...
; when production started, her role was given to Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
. Crawford donated all of her pay for this film to the Red Cross.
Lombard is interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
. The name on her crypt marker is "Carole Lombard Gable". Although Gable remarried, he was interred next to her when he died in 1960. Bess Peters was also interred beside her daughter.
Awards and honors
In 1999, the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the 50 greatest American female screen legends
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars is a list of the top 50 greatest screen legends of American cinema, 25 male and 25 female...
. She received one Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
nomination, for My Man Godfrey. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, at 6930 Hollywood Blvd.
Lombard's Fort Wayne childhood home has been designated a historic landmark. The city named the nearby bridge over the St Mary's River the "Carole Lombard Memorial Bridge."
Portrayals
She has been played by:- Jill ClayburghJill ClayburghJill Clayburgh was an American actress. She received Academy Award nominations for her roles in An Unmarried Woman and Starting Over.-Personal life:...
in Gable and LombardGable and LombardGable and Lombard is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Sidney J. Furie. The screenplay by Barry Sandler is based on the romance and consequent marriage of legendary screen stars Clark Gable and Carole Lombard...
(1976) - Sharon GlessSharon GlessSharon Marguerite Gless is an American character actress of stage, film and television, who is best known for her roles as Maggie Philbin on Switch , as Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey and as Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer...
in Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) - Denise CrosbyDenise CrosbyDenise Michelle Crosby is an American actress best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
in Malice in WonderlandMalice in Wonderland (TV film)Malice in Wonderland is a 1985 American television movie based on the 1972 novel Hedda and Louella: A Dual Biography of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons by George Eells. Starring Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Alexander, it tells the based-on-real-life stories of powerful Hollywood gossip columnists...
(1985) - Anastasia HilleAnastasia HilleAnastasia Hille is an English actress active in British television, theatre, and film.Hille was a student at Drama Centre . She was nominated for the Ian Charleson Awards in 1994.-Television:...
in RKO 281RKO 281RKO 281 is a 1999 historical drama film directed by Benjamin Ross. It stars Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, and Roy Scheider and depicts the troubled production behind the 1941 film Citizen Kane...
(1999) - Vanessa Gray in LucyLucy (film)Lucy is a 2003 television film directed by Glenn Jordan. It is based on the life and career of actress and comedian Lucille Ball.-Plot:Lucy opens in 1960, at the filming of the final Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz Show...
(2003)
Features
- A Perfect Crime (1921)
- Gold HeelsGold Heels (1924 film)Gold Heels is a 1924 silent film drama produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation and directed by W. S. Van Dyke. The film is loosely based on legendary racing horse Gold Heels.-Cast:*Robert Agnew - Boots*Peggy Shaw - Pert Barlow...
(1924) - Dick Turpin (1925)
- Marriage in Transit (1925)
- Gold and the Girl (1925)
- Hearts and Spurs (1925)
- Durand of the Bad Lands (1925)
- The Plastic AgeThe Plastic Age (film)The Plastic Age is a black-and-white silent film starring Clara Bow and Gilbert Roland. The film survives today not only on 16 mm film, but also on video and DVD. The film was based on the best-selling 1924 novel The Plastic Age by Percy Marks...
(1925) - Ben-HurBen-Hur (1925 film)Ben-Hur is a 1925 silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This was the second film based on the novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace...
(1925) - The Road to Glory (1926)
- The Johnstown FloodThe Johnstown Flood (1926 film)The Johnstown Flood is an American silent epic film drama directed by Irving Cummings. The film stars George O'Brien, Florence Gilbert and Janet Gaynor. This is a surviving film with a print held at George Eastman House, Rochester.-Cast:...
(1926) - The Fighting Eagle (1927)
- My Best Girl (1927)
- The Divine Sinner (1928)
- Power (1928)
- Me, Gangster (1928)
- Show Folks (1928)
- Ned McCobb's Daughter (1928)
- High VoltageHigh Voltage (1929 film)High Voltage is an American film, released by Pathé and directed by Howard Higgin.The film stars William Boyd, Carol Lombard, Diane Ellis, Owen Moore, Phillips Smalley, and Billy Bevan....
(1929) - Big News (1929)
- The Racketeer (1929)
- The Arizona Kid (1930)
- Safety in Numbers (1930)
- Fast and LooseFast and Loose (film)Fast and Loose is a 1930 romantic comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and starring Miriam Hopkins, Carole Lombard and Frank Morgan. The film was written by Doris Anderson, Jack Kirkland and Preston Sturges, based on the 1924 play The Best People by David Gray and Avery Hopwood...
(1930) - It Pays to Advertise (1931)
- Man of the WorldMan of the World (1931 film)Man of the World is a romantic drama, starring William Powell, Carole Lombard, and Wynne Gibson.-Plot:A young American girl visits Paris accompanied by her fiancee and her wealthy uncle...
(1931) - Ladies' Man (1931)
- Up Pops the Devil (1931)
- I Take This WomanI Take This Woman (1931 film)I Take This Woman is a romance film starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard and released by Paramount Pictures.-Cast:*Gary Cooper as Tom McNair*Carole Lombard as Kay Dowling*Helen Ware as Aunt Bessie*Lester Vail as Herbert Forrest...
(1931) - No One Man (1932)
- Sinners in the Sun (1932)
- VirtueVirtue (film)Virtue is a 1932 romance film starring Carole Lombard and Pat O'Brien.-Plot summary:New York City streetwalker Mae is placed on a train by a policeman and told not to come back. However, she gets off, taking the cab of Jimmy Doyle , who doesn't think much of women. She slips away without paying...
(1932) - No More OrchidsNo More OrchidsNo More Orchids is a 1932 drama film starring Carole Lombard and Lyle Talbot as mismatched lovers, based on the novel of the same name by Grace Perkins.-Plot:...
(1932) - No Man of Her OwnNo Man of Her Own (1932 film)No Man of Her Own is a 1932 light comedy film starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard as a married couple in their only film together, several years before their own legendary marriage in real life...
(1932) - From Hell to Heaven (1933)
- Supernatural (1933)
- The Eagle and the HawkThe Eagle and the Hawk (1933 film)The Eagle and the Hawk is a war film starring Fredric March and Cary Grant as World War I Royal Air Force fighter pilots. The supporting cast includes Jack Oakie and Carole Lombard. March gave an outstanding performance as a pilot who cracks under the strain of war. Aerial scenes are brief but...
(1933) - Brief Moment (1933)
- White WomanWhite WomanWhite Woman is a 1933 film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Carole Lombard, Charles Laughton, and Charles Bickford. A young widow remarries and accompanies her husband to his remote jungle rubber plantation. The film was based on the play Hangman's Whip by Norman Reilly Raine and Frank...
(1933) - BoleroBolero (1934 film)Bolero is a musical drama film starring George Raft and Carole Lombard. The movie was a rare chance for Raft to star and to play a dancer, which had been his profession in New York City, rather than a gangster. The film takes its title from the Maurice Ravel composition Boléro .-Plot:The film...
(1934) - We're Not DressingWe're Not DressingWe're Not Dressing is a 1934 screwball comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard, Burns and Allen, Ethel Merman, and Ray Milland. Based on the 1902 J. M. Barrie play, The Admirable Crichton, the movie was directed by Norman Taurog.-Synopsis:...
(1934) - Twentieth CenturyTwentieth Century (film)Twentieth Century is a 1934 American screwball comedy film. Much of the film is set on the 20th Century Limited train as it travels from Chicago to New York. The film was directed by Howard Hawks, stars John Barrymore and Carole Lombard, and features Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns and Edgar Kennedy...
(1934) - Now and ForeverNow and Forever (1934 film)Now and Forever is a 1934 American drama film directed by Henry Hathaway. The screenplay by Vincent Lawrence and Sylvia Thalberg was based on a story by Jack Kirkland and Melville Baker. The film stars Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, and Shirley Temple in a story about a criminal going straight for...
(1934) - Lady by ChoiceLady by ChoiceLady by Choice is a 1934 romantic drama film starring Carole Lombard as a fan dancer and May Robson as a homeless drunk who is asked to pose as the dancer's mother for a publicity stunt, with unexpected consequences.-Plot:...
(1934) - The Gay BrideThe Gay BrideThe Gay Bride is a 1934 black-and-white gangster film starring Carole Lombard as a wisecracking gold-digger and Chester Morris as the poor man she despises...
(1934) - RumbaRumba (1935 film)Rumba is a 1935 musical drama film starring George Raft as a Cuban dancer and Carole Lombard as a Manhattan socialite. The movie was directed by Marion Gering and is considered an unsuccessful follow-up to Raft and Lombard's smash hit Bolero the previous year.-Cast:*George Raft as Joe Martin*Carole...
(1935) - Hands Across the TableHands Across the TableHands Across the Table is a 1935 American romantic screwball comedy film released by Paramount Pictures. It stars Carole Lombard as a manicurist looking for a rich husband and Fred MacMurray as a poor playboy, with Ralph Bellamy as a wealthy but handicapped ex-pilot...
(1935) - Love Before BreakfastLove Before BreakfastLove Before Breakfast is a 1936 romantic comedy film starring Carole Lombard, Preston Foster, and Cesar Romero, based on Faith Baldwin's short story Spinster Dinner, published in International-Cosmopolitan in July 1934...
(1936) - The Princess Comes AcrossThe Princess Comes AcrossReleased by Paramount in 1936, The Princess Comes Across is a film starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray.-Plot:A mixture of screwball comedy and murder mystery, a Swedish princess with a secret and a concertina-playing band leader with a past board the liner Mammoth, bound for New York...
(1936) - My Man GodfreyMy Man GodfreyMy Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on "1101 Park Avenue", a short story by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her...
(1936) - Swing High, Swing LowSwing High, Swing Low (film)Swing High, Swing Low is a 1937 American romantic musical film starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray.This is the second film adaptation, after The Dance of Life and before When My Baby Smiles at Me , of the popular Broadway play Burlesque, by George Manker Watters and Arthur Hopkins.-Cast:*...
(1937) - Nothing SacredNothing Sacred (film)Nothing Sacred is a 1937 Technicolor screwball comedy film made by Selznick International Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by William A. Wellman and produced by David O. Selznick, from a screenplay credited to Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street...
(1937) - True ConfessionTrue ConfessionTrue Confession is a 1937 screwball comedy film starring Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, and John Barrymore. It was directed by Wesley Ruggles and based on the play Mon Crime, written by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil.-Plot:...
(1937) - Fools for ScandalFools for ScandalFools for Scandal is a 1938 comedy film starring Carole Lombard, Fernand Gravey, and Ralph Bellamy. It is now best remembered today as one of Lombard's worst films and one that set her on the course for seeking dramatic roles for the next few years.-Plot:...
(1938) - Made for Each OtherMade for Each Other (1939 film)Made for Each Other is a 1939 drama film directed by John Cromwell and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Carole Lombard and James Stewart as a couple who get married after only knowing each other very briefly.-Plot:...
(1939) - In Name OnlyIn Name OnlyIn Name Only is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. It was based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer.-Plot:...
(1939) - Vigil in the NightVigil in the NightVigil in the Night is a 1940 film based on the 1939 serialized novel Vigil in the Night, by A. J. Cronin...
(1940) - They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
- Mr. & Mrs. SmithMr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 1941 screwball comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Norman Krasna, and starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery...
(1941) - To Be or Not to BeTo Be or Not to Be (1942 film)To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel...
(1942)
Short subjects
- Smith's Pony (1927)
- Gold Digger of Weepah (1927)
- The Girl from Everywhere (1927)
- Run, Girl, Run (1928)
- The Beach Club (1928)
- Smith's Army Life (1928)
- The Best Man (1928)
- The Swim Princess (1928)
- The Bicycle Flirt (1928)
- The Girl from Nowhere (1928)
- His Unlucky Night (1928)
- Smith's Restaurant (1928)
- The Campus Vamp (1928)
- Motorboat Mamas (1928)
- Hubby's Weekend Trip (1928)
- The Campus Carmen (1928)
- Matchmaking Mamma (1929)
- Don't Get Jealous (1929)
- Hollywood on Parade No. 11 (1933)
- Hollywood on Parade No. A-12 (1933)
- The Fashion Side of Hollywood (1935)
- Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 3 (1936)
- Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)
- Hollywood Goes to Town (1938)
- Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 9 (1939)