19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
THE MOST UNDERRATED MOVIE OF THE 70'S, March 23, 2004
This is one of the most underrated movie of the 1970's. Jill Clayburgh is absolutely first-rate in her portrayal of Carole Lombard and James Brolin is surprisingly dead-on as Clark Gable. The movie begins at the site of the plane crash that killed Lombard and flashes back to the beginning of Gable and Lombard's risky and soulful love affair. Critics destroyed this movie when it was released nearly 4 decades ago, but I urge everyone to give it a shot. The production design is faultless, the musical score is lush and romantic, and the performances are terrific. I plan on being the first one to buy it.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hollywood's torrid love tale of Gable & Lombard now on DVD!, April 26, 2004
This 70's movie was lost and now has returned to Anamorphic (automatically adjusts to TV size)WideScreen 16:9 DVD!!! There are no extra features with this DVD.
The Golden Years of Hollywood (1930 - 1960) had the great love stories on and off the silver screen. There was Tracy and Hepburn, Bogart and Bacall and Burton and Taylor but none of these were as hot, steamy and as controversal as "Gable and Lombard". Hollywood through their eyes tries to capture this passion with a comedy/drama of the wildest exaggerations. Even so the love story cannot be denied.
It was the 1930's and Clark Gable was known as the "King" and Carole Lombard was the highest paid actress and known as the "Queen" of the screwball comedy (or the black comedy - a bizarre style of comedy that evolved from the Depression. Taking a negative situation and making it into an ironic humorous story). James Brolin as Gable and Jill Clayburgh as Lombard do an exceptional job bringing these two dynamic superstars to the big WideScreen. Lombard was a real blonde beauty, talented, single, very defensive, could not make romantic/marraige commitments, a tomboy, drank, smoked cigars and a party animal. Gable was handsome, talented, mans man, had married older domineering women and a wild partying womanizer.
This movie although very fictionalized captures the essence of "THE GREATEST HOLLYWOOD ROMANCE". Gable and Lombard fell hard for each other and Gables wife would not grant him a divorce. (She loved the prestige of being Mrs. Clark Gable). This movie has us journey the long road that Gable & Lombard spent trying to make that utilmate commitment, marriage. Finally through public (who loved these two), Hollywood moguls and legal pressure Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were married. This true Hollywood romance only lasted for less than 3 years when Lombard was tragically killed in an airplane crash returning from a World War II bond drive in her home state of Indiana. Gable never got over her death.
This is a must see movie. Watch this fun loving torrid romance a true Hollywood fairy tale. Enjoy.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
INNACURATE BUT ENJOYABLE MOVIE, April 13, 2004
By A Customer
i was so happy that this finally came out on dvd. i have been searching for it for years even buying a horrible copy of it on ebay. i was one of the first in line to see this movie the day it came out in 1976. i could not wait because i was such a huge clark gable fan and a fan of the gable-lombard love story. i will agree with the previous reviewer that jill clayburgh is very good in this movie, in fact i would say she is the reason for seeing it. however, james brolin (or mr streisand as i like to refer to him) is pretty bad as gable. i will say there are times in the movie that he could be his double but his portrayal of gable as a country bumpkin is almost laughable. the production however is first rate but again 98% of this story is made up. for instance, gable was not in the service when lombard was killed. she was killed in january of 1942 and he did not join the service until august of that year. also as far as i know their first meeting did not result in a food fight as in the movie. their first meeting was in a little know gem of a movie "no man of her own" in 1932. they did not meet again until the mayfair ball in 1936. but they did hide their relationship from their fans and the press and there was an article printed in photoplay magazine call "unmarried husband and wives" that did "out" them as living together as well as barbara stanwyck and robert taylor and paulette goddard and charles chaplan. i think the most ludicrous scene in the movie is lombard putting on the red dress and parading down the aisle while clark is supposedly speaking to some ladies group.. WRONG... DID NOT HAPPEN..all in all it is an enjoyable movie and a sincere love story. i just have to try to forget that it is supposed to be a truthful telling of the gable-lombard union which it is not.. i just wish when they told stories of REAL people they would tell the truth and not rewrite history.. but i do recommend seeing the movie for what it is a purely fictional account of a truly magical couple.. then if you want the real story of the gable-lombard romance read the book "gable and lombard" by warren g. harris.
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