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At first, I could not believe James Brolin was playing Clark Gable, but he is dead on with his portrayal!!! He's a great reason to see this film. I don't know why this film is rated so low. It was sweet, entertaining and the ending was heartbreaking. It was also great to see the implications of not being a "moral" and "upstanding" actor in the film industry during its early years. It shows how much times have changed. It was also fascinating to see if Clark Gable really had a softer side in him, since he was probably the greatest leading man in the history of Hollywood and a symbol of American manhood during his time. In my mind, this film is wonderful.

Slammed by critics in 1976 for playing loosely with the Hollywood facts (to put it mildly), this expensive, handsome-looking bio-pic regarding the romance between 1930s screen idols Clark Gable and Carole Lombard actually doesn't take the facts into consideration at all. Perhaps starting with the presumption that nobody knows the real dish, screenwriter Barry Sandler concocts a movie star yarn around personalities we mostly remember today through their pictures. Of course, film-historians were quick to point out all the inaccuracies, but I don't think Sandler nor director Sidney J. Furie was preoccupied with the truth. Sandler's Gable and Lombard appear to be based solely on his (and our) movie memories of them both, and leads James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh approach their roles in this precise spirit (particularly Clayburgh, who models her performance on Lombard's performance in "My Man Godfrey"). In a way, this was a novel concept considering that 1930s reality has now been permanently blurred via time and celluloid. Now for the bad news: Sandler's 'plot' spends far too much time on the loving couple having to sneak around since Gable was already married, and their meetings with Louis B. Mayer (Allen Garfield, playing Father Confessor) are pointless. In actuality, Clark and Carole brazenly showed up everywhere together, and the public ate it up. Sticking to the truth in this instance might've served Sandler better than the silly melodrama on display, which mitigates the screwball humor Furie stages at the beginning. This picture is a real mess from a narrative standpoint, and the acting isn't dynamic enough to hold interest. There's a terrible, shapeless sequence wherein Lombard barges into a Women's Press decency meeting yelling, "Cock-a-doodle-do!" and a limp bit in the courtroom with Carole getting blue on the stand (much to everyone's delight). Brolin has Gable's squint, mouth movements and vocal inflection down pat, yet his King is made to be so downtrodden that it comes as a surprise when Lombard expresses rapture over his bedroom prowess (again, in reality, the comedienne once famously confessed she adored 'Pa' but that their sex life was lacking). Had Sandler gone full-throttle with a high-comedy approach, the movie may have been a hoot. However, the phony dramatics overshadow everything in the end--and since the film is useless as a biography, a good portion of "Gable and Lombard" is utterly without purpose. ** from ****

In the 70s after MGM compiled their wonderful THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT docos highlighting their musical treasure trove, other equally stocked companies decided not to do the same but actually make feature films about the same Hollywood history. So, instead of getting That's Fox or That's Paramount or Universal or Columbia (like the pubic actually wanted...and still do...) we were served new movies about old Hollywood. Enter GABLE AND LOMBARD (and WC Fields and Me, and Day Of The Locust...and Won Ton Ton The Dog That Saved Hollywood...and Hearts Of the West...and The Last Tycoon etc). Not as ominous as the proposed remake of Casablanca starring Tom Selleck and Jane Seymour, and nowhere near as 'bad' or 'wrong' as critics of the time cruelly labeled it, GABLE AND LOMBARD is a lush valentine to a fan mag style and memory of a period in time...rather like the production design of The Talented Mr Ripley is actually reflective of what Hollywood thought the jet set Mediterranean 50s were like as opposed to its fishing boat reality. As with At long Last Love, GABLE AND LOMBARD was slammed by crits and left to drown when without the bile and guffaw, there is a very entertaining biography with quite good casting and sensational visuals. Unfortunately for the producers, it was made when most everyone from the 30s were still alive and could spew on this film. Had it been made today, it would play 3000 multiplexes to a docile audience who struggle to know anything about 'the past' and be a $50million hit in week one by default of the TV ads and shopping center cinema location. I am sad not to see Jill Clayburg in films much past the 70s, like the superb Lee Grant she too can make an ordinary film watchable. In this case we have a great actress in a lavish (slavish) biography with sturdy James Brolin doing his damnedest not to be a dumb-Clark. As with WC Fields And Me this film deserves a better reception and a lush DVD transfer to be re discovered and appreciated. It's quite good.

Might not be the best movie, but most of the incidents in this film really took place (read the book by Warren G. Harris)! Some of the character's are fictionalized, but the story about the romance is not. James Brolin IS Clark Gable. Brolin has Gable's personality and mannerisms down to a "T" and plays Gable with dignity and grace(unlike Edward Winter did in Moviola:The Scarlett O'Hara War. Winter played him as down home, backwoods, stupid hick, which Gable was FAR from!) I don't know if Brolin did any research for his role but he's sure got Gable down pat!! Jill Clayburgh, on the other hand, overplays her role a bit, but maybe that was the way Lombard really was! All in all, Gable and Lombard is an excellent movie for film buffs, fans of Gable and/or Lombard, or suckers for old fashioned romances. Unfortunately, the only way to see this film is on cable in a heavily edited TV version. Put it out on DVD!!

Highly fictional movie about the love affair between Clark Gable (James Brolin) and Carole Lombard (Jill Clayburgh). It chronicles how they first meet and hate each other but eventually fall in love. The problem is Gable's first wife won't give him a divorce and their studios are threatening to drop them.

There are so many factual errors here it's pointless to try and discuss them all. The biggest one for me was the portrayal of Louis B. Mayer (badly played by Allen Garfield) as a kindly man. He was loud and obnoxious and treated the actors like dirt. Here he comes across as a nice gentle father figure which is wildly inaccurate. Still if you just accept this as a fictional tale it's not too bad. It's pretty obvious they spent a lot of money on this--there's some truly beautiful sets and clothes. Also the script isn't too bad. It mostly consists of Brolin and Clayburgh screaming and arguing with each other or hopping into bed...but it still works.

Brolin is VERY convincing as Gable. He looks like him and sounds like him. Also, from what I've heard, he pretty much gave an accurate portrayal of Gable as he really was. Clayburgh looks nothing like Lombard but her acting is excellent and she does show Lombard as she actually was--strong, funny and independent. Also Red Buttons is excellent as a studio publicist. Beautiful music score too.

There are a few problems. The movie is way too long--it's 131 minutes and should have been shorter. Also there's a truly tacky sequence involving a "c**k soc" that should have been eliminated. But, as a fictional tale, this is pretty good. R rated for swearing and very frank sexual talk.