Quero-te Como És

This is Clark Gable in his fifth film after Gone With the Wind and pre-World War II when he was at the peak of his Clark Gable screen persona that he best remembered by as the rugged, devil-may-care, reckless, dangerous, sly, witty, conniving, and handsome character that finds trouble and romance equally irresistible. Kind of like the character that Sean Connery portrayed in his early Bond pictures. This is typical Gable matched up with his feminine romantic adversary this time around in a young Lana Turner in their first film together. Turner is absolutely beautiful. He's a con man and gambler in the old west that flees from town to town one step ahead of the law and anyone he's crossed or bamboozled. He and his side kick Chill Wills land in a town where he ends up in love with the Judge daughter. He and the Judge played by Frank Morgan share a common shady past. Gable buys a saloon and ends up taking over the town but there's plenty of trouble always looming while he simultaneously tries to lead the life of a settled down married man. Claire Trevor, Majorie Main and Albert Dekker are among the supporting cast. Harrold Rosson who photographed The Wizzard of Oz and had 5 Academy Award nominations in his long career is the cinematographer with some scenes shot by 4 time Academy Award nominated and long-time Greta Garbo photographer William H. Daniels. Jack Conway who directed Gable in Boomtwon, Too Hot to Handle, Saratoga and The Hucksters as well as directing such notable films as Red Headed Woman, Libeled Lady and A Tale of Two Cities is the film's director. Franz Waxman provides the score. It's a nice blend of drama, romance and comedy and I would give it an 8.5 out of 10.

Clark Gable is a rogue trying to go straight, and Lana Turner is his wife in "Honky Tonk," a western from MGM that also stars Claire Trevor, Frank Morgan, and Marjorie Main.

Gable is Candy Johnson, who blows into town, and after he wins $5,000, opens his own gambling establishment. He meets Elizabeth (Turner), whose father (Morgan) is an old crook with a respectable front as a judge. After he and Elizabeth get married, Candy gets a taste of power and starts trying to take over the town. All his efforts initially were for his bride, but his intentions get away from him.

The two stars really make this film. Turner and Gable have great chemistry, as they proved in other films together (this was their first). Gable is in his Rhett Butler phase and is at his handsomest and most charming in this pre-war era - clever, tough, sexy, and soft-hearted.

The very young Turner is a good match for him - she seems overwhelmed by Candy at first, but she's got her own toughness, too, and knows what she wants. Claire Trevor is Candy's ex-girlfriend, and she's excellent as a woman who knows all there is to know about Candy and has been around the block a few times herself.

"Honky Tonk" is a big MGM picture with wonderful stars and first-class production values. The script isn't the greatest, but you'll hardly notice.

You cannot go wrong watching a 1940's western that stars the charming and macho Clark Gable who plays a huckster named Candy Johnson with two ladies chasing after him. The first lady is the street smart, poker playing barmaid named 'Gold Dust' Nelson (Claire Trevor) and the second lady who still lives at home with her daddy judge Cotton (Frank Morgan) the one and only Grand Wizard from the 1939 classic Wizard of Oz is the Boston born debutante Elizabeth Cotton (Lana Turner).

There is no one in the modern day age of the 1940's cinema that garners more attention, confidence and natural swagger than the smooth talking Clark Gable who could even charm the skin off of a rattlesnake and he certainly lives up to his reputation in Honky Tonk. No doubt, this is a western with gamblers, gunslingers, bar room brawls and high noon shootouts, but it is also a romantic film so there is a little bit of country charm in it as well.

I would recommend Honky Tonk is worth watching at least twice in a lifetime. I give it a solid 7 out of 10 rating.

This picture starts out with great promise; A con-man and his sidekick about to get ridden out of a town on a rail, tarred and feathered, but they turn the tables on the angry mob and 'hightail it' out on the next train. In the next town he meets Lana Turner, and the action and narrative come to a screeching halt as the story becomes a sappy love story with the old west as a backdrop.

I say 'sappy', because there is not a note of veracity in what follows, as unlikely and far-fetched a love story as can be imagined. Gable gives it all he's got but Lana Turner was a lightweight as an actress and is no help. They are both hampered by a sappy script designed to pander to 40's audiences but which nowadays is just irritating, right down to the happy (sappy?) ending. OK for Gable fans but pass on this one if you're not.

This romantic western is often overlooked. This is the first Clark Gable and Lana Turner tandem. Turner is a Boston maiden who finds herself out west and falling in love with a gambling ne're do well(Gable). Gable half heartedly wants to start living respectable; but after buying a saloon with gambling winnings, he gets the hankering to run the whole town. It is not easy to walk the straight and narrow especially with an old flame(Claire Trevor)in the mix. In spite of good intentions, this drama grows stale. Very good support from Marjorie Main, Frank Morgan, Chill Wills, Lew Harvey and Albert Dekker. Gable is Gable and Turner is drop dead beautiful...the sizzle caused by the two may be just cause to watch.