Rating: 
Summary: An insult!
Review: Another terrible bio about Gable. A big insult to his artistry, an offence to his memory.
Rating: 
Summary: Intreging look at the life of Clark Gable
Review: I found this book to be very informative. If you want to know more about Clark Gable this is the book for you. The book gives alot of detailed information about his life growing up in Oklahoma, the early struggles and sucessess he had growing up, his growing ambition to be an actor and his MANY romances(Joan Crawford, Loretta Young, William Randolph Hearst's mistress, and Grace Kelly to name a few) and marriages(most notably to Carole Lombard and Kay Spreakles) along the way to stardom. It tells in great detail his grieve at the death of Carole Lombard and how he joined the air force after in the hopes that he would crash his plane and be reunited with the love of his life. It also goes into detail about his last years, happy and contented with two step children and his wife, and finally his last days making The Misfits and very happy in the fact that he was going to have a child he could claim as his own (he has a daughter Judy Lewis by Loretta Young) and the heart attack that claimed his life at the age of 59 before he could see his son John Clark Gable who was born the March after he died. (Ironically Clark had his heart attack on his daughters 25th birthday and died on his granddaughter's 1st birthday). The book goes into detail about the early years of Clark's acting career doing plays and gives details about every single one of Clark's movies as well as amousing anecdotes that happened during such movies as Parnell (during a death scene the directer had Clark and Myrna Loy listen to sad music to get them in a somber place and Clark complained to Carole about it. The next day when the director called for the sombor music they got a blues verson of "I'll be glade when your dead you rascal you) or Gone With the Wind (After the scene when Bonnie Blue Butler is being born and Mamie and Rhett are celebrating with alcohol Clark and Hattie McDaniels were drinking water. After several takes Hattie complained about it so Clark switched it with real alcohol and did not tell her until after she had drinken it. The next day when he saw her on the set he called to her "Hey Mamie how's your hangover?) It is really a very good book, and I would recommend it to any Clark Gable fan.
Rating:
Summary: How did this get published?
Review: I know that only so much can be written about Clark Gable but Warren Harris's book is yet another rehash of his book, "Gable and Lombard". First, I have an extreme bias against books that don't document sources. Harris makes several statements as fact without backing them up with sources, like saying that Gable was forced to marry Ria Langham because she went to Thalberg and Mayer complaining that he wouldn't marry her. But he doesn't say where he gets this tidbit from. I know that it can be done, because David Stenn does a remarkable job of it in "Bombshell" and "Runnin' Wild". Second, if you read "Gable and Lombard", you can see that Harris is much more partial to Lombard and really had no love for Gable. I got the impression that (and this is just my impression) that he blames Gable for Lombard's death because he might have been fooling around with Lana Turner. You can see this some more in this newest book. I just felt that Harris really doesn't care much for Gable. I think he would have been better off writing about Lombard than he would have been writing about Gable. I guess it there is only so much you can write about one person but this book doesn't cover anything new or interesting about Gable, the man nor Gable, the star.
Rating: 
Summary: An Adequate Overview
Review: Kudos to Mr. Harris for having written a biography of "The King", but I felt he blew an opportunity to not only chronicle Gable's life, but to use that life as a commentary on Hollywood of the past and the present. Gable is one of the giants of the film industry whose persona continues to be referenced to this day. He was also a leading man unlike his contemporaries and set a precedent for all leading men to follow. Harris gives us a detailed account of the movies Gable made, but only scant insight into the actor. There is no analysis of Gable's work, his performances or how they differed (if at all) from film to film. Each film is essentially given equal weight. The most detailed section is (not surprisingly) the Gable and Lombard period. Interestingly, Harris does attempt to put Gable's penchant for romancing older women into a context that would inform his later life, but then he abandons it in favor of a chronological progression of events. Gable was a man of his time - ignorant in some ways, visionary in others, but I really wouldn't get that from this book. I think it is a serviceable biography, but as far as gauging the impact that one of the biggest stars in the history of the movies had on his time and all the leading man who came after him...I found it wanting.
Rating:
Summary: An Adequate Overview
Review: Kudos to Mr. Harris for having written a biography of "The King", but I felt he blew an opportunity to not only chronicle Gable's life, but to use that life as a commentary on Hollywood of the past and the present. Gable is one of the giants of the film industry whose persona continues to be referenced to this day. He was also a leading man unlike his contemporaries and set a precedent for all leading men to follow. Harris gives us a detailed account of the movies Gable made, but only scant insight into the actor. There is no analysis of Gable's work, his performances or how they differed (if at all) from film to film. Each film is essentially given equal weight. The most detailed section is (not surprisingly) the Gable and Lombard period. Interestingly, Harris does attempt to put Gable's penchant for romancing older women into a context that would inform his later life, but then he abandons it in favor of a chronological progression of events. Gable was a man of his time - ignorant in some ways, visionary in others, but I really wouldn't get that from this book. I think it is a serviceable biography, but as far as gauging the impact that one of the biggest stars in the history of the movies had on his time and all the leading man who came after him...I found it wanting.
Rating:
Summary: Fairly Good Clark Gable Biography
Review: Over the years, I've read several Clark Gable biographies. There were some new things I've learned about Gable in this one, just small details about his relationships with co-stars for the most part. It covers all of the basics for anyone who wants to learn more about Clark Gable's life. The strongest part of the book deals with his love affair and marriage to the tragic Carole Lombard.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read
Review: This book was one of the best biographies I have ever read. If you want to read a book about not only "the King of Hollywood", but also the life and times of young Hollywood, then this is the book for you. Gable's life is a masterpiece in itself and I am surprised a movie hasn't been made about it. The scandals and trials of the first movie stars in the world are also covered. You must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Competent Biography
Review: This new biography of Clark Gable by Warren G. Harris (who also wrote "Gable and Lombard") is a highly entertaining if not particularly incisive read. Farm boy Billy from Cadiz, Ohio transforms into suave Clark Gable during the course of this book, not above using attentive women like his first two wives. Josephine Dillon and Ria Langham were older women who were not terribly attractive, but between the two of them helped to manufacture the "vibrantly masculine" King of Hollywood. Gable's father considered acting a "sissy occupation," and throughout his life seemingly in reaction, Gable exuded a palpable machismo - often to the detriment of relationship with co-stars. Myrna Loy (Queen of Hollywood to Clark's King) was not receptive to Gable's overtures and consequently was given the cold shoulder by him. She perceptively observed, "Clark suffered so much from the macho thing." Not in the least deterred by his macho image was screen lovely Carole Lombard. She and Gable were perfectly matched; though it would take several years from the first meeting for the sparks to ignite. Gable was devastated by her death, commenting, "Let's face it; there's a hole in me now that will never be filled up." Indeed, this book illustrates how Gable lost his interest in much of life after Carole died. Also trotted out here are the relationships with (among others) Joan Crawford, Merle Oberon, Jean Harlow, and Grace Kelly. Gable had virtually nothing to do with Judy Lewis, the child born of his "Call of the Wild" affair with the ostensibly virtuous Loretta Young. One wonders why, but there is no illumination here. Harris does not shrink from revealing the negative aspects of Gable's personality, like his homophobia, alcoholism, and miserliness. Jewel-maven Paulette Goddard, he relates, was disappointed not to receive sparkly baubles from Gable during their liaison; predictably, it didn't last long. Upset by the homosexuality of director George Cukor during the filming of "Gone With The Wind," Gable complained until L.B. Mayer switched Cukor to the more appropriate bitch-fest, The Women." This book does provide a superficial glimpse of the Hollywood of the 30s, and provides gossipy tidbits I didn't know, like the lesbianism of Claudette Colbert. I recommend it, but not as an in-depth look at Gable's acting abilities, which are barely touched on. The Oscar he won for "It Happened One Night", seemed mainly given to applaud his overwhelming popularity. I san see Rhett Butler smirking now!
Rating:
Summary: An insult!
Review: Tragedy is the first word that comes to mind after reading the latest effort by biographer, Warren G. Harris. A tragedy it is that such a very poorly written and long-winded diatribe could have made it to press. This book is no more than a collage of information, better written by biographers preceding Mr. Harris. Awful does not even begin to describe the book's lack of journalistic bearing. Mr. Harris' personality takes center stage even if the book is about the life of the notable Mr. Gable. Barbed comments abound which instead of shedding light on the book's subject matter, seem to be included to ridicule its subject. Instead of delving deeper into the life of Mr. Gable, Mr. Harris belabors whatever industry gossip he unearths and uses this unsubstantiated information to propel paragraphs of his own personal musings. He poses rhetorical questions, which with a little bit of research on his part could have been answered factually, the rhetorical query causally becoming completely moot.
Rating:
Summary: Drivel
Review: Tragedy is the first word that comes to mind after reading the latest effort by biographer, Warren G. Harris. A tragedy it is that such a very poorly written and long-winded diatribe could have made it to press. This book is no more than a collage of information, better written by biographers preceding Mr. Harris. Awful does not even begin to describe the book's lack of journalistic bearing. Mr. Harris' personality takes center stage even if the book is about the life of the notable Mr. Gable. Barbed comments abound which instead of shedding light on the book's subject matter, seem to be included to ridicule its subject. Instead of delving deeper into the life of Mr. Gable, Mr. Harris belabors whatever industry gossip he unearths and uses this unsubstantiated information to propel paragraphs of his own personal musings. He poses rhetorical questions, which with a little bit of research on his part could have been answered factually, the rhetorical query causally becoming completely moot.
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