Clark Gable and Marion Davies star in a 1936 film, "Cain and Mabel," directed by Lloyd Bacon.
Gable plays a talented boxer, Larry Cain. Davies as Mabel O'Dare starts out as a waitress and, after meeting a man (Roscoe Karns) who promises the moon, winds up starring in a Broadway show.
The two meet when Cain is trying to get some sleep before a big fight, and Mabel is directly over him at a hotel practicing dance moves. It ends badly, with Cain vowing if he ever meets her again...well, he makes lots of threats.
Though they both find success, something is missing in each one of them. Cain can't get fights and business is way down for the show. A publicist decides that to give them glamour and excitement, they need - Love. He plants a story in the papers claiming that the two are having a romance. Since they hate one another, it won't be easy.
Even back then, this story was derivative and predictable, but the two stars are delightful. Marion Davies' success has often been laid at the feet of her powerful boyfriend, William Randolph Hearst, but she was a talented actress and comedienne. Gable, despite his gruffness, was very likable, and the two had great chemistry. What a smile Gable had!
A couple of things bothered me. You could really tell this wasn't written by a New Yorker. First of all, who in their right mind would take a plane from the theater district in New York, a block or two from the tunnel, to Newark? It's 14 miles!
The other thing is that when Mabel refuses to go on stage - where was her understudy? They chased Mabel all over, she is holding up the show, they're vamping the first number - send out the understudy. Uh, didn't happen.
Those are minor and no one will care. Fun movie.
Gable plays a talented boxer, Larry Cain. Davies as Mabel O'Dare starts out as a waitress and, after meeting a man (Roscoe Karns) who promises the moon, winds up starring in a Broadway show.
The two meet when Cain is trying to get some sleep before a big fight, and Mabel is directly over him at a hotel practicing dance moves. It ends badly, with Cain vowing if he ever meets her again...well, he makes lots of threats.
Though they both find success, something is missing in each one of them. Cain can't get fights and business is way down for the show. A publicist decides that to give them glamour and excitement, they need - Love. He plants a story in the papers claiming that the two are having a romance. Since they hate one another, it won't be easy.
Even back then, this story was derivative and predictable, but the two stars are delightful. Marion Davies' success has often been laid at the feet of her powerful boyfriend, William Randolph Hearst, but she was a talented actress and comedienne. Gable, despite his gruffness, was very likable, and the two had great chemistry. What a smile Gable had!
A couple of things bothered me. You could really tell this wasn't written by a New Yorker. First of all, who in their right mind would take a plane from the theater district in New York, a block or two from the tunnel, to Newark? It's 14 miles!
The other thing is that when Mabel refuses to go on stage - where was her understudy? They chased Mabel all over, she is holding up the show, they're vamping the first number - send out the understudy. Uh, didn't happen.
Those are minor and no one will care. Fun movie.