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 In the romantic No Man of Her Own (1932) Clark Gable and Carol Lombard star in their only film together. The story is about con man and gambler Babe Stewart (Gable) who never intends to give his heart away but eventually finds his full house in small town librarian Connie Randall (Carole Lombard). Romance formulas call this plot a marriage of convenience, and Gable and Lombard have plenty of sex appeal that keeps the simple but entertaining story engaging.
Babe Stewart enjoys a life of luxury thanks to his team of con men - Vane (Grant Mitchell), Vargas (Paul Ellis) - and lady friend Kay (Dorothy Mackaill). They play poker with rich businessman, stack the deck and come out winners most of the time. The movie opens at one such poker game where Kay is charming their newest victim, Mr. Morton (Walter Walker).
After he leaves and the team are discussing their strategies, Vice Squad detective Dickie Collins (J. Farrell MacDonald) shows up to remind Babe that's he getting closer to nabbing him on his illegal scam charges.
J. Farrell MacDonald & Clark Gable
Babe decides to get out of town for a few weeks to get out of Collins' radar and that of Kay, who can't understand that Babe wants nothing to do with her. He goes to a small town where he meets the feisty and independent librarian Connie Randall. He's immediately mesmerized by her, and she's quite flirtatious to him, but when nothing goes beyond a few kisses, he agrees to her challenge to get married.
Elizabeth Patterson
Much against the advice of her mother (Elizabeth Patterson), Connie is soon ensconced in the good life back in New York. During the preparation of another poker game Connie sees Babe place some cards in a secret hiding place in the poker table.
Her entire image of him fizzles before her eyes. She removes the cards, which makes him lose, and confronts him after the game. She alludes she will not stand for this type of life, but admits she still loves him. Babe is about to leave on a big cruise to bilk the quests out of their money but makes a quite surprising move before he leaves.
Clark Gable and Carol Lombard
The movie is not overly dramatic, but there certainly is sexual chemistry between Gable and Lombard. This is really interesting as Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, explains in his introduction that although the stars later married each other, they were both married to other people; Carole to William Powell and Gable to Maria "Ria" Franklin. "They had no personal relation during this movie it was strictly business," said Osborne. Gable and Lombard met again later and 18 years after No Man of Her Own were married. Osborne also explains in the introduction how Gable and Lombard were cast and what William Randolph Hurst had to do with it.
Carol Lombard and Clark Gable
NOTE: The 1950 No Man of Her Own starring Barbra Stanwyck is mot a remake of the this film.
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Writer: Maurine Watkins, Milton H. Gropper
Cast: Clark Gable, Carol Lombarde, Elizabeth Patterson, Dorothy Mackaill, George Barbier, J. Farrell MacDonald, Grant Mitchell, Walter Walker, J. Farrell MacDonald
Rating: Not Rated
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 3 out of 5
DVD Release Date: 5/22/2007
Run Time: 81 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Format: Black and White
Photo credits: Paramount/Universal Studios Home Entertainment
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