Review of Gable and Lombard

To be frank, this film was nothing but a ghost of one of the greatest love stories in Hollywood. When looking at it from a purely fictional standpoint, Gable and Lombard could be a mildly entertaining film, which is why I gave it a three to save it from utter ruination. But when looking from a historical standpoint and becoming familiar with the real Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, one realizes how ridiculous this film really is. The poorly written script should have been based upon the novel by Warren G. Harris rather than fantasy while the casting offices should have looked for actors better suited for the parts. While James Brolin did what he could with a poorly written part, he certainly was no Gable and ended up performing a dull imitation of one of the greatest legends Hollywood has ever known. But my main concern was with the terrible miscasting of Jill Clayburgh as the iconoclastic Lombard. She was entirely wrong for the part in both physicality and personality and ended up coming off as crude and impudent. The real Lombard was hardly such and while she used the language that Clayburgh shouted over and over again in the film, in reality it did not come off in the cheap manner that Clayburgh performed it in. Those closest to Lombard said she used class with her swearing and certainly Clayburgh was entirely incapable of portraying the class associated with Lombard's personality. While Clayburgh is not a terrible actress, she could not become the essence of Lombard and again it eventuated in a cheap mimicry of one of Hollywood's most signature actresses. Addressing that other problem associated with Clayburgh's casting, her nonexistent physical resemblance to the real Lombard, comes off as a travesty. While I would normally overlook poor physical resemblances to the real life people an actor is portraying, it was nearly impossible to do whilst watching a tall, shrill woman portraying a woman who, in reality, was petite and classy. I will grant that Clayburgh, perhaps, did all that she could to capture Lombard but certainly it did not seem so when watching this pathetic film.

Gable and Lombard eventuated in a shrewd, mediocre film that is not worth the time that it takes in dragging the viewer through the unbearable misrepresentations of various figures of Hollywood's classic period. If you are brilliant enough of a magician to suspend the image of the real Clark Gable and Carole Lombard long enough to see through the historical inaccuracies and rather mediocre acting, Gable and Lombard can be enjoyable. Certainly, I wouldn't be one to suggest it.