Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome

I'm a huge fan of Clark Gable and the only other documentary I've seen about him was simply awful. I'm happy to say that this documentary was much, much better.

There are a lot of clips in this program, but there's also a lot of information about him. I actually learned something new (that he and Grace Kelly had a fling) and saw some footage that I'd never seen before.

I especially enjoyed the interviews with Gable's children. Neither of them knew him and their sense of loss is heartbreaking. I can't say that I 'enjoyed' the footage of Gable's funeral, but I had never seen it before so I found it interesting. One of the most striking things I learned in this documentary is that Gable's widow had him buried next to Carole Lombard. Wow. Now that's an understanding woman.

Is this the definitive story of Clark Gable? No.

However, this documentary is very well done and it tells both the good and the-not-so-good about him. There are also a lot of film clips (from both his well known and not so well known roles) to satisfy both the Gable fan and those who are just beginning to know him.

Most of us know a great deal about Clark Gable but it's a pleasure to have so much material on his life and career all in one showing. Here one sees many short clips from his movies and I've made a note of several to follow up for future viewing.

Liam Neeson narrates this summary of the famous actor's life, showing us the indoor and outdoor setting of the home Clark shared with wife Carole Lombard, and many mementos therein. I only wished the narration had lasted longer as there's so much more to know!

Gable isn't my kind of dreamboat but I've always enjoyed his honest and forthright acting qualities, with few pretensions. In comedy his early lighthearted roles revealed a delightful sense of humor, yet he could also carry dramatic roles with great success. All these are too numerous to list so let the reader do some pleasant exploring to discover more for themselves.

Liam Neeson introduces and narrates a look back over the life of Clark Gable – both the "tall, dark, handsome" man and the private life where he had a daughter he never publicly acknowledged, a lover with a tragic fate and a son he never lived to see. This film uses a lot of clips to build this picture and in that is its weakness – it has far too many clips and far too little insight or contributions to really stand out as an effective documentary or character study.

It gets better in the second half of the film but in the first half it might as well be a clips show called "That's Clark Gable!" for all that you get out of it. In the second half it does give you more but even then it is pretty factual stuff rather than loads of personal insight; there are a few talking heads but none of them really related anything that stayed with me or provided more than what is already common knowledge. Neeson plods through an overly sincere and slightly gushing narration and looks like a man just trying to earn a crust with a few days graft! Overall this is not a great documentary. I wasn't that knowledgeable about Gable before this film so I did get something from the second half of this but I doubt that the "just the facts ma'am" approach will do much for his fans. It does have some value of course, but sadly this is 30% value to the audience and 70% value to the network as easy filler.