June 15, 2025

Four CLARK GABLES In One


4-FILM COLLECTION: CLARK CABLE (Blu-ray)
1935-1939 / 441 min (4 movies)
Warner Archive Collection
Available at www.MovieZyng.com
Review by Mr. Paws😺

Warner Archive has recently released a few 4-film collections showcasing such legendary stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Gary Cooper and (the set we’re reviewing) Clark Gable. The included titles are the same Blu-ray editions that were previously available separately; this is simply a more economical way to grab all four at once. 

The Clark Gable collection features movies he did in the 1930s while under contract at MGM. There’s no Gone with the Wind here (haven’t we seen that one enough anyway?), but it does boast of couple of his all-time best.


1935’s Mutiny on the Bounty is generally considered the definitive adaptation of the oft-told incident, and for good reason. While playing fast and loose with history, the film is a dramatically gripping account of Fletcher Christian (Gable) seizing control of the HMS Bounty from cruel, tyrannical Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). Though featuring one of Gable’s better early performances, the film is stolen by Laughton, who’s deliciously hateful.


EXTRA KIBBLES - Pitcairn Island Today is a promotional short; 1936 Newsreel features Oscar awards footage; Trailer.


1936’s San Francisco is not the first disaster film. However, it’s the first one with all the elements that would come to define the genre...melodrama, subplots, tumultuous relationships, an all-star cast, epic destruction and a narrative blueprint followed by countless other films since. It’s also the first disaster movie with special effects that are more-or-less convincing. Even today, its depiction of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is pretty damned impressive. Like some of the soapier entries in the genre, San Francisco dedicates a great deal of its running time to trials and tribulations of its main characters, but once the fight for survival begins, the film is thrilling.


EXTRA KIBBLES - Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome is an enjoyable 45 minute documentary; Bottles (cartoon short); Cavalcade of San Francisco (short); Night Descends on Treasure Island (short); Alternate ending; Trailer.


"I swear...it was like this when I got here."
Released the same year, Wife vs. Secretary is a romantic comedy co-starring Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow. Gable is Jake, a magazine publisher whose loving wife, Linda (Loy), is led to believe (through gossip and misunderstandings) that his relationship with dedicated secretary ‘Whitey’ (Harlow) might be more than purely professional. Not bad as these things go, but hardly one of Gable’s essential films. It also features James Stewart in one of his earliest roles.
EXTRA KIBBLES - The Public Pays is a short from MGM’s “Crime Doesn’t Pay” series; Trailer.

Finally, 1939’s Idiot’s Delight was Gable’s last film before Gone with the Wind made him Hollywood's dreamiest dreamboat. Based on a popular play, it’s mostly remembered for being the only time Gable performs a musical number in a movie. Elsewhere, there’s plenty of comedy and melodrama, but while the film is held in high regard by some, this writer felt it could have benefited from a little trimming, including that musical number (with all due respect, Mr. Gable, you ain’t much of a singer).


EXTRA KIBBLES - The Good Egg and It’s an Ill Wind are two Looney Tunes shorts; Alternate ending; Trailer.


As with most Warner Archive Blu-ray releases, the picture and sound restorations for these movies are quite good. Contentwise, the set is worth grabbing for Mutiny on the Bounty and San Francisco alone. Though the other two aren’t completely without interest, neither rank among the best of their genre or Clark Gable’s lengthy filmography.

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