Joan Blondell: A Life between Takes

Chapter 7. Gulag-on-the-Hudson

130 CHAPTER 7 Gulag-on-the-Hudson . . . these pleasures which we lightly call physical. —Colette, The Ripening Seed Joan began work on Adventure in May of 1945 in an unambiguously supporting role. The production was rushed to capitalize on star Clark Gable’s decorated service as a pilot flying missions over Germany and his return to the screen after a three-year absence. In Adventure, he played a marine as restless as the sea, with Greer Garson as his becalming love interest. Gable and Garson never liked each other. She was too regally virtuous for him, and he was too coarse for her. Gable much preferred his women to be earthy and animated, so he gravitated toward Blondell, who had the unenviable chore of playing Garson’s man-hungry roommate. Blondell and Gable had worked together in 1931 on Night Nurse at Warner Bros., but they formed a stronger friendship on the set of Adventure. It was nothing more. “Clark adored women—not in a lechy way. He loved beauty,” said Joan. “His eyes would sparkle when he saw a beautiful woman. And if he liked you, he let you know it. He was boyish, mannish, a brute—all kinds of goodies. When he grinned, you’d have to melt. If you didn’t want him as a lover, you’d want to give him a bear hug. He affected all females, unless they were dead.” Since surviving the war and grieving the death of wife Carole Lombard, Gable was lonely, but Joan found him to be pleasing company. Both of them had no taste for the phonies that infested their profession. During the shooting of Adventure, they shared casual dinners with makeup artist Dorothy Ponedel. “He’d go get some steaks,” said Joan, “make them himself, and eat with us in the kitchen wearing a towel apron.” They sought to lighten the set. Garson held an afternoon tea, Gable delivered fresh milk from his ranch, and Blondell brought coffee and bottles of Coke. The ongoing flow of refreshments incited director Victor Fleming to gibe, “Try to get someone around here to do any work, and you have to bust up a picnic!” Adventure proved to be an unworthy enterprise, with Joan bringing in the film’s best performance. She offered more emotion at a birth than did either Garson or Gable, who played, it should be noted, the baby’s parents . Joan’s performance here was giddy, flirty, and boundlessly energetic. She was compensating for the two nominal stars, who never appeared convincing as a pair in love. Despite so-so reviews, box office was robust, grossing $4.5 million for seventh-place moneymaker of the year. If Joan had any resentment at her secondary role to Garson, she vindicated herself by stealing the movie and telling the Los Angeles Times that she had “a swell job” playing the other woman. While Gable and Garson were routinely trashed, Blondell was praised. Variety believed her to be “almost a reborn actress in the role.” Dick Powell was busy emptying the Selma Avenue property of his belongings. Their limited passion in marriage transformed into cool rectitude as he and Joan parted. Frances Marion stopped by and heard Joan’s voice in the basement saying “one for you, one for me.” She and Dick were dividing their supply of canned goods and supplies hoarded during the war. When they came to the many cases of extra toilet paper Dick had purchased, Joan said, “You can have all of this,” thereby finding a polite way of saying “you’re full of shit.” With that, Dick took his share of the household contents and was gone for good. Joan and the children stayed on at Selma Avenue, even GULAG-ON-THE-HUDSON 131 though the house was gutted of just about every reminder that a married couple once lived there. On 6 August 1945, the Enola Gay opened her bottom hatch to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Nagasaki was destroyed by like means three days later. Japan surrendered on 14 August, and American soldiers came home in droves. The end of fighting in the Pacific coincided with shifting dynamics in a number of households. Dick Powell and June Allyson were married on 19 August. When Ensign Albert (“Cubby”) Broccoli was discharged from active duty, he came home to wife Gloria. They both knew their marriage was over. “There was...