Clark Gable & Carole Lombard Hunting.

[Mike Stahle]

Watertown, South Dakota, Oct 5- MOVIE STARS GO A HUNTING- Carole Lombard and her husband, Clark Gable, took time out from their Hollywood work for some upland game shooting in South Dakota. Both Miss Lombard and Gable are holding cock pheasants; part of the bag they obtained in what Gable described as excellent shooting.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/Guns/gableshunt1.jpg

[Mark Ouellette]

Hey Mike,
Do you know what year that was?
How times have changed! Clark Gable was then as Brad Pitt and George Cloney are today. Could imagine either of them with thier wives or girlfriends posing for a hunting photo?

Mark

[Mike Stahle]

Hey Mike,
Do you know what year that was?
How times have changed! Clark Gable was then as Brad Pitt and George Cloney are today. Could imagine either of them with thier wives or girlfriends posing for a hunting photo?

Mark

Sorry no I don’t Mark; if anyone knows please let us all know.
It is indeed a great picture.
I would love to find the picture of Mr. Gable
Looking down the barrels of the double he is holding.
(found it, posted below)

Mike :)

[Drew Hause]

1934. He may be using the gun Carole was holding.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/333126097.jpg

[Bill Murphy]

OK, she's got a squareback Remington with a Cutts and Monte Carlo stock and Clark has the same Parker that he was shooting on the cover of a Parker Pages. It is obvious because of the Mershon pad and beavertail. I think it is a 20 gauge from the clearer image on the PP cover. I wonder if there are pictures of Carol L. shooting the DHE that she was famous for owning. I remember seeing the Carol Lombard DHE (corrected to say that this gun was Joan Bennet's gun, not Carol Lombard's) at an early NRA show in Washington, DC on Herb Glass' table actually advertised for sale at a payable price. I recall the price being $1250.00.

[Norm Growden]

This got me curious, so I did some surfing. Gable and Lombard married in 1939, and she was killed in 1942 - so the picture was in October of '39-'41.

While searching, I learned that Lombard had a boyfriend killed in a gun accident. A search of Russ Columbo + death will bring it up. Fascinating.

Murphy, you're old enough to remember when A-1s were available from the factory. :)

[Bill Murphy]

I have to back up. The DHE I was describing is Joan Bennett's DHE, not Carol Lombard's. Is anyone able to compute the length of barrel or barrel diameter of the gun on the cover of PP?

[Dave Noreen]

This is a scan of a photocopy, but here is Clark Gable with a few guns from his collection from the July 1939, issue of National Sportsman --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Ansleyone/ClarkGableJuly1939.jpg

[Dave Noreen]

May as well throw in this picture of Clark and another guy known to own a few Parkers as well --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Ansleyone/ClarGableandRobertStack.jpg

[George Lander]

The second is Clark with Elliott Ness aka/ Robert Stack. Two of my favorite actors.

Best Regards, George

[Bill Murphy]

How about that Mercury woodie?

[Mike Stahle]

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/Gable1.jpg

[charlie cleveland]

did any body notice the type of tread on theheel of clark gables hip boots...i wander what brand they were.... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

That is the sole of Clark's boot.

[Bruce Day]

Red Ball

[David Nelson]

There are some photos out there of E. Hemingway and G. Cooper and I think Hemingways's wife M. Gelhorn; and their kids...bird hunting in Idaho. Don't know if Gable hunted with Hemingway or not. Great era...cut my teeth on those pics in LIFE.

[Drew Hause]

EH with his Browning. Cooper probably holding his Remington Model 32.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20113472/335875186.jpg

[David Nelson]

Can't quite make that out. Is it O/U? SxS?

[Robert Delk]

Is it true that Cooper inherited Gable's A1? If so,does anyone know where it is today?

[Dave Noreen]

As I've heard the story Clark Gable's A1-Special went to Gary Cooper then to Roy Rogers.

[King Brown]

Dave, there is no mention of Gable in acclaimed biographies of Hemingway by Carlos Baker and James R. Mellon. There are many references to Cooper.

[Dave Noreen]

I stumbled across these pictures of the Clark Gable BHE-Grade 32-inch barrel 20-gauge taken at our PGCA booth at Sandanona in 2000. Because of the glare it is hard to see but the left side has a Dove in flight --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Ansleyone/Parker/ClarkGableBHE20ga32inchleft.jpg

The right side has two California Quail --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Ansleyone/Parker/ClarkGableBHE20ga32inchright.jpg

[Austin W Hogan]

Parker Pages ran a cover photo of Ernest Hemingway with a Parker and several ducks a couple of issues back. The editor recieved a rather strongly worded letter from a Hemingway collector that Hemingway owned no Parkers, and that Parker Pages and PGCA were attempting to invent a Hemingway Parker.
We replied that the fact that the picture showed Hemingway holding a Parker, was not evidence that he had ever held it while that shutter was closed. The gun may very well have been a prop supplied by the photographer, publisher or ad agency.
The fact that a gun may have been a prop should always be considered when examining celebrity pictures.

Best, Austin

[Mike Stahle]

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/gable2.jpg

[Francis Morin]

But add to the mix Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart. Men dressed well, whether stars of the silver screen or not- so if "unkempt" means a disheveled appearance, all of those greats from yesteryear were "kempt" indeed.. Love the tag line from the song "Putting On The Ritz"-- "Dressed up like a million dollar trooper, tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper (Super-Dooper?)-- all prove to my mind anyway the truth of Samuel Langhorn Clemen's observation that "Clothes make the man" and a Parker or an Elsie completes the ensemble rather well-

As far as the square back semi-auto with the "Steam Whistle" welded to the muzzle= to paraphrase Forrest Gump-- "Ugly is as ugly does"-- but if such a shotgun gets you a 100 straight at skeet every time, hard to deny the shootability of same-IMO!!:bigbye:

[Dave Noreen]

What does that picture have to do with lever guns? Looks to me like Mr. Gable is holding a 12-gauge over/under. Is that picture at A&F in NYC? Is the man behind the counter Charles Wick?

[Mike Stahle]

What does that picture have to do with lever guns? Looks to me like Mr. Gable is holding a 12-gauge over/under. Is that picture at A&F in NYC? Is the man behind the counter Charles Wick?

Thanks, fixed :)

[Francis Morin]

Hard to know after all these years, Nash B wrote about Charles Wickes working at A&F with Capt. Harold Money in the gun sales area. I can't answer the Hemingway/Parker scenario, I agree with Austin that possibly a Parker was the only shotgun available when the foto was taken. Hemingway mentioned a Model 12 in his "True At First Light"-a post mortem rehash of the second African Safari he (and Mary Welsh H.) took with Phillip Percival- and annotated with a forward from son Patrick Hemingway.

He may also have used a Browning 12 Over-Under and some European/English shotguns, but I have never read of his owning a shooting a Parker-- at least to date.:bigbye::bigbye:

[Norm Growden]

What does that picture have to do with lever guns? Looks to me like Mr. Gable is holding a 12-gauge over/under. Is that picture at A&F in NYC? Is the man behind the counter Charles Wick?

Dave:

I'm guessing it's from a movie, unless Joan Crawford happened to be at A&F at the same time.

[Drew Hause]

The image with Joan Crawford may have been from "Love on the Run" 1936

Clark Gable and John Barrymore skeet shooting in the Hollywood Hills. Gable looks to have the same Model 11; Barrymore maybe a M21?

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/391785140.jpg

[Dave Noreen]

Ahh... I'm sure Mr. Barrymore has a Fox SPE-Grade Skeet & Upland Game Gun there!:)

[Francis Morin]

Wind has both Gable's trouser cuffs billowed and his hair askew- But somehow John Barrymore (being a tad downwind I suppose) looks fairly dapper. Can't speak for Barrymore's double as to exact make, but it is closed- Gable's semi-autoloader has the bolt locked back reward, as it should be. :cool:

[Drew Hause]

Found a new image of Lombard's Smith which we're discussing on the LCSCA Forum, and this from the Oct. 1955 "Guns" magazine

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/412687445.jpg

[greg conomos]

I have a Browning that looks like that also.

[Drew Hause]

Gable and Gary Cooper in Sun Valley. Looks to be the A-1S leaning against the car? Gable is holding a straight stock ?small gauge.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/412687752.jpg

Cooper in his home gun room holding the A-1S

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20002415/412687750.jpg

[Pat Dugan]

I held Clark Gables A1 Special while visiting
Ottis Odom in 1985, Mr Odom said there was a million dollars in Parkers in that room. I did not know much about Parkers at that time but he had a lot of small gauge
Parkers. HE said he was the best customer of the
Delgrego family getting Parkers fixed and upgraded.

[Dave Noreen]

There are quite a few pictures of Gary Cooper with that A1-Special up at Ketchum/Sun Valley hunting with Papa and the crew, in High on the Wild with Hemingway.

[Dean Romig]

Here are a few more of Gary Cooper, some with his A1S. The one laying on his bench is very likely the A1S.




.

[George Stanton]

Can anyone identify the vise Cooper has mounted on his bench?

[George Stanton]

Found it. It's a Bisley Rifle Vice.

[James J. Roberts]

George,New England Custom Gun Service Ltd.has them for sale and Brownell also has a Bisley gunsmithing vise made in Germany. J.J.

[George Stanton]

Great! Thanks.

[James J. Roberts]

The vise was originality designed by Parker Hale,I would think that's the one Gary Cooper used on his bench. J.J.

[George Stanton]

I'll try to find a Parker Hale.

[Rick Losey]

new version

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/vises-accessories/bench-vises/bisley-gunsmithing-vise-prod26704.aspx

[Terry Hobson]

Seems like I remember Dave Riffle having a CHE 20 that was advertised as having been purchased by Lombard and given to Gable. This would have been in the mid '90s, $12,000 if I remember right. Always wished I would have borrowed the money and bought it!

[Thomas R. Leslie IV]

Excellent photos!

[Kevin McCormack]

I held Clark Gables A1 Special while visiting
Ottis Odom in 1985, Mr Odom said there was a million dollars in Parkers in that room. I did not know much about Parkers at that time but he had a lot of small gauge
Parkers. HE said he was the best customer of the
Delgrego family getting Parkers fixed and upgraded.

That would be Odis Odom.

Just before the break-in and burglary when 2 local thugs terrorized his wife, Odis' count was, I believe, 68 28 gauge Parkers and 42 .410 gauge Parkers.

While the thugs never even knew about his guns or where they were hidden, they so terrorized his wife (he wasn't home at the time) that he immediately began to sell off his most valuable guns, contemplating what might have happened to his wife had the thieves known that he had them.

Odis was a prime client of the Del Gregos, but does not hold the record for having Parkers "fixed" and upgraded by them.

[Jim Thynne]

We were able to exhibit Robert Stack's guns while we were in business. Little Johns Auction held the sale. Bob Peterson bought his unfired DHE 410 and Mr. Peterson and a group (John Milius Tom Selleck and Brad Johnson) went out and shot a round of skeet with it. Bob had won a VHE 410 when he won the Jr. Skeet Shooting Championship, and traded it in for the DHE 410. a great story about a wonderful man. I knew Robert Stack and he was a true gentleman. I have no idea where the DHE 410 ended up.

[Kevin McCormack]

Hello Jim - great to see you post and hear from you again!

Like most or all famous guns (Bo Whoop, the Czar's Parker, Teddy Roosevelt's Fox, etc.), lots of the details of ownership and ultimate disposition get lost in the "fog of war", so to speak. I can offer the following clarifications for the record:

In a phone conversation with Robert Stack in January of 2001 while researching southern California duck clubs, he told me that when he won the Junior Skeet Shooting Championship, the award gun was a 20 gauge LC Smith Skeet Special. Long a fan of Parker Guns, he was put in touch with the "right people" in Ilion, and arranged to trade the LC Smith award gun against an order for a BHE 28 ga. Parker skeet gun with all options - ST, VR, etc. This gun was purchased by Bob Peterson at the auction of Stack's estate and is now part of the Peterson Collection display at the NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, VA.

The DHE .410 is even a more interesting story. The gun department of Kerr's Sporting Goods in Beverly Hills was for many years run by a man named Gerry Knight, who was instrumental in schmoozing with Hollywood stars and celebrities in the sale of high-end guns of all makes and kinds. In Bob Stack's words, Gerry "really made Kerr's so far as the sale of wonderful guns was concerned." Around 1940-41, Kerr's ordered and was shipped a DHE .410 for inventory from the Remington works at Ilion.

In a phone conversation with Gerry Knight (c. 2002), he confessed that he developed an obsession with owning the little gun, and began putting away significant sums of money every payday towards the purchase of it, which with his not-insignificant employee discount, looked like it could one day become a reality. He said lots of people looked at the gun; most men derided it as "pretty much of a useless toy"; while most women thought it looked "cute." The net result was that it sat in the rack for weeks without anyone buying it.

One fateful day, Bob Stack came in and browsed the gunrack, saw the little jewel. and told Gerry, "that's about the sweetest little Parker I've ever seen - I'll take it!" Being the dutiful and productive employee that he was, Gerry wrote it up!

So far as I know, Bob Peterson bought all 3 of Bob Stack's Parkers at the Littlejohn auction - the DHE .410, the BHE 28 gauge skeet gun, and the 20 all-optioned DHE with AH-grade wood special ordered from Remington after the purchase of the BHE 28. The BHE 28 and the DHE 20 remain on display in the Peterson Collection at the NRA Museum; I don't know where or with whom the DHE .410 wound up.