No Man Of Her Own (1932)

No Man Of Her Own - 1932

Next on the blog, we feature 1932's "No Man Of Her Own", starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard in the only film the two made together.  The film follows a gambler on the run from the law.  He stops over in a random town to hide.  When he meets the town's librarian, sparks fly and all bets are off.

The film's supporting cast includes Dorothy Mackaill, Grant Mitchell, Elizabeth Patterson, George Barbier, Charley Grapewin, and Ferdinand Munier.

Jerry "Babe" Stewart and his friends make their money by preying on rich men who can afford to lose big at the gambling tables.  Their strategy is to let the rich men win big the first night and then at future games they resort to stacked decks and other cheating methods to win.

On this particular night, Jerry breaks up with his girlfriend Kay Everly, who threatens to go to the district attorney with information she has on Jerry and his friends about their gambling ring.

Afterwards, a police officer drops in and tells Jerry that he's informed their rich friend about Jerry's gambling strategies.  The police officer doesn't have enough evidence to arrest Jerry, but he lets him know that he's on his trail.

Jerry decides to get out of New York City and lay low for a while.  On the flip of a coin, he decides between taking a boat or a train.  A train trip wins and as Jerry says, "I never go back on a coin".

He randomly selects the sleepy town of Glendale, and he checks into the local hotel.

One of the town's residents, Connie, is suffocating with the small town life and is aching to get out and spread her wings.  Her mother fights tooth and nail to keep her under control.  She threatens to run off with the first traveling salesman who doesn't have gold teeth.

While on her way to work, Connie stops by the hotel and plays a little gambling game with the clerk.  Jerry notices her and keeps staring.  When she leaves, Jerry asks who she is.  The clerk tells him that she's the town librarian and quite a handful.  Jerry smiles and walks in the direction of the library.

At the library, Jerry requests Connie's help in finding the perfect book.  She makes several suggestions, but none of them seem right.

He even has her climbing ladders so he can get a look at her "assets".  (This particular part of the scene caused a scandal in Hollywood, and it led to the founding of Hollywood's "League of Decency".)

At first horrified at his boldness, Connie later finds herself very attracted to this handsome stranger.  He wants to meet later that night, but she tells him she can meet him on Sunday in church.

Jerry does just that.  He makes himself comfortable in the crowded Randall family pew.

Afterwards, the Randalls invite him back to their house for lunch, followed by an ice cream dessert.  They all like him very much.  Connie leaves to go up to the lake with some friends.

Jerry follows her there and they spend some time alone in her cabin.

Things get a little too serious for Jerry, and he makes an excuse to return to New York.  Connie asks him if he's ever gambled on anything.  He smiles.  She asks him to gamble with her.  He flips a coin: heads they get married, tails they don't.  It's heads.  And as we know, Jerry never goes back on a coin.

They are married quickly and head back to New York on the next train available.

The police officer is waiting for Jerry when they return.  Jerry knows that the police are still watching him.

Jerry's old friends look him up and want to get some card games started up again.  Jerry agrees and says they'll bring Connie along.

Afterwards, Connie is thrilled to have been out on the town.  She's bought a whole new wardrobe and she's feeling very content in her life in the fast lane.

Nobody is more surprised than Jerry when she wakes him up very early one morning so that he can get to work.  She thinks he's got a normal job.  So, Jerry makes his way to a broker's office and gets a job where "I can park myself from 10 to 3".

One night at one of the card games, Connie is shocked to see that Jerry and his friends conceal a stacked deck of cards in a hidden compartment in the card table.

She nonchalantly goes over and mixes the deck without their knowing it, causing them to lose thousands of dollars over the course of the evening.

After the game is over, Connie admits to Jerry that she knew about the hidden deck and that she shuffled it.  He, naturally, is very angry.

Hoping that he'll see there is more to life than just gambling, she tells him that she's going to stay with him even though she knows about his gambling life.  "You know more about me than I know about myself, don’t you?" remarks Jerry.  Connie smiles at him and says, "Maybe I do.  Maybe I know something about you that you don’t know anything about.  Maybe I didn’t just marry you on the flip of a coin."

Jerry decides to go on a trip to South America with his friends so they can work the cruise ship gambling circuit, but he decides to leave Connie at home.  He sends her off to Glendale with her family.  She tells him that she'll be waiting whenever he decides to come back.

On the way to the dock, Jerry realizes that he loves Connie.  He decides not to go but gives his friends a bunch of letters to mail to Connie at different stops along the way.  Then, he goes to the police station and turns himself in.  He says he'll do ninety days in jail and afterwards he'll be a new man.  The police officer agrees.

On the day before he is supposed to come back to New York, Connie and her mother move to the apartment to welcome him home.  Connie is greeted by Jerry's former girlfriend, Kay.  "I used to know your husband," she says.  "Back in the good old days of three months ago."  Kay tells Connie all about where Jerry really has been.  Kay tries to get Jerry back, but gives up after Connie doesn't care where he's been and loves him anyway.

Before he goes home, Jerry stops at a souvenir store where he buys things they would sell in South America to present to Connie as souvenirs of his trip.

Among the things he buys is a parrot that he's named "Glendale".  Connie is overjoyed to see him.  She doesn't let on that she knows about his stint in jail, and lovingly listens as Jerry tells her a fictitious story about life on a boat to South America.

Cast rundown:

   Clark Gable...................................Jerry Stewart

   Carole Lombard.............................Connie Randall

   Dorothy Mackaill............................Kay Everly

   Grant Mitchell................................Charlie Vane

   Elizabeth Patterson.........................Mrs. Randall

   George Barbier...............................Mr. Randall

   Charley Grapewin...........................Clerk

   Ferdinand Munier............................Trinkets Dealer

And that's all for No Man Of Her Own.  As previously mentioned, this was the only film that future husband and wife team Gable/Lombard made together.  During the filming, they actually couldn't stand one another.  Lombard was married to the actor William Powell at the time, and was very unhappy because of a studio loan out involving her.  Gable took issue with her swearing and un-ladylike behavior.  Lombard considered Gable overly conceited.  At the conclusion of the filming, Gable gave her a pair of ballet slippers with a card that read "to a true primadonna", and Lombard gave him a canned ham with his picture on it.  The two weren't married until 1939.  Their romance was tragically cut short when Lombard was killed in a plane crash less than three years later.

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