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| Cain And Mabel - 1936 |
Coming up next we have 1936's "Cain And Mabel", a film about a dancer and a prizefighter who initially can't stand each other. Their animosity turns into romance, but can the meddling of their handlers divide them forever?
The film's cast includes Marion Davies, Clark Gable, Allen Jenkins, Roscoe Karns, Walter Catlett, Robert Paige, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ruth Donnelly, Pert Kelton, and William Collier Sr.
Mabel O'Dare is a waitress who gets her big chance at show business when a producer gives her a shot at the big time.
While rehearsing in her hotel room one night, she disturbs the occupants of the room beneath her. The main occupant is prizefighter Larry Cain, a former garage mechanic. He's got a big fight the next night and is counting on a good night's rest. "But I've got a fight tomorrow night!" he tells her. Mabel keeps right on dancing, saying, "Well, you won't have to wait until tomorrow
night if you don't stop disturbing me."
Mabel refuses to quit rehearsing, which angers Larry. "Some day I’ll meet that dame. When I do, I’ll spank her so tender she can sit on a newspaper and read
the headlines," he proclaims.
The lack of sleep and focus cause Larry to lose an important fight, and he gets extra mad.
They meet each other after Mabel's opening show after party. The two spend the evening insulting each other, and the culmination of the night's festivities includes Larry nominating Mabel for the Ice Bucket Challenge.
However, the battling duo's handlers see this as an opportunity to enhance their careers. They put it into the papers that the two are involved in a romance.
Larry and Mabel are both furious, and each accuses the other of printing outright lies in the papers.
After much cajoling from their handlers, both Larry and Mabel agree to a romance for appearance's sake, though neither one is anxious to see the other again.
Larry's first order of business is attending Mabel's new show as her doting boyfriend. He yawns his way through the elaborate performance.
Lo and behold, Mabel and Larry actually fall in love. She wants to quit show business to become a housewife, and he wants to quit prizefighting and return to his garage mechanic origins.
And because they are such well known "celebrities", they are forced to disguise themselves and meet in secret to plan their future together.
Their advisors, however, looking to keep raking in the dough, come up with a scheme that will see an end to the romance and let them go their separate ways. They plant a story in the newspapers which infuriates the couple.
Have no fear. At Larry's final fight, the two kiss and make up, and they can finally look forward to the future that they want for themselves.
Cast rundown:
Marion Davies.................................Mabel O'Dare
Clark Gable.....................................Larry Cain
Allen Jenkins...................................Dodo
Roscoe Karns..................................Aloysius K. Reilly
Walter Catlett..................................Jake Sherman
Robert Paige...................................Ronny Cauldwell
Hobart Cavanaugh...........................Milo
Ruth Donnelly..................................Aunt Mimi
Pert Kelton......................................Toddy Williams
William Collier Sr.............................Pat "Pop" Walters
And that's it for Cain And Mabel. During the big dance number (the one that Larry has to sit through after it's agreed they will appear together for publicity's sake), 225 dancers and over 2,000 ostrich feathers were utilized. 600 arc lights lit up the soundstage, causing the temperature to rise to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Marion Davies had over 100 pounds of ice trucked in, and a reporter at the time claimed that the chorus girls would sit on blocks of ice between takes. Marion Davies recalled, "The girls would faint on set, even though they had those big airplane propellers with ice in front of them. They would faint like dead flies."
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