Michael McComb

Gwendolyn Kiste

Douglas Cohen

J Kristin Craig

Carla Valderrama

Kendra Bean

Dwight Davis

Jennifer Henderson

Jacqueline Cassidy

Olympia Kiriakou

Deena Anderson

Cindy Madrulli

~Add your name to those who are giving Carole Lombard the memorial she deserves~

For more information about the project and how YOU can help Click Here >>

Kendra just sent me this fantastic picture of La Lombard and I just couldn’t resist! So X-mas was ten days ago oh F’n well! I also added a few more to the Photo Archives so be sure to check out those as well.

P.S. For those of you who are fans of Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier you MUST check out VivAndLarry.com. Kendra has created the ultimate spot for fans of both Viv and Larry.

Video Uploaded by:leewileyandfriends

MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE: AUGUST, 1935

The girl of today, says the ultra-popular Carole, must have a variety of interests and keep up with the times. She must be modern enough to stay ahead of the parade instead of lagging behind- a forgotten wallflower.

By: WILLIAM F. FRENCH
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

We WERE talking about what it takes to put a girl up where every girl wants to be, when Carole Lombard- fresh, healthy and confident, after two weeks rest in the mountains- aired her outlook on it all.

“No,” she replied, “I don’t think luck has much to do with a girl amounting to anything worth while. I think it’s more a matter of alertness, of being wide-awake and alive. These days a girl has to be modern or else be a wallflower. The year 1935 hasn’t time to stop and pay it’s respects to the old-fashioned girl who is sitting quietly in the corner. Instead of waiting to be asked, a girl has to get out in front of the parade, where she’ll be seen. The time is past when a girl can attract attention being a passive verb, so to speak. She must be active, and in time with the times. She must be modern.”

“Modern girls don’t have to get noisy and boisterous and cheap to get into things. They don’t have to be fast to live fast. A hundred sensible, constructive, progressive interests are open to them. They no longer have to clamp the lid on their energy until it explodes into unhealthy channels. The up-to-date girl has a variety of interests. She rides, she drives, she plays bridge, she reads, she follows the latest plays, she studies, she goes in for sports with a zest. She doesn’t putter. She doesn’t do things half-way. She does things with a will, never half-heartedly. Norma Shearer is an excellent example of being modern. There is nothing half-hearted about her, with her determination to progress and her score of interests. Joan Crawford is modern, knowing what she wants and going after it. Katherine Hepburn, with her independence of spirit, is ultra-modern.”

“Determination, independence, health, intelligence, zest, alertness and a variety of interests. Mix well and season with a happy sense of humor, and you have what it takes to be modern. But don’t forget that seasoning. It is the thing that makes all the others possible. And you must learn to stick with a thing until you whip it. These days a girl simply must go in for sports, both for health and for popularity. Men expect girls to swim with them, ride with them, play tennis with them and even, perhaps, go fishing or hunting with them.”

“I GO IN for athletics and sports as intensively as I do for work. When I took up tennis I had an instructor and, even now, though I’m rather good at it, I still coach. I’m taking up flying because I think it’s part of a present-day education, and because I think we will all be flying before long.”

“I can’t afford not to keep up with new things. And neither can any other girl, whether she is in society or in a bargain basement. She can find time and means to keep in step with the times. She simply must learn to dance well, to swim, to play golf and bridge. There are ways to accomplish this if she has the will. And if she hasn’t the will, and isn’t willing to pay the price and effort, she will never get the things her heart just aches for and longs for.”

“Don’t believe, girls, that you don’t have to do the things the movie stars do in order to get what you want. You do have to. Because life demands the same of you as it does of them. When you hear what a casting office asks of a girl, don’t marvel. That office asks: ‘Can you swim, can you dance, can you drive, can you play tennis, can you wear a gown attractively, do you know how to walk, can you make yourself interesting?’ Your employer and your friends may not be asking you those questions quite so bluntly. But they are finding the answers to them in their own way. And if you fall short you’ll get as little as little notice from them as the unprepared movie applicant gets at the casting office.”

“In the past fifteen years, women have gone a long way, and have claimed a lot of privileges, for which all women must pay. The progressive ones have crowded so far ahead that the ones who lag at all, are left behind and forgotten. We, as women, asked to be included in men’s sports, interests, activities and even in their political problems. We got our wish. And to live up to it, we must be modern. Perhaps it is unfortunate that all girls must keep up with the pace set by the most successful ones. But I, personally, don’t think so. Instead, I think it is forcing them all into broader, happier, more useful lives.”

“TODAY, the girl in the Iowa village, or the Pennsylvania hamlet, must keep up-to-date on styles and on manners, because the movies are constantly showing her friends how she ought to act, how she ought to look and what she ought to be able to do. She can’t hide from progress, no matter where she goes. The small city judges the girls on its local beach by the same standards as the world judges the stars at Malibu. And it has a right to do so. Don’t say that you haven’t a chance. Two out of every three stars in Hollywood didn’t have a chance either- once. They worked in department stores, restaurants, and even factories. They were home girls, chorus girls and starving extra girls. But they were modern, and made their ‘break’.”

“Being modern doesn’t mean going in for fads, wearing ultra-modern or spectacular clothes, or doing strange things. The girl of today has too many interests, too much to do, to waste her time that way. She centers on efficiency. She must! But she keeps up with the latest in everything. She reads the newest and best books even if she doesn’t like [Continued]”

******And Here Is Where We Got Cut Off. Progress, not perfection porfavor! I’ll search for the last paragraph but until then, I am making it up to you with some appropriate tunes for all my Lady Lombardiers out there:

Original Caption: CLARK GABLE, CAROLE LOMBARD — INSEPARABLES
HOLLYWOOD, CALIF: Among film colony celebrities who gathered to honor pioneer picture producer Adolph Zukor on his 25th anniversary in motion picture production, were these two romantic inseparables, Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, pictured in an off-guard moment as he lights her cigarette. Gable’s giving the barber a go-by, as he readies for an ample-locked film role of Parnell, Irish freedom leader. 1-7-1937

And two more common candids . . .

P.S. The photos above will be up for auction until January 11, 2009:
Click Here to bid on the 1st photo showing Clark about to light Carole’s cigarette.
Click Here for the 2nd photo of Clark and Carole at the Santa Anita Derby.
Click Here for the 3rd photo of Clark and Carole at John Hopkins Hospital.

TCM is giving all you Lombard lovers a holiday treat: 3 Carole Lombard flicks in less than 48hrs!

First up is Nothing Sacred (1937) starting at 6:00 am EST on January 1, 2009.

Twentieth Century (1934) follows at 7:15 am EST on January 1, 2009.

And Swing High, Swing Low (1937) wraps it up on January 2, 2009 at 10:15 am EST.

For those of you who don’t have TCM, you can always watch Nothing Sacred and Twentieth Century in the MultiMedia Section.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Here’s a swell little article from the New York Times I think you will all enjoy. Sorry about the small print. I’d re-type it but I have a massive snowball fight to attend to!! xoxo

UPDATE: For some reason the article is no longer appearing. I’ll try again to repost it and if that doesn’t work I’ll re-type it. So sorry!

Carole Lombard was renowned for her kindness and generosity towards others. She was always giving. Whether it was giving friends advice or employment, sponsoring college students and tennis champions, or putting on shows for sick children, Carole was a constant giver.

Did you ever wonder what her final gift was?

An expenisve public address system was donated by Carole to the soldiers of Fort Rosecrans in San Diego. It arrived three days after she was killed.

We’ve started a tradition at CaroleLombard.org in which monthly contests are held. This month we’ve added a twist. The holidays are all about giving and so this month we are going to give back to the #1 Giver herself.

As some of you may recall, over a year ago the memorial plaque located at the Nevada mountain where Lombard, her mother and 20 other individuals who died in a plane crash on Jan. 16, 1942, was stolen. It looked like this:

Today there is still no plaque, no tribute, no memory of Carole and the 21 individuals who gave their lives for the betterment of this country. WE can change that.

CaroleLombard.org is joining forces with aviation archaelogist and Lombard fan Michael McComb to raise funds for a new plaque featuring the names of all the 22 passengers who died in the plane crash. But we can not do it alone. We need YOU!

According to our calculations, $2,700 would cover the cost of a 36×30 bronze plaque bearing the names of all 22 individuals. If every single person who visits this site in a week were to give only $1 we would have enough to cover the costs.

There will be no auction of artifacts and there will be no prize involved. Just duty and honor. BUT since everyone like’s a good ego-stroking, the names of everyone who contributes will go down in digital history as they will be recorded on this site for everyone to see.

I ask each and everyone of you to step up and give as much or a little as you possibly can.

OUR GOAL: $2,700 by January 16, 2009.

If Carole could raise $2,017,513 (approx $25,405,871.31 in 2007) in ONE day, we can raise $2,700 in one month.

With that said, I’ll close with the words of Douglas MacArthur who on May 12, 1962 said:

Yes, “White Christmas” and Silver Bells” has been on re-play since Thanksgiving and we don’t mind one bit! In case you are in the mood for something non-holiday and Lombard-related, (ofcourse you are!) here is a clip of Bing Crosby singing “May I” to the beautiful Carole Lombard in 1934’s Were Not Dressing.

Uploaded by: Renamouskouri

In 1937 the LA Times announced that Carole was the owner of the most pets in the Hollywood film colony, outstripping Joan Crawford. At the time she said: “I’ll probably have more. I can’t resist pets and I can’t walk by a pet shop.”

Thanks to the fantastic Kendra we have another swell shot of Carole and EDMUND!!!

Check out the ANIMAL section in the Photo Archives for more of Carole and her furry friends.