Crawford & Gable & Their Torrid Affair
Streamline reports: ‘There’s been a lot of speculation about Gable and Crawford’s affair and there seems to be some confusion about when and where their passionate romance was first ignited. Some have suggested that Crawford became enamored with Gable after she spotted him on an MGM set and if that’s true, it could have been during the making of Erich von Stroheim’s THE MERRY WIDOW (1925), where the two would-be stars were cast as uncredited extras. But their romance really didn’t begin to take shape until 1931 when Crawford insisted Gable play opposite her in DANCE, FOOL, DANCE. At the time Joan Crawford was blossoming into one of MGM’s most
recognizable stars and she had the power to pick and choose her leading men. Both Gable and Crawford had similar rough and tumble backgrounds but his somewhat unconventional (at the time) good looks, sense of humor and easygoing attitude must have also held a lot of appeal. Before filming began Crawford admitted to being nervous about working with Gable due to his previous stage experience but that nervousness soon melted away when sparks started to fly between the two actors.’
