Established 1999
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Carole Lomabard was the essence of the 1930's film star:
beautiful and talented. Like other legends of Hollywood, her life was ultimately made more
important than her films due to her untimely tragic death.
For her the phrase "a great broad" would be a compliment. She was even adored by her film crews, which is a rare thing. Her beauty was matched by a good heart and lively spirit.
Born in 1908 as Jane Alice Peters, she started out in silent films at the age of 13.
After an automotive accident that scarred her face side-lined her for a short while (the
scar on her cheek was normally hidden with good lighting and makeup, but occasionally is
visible in a movie),
she returned to become a Mack Sennett "Bathing
Beauty", which sharpened her comedic skills. Her big break starring film was
"Twentieth Century" with John Barrymore and by 1937 was listed as
Hollywood’s highest paid actress.
She had an early marriage to William Powell and although they divorced, they remained friends and even appeared together in the highly successful (and funny) "My Man Godfrey" years after the divorce. Her romance and marriage to Clark Cable is legendary. (It wasn’t love at first sight, since she loved to tease and he wasn’t amused. But like any good romance novel, they fell in love in the end.) She slowed down her career after the marriage in an effort to have children and to support his career (he made "Gone With the Wind" during this time). Her last movie was a great one and perhaps her best: "To Be Or Not To Be". She died in a plane crash in 1942 while on a bond drive for the War Effort. It took Clark Cable many years to recover from her death.
Now she is only a legend, but luckily, we still have her many movies so we can enjoy her vitality, beauty and talent:
Some of her movies I would recommend are:
We’re Not Dressing: A desert island story with Bing Crosby crooning.
Twentieth Century: The movie that put her on the map. She co-starred with John
Barrymore, who wonderfully hams it up.
My Man Godfrey: Definitely a 30's movie with William Powell giving a dignified,
amusing performance. And it was filmed after their divorce.
Nothing Sacred: Great classic screwball comedy with Frederick March, where she
plays the "dying" heroine.
Made for Each Other: With Jimmy Stewart in sad sweet love story.
In Name Only: Cary Grant loves her in this soap opera, but is married to a real
witch, who won’t give him a divorce.
Vigil in the Night: Another good soap opera with her playing a nurse.
To Be Or Not to Be: She’s married to Jack Benny, who is the hammiest of
actors ever to play Hamlet. It takes place at the start of WWII with the invasion of
Poland. Probably her best film and unfortunately her last. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch who
was able to combine high comedy and true drama with the Nazi’s, in a style for which
was coined the phrase "The Lubitsch Touch".
