JasparLamarCrabb A sloppy piece of filmmaking from the usually dependable Sidney J. Furie. It's poorly put together, factually flawed, and has bad sound. All of which might have been excusable had the leads not been played by James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh. Brolin & Clayburgh are fine actors, but they're clearly from another generation and have none of the presence possessed by the real Gable & Lombard. Brolin looks a lot like Gable (complete with Dumboesque ears), but Clayburgh is a so far from Carole Lombard, it's disastrous. Lombard was effervescence personified, while Clayburgh comes across as acting like an immature schoolgirl. There is very little chemistry between the two leads and there's zero sense of how famous they were in the 1930s. Furie may have struck gold with LADY SINGS THE BLUES, his dynamite biopic of Billie Holliday, but here he mines nothing but coal. Not even the presence of Red Buttons, Melanie Mayron and Allen Garfield (as LB Mayer) add much to the proceedings.

Keely_morris1 To be frank, this film was nothing but a ghost of one of the greatest love stories in Hollywood. When looking at it from a purely fictional standpoint, Gable and Lombard could be a mildly entertaining film, which is why I gave it a three to save it from utter ruination. But when looking from a historical standpoint and becoming familiar with the real Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, one realizes how ridiculous this film really is. The poorly written script should have been based upon the novel by Warren G. Harris rather than fantasy while the casting offices should have looked for actors better suited for the parts. While James Brolin did what he could with a poorly written part, he certainly was no Gable and ended up performing a dull imitation of one of the greatest legends Hollywood has ever known. But my main concern was with the terrible miscasting of Jill Clayburgh as the iconoclastic Lombard. She was entirely wrong for the part in both physicality and personality and ended up coming off as crude and impudent. The real Lombard was hardly such and while she used the language that Clayburgh shouted over and over again in the film, in reality it did not come off in the cheap manner that Clayburgh performed it in. Those closest to Lombard said she used class with her swearing and certainly Clayburgh was entirely incapable of portraying the class associated with Lombard's personality. While Clayburgh is not a terrible actress, she could not become the essence of Lombard and again it eventuated in a cheap mimicry of one of Hollywood's most signature actresses. Addressing that other problem associated with Clayburgh's casting, her nonexistent physical resemblance to the real Lombard, comes off as a travesty. While I would normally overlook poor physical resemblances to the real life people an actor is portraying, it was nearly impossible to do whilst watching a tall, shrill woman portraying a woman who, in reality, was petite and classy. I will grant that Clayburgh, perhaps, did all that she could to capture Lombard but certainly it did not seem so when watching this pathetic film.Gable and Lombard eventuated in a shrewd, mediocre film that is not worth the time that it takes in dragging the viewer through the unbearable misrepresentations of various figures of Hollywood's classic period. If you are brilliant enough of a magician to suspend the image of the real Clark Gable and Carole Lombard long enough to see through the historical inaccuracies and rather mediocre acting, Gable and Lombard can be enjoyable. Certainly, I wouldn't be one to suggest it.

sonny_1963 James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh pull it off as one of old Hollywood's most dashing couples.The ambiance of 1930s-1940s Hollywood almost steals the show, but Brolin, Clayburgh, a fine script and a beautiful score are the real wonders of this film. The title characters are believable and interesting to watch. Red Buttons also does a good job in a small role.We see how Gable and Lombard met and how they had to face all of the impediments that were trying to ruin their love affair. The film does not have a happy ending because it's based on fact. As a matter of fact, you will need some tissues when you watch the final scene. It's that moving.

thespian57 Not quite excellent but Both James Brolin and Jill Clayburgh give creditable performances in one of Hollywood's great love stories. This film was re;eased the same year as "WC Fields and Me" about another Hollywood couple, Fields and Carlotta Monti. "Gable and Lombard" captures the Hollywood scene of the 1930's a bit better than the other film does, and the two leads are more believable then in the other film. More than showing the screen side of these two, "Gable and Lombard" explores the off screen life of the pair. Anyone looking for dirt will be greatly disappointed. The life of Clark Gable and Carol Lombard as shown in this film is anything but boring. Thus, the emotion is genuine when we learn as does Gable that nothing is forever."Gable and Lombard" gives us an honest look into the lives of two people who just happened to be movie stars.