Parnell (film)

Infobox Film
name = Parnell | director = John M. Stahl
writer = John Van Druten
starring = Clark Gable
Myrna Loy
Edna May Oliver
Edmund Gwenn
Alan Marshall
Donald Crisp
Billie Burke
producer = John M. Stahl
music = Dr. William Axt
cinematography = Karl Freund
released = 1937

Parnell is a 1937 film starring Clark Gable as Charles Stewart Parnell, the famous Irish politician.

It is considered Gable's worst film, and is classified in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time".

Production

Parnell had originally been cast to star Gable and his frequent co-star Joan Crawford. Myrna Loy, meanwhile, was to star in "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney" (1937). MGM literally flipped the assignments as Crawford did not get alone with director John Stahl. Another issue came with the beard that the real Charles Parnell wore. Fans balked at the idea of Gable wearing a beard, and Gable, whose limit in facial hair was his mustache, agreed. It was settled upon that Gable would only have a set of sideburns. As filming began, Gable felt very uneasy with his role, either unable or unwilling to portray the sensitive nature required to capture the character. Loy later recalled, "I learned about another side of him at that time. He was a man who loved poetry and fine literature, read it, and knew it. He would read poetry to me sometimes during breaks, but he didn't want anyone to know it [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2488&category=Articles Parnell (1937) Articles ] ] ." One of the many concerns that Gable had about this production, added to literally everything about it, was the acting that would be required of him to play out a believable death scene. During the filming of the death scene, Stahl put on mood music to help the actors get into character. Gable loathed the music and complained to Carole Lombard. The next day, when Stahl called for the music to be turned on, a jazzy version of "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You," went floating throughout the studio [ [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2488&category=Trivia Parnell (1937) Trivia ] ] .

Parnell lost around $637,000 in profits and has been labeled the worst film in Gable and Loy's long and successful film careers. Loy said of the film later, "Disgruntled fans wrote to the studio by the thousands--they did that in those days. Some of the critics complained that we played against type. We were actors, for God's sake. We couldn't be Blackie Norton and Nora Charles all the time." Following the flop that Parnell was, Gable vowed never to do a costume drama or biopic again. It was the failure of Parnell that also provided another reason for Gable to be fearful of doing "Gone with the Wind". Fortunately, he was persuaded otherwise, and his fans, willing to forget the mishap that was Parnell, quickly embraced him as he moved forward in his career.

Cast

Clark Gable as Charles Stewart Parnell
Myrna Loy as Katie O'Shea

Edna May Oliver as Aunt Ben
Edmund Gwenn as Campbell
Alan Marshall as Captain William O'Shea
Donald Crisp as Davitt
Billie Burke as Clara Wood
Berton Churchill as The O'Gorman Mahon
Donald Meek as Murphy
Montagu Love as Gladstone

References

External links

*imdb title|id=029377|title=Parnell