Gail Meath, author of A Perilous Premiere, a Stone & Steele mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to give us a peek into 1930s Hollywood.

Welcome, Gail. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

I admit it.  I love researching history, which is why I chose to write historical romances and cozy mysteries.  I often spend more time researching specific facts for my books than I do writing them.  When I started my first cozy mystery series (1920s), I decided to share some of the more interesting research in the author’s note at the end.  Of course, when writing about the 1920s and 1930s, Broadway shows, jazz music, movies, and stars play a big role.  So, I always include clips and videos of songs and movies from the era.  I’d like to share the notes from my newest book that takes place in Hollywood in 1938. 

Despite the tough economic times during the Depression, it’s estimated that up to eighty million Americans went to the movies every week. There were so many wonderful actors and actresses, and I have several favorites, but Carole Lombard has always stood out above all others for me, and I had to include her as a character in the book.  She was not only beautiful, talented, fun-loving (nicknamed a ‘screwball’), honest, foul-mouthed, and married to Clark Gable, she endured a few tragedies in her life, and the last one ended her life.

Carole began acting at the young age of twelve and starred in several films throughout the 1920s.  In 1927, Carole was a passenger in a serious car accident.  The windshield shattered and shards of glass cut Carole’s face from her nose and across her left cheek to her eye.  After plastic surgery and a long recovery, she was able to return to her acting career.  Still, she needed to apply plenty of makeup to cover the scar.  

Carole married William Powell, from the famous Thin Man series, in 1931.  Their marriage ended in divorce in 1933, but they always remained close friends.

In 1934, Carole’s fiancée, Russ Columbo, an American baritone, songwriter, violinist, and actor, was shot under ‘peculiar circumstances’ by a longtime friend, photographer Lansing Brown Jr., shortly before Russ was picking Carole up for dinner.  Here is the song he wrote for Carole before he died, Too Beautiful for Words https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRwWE7A24AQ

Carole and Clark Gable only made one movie together in 1932, No Man of Her Own, and apparently, they didn’t get along very well.  They met up again in 1936 and this time, they became inseparable.  It was said that Clark thrived being around Carole’s youthful, charming, and frank personality.  He once stated: “You can trust that little screwball with your life or your hopes or your weaknesses, and she wouldn’t even think about letting you down.” 

In 1939, Clark proposed to Carole in Booth Fifty-Four at the popular Brown Derby restaurant, and they were married six weeks later.  They bought a twenty-acre ranch in Encino, California, and adopted several barnyard animals.  Almost immediately, Carole wanted to start a family, but her attempts failed, and she discovered she was unable to have children.  Here is a clip of their history together:  Carole & Clark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drmzbxhxyZM&t=14s

When the U.S. entered World War II, Carole traveled to her home state of Indiana for a war bond rally with her mother and Clark Gable’s press agent, Otto Winkler.  On January 16, 1942, Carole decided to fly home early to see Clark.  Her mother, an astrologist, begged her not to go on flight number three because it was an unlucky number.  She refused to listen to her mother’s warning and insisted they board the flight.

Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed in Las Vegas.  Tragically, everyone on board, including the three of them, were killed. Carole was only thirty-three years old at the time. Clark Gable was devastated by her death and never married again.  President Roosevelt awarded Carole the Medal Of Freedom for being the first woman killed in the line of duty during the war.

She was an incredible woman, inside and out, and I’ve always admired her so much.  As for Clark Gable, one of my favorite actors, he was wonderful in Gone with the Wind, but my all-time favorite movie of his waswith Claudette Colbert.  Here is a clip from that movie: It Happened One Night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcrth90C3D4

On a political note, my inclusion of these characters and their crimes were true: Frank Shaw was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1933 and appointed his brother, Joe, as secretary and chief of staff.  He also reappointed James Davis, who was “nationally notorious” for police corruption, as police chief of the LAPD.  Skipping over their long list of crimes, in 1937, it all came to a head after Harry Raymond, a former police officer investigating corruption on the force, was the victim of a car bomb and seriously injured.  LAPD Captain Earl Kynette was indeed found guilty on the charges in 1938 and served sixteen years in prison.

It took several more months before Frank Shaw became the first mayor of a major city to be removed from office, thanks to Clifford Clinton and the CIVIC group’s efforts to gather enough evidence to bring to the grand jury.  As for Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria, it remained the largest cafeteria in the world until 2018 when they finally closed their doors.

Lastly, here are two popular 1930s tunes that were mentioned in the book.  Kenny Baker singing Love Walked In (it’s a hoot).

And Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the movie Top Hat, singing Cheek to Cheek  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDIlkTqjldQ

In closing, thank you so very much for having me as a ‘guest’, Diane, and I hope you and everyone else has a fantastic holiday!

Thank you for sharing this with us, Gail, and good luck with A Perilous Premiere, the latest book in the Stone & Stelle mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Gail Meath by visiting the author’s website and. her Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub and Goodreads pages.

The book is available online at the following retailers:

Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org 

About Gail Meath: Gail Meath is the author of the multi-award-winning Jax Diamond Mysteries, the fun series about of a wise-cracking PI, his sweet German Shepherd partner, Ace, and his Broadway singing heartthrob, Laura, as they solve crazy crimes during the Roaring Twenties. She’s currently working on the first book in her exciting new 1930s mystery series, Stone & Steele Mysteries, takes place during the glamorous Golden Age of Hollywood. As always, she blends the most loveable characters with a good, solid mystery.

Gail also has a growing list of other award-winning historical romances, mysteries, westerns, and fictional biographies of true heroines. She lives in a small village in Upstate New York with her husband and their sweet, little Boston Terrier, and she spends loads of time with her grandchildren.