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.

Highly fictional movie about the love affair between Clark Gable (James Brolin) and Carole Lombard (Jill Clayburgh). It chronicles how they first meet and hate each other but eventually fall in love. The problem is Gable's first wife won't give him a divorce and their studios are threatening to drop them.There are so many factual errors here it's pointless to try and discuss them all. The biggest one for me was the portrayal of Louis B. Mayer (badly played by Allen Garfield) as a kindly man. He was loud and obnoxious and treated the actors like dirt. Here he comes across as a nice gentle father figure which is wildly inaccurate. Still if you just accept this as a fictional tale it's not too bad. It's pretty obvious they spent a lot of money on this--there's some truly beautiful sets and clothes. Also the script isn't too bad. It mostly consists of Brolin and Clayburgh screaming and arguing with each other or hopping into bed...but it still works.Brolin is VERY convincing as Gable. He looks like him and sounds like him. Also, from what I've heard, he pretty much gave an accurate portrayal of Gable as he really was. Clayburgh looks nothing like Lombard but her acting is excellent and she does show Lombard as she actually was--strong, funny and independent. Also Red Buttons is excellent as a studio publicist. Beautiful music score too.There are a few problems. The movie is way too long--it's 131 minutes and should have been shorter. Also there's a truly tacky sequence involving a "c**k soc" that should have been eliminated. But, as a fictional tale, this is pretty good. R rated for swearing and very frank sexual talk.

"Gable and Lombard" made me angry as I watched it. You see I made a mistake of reading a book based on their life together and what amazed me was how inaccurate the movie is. Allow me to point out just a few of the MANY facts that are wrong with the movie.1) The film opens with Gable at the plane crash site which has taken the life of Miss Lombard. He wears an Army uniform when in real life he didn't join until later.2) At the crash site he is comforted by Lombard's press agent when in reality the press agent was killed in the crash as well.3) The movie makes it appear that they kept their love life secret when in real life they often appeared together in public and made no secret of it.4) In real life Gable and Lombard had worked together years before their affair started. The movie has them meeting and falling in love almost immediately.5) The film over emphasizes Lombard's popularity.Ah but who cares right? Most people don't know the real story and probably don't care. What you want to know is if the movie is any good. I imagine many people will probably enjoy this film but it's nothing more then a silly Hollywood romance that just happened to involve one of the biggest movie stars of the day. Frankly I was so distracted by the common factual errors it would have been impossible for me to enjoy. Let's face it when you watch a story involving real people you imagine that most if not all of what you are seeing either really happened or is a close representation thereof. To watch this movie is to see a screenwriter's fictional invention with real people. In other words I found it to be a scam.As for the performances James Brolin is essentially imitating Gable from the "Gone With the Wind" era. He would have been more effective had he just made the character his own. He somewhat resembles Gable so we don't need the voice imitation. Jill Clayburgh comes off slightly better simply because she is given less to do."Gable and Lombard" may be a nice fictional movie but they should have changed the names and made the characters unknown. The ghosts of the real actors and their true stories linger from frame one.

I just saw this film today and as an avid Gable worshipper, I was shocked that people even attempted to capture Gable and Lombard's chemistry on film. Even though James Brolin (who played Clark) was I suppose alright acting-wise, he was not the best. Jill Clayurgh (who played Carole) didn't even look like Lombard, but I also suppose she did mediocre acting-wise. Its hard, at least for me, to watch a film where actors and actresses are trying to play someone who's passed away and don't even look like them! I know the love story between Clark and Carole like the back of my hand, I KNOW it. I wish Sidney J. Furie, the director, should of done more background information about both Hollywood legends before trying to make a film about them. I mean, I know the film focused on their love, but still if you don't have the right information to play in front of the camera, other fans will dislike it. I wouldn't watch this movie again, but I suppose if you have a free afternoon, its not worth watching. for God's sakes, just pop in Gone with the Wind!