Editing Clark Gable (section)

=== 1939–1942: Established star ===
Between his marriage to Lombard and her death, Gable again costarred with Norma Shearer in the World War II romantic intrigue film, ''[[Idiot's Delight (film)|Idiot's Delight]]'' (1939). He plays a nightclub singer that doesn't recognize former love (Shearer) while Nazis are closing in on guests at a hotel on the brink of war. The film is memorable for Gable's song and dance routine, "Puttin' on the Ritz" and an alternative ending.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789/page/13 13]|quote=Idiots delight.|title=Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide|last1=Maltin|first1=Leonard|last2=Sader|first2=Luke|last3=Clark|first3=Mike|date=2008|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-452-28978-9|language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Clark Gable and Joan Crawford in 'Strange Cargo', 1940.jpg|thumbnail|left|Gable and Crawford in ''Strange Cargo'' (1940)]]
Gable also starred in ''[[Strange Cargo (1940 film)|Strange Cargo]]'' (1940), a romantic drama with [[Joan Crawford]], costarring [[Peter Lorre]] and [[Ian Hunter (actor)|Ian Hunter]].<ref name="Shipman, David 1979"/>{{Rp|134}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/26/archives/the-screen-strange-cargo-lands-at-capitolpalace-has-ma-hes-making.html|title=THE SCREEN; Strange Cargo' Lands at Capitol—Palace Has 'Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me'--Foreign Film Opens|last=Crisler|first=B. r|date=April 26, 1940|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The film's focus is on Gable and [[Devil's Island|French Devil's Islands]] convicts in an escape from the penal colony, who on the way pick up a local entertainer (Crawford) whom Gable had met earlier in the movie.<ref name="Kay, Eddie Dorman 1990 pg.14">Kay, Eddie Dorman (New York, 1990). "Box Office Champs: The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years", M & M Books. pg.14.</ref> In their eighth and last film together, Gable and Crawford "again demonstrated their on-screen magic" and the film was among the top ten grossing films for the year.<ref name="Kay, Eddie Dorman 1990 pg.14" />

Gable then made his first film with 20-year old Lana Turner, a newcomer whom MGM saw as a successor for both Crawford and the now-deceased Jean Harlow.<ref name="Shipman, David 1979"
/>{{Rp|545}} ''[[Honky Tonk (1941 film)|Honky Tonk]]'' (1941) is a western where Gable's con-man/gambler character romances Turner, a prim, young judge's daughter.<ref>Thomson, David (London, 1994). "A Biographical Dictionary of Film", Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd, pg. 761.</ref>
,<ref name="Shipman, David 1979"/>{{Rp|545}} Gable had been reluctant to act opposite the younger Turner in the required romantic scenes. But their chemistry served them well in this and three later films, with ''Honky Tonk'' finishing third at the box office that year.<ref>"w Office Champs: The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years", M & M Books. pgs.18–19.</ref>

Since the couple had been popular with the public, Gable and Turner were quickly paired again in ''[[Somewhere I'll Find You]]'' (1941) as war correspondents who travel to the Pacific theatre and get caught up in a Japanese attack.
<ref name="Shipman, David 1979"/>{{Rp|224}} The movie was another hit finishing No. 8 at the box office for 1942.<ref>"Box Office Champs: The Most Popular Movies from the Last 50 Years", M & M Books. pg.19.</ref> Film historian David Thomson wrote the quality of his movies after ''Gone With the Wind'' "hardly befitted a national idol" and began a career decline for Gable.<ref>Thomson, David (London, 1994). "A Biographical Dictionary of Film", Martin Secker and Warburg Ltd. pg. 272.</ref><ref name="Thomson 2010">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2NCODQAAQBAJ&q=david+thomson+clark+gable&pg=PA360|title=The New Biographical Dictionary of Film|last=Thomson|first=David|date=2010|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=978-0-307-27174-7|language=en}}</ref>