The movie studio MGM had several big stars in its golden age, but no two were bigger than Greta Garbo and Clark Gable. So when the studio put “The Face” and “The King” together in a 1931 movie, you would think it was a match made in heaven. But off camera, they could not stand each other.
For almost a hundred years, people have wondered why these two icons never made another film together. The answer, hidden in old gossip columns and studio notes, comes down to big egos, a huge difference in pay, and real dislike for one another. Their time on the set of ‘Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)’ was basically a silent war.
A Studio Dream That Turned into a Nightmare
On paper, the pairing made perfect sense. Garbo was the mysterious Swedish star who had made the jump from silent movies to talkies and was already a legend. Clark Gable, on the other hand, even though his biggest hit, ‘It Happened One Night,‘ was still a few years away, was the tough former stage actor quickly becoming Hollywood’s top leading man.
It was actually Garbo who asked for Gable. After seeing him in ‘A Free Soul,’ she told MGM’s head Irving Thalberg that she wanted this rising star as her co-star. Thalberg agreed and cast Gable as an architect who falls for Garbo’s troubled farm girl.
At first, Gable played the role of the excited co-star. He told a reporter that getting the part was “one of the thrills of my life,” but that thrill died almost as soon as he showed up on set.
Clark Gable and Greta Garbo’s Huge Pay Gap Fueled Resentment
The main problem was money. By 1931, Greta Garbo was a worldwide star, and her pay for ‘Susan Lenox‘ was a huge $250,000. Clark Gable, though, was still paying his dues. He made just $350 a week.
In case you missed it: The Real Reason Clark Gable Nearly Walked Off ‘Gone with the Wind’
Now, that is old Hollywood for you, where two actors standing in the same scene lived in completely different worlds. People who knew Gable said he was a proud man, and he hated the difference. He never complained about the money out loud, but people noticed his annoyance at how Garbo bossed the crew around and controlled everything on set. That control came with her $250,000 price tag.
Garbo was a perfectionist and did not think much of Gable’s acting either. She thought he was stiff and not polished. People close to the production said she called him “wooden,” which was a devastatingly blunt thing to say.
Opposites Who Couldn’t Stand Each Other
Gable and Garbo also worked very differently. Garbo was famous for wanting to be left alone. She showed up early, did her job, and went straight to her dressing room, without hanging out and joking around as other stars did.
Gable was the opposite. He liked to joke around, pull pranks, and be part of the social scene on the lot. He did not think Garbo was mysterious. He thought she was snobby. There is a famous moment that sums it all up. A reporter asked Gable on set, “How do you find Miss Garbo?” Gable answered with a sarcastic jab. “I don’t,” he said. “She is always on the set ahead of me.”
What he really meant was that she was impossible to reach and, in his eyes, boring. Other stories say Gable found her so dull that he stayed away on purpose, choosing to hang out with the electricians and stagehands instead of his own co-star.
Greta Garbo and Clark Gable Never Worked Together Again After ‘Susan Lenox’
The movie came out in September 1931. It got mixed reviews, and many critics today say the two leads had no romantic spark, which makes sense given how much they disliked each other. You can see them on screen together, but they never really click. Garbo acts like she is in a sad drama, while Gable appears as if he wants to leave and get into a bar fight.
When filming ended, neither of them wanted to do it again. Gable went on to become the true “King of Hollywood.” Garbo remained the most famous and private star in movies. They never worked together again, making ‘Susan Lenox’ a strange piece of history. It is the only time the King and the Queen shared a throne, even though they spent the whole time trying to push each other off.
Garbo later got her perfect leading man in ‘Camille‘ (1936) with the easier to work with Robert Taylor. Gable found his best partners in Claudette Colbert and Vivien Leigh. But the story of the Garbo Gable feud is a good warning that, in Hollywood, even the most perfect pair can be completely out of tune.
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