Very rare original vintage matte-finish 11 x 14 candid-style photo of Clark Gable by pioneering photojournalist Eve Arnold, picturing the leading man in wardrobe holding his script during production of the 1961 film The Misfits, an image published as the lead photo in LIFE magazine's feature article on the film’s making. Signed and inscribed in the lower border in fountain pen, “December 1960, For you, Dearest Marion and Horace, All my love, Kathleen.” The reverse bears a scarce original credit stamp attributed to “Eve Arnold–Magnum, Magnum Photos, Inc.,” with caution stamp below, “Not For Reproduction.” In fine condition, with some rippling to the top and bottom edges.
Arnold presented this photograph to Gable and his wife Kay (Kathleen) after filming had wrapped and less than two weeks before Gable died on November 16, 1960. A month later, Gable's widow gifted this photo to actress Marion Davies, her late husband’s old friend and 1930s Hollywood costar. Davies, who was then in ill health, died from cancer not long after. A superb, original one-of-a-kind Eve Arnold photograph from a particularly poignant Hollywood moment.
