Why did Clark Gable work on It Happened One Night for Columbia Pictures?

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Frank Capra (From left) Unidentified, Gary Cooper, and Frank Capra on the set of *Mr. Deeds Goes to Town*.

Clark Gable worked on the Frank Capra film It Happened One Night (1934) as a form of punishment from his home studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM lent him to Columbia Pictures—a studio then derisively referred to as "poverty row"—because Gable had refused a different role assigned to him by the studio.1

This disciplinary loan-out ultimately proved to be a major success for Gable, as the film swept all five major categories at the Academy Awards, including a win for best actor for his performance.1