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Why did MGM lend Clark Gable to Columbia Pictures for It Happened One Night?
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Clark Gable
American actor Clark Gable, undated photograph.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) lent Clark Gable to Columbia Pictures for the film It Happened One Night (1934) as a form of punishment for his refusal to accept a role assigned to him by the studio.1
At the time, Columbia Pictures was derisively referred to as "poverty row." Despite the punitive intent behind the loan-out, the film became a major success, sweeping all five major categories at the Academy Awards, including a win for Gable as best actor.1