Genre: Drama, Western Directed By: Jack Conway Written By: John Sanford, Marguerite Roberts In Theaters: 2 Oct. 1941 On Disc/Streaming: 11 Dec. 1991 Runtime: 104 minutes Studio: MGM Budget: $899,000 Box office: $3,980,000 | Cast: Clark Gable as “Candy” Johnson Lana Turner as Elizabeth Cotton Frank Morgan as Judge Cotton Claire Trevor as “Gold Dust” Nelson Marjorie Main as Mrs. Varner Albert Dekker as Brazos Hearn Henry O’Neill as Daniel Wells Chill Wills as The Sniper Veda Ann Borg as Pearl Douglas Wood as Governor Wilson Betty Blythe as Mrs. Wilson Harry Worth as Harry Gates Lew Harvey as Blackie |
“Honky Tonk” is a 1941 black-and-white western film directed by Jack Conway, produced by Pandro S. Berman, and starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner.The supporting cast features Claire Trevor, Frank Morgan, Marjorie Main, Albert Dekker and Chill Wills.
The marvelous rapport between stars Clark Gable and Lana Turner makes MGM’s Honky Tonk seem far more substatianal than it really is.
About to be tarred and featherd by an angry mob, frontier con artists Candy Johnson (Gable) and his pal Sniper (Chill Wills) manage to make a quick getaway via train.
While on board, Candy strikes up a friendship with Boston-bred Lucy Cotton (Lana Turner), whose “respectable” daddy Judge Cotton (Frank Morgan) turns out to be as big of a sharpster as Candy.
For Lucy’s sake, Candy decides to use his huckstering skill to good use by helping to build a small-town church, but soon he’s up to his old tricks, managing a dance hall and gambling emporium.
Growing more ambitious by the minute, Candy intends to take over the whole town with the covert assistance of Judge Cotton.
But when Candy marries Lucy (who still doesn’t know that he’s really a crook at heart!), the enraged Judge exposes Candy’s takeover scheme, only to be shot down by the gambling hall’s straw boss Hearn (Albert Dekker).
In his efforts to set things right and atone for past misdeeds, Candy is separated from Lucy time and time again, but there’s never any doubt that a happy ending awaits them both.
Lana Turner plays Lucy Cotton.
MGM’s decision to co-star Lana with Clark Gable was not only a box-office natural, but a fan’s romantic dream come true.
Here are Lana’s recollections on her first teaming with Gable: “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the day the studio told me I was going to make a picture with Clark. Experienced as I was by then, I shook like a leaf at the very idea. Clark didn’t exactly jump with joy either – he hadn’t watched my career, never even went to the movies, as a matter of fact! When they told him his next leading lady was going to be Lana Turner, Clark still pictured that awkward, scared little school girl. “Are you kidding?” he said. ”
“So when we started “Honly Tonk”, he was the one person in the world I wanted to prove myself to. And I really put everything I had into our scenes that first morning. Then later on in the afternoon, I found a box of flowers in my dressing room with a note. It read: “I’m the world’s worst talent scout!” Clark. “I’d barely finished reading it when he poked his head through the door, wearing that well-known sheepish grin of his. Then he spoke the five words that made me prouder than any gold. “Baby”, he said, “you sure have learned a thing or two!.”
Trailer:
You can watch the film here.
Lana Turner did a lot of movies. She really loved being a moviestar.
Here are the most important films in which she starred. Just click the links for more info, photos and videos.
20 April 1937: A Star Is Born
9 Oct. 1937: They Won’t Forget
24 Oct. 1937: The Great Garrick
1 Jan. 1938: The Adventures of Marco Polo
22 July 1938: Love Finds Andy Hardy
12 Aug. 1938: Rich Man, Poor Girl
9 Dec. 1938: Dramatic School
28 April 1939: Calling Dr. Kildare
18 Aug. 1939: These Glamour Girls
29 Sept. 1939: Dancing Co-Ed
19 April 1940: Two Girls on Broadway
19 July 1940: We Who Are Young
25 April 1941: Ziegfeld Girl
12 Aug. 1941: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2 Oct. 1941: Honky Tonk
18 Febr. 1942: Johnny Eager
27 Aug. 1942: Somewhere I’ll Find You
1 April 1943: Slightly Dangerous
19 Aug. 1943: Du Barry Was A Lady
13 Nov. 1943: The Youngest Profession
23 Aug. 1944: Marriage Is a Private Affair
8 March 1945: Keep Your Powder Dry
1 Oct. 1945: Week-End At The Waldorf
2 May 1946: The Postman Always Rings Twice
5 Nov. 1947 : Green Dolphin Street
1 Nov. 1947: Cass Timberlane
29 April 1948: Homecoming
20 Oct. 1948: The Three Musketeers
1 Sept. 1950: A Life Of Her Own
2 March 1951: Mr. Imperium
5 Sept. 1952: The Merry Widow
25 Dec. 1952: The Bad And The Beautiful
25 Aug. 1953: Latin Lovers
1 May 1954: Flame And The Flesh
7 Sept. 1954: Betrayed
13 May 1955: The Prodigal
4 June 1955: Sea Chase
14 Dec. 1955: The Rains Of Ranchipur
12 Jan. 1956: Diane
13 Dec. 1957: Peyton Place
30 Jan. 1958: The Lady Takes A Flyer
2 May 1958: Another Time, Another Place
30 April 1959: Imitation Of Life
23 June 1960: Portrait In Black
19 July 1961: By Love Possessed
2 Nov. 1961: Bachelor In Paradise
25 Dec. 1962: Who’s Got The Action?
24 Febr. 1965: Love Has Many Faces
27 April 1966: Madame X
30 April 1969: The Big Cube
7 Nov. 1974: Persecution
27 Oct. 1976: Bittersweet Love
31 Oct. 1980: Witches Brew
21 May 1982: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Sources: Wikipedia, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Lana’s biography “Lana, the Lady, The Legend, The Truth“, “The Films Of Lana Turner” by Lou Valentino and “Lana Turner, The Memories, The Myths and The Movies” by Cheryl Crane.