Spanish title: No Soy Para Ti
Stars: Clark Gable, Carroll Baker, Lilli Palmer, Lee J. Cobb, Barry Coe, Thomas Gomez
Directed by: Walter Lang
Distributor: Paramount Pictures

"HE… too mature. SHE… too tender. The romantic history of an
attractive theater producer and his young secretary!"

A triple Golden Globe nominee, including for Best Picture: Comedy, But Not For Me tells the tale of a 30-year Broadway producer who decides to throw in his career, leading his secretary to tell him she has long loved him, which he then in turn uses as the basis of a hit show… starring the secretary.

Admittedly, it’s not groundbreaking cinema, but But Not For Me was based on a Samson Raphaelson play from 1935 called Accent of Youth, and it certainly is a deliciosa comedia romantica.

The design for the Mexican lobby card promoting the film is a great example of the best and worst of South American lobby card art, in that the closeup of Gable is a tremendously done piece of painted art, while the portrait of Carroll Baker looks like it was done in ten minutes at the end of a tough deadline.

This particular lobby card in our collection is in amazing mint condition – no pinholes, no tears, no broken corners.. it’s perhaps the most perfect lobby card in the gallery.

Spanish title: La Bailarina (The Ballerina)
Stars: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Franchot Tone, May Robson, Winnie Lightner, Robert Benchley
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"The case of a man who loved another… a huge musical romance… a splendid spectacle of wealth in the theater world, with
beautiful women shining in magnificent clothes. A worldwide smash"

Fred Astaire’s feature film debut is a Busby Berkeley-like musical about a burlesque dancer (Joan Crawford) who finds herself in trouble with the law when a patron removes an item of her clothing, just as the cops burst in for a raid. Saved from prison by a besotted playboy benefactor (Franchot Tone), he lines her up for an audition for a Broadway show, only for her to fall for the theater manager (Clark Gable) – love triangles (and song and dance numbers) ensue.

Interesting cameos come from Fred Astaire, singer Nelson Eddy, and a comedy group then known as Ted Healy and his Stooges (which would later become the more widely remembered Three Stooges).

The lobby card isn’t exactly a work of art, as MGM lobby cards of the 30’s tended to be one-color prints and almost entirely made up of still shots, but if only for the stills of Fred Astaire’s chicken legs in lederhosen, a dashing young Clark Gable, and a heavily-eye shadowed youth named Joan Crawford, this is a classic piece of promo art.

In regards to this particular lobby card, it’s in beautiful shape, with no pinholes, a tiny smudge of water staining on one corner, but otherwise it’s absolutely mint. Not bad considering it sat in the basement of a Mexican theater for 75 years before it got to us.

Spanish title: Flama de Traicion (Flame of Treason)
Stars: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern
Directed by: Gottfried Reinhardt
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"Is he the betrayed one?"

Lana Turner plays
Carla Van Oven, who, despite being suspected of working with the Nazis, turns into an allied spy during World War II.

Another war movie in which American stars play folks on the non-allied side of the fence, Betrayed features an all-star cast… and one heck of a vivid lobby card.

You’ve got to love the way the still image has Clark Gable (who looks disturbingly like my grandfather) and Turner in a passionate embrace, while Victor Mature (playing ‘The Scarf’) looks on like the ultimate third wheel.

A fantastic combo of original art, still imagery, and blends of the two make this a keeper.

Spanish title: El Fruto Dorado
Stars: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr
Directed by: Jack Conway
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"Romance and action in this exciting history of two adventurers looking for the coveted black gold."

Though this lobby card features perhaps some of the most amateur-looking original art that I’ve seen on a major release,  it’s definitely worth a spot in our collection just for the still image of Clark Gable and Hedy Lamarr in a passionate embrace. 

The card has a tiny print company credit of "Litoarte, S. de R. L.", alongside the MGM Mexico distributor credit (apparently the office was at Abraham Gonalez 67, Mexico D. F., in case you were wondering), and features four rather sizable pinholes that might be better described as ‘doornail holes’.

Otherwise, it’s in good shape, especially for a lobby card that would be about 68 years old about now. 

Spanish title: Mogambo
Stars: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly
Directed by: John Ford
Distributor: MGM Mexico

"A battle of the sexes… and a battle against the gorillas!"

This lobby card for the Sam Zimbalist-produced multi-Oscar nominated jungle feature is in incredible shape. No pinholes, no tears, nice thick cardboard; in fact, if not for a couple of slightly dinged corners, you’d call this a mint condition antique lobby card.

The paintwork is incredible in parts, awful in others. For example, the image depicting Gable and Gardner in a deep embrace is done beautifully, but am I the only one who wonders why the fat gorilla is wearing bright red lipstick?

Either way, this is not a bad film. Mogambo was famous for the studio actually having filmed a large part of it in location, leading to get production values, incredible shots, and even a little controversy when Clark Gable took the role out from under Stewart Granger, and then started a romance with his co-star, leading to him walking off the set to protest her treatment by director John Ford.

One interesting piece of trivia – in the spanish language version, censors apparently felt that the Gable/Gardner affair on the screen was too racy, so they changed their dialogue to make them brother and sister… which led to confusion among movie audiences during the scene where they share a bed.