WI: Clark Gable captured for Hitler?

Emperor Norton I · Sep 16, 2012

During WW2, Clark Gable enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Hitler, a fan of Gable, offered a massive reward if Gable were captured unharmed. Gable's fear was that Hitler would end up capturing him, and drag him around Germany like a zoo animal.

So what if Gable had been captured by the Germans?

cortz#9 · Sep 16, 2012

Interesting first time I’ve heard of this. I imagine Hitler would want to meet him I would hope for Gables sake he would act politely. Goebbels will make a big propaganda deal out of it filming his meeting with the Fuhrer and the pilot who shot his plane down (if that’s how he was captured) and I can imagine Goebbels would offer him a film deal which he would of course turn down

After that he would be a celebrated POW receiving better treatment than the average prisoner Hitler would insist upon it. He’d then spend the rest of the war traveling from one POW camp to another putting on shows for the prisoners. At the end of the war he would come home and resume his acting career and probably make a movie about his wartime ordeal.

And in an alternate Universe on an alternate AH.com we would discuss what kind of movies he would’ve made had he accepted Goebbels offer.

BlondieBC · Sep 16, 2012

I have slightly different take. Yes, he would be filmed for propaganda and a Hitler meeting is possible. I would go with another high ranking military figure like Goering being the one who meets him. His treatment would not be that exceptional, he would just be put in the nicer Luftwaffe camp for officers. He was doing a film to recruit gunners, so he technically probably should be in an enlisted barracks, but I bet he ends up in some barracks full of Colonels for security reasons. I doubt it would really be in any way lavish, except by enlisted POW standards.

jamsodonnell · Sep 16, 2012

BlondieBC said:
I have slightly different take. Yes, he would be filmed for propaganda and a Hitler meeting is possible. I would go with another high ranking military figure like Goering being the one who meets him. His treatment would not be that exceptional, he would just be put in the nicer Luftwaffe camp for officers. He was doing a film to recruit gunners, so he technically probably should be in an enlisted barracks, but I bet he ends up in some barracks full of Colonels for security reasons. I doubt it would really be in any way lavish, except by enlisted POW standards.

Gable was commissioned so he would at least have been billeted with other officers. He may well have ended up in Colditz as one of the prominentes along with a nephew of George VI and Field Marshall Haig's son... or somewhere similar

cortz#9 · Sep 16, 2012

BlondieBC said:
I have slightly different take. Yes, he would be filmed for propaganda and a Hitler meeting is possible. I would go with another high ranking military figure like Goering being the one who meets him. His treatment would not be that exceptional, he would just be put in the nicer Luftwaffe camp for officers. He was doing a film to recruit gunners, so he technically probably should be in an enlisted barracks, but I bet he ends up in some barracks full of Colonels for security reasons. I doubt it would really be in any way lavish, except by enlisted POW standards.

You could be right who's to say but if Hitler's a really big fan he might feel generous towards Gable a movie star who left his life of fame & fortune behind to serve his country in time of war.Hitler was a strange guy aside from being a total dick he also had moments were he was very generous. Gable' luck could also depend on what stage of the war Germany is in when he's captured. I still think he would end up entertaining allied POWs except for the poor Russians.

BlondieBC · Sep 16, 2012

cortz#9 said:
You could be right who's to say but if Hitler's a really big fan he might feel generous towards Gable a movie star who left his life of fame & fortune behind to serve his country in time of war.Hitler was a strange guy aside from being a total dick he also had moments were he was very generous. Gable' luck could also depend on what stage of the war Germany is in when he's captured. I still think he would end up entertaining allied POWs except for the poor Russians.

yea, Hitler had a mercurial personality. He might have well sent Gable back to the allies. He could have released him to be interned in Switzerland. It is just more likely the Nazi follow a modified version of the more normal procedures. Instead of being interviewed by some random officer in the Heer/Luftwaffe, he is interviewed by a flag ranked officer. Instead of being stuck in a random camp with some LT's, he will be stuck in a camp designed to reflect well on the Nazis, so he probably get closer to what a Colonel gets, perhaps even close to what a flag rank would get. Now I am not sure what a POW Colonel gets that POW LT does not get, but having seen the military, I am pretty sure there are privileges of rank even for POW's. The Nazi would not want a the Allies to get a propaganda coup of Gable dying as a POW, so it sort of forces better treatment. The easiest way to give him better treatment is give him the privileges of a higher rank. While Gable would be a prominent capture, he would not be important enough to justify the expense of putting him in some special arrangement not used for other officers. He is not Stalin's son. He is not some of the other POW mentioned in this thread. He was not a high ranking flag officer. And of course, all of this will be filmed to go into the Nazi news movies.

cortz#9 · Sep 16, 2012

BlondieBC said:
yea, Hitler had a mercurial personality. He might have well sent Gable back to the allies. He could have released him to be interned in Switzerland. It is just more likely the Nazi follow a modified version of the more normal procedures. Instead of being interviewed by some random officer in the Heer/Luftwaffe, he is interviewed by a flag ranked officer. Instead of being stuck in a random camp with some LT's, he will be stuck in a camp designed to reflect well on the Nazis, so he probably get closer to what a Colonel gets, perhaps even close to what a flag rank would get. Now I am not sure what a POW Colonel gets that POW LT does not get, but having seen the military, I am pretty sure there are privileges of rank even for POW's. The Nazi would not want a the Allies to get a propaganda coup of Gable dying as a POW, so it sort of forces better treatment. The easiest way to give him better treatment is give him the privileges of a higher rank. While Gable would be a prominent capture, he would not be important enough to justify the expense of putting him in some special arrangement not used for other officers. He is not Stalin's son. He is not some of the other POW mentioned in this thread. He was not a high ranking flag officer. And of course, all of this will be filmed to go into the Nazi news movies.

This sounds about right. Maybe he would entertain his fellow POWs during the X-mas holidays to raise moral.

jamsodonnell · Sep 16, 2012

BlondieBC said:
While Gable would be a prominent capture, he would not be important enough to justify the expense of putting him in some special arrangement not used for other officers. He is not Stalin's son. He is not some of the other POW mentioned in this thread. He was not a high ranking flag officer. And of course, all of this will be filmed to go into the Nazi news movies.

And Yakov Stalin ended in a "suicide by guard" event at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

Gable may not have been a high ranking politician or a relative of the British Royal Family but he would have been an enormous catch -Imagine having Rhett Butler in Nazi hands!

The Germans would have made huge capital out of his capture and would , at the outset have made his life pretty comfortable. If as is most likely he doesn't play ball with the Nazis, he might have been seen as a useful potential bargaining chip, as were the prominente. I don't think it's unreasonable for him to end the war at somewhere like Colditz