Blow-Up

I like everything British. I hope one day to make it to England, but for now I only have the movies. And one of my favorite British movies will be playing on TCM at 1:30 am PST on Monday, May 9. (Check your listings for the time in your area.) I must mention it because its appearance on the tube here is rare.

Blow-Up, Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 "mod masterpiece" about a fashion photographer who believes he accidentally caught a murder on film, defied the movie industry's Production Code of the time, a code abandoned in favor of the MPAA film rating system in 1968 due largely to the success of this film.

Herbie Hancock scored the movie which was ranked No. 144 in the Sight and Sound magazine greatest films poll. It is definitely at the top of my list. Check it out.

Blow-Up on Wikipedia

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See You Monday

It's the weekend everybody. Have a good one! I'm outta here.

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In Appreciation of a Kinder, Gentler Man

In the February 8, 1935, edition of the The New York Times Andre Sennwald reviews The Scarlet Pimpernel.

The New York Times Review, by Andre Sennwald, February 8, 1935

Sennwald says of Howard's performance, he "minces so expertly, plays the fool so well, that not even Chauvelin, the deadliest of the Pimpernel's foes, suspects this simpering dandy to be the bravest and shrewdest gentleman in all the world." Mr. Sennwald goes on to state "that Leslie Howard's newest performance is also his best" and that "Mr. Howard is the Pimpernel himself."

This brings to mind the criticism I have seen of Leslie Howard over the years. Not Sir Percy Blakeney, but Leslie Howard. Some people seem to think that Mr. Howard is the fop he played in The Scarlet Pimpernel. And, likewise, there are those who see him as the abused and put-upon figure Philip Carey from Of Human Bondage. Many people also choose to think he is actually the weak and indecisive Ashley Wilkes he portrayed in Gone With The Wind.

Honestly, I have never read Gone With The Wind. It is on my Bucket List. However, my view of Ashley Wilkes isn't as simple as labeling him indecisive, ineffectual, a milquetoast, lacking in honor, or wimpy. But that discussion is for another post at another time.

The fact that movie watchers seem to want to paint the man Leslie Howard with the same brush as they do his characters Blakeney, Carey and Wilkes merely proves what a fine actor he was. Howard was one of the few British actors who returned to England at the onset of WWII. And Howard and his family probably lost upwards of $40 million in box office receipts from Gone With The Wind for that decision. Many of the British producers, directors and actors who worked in Hollywood at that time decided to just ride out the war in their comfy Beverly Hills homes and they didn't even have as much to lose as Mr. Howard.

Leslie Howard gave up his life, not just for his country, but for all of humanity. He knew what he was fighting for and he was worried that it could get him killed. But he did it anyway. He didn't die as a soldier, but as a civilian in a civilian aircraft shot down by the Nazis. But he could have been considered a soldier for what was right. And all soldiers are not cut from the same mold. They aren't all macho or naturally aggressive. But they are all brave. And they are all heroes.

[Leslie Howard, c. 1935]

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The New York Times Review, February 8, 1935

From the The New York Times review by Andre Sennwald:

"It is a temptation to say that Leslie Howard's newest performance is also his best. This time the need is overbearing. For Mr. Howard is the Pimpernel himself, gallant and resourceful on his perilous missions across the Channel, downright superb when he is playing the simpering poseur in the English drawing rooms. He is an infinite delight even in a cast which is correct down to the smallest rôles and includes Raymond Massey and Merle Oberon among its principals. Robert Sherwood and Arthur Wimperis have struck off a witty, romantic and adventurous screen play, which has been costumed, photographed and set aflowing with the best possible taste. Did the narrative seem a trifle leisurely in places? No matter. It was a leisurely age and here is a succulent and captivating entertainment."

The New York Times Review of The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

[Leslie Howard in a colorized photo as
Sir Percy Blakeney in
The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

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Happy Birthday to Tyrone Power (1914 - 1958)

It would be hard to choose a favorite Ty Power movie, but at the top of the list is Rawhide. Whenever I mention Rawhide people always utter, "What?" It's a great movie with a stellar cast: Susan Hayward, Hugh Marlowe and the best group of character actors ever assembled in one movie: Edgar Buchanan, Dean Jagger, George Tobias and the brilliant Jack Elam.

[Tyrone Power and Hugh Marlowe
in Rawhide, 1951]

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About Merle Oberon

Leslie Howard once quipped that he "didn't chase women but...couldn't be bothered to run away." During his career he had affairs with several of his leading ladies. But, according to Leslie Howard's daughter, Leslie Ruth "Doodie" Howard, her father fell passionately in love with Merle Oberon while filming The Scarlet Pimpernel during the summer of 1934.

[Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon, 1935]

Their relationship must have lasted for some time. The two were seen together all over London. Howard's behavior become rather embarrassing to his friends and associates, with several of them even asking him to tone it down. But the affair continued as they both returned to the States after completion of the film. Howard appeared devoted to Oberon. Apparently, he was considering leaving his family for Oberon, at her insistence. When Howard's wife, Ruth Martin Howard, became aware of this she flew to New York with the children in tow to confront Howard and remind him of his family responsibilities.

[Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon holding hands, 1934]

"Doodie" remembers that, at the tender age of ten years old, she was left alone with Oberon to "bond," in a step-motherly sort of way. She recalls that she must have been a real horror because Oberon told Howard that she didn't like his daughter. Howard adored "Doodie" (as evidenced in the many photographs he took of and with her throughout their lives) and the way she remembers it, Howard promptly ended his affair with Oberon.

Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

However, in January, 1935, after Howard began work in The Petrified Forest, Oberon appeared in New York ready for a showdown. Within a few days of her arrival, Howard was in the hospital too ill to report to work. Oberon had apparently triggered an attack of nerves and Howard developed boils. Not a very romantic ailment and not one for which Oberon was willing to administer aid. She took off and left Howard to repair his boils and the wounds he had caused to his family. He never again made the mistake of falling for one of his leading ladies. (He did have a long-term relationship with Violette Cunnington, but Cunnington was French and made it easy for Howard by, in the words of his son, agreeing to a "French solution," meaning no divorce.)

[Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

[Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

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Raymond Massey

I love Raymond Massey (1896 - 1983), especially as Citizen Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel. A more dastardly foe of Sir Percy Blakeney there could not be. But, of course, he was always thwarted by the cunning of the Pimpernel.

[Raymond Massey as Citizen Chauvelin
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1934]

Massey said of his experience filming the movie, "I never had such fun working in a movie as I did on The Scarlet Pimpernel. Of all the heavies I have played on the screen, the most wicked and the most fun to do was Chauvelin. There was a spirit in that company, a feeling of confidence, a sort of élan which I have often found in the theater but never sensed in any other movie."

During the filming of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Massey was not only starring in the play The Shining Hour on London's West End, but he was directing it as well. This meant long days for the director-actor but the film's producer, Alexander Korda, made it easier for him by making a car and driver available to Massey. This allowed him to get in a snooze during the one-hour trip to and from Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. Massey didn't have to worry about meals due to the fact that the play called for him to eat two full hot meals during his performance each night. (The play was known jokingly as "The Dining Hour.")

[Leslie Howard and Raymond Massey
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

The original director of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Rowland Brown, was fired on the first day of shooting. In Raymond Massey's autobiography, A Hundred Different Lives, he recounts how producer Korda watched Brown direct a scene and then told him what he was doing wrong. Brown told Korda that the film was going to be his way or he would walk. Korda replied, "Please walk," which Brown did. Korda had hired a new director, Harold Young, by the end of the day. Massey stated, "The next day Young ostensibly took over, but the direction throughout the months of shooting remained an unofficial but smooth collaboration," which I take to mean that Young figured out that one doesn't argue with the Hungarian.

Raymond Massey also said of Korda, "Alex was Hungarian, imaginative, intelligent, extravagant. Although lacking business sense, he had an uncanny ability to find money, and he also had an uncommon feeling for quality."

Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

Leslie Howard, Raymond Massey and Anthony Bushell in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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Leslie Howard Radio Star

[Leslie Howard appearing
on CBS Radio, c. 1930's]

Leslie Howard was not only a theater and film star but a star of radio as well. He appeared five times on NBC's the Rudy Vallee Hour (once with Merle Oberon in A Minuet), with Bing Crosby on Kraft Music Hall, The Magic Key of RCA in Galsworthy's Justice, Your Hit Parade, on the BBC in Hamlet, on CBS in their 1937 summer series, Columbia Presents Shakespeare, in their production of Much Ado About Nothing, CBS's The Silver Theatre in A Study in Triangles, and The Gulf Screen Guild Theater in Never In this World with Kay Francis and Virginia Weidler, and many productions on Lux Radio Theatre including Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlett Pimpernel. Olivia de Havilland, whose French accent was very convincing, appeared as Marguerite St. Just. The two had just completed work on Gone With The Wind in 1939. Cecil B. DeMille, who produced the radio program, introduces the show with high praise for Leslie Howard. Howard also appeared on Eddie Cantor's Texaco Town late in 1936 and into 1937. It took the two of them six months and three appearances together before Howard finally delivered the punch line in the skit, "The Three Rubbers." Howard also had his own radio show in 1935 - 1936, Leslie Howard's Matinee.

[Cecil B. DeMille, host of
Lux Radio Theatre (1936 - 1945)]

To listen to one of Leslie Howard's radio appearances, click on this link:

Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland in Lux Radio Theatre's The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1939

[A studio audience gathers prior to a live production at
Hollywood's Lux Radio Playhouse, located one block
south of Hollywood and Vine at 1615 North Vine Street]

[Lux Ratio Theatre with Leslie Howard and
Helen Chandler at the microphone performing
Berkeley Square, December 9, 1934]

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Just A Bit Of Trivia

In this scene of The Scarlet Pimpernel you see a fly land on Leslie Howard's right sleeve, which I have noted in the IMDb Trivia section for the movie. Apparently, Elstree Studios, where the movie was filmed, had a problem with flies as I have noticed flies in other scenes as well. The director, Harold Young, either didn't notice the fly or had already become resigned to them by the time this scene was filmed. Honestly, I watched the film at least fifty times before I noticed the fly, probably because I am mesmerized by Leslie Howard's lean in on Merle Oberon instead.

[Leslie Howard and Fly]

Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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They Seek Him Here, They Seek Him There

Leslie Howard and Edmund Breon in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Produced by Alexander Korda and London Films. Distributed by United Artists. Directed by Harold Young. Released in the UK December 23, 1934 and in the US February 7, 1935.

Leslie Howard and Edmund Breon in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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A Very Hungarian Affair

Baroness Emmuska Magdalena Rosalie Maria Josefa Barbara Orczy, born in 1865, was the daughter of aristocrat Baron Felix Orczy, a Hungarian-Jewish musician and composer, who left his homeland in 1868 with his young family after their home was vandalized by peasants. They eventually settled in London. Baron Orczy wanted his daughter to study music but she opted for art school instead. This is where she met her husband, Montagu Barstow. Orczy wrote The Scarlet Pimpernel herself in just five weeks but could not find a publisher for the book. So, together with her husband, she wrote a play based on the book which was produced for the stage in 1903. The novel was then published in 1905.

Enter Alexander Korda who was born in 1893 in what is now Hungary and who had formed his own production company, London Films. It was Korda who originally put The Scarlet Pimpernel on film. Korda had actually wanted Charles Laughton for the title role, but by that time the public already had an idea of what Sir Percy Blakeney looked like and it wasn't Charles Laughton.

And this leads us to our star, Leslie Howard. Howard was born Leslie Howard Steiner to a British mother, Lilian (née Blumberg), and a Hungarian-Jewish father, Ferdinand Steiner. Although born in England, Howard did live for a time in Vienna, Austria, where his father wanted the family to experience the richness of the cultural innovation and intellectual brilliance happening there. That experience is said to have influenced Howard for the rest of his life.

Leslie Howard and Walter Rilla
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935

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The Scarlet Pimpernel

Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Produced by Alexander Korda and London Films. Distributed by United Artists. Released in the UK December 23, 1934 and in the US February 7, 1935.

[Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon
in The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1935]

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