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| [Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939)] |
Gone With The Wind to air on TCM Thursday, February 9, at 9:00 PM PST [Please check your local listings]
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BBC Report About Leslie Howard's Death
[BBC Report of Leslie Howard's Death] On Saturday, July 30, I posted on Facebook the 2014 BBC report on Leslie Howard's Death ...
Showing posts with label 1939. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1939. Show all posts
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Programming Note
Gone With The Wind to air on TCM Thursday, February 9, at 9:00 PM PST [Please check your local listings]
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Programming Note
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| [Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939)] |
Gone With The Wind to air on SundanceTV Thursday, November 24, at 10:00 AM PST [Please check your local listings]
Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Olivia de Havilland star in the top grossing movie of all time, Gone With The Wind. Produced by David O. Selznick, Directed by Victor Fleming and Screenplay by Sidney Howard, this film was delayed for two years while Selznick negotiated with MGM for Clark Gable and conducted an extensive "American Idol" type search for Scarlett O'Hara.
Top Awards:
Best Picture - Selznick International Pictures
Best Director - Victor Fleming
Best Actress - Vivien Leigh
Best Adapted Screenplay - Sidney Howard
Best Supporting Actress - Hattie McDaniel
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Thursday, August 11, 2016
A Most Unappreciated Man
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| [Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind, 1939] |
Leslie Howard definitely did not want the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind (1939). Howard thought Ashley to be "a dreadful milk-sop, totally spineless and negative." He found the character "unsure and vacillating, uncertain as a moth fluttering between lamps—the done-to instead of the doing man, torn between the opposing polarities of two
Friday, July 29, 2016
The "Phoney" War
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| [Leslie Howard by Fred Daniels, National Portrait Gallery, c. 1942] |
In the early days of WWII, Leslie Howard didn't have much to do. Even though Great Britain had declared war on Germany in early September, 1939, no real fighting began for months. Hitler was too busy invading and vanquishing Poland. Howard had planned to begin filming The Man Who Lost Himself as soon as he arrived in England in August, but due to
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Today's post is from Ginevra di Verduno's YouTube site LeslieHowardForever.
Leslie Howard and Greer Garson perform a scene from Goodbye, Mr. Chips with an introduction from Gertrude Lawrence during the NBC Tribute to the King and Queen broadcast on June 11, 1939, during the Royals' visit to the United States.
The visit was prompted by an invitation from Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was a momentous occasion in the history of both countries. It was the first time a reigning British Monarch had set foot on American soil, ever.
The invitation was at a great political risk to the President. Mr. Roosevelt planned every part of the tour, hoping to maximize its impact on the attitudes of Americans who were determined to keep America out of the impending war. Americans were thrilled about the visit and lined up to see the Royal Couple.
After two days in Washington, the Royal couple traveled to Hyde Park with the President and First Lady. It is there that they listened to the radio tribute.
The Royal visit is said to have changed American attitudes about Great Britain. The rest is history.
Visit FDR Library, Royal Visit to learn more about the occasion. See more pictures at The Washington Post, Scenes From The Royal Visit.
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Leslie Howard and Greer Garson perform a scene from Goodbye, Mr. Chips with an introduction from Gertrude Lawrence during the NBC Tribute to the King and Queen broadcast on June 11, 1939, during the Royals' visit to the United States.
The visit was prompted by an invitation from Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was a momentous occasion in the history of both countries. It was the first time a reigning British Monarch had set foot on American soil, ever.
The invitation was at a great political risk to the President. Mr. Roosevelt planned every part of the tour, hoping to maximize its impact on the attitudes of Americans who were determined to keep America out of the impending war. Americans were thrilled about the visit and lined up to see the Royal Couple.
[King George VI and Queen Elizabeth arriving
in Washington, D.C., June 8, 1939]
After two days in Washington, the Royal couple traveled to Hyde Park with the President and First Lady. It is there that they listened to the radio tribute.
[King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit Hyde Park
during their Royal Visit, June 11, 1939]
The Royal visit is said to have changed American attitudes about Great Britain. The rest is history.
[Leslie Howard and Greer Garson perform a
Visit FDR Library, Royal Visit to learn more about the occasion. See more pictures at The Washington Post, Scenes From The Royal Visit.
Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Never In This World
In today's post you will find a recording of The Gulf Screen Guild Show for the CBS radio network, starring Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, young Virginia Weidler, Mary Nash, Irving Pichel and Morgan Wallace. The announcer was George Murphy. It was performed on March 26, 1939.
This is a very touching story of a young girl, adorably and brilliantly played by Virginia Weidler, whose time on earth is growing short. Her father, played by Leslie Howard, is doing his best to protect her and make her few remaining days enchanting. Their neighbor, and the Prince's "Godmother," is played by Kay Francis. It is called Never In This World and was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery (20 December 1893 to 10 February 1948). The show is directed by Sidney Franklin (21 March 1893 to 18 May 1972). The musical director is Oscar Bradley.
I have incorporated pictures of the actors in the video covering the radio show. The only actor I could not find a record for was Morgan Wallace. I did find a Morgan Wallace, but he is white and the actor in the radio show is supposed to be "Nubian." Of course, it is possible that the actor portraying the Nubian in the show was white, as only the studio audience could see him. This would say a lot about the exclusion of minorities in the early days of radio and film which, sadly to say, continues to this day. Nevertheless, I did not want to take a chance and give credit to what appears to be the white Morgan Wallace if there was a black Morgan Wallace who performed the part.
The recording is very good. It is a little bumpy in the beginning but the small "thumps" end as the story begins. In the middle of the show there is a spot where the volume goes down. Please do not turn up your sound because it comes back to full volume in a matter of seconds.
The Gulf Screen Guild Show was "owned" by actors. The actors' fees were donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund and went toward building and maintaining the Motion Picture Country House which continued in existence until very recently.
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This is a very touching story of a young girl, adorably and brilliantly played by Virginia Weidler, whose time on earth is growing short. Her father, played by Leslie Howard, is doing his best to protect her and make her few remaining days enchanting. Their neighbor, and the Prince's "Godmother," is played by Kay Francis. It is called Never In This World and was written by Stephen Morehouse Avery (20 December 1893 to 10 February 1948). The show is directed by Sidney Franklin (21 March 1893 to 18 May 1972). The musical director is Oscar Bradley.
I have incorporated pictures of the actors in the video covering the radio show. The only actor I could not find a record for was Morgan Wallace. I did find a Morgan Wallace, but he is white and the actor in the radio show is supposed to be "Nubian." Of course, it is possible that the actor portraying the Nubian in the show was white, as only the studio audience could see him. This would say a lot about the exclusion of minorities in the early days of radio and film which, sadly to say, continues to this day. Nevertheless, I did not want to take a chance and give credit to what appears to be the white Morgan Wallace if there was a black Morgan Wallace who performed the part.
The recording is very good. It is a little bumpy in the beginning but the small "thumps" end as the story begins. In the middle of the show there is a spot where the volume goes down. Please do not turn up your sound because it comes back to full volume in a matter of seconds.
The Gulf Screen Guild Show was "owned" by actors. The actors' fees were donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund and went toward building and maintaining the Motion Picture Country House which continued in existence until very recently.
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Saturday, June 18, 2016
Programming Note
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| [Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer on the set of Romeo and Juliet, 1936] |
Romeo and Juliet to air on TCM on Thursday, June 30, at 12:15 AM PST [Please check your local listings]
Adapted from the play by Shakespeare, Leslie Howard appears in this film from 1936 directed by George Cukor and co-starring Norma Shearer as Juliet. The screenplay is by Talbot Jennings. The supporting cast includes John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Edna Mae Oliver and Andy Devine.
The New York Times selected the film as one of the "Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made."
On the night of the Los Angeles premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre Norma Shearer's husband and the producer of the film, Irving Thalberg, died at the age of 37. Of course, the show still went on.
The picture received four Academy Award nominations:
Best Picture - Irving Thalberg
Best Actress - Norma Shearer
Best Supporting Actor - Basil Rathbone
Best Art Direction - Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope and Edwin B. Willis
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| [Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind, 1939] |
Gone With The Wind to air on TCM Friday, July 1, at 6:15 PM PST [Please check your local listings]
Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland star in the top grossing movie of all time, Gone With The Wind. Produced by David O. Selznick, Directed by Victor Fleming and Screenplay by Sidney Howard, this film was delayed for two years while Selznick negotiated with MGM for Clark Gable and conducted an extensive "American Idol" type search for Scarlett O'Hara.
Top Awards:
Best Picture - Selznick International Pictures
Best Director - Victor Fleming
Best Actress - Vivien Leigh
Best Adapted Screenplay - Sidney Howard
Best Supporting Actress - Hattie McDaniel
Friday, June 10, 2016
Acting vs. Horses
This week I have talked about Leslie Howard's dislike of acting vs. his love for horses. I am not one of those fortunate people who have spent my life around horses, but I know some who have. And those who have will tell you that people can learn a lot from horses. Horses challenge those who care for them to be better people. And horses are unpredictable. And, of course, horses are beautiful. All these qualities are opposite to Howard's feelings on acting.
Leslie Howard may not have liked acting, but just as he loved the beauty, challenge and unpredictability of horses, I love the beauty of his performances. I wish that Mr. Howard could have appreciated that his acting, for a great many people, was the same as his quiet talk to the horse that needed soothing.
Watching Leslie Howard on the screen is a beautiful thing. Just look at his eyes and you will see his despair after he kills Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable) to protect the woman he loves (Norma Shearer) in A Free Soul (1931). Or feel his resignation with every movement of his hands when he realizes his wife, Cee (Myrna Loy), is manipulating him with sex, not love, to get his money in The Animal Kingdom (1932). See the shock and hurt on his face when Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis) screams the words he feared but always expected to hear, "a cripple, A Cripple, A CRIPPLE," in Of Human Bondage (1934). And then, in just the turning of his head, see his surprise and then disappointment when he realizes that Scarlet (Vivien Leigh) would strip him of all his dignity without a second thought in Gone With The Wind (1939).
I wish that Leslie Howard could have enjoyed acting the way he enjoyed horses. I wish that he had found acting a challenge. I wish that acting for him had not been so predictable and boring. And I wish that Mr. Howard had realized the beauty in his performances and how much they meant to his fans then and how much they would still be enjoyed nearly 100 years later by people like me. I wish that Leslie Howard had realized that in his acting there was artistry.
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
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Leslie Howard may not have liked acting, but just as he loved the beauty, challenge and unpredictability of horses, I love the beauty of his performances. I wish that Mr. Howard could have appreciated that his acting, for a great many people, was the same as his quiet talk to the horse that needed soothing.
Watching Leslie Howard on the screen is a beautiful thing. Just look at his eyes and you will see his despair after he kills Ace Wilfong (Clark Gable) to protect the woman he loves (Norma Shearer) in A Free Soul (1931). Or feel his resignation with every movement of his hands when he realizes his wife, Cee (Myrna Loy), is manipulating him with sex, not love, to get his money in The Animal Kingdom (1932). See the shock and hurt on his face when Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis) screams the words he feared but always expected to hear, "a cripple, A Cripple, A CRIPPLE," in Of Human Bondage (1934). And then, in just the turning of his head, see his surprise and then disappointment when he realizes that Scarlet (Vivien Leigh) would strip him of all his dignity without a second thought in Gone With The Wind (1939).
I wish that Leslie Howard could have enjoyed acting the way he enjoyed horses. I wish that he had found acting a challenge. I wish that acting for him had not been so predictable and boring. And I wish that Mr. Howard had realized the beauty in his performances and how much they meant to his fans then and how much they would still be enjoyed nearly 100 years later by people like me. I wish that Leslie Howard had realized that in his acting there was artistry.
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
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| [Leslie Howard by Reginald G. Eves] |
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Thursday, June 2, 2016
A Word In the Right Ear
Yesterday, I began to tell you about a movement by one government employee, a Mr. Murray W. Garsson, to rid from American soil all those pesky foreigners like Marlene Dietrich, Charles Chaplin and Greta Garbo.
Well, according to Mr. Garsson the whole thing started when the Actors' Equity Association and the Lambs Club of New York got hold of Mr. Garsson and bent his ear about the "influx of foreign players who, they declared, were taking the jobs that belong to Americans...for less money than the Americans have been accustomed to."
And it seems that once Mr. Garsson knocked on the doors of the big studio executives asking for the records of their employees, said studio executives were only too happy to comply. Now you know when big business is only too happy to comply with the government's request for information it usually means they are hoping something else stays hidden. Or maybe it had to do with Mr. Garsson's arrest of John Farrow, the future father of Mia Farrow, a lowly writer at the time and Mia only a twinkle in daddy's eye. The arrest came the first week Mr. Garsson started throwing his weight around in Hollywood.
More tomorrow...
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Well, according to Mr. Garsson the whole thing started when the Actors' Equity Association and the Lambs Club of New York got hold of Mr. Garsson and bent his ear about the "influx of foreign players who, they declared, were taking the jobs that belong to Americans...for less money than the Americans have been accustomed to."
And it seems that once Mr. Garsson knocked on the doors of the big studio executives asking for the records of their employees, said studio executives were only too happy to comply. Now you know when big business is only too happy to comply with the government's request for information it usually means they are hoping something else stays hidden. Or maybe it had to do with Mr. Garsson's arrest of John Farrow, the future father of Mia Farrow, a lowly writer at the time and Mia only a twinkle in daddy's eye. The arrest came the first week Mr. Garsson started throwing his weight around in Hollywood.
More tomorrow...
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| [Leslie Howard leaving America for the last time, August 22, 1939] |
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Saturday, May 7, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Leslie Howard Radio Star
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| [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.
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| [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
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| [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] |
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| [Lux Ratio Theatre with Leslie Howard and Helen Chandler at the microphone performing Berkeley Square, December 9, 1934] |
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Thursday, April 28, 2016
Adoring Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard and Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939.
Ok, I just had to add this one because it strikes me that I would look at him just like that if he was sitting next to me.
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| [Leslie Howard and Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939] |
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Beginnings and Endings
Leslie Howard, Ingrid Bergman, Edna Best, Ann E. Todd, Cecil Kellaway and John Halliday in Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939.
This was Ingrid Bergman's introduction to Hollywood and except for Gone With The Wind released later the same year, Leslie Howard's last. The plane in which he was a passenger would be shot down by a Luftwaffe fighter pilot over the Bay of Biscay on June 1, 1943, before he could return to the United States.
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Al Sack, Violinist
Leslie Howard, Ann E. Todd and Ingrid Bergman in Intermezzo: A Love Story, Produced by David O. Selznick, 1939.
In this scene where you see Leslie Howard playing the violin you are actually seeing the left hand of Al Sack, a violinist who bore a striking resemblance to Leslie Howard, from a distance. It is hard to imagine that Mr. Sack could kneel in back of Leslie Howard, reach his arm around him, and still look authentic. Sack did teach Mr. Howard the proper posture and bowing technique, but the finger movements are all his. Al Sack also appears in the long shots where it seems that Leslie Howard is playing the violin from a standing position.
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Intermezzo and Gone With The Wind
Leslie Howard and Ann E. Todd in Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939. Howard only agreed to play Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind because David O. Selznick gave him an Associate Producer credit for Intermezzo.
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| [Leslie Howard and Ann E. Todd in Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939] |
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NBC Honors Royals
Leslie Howard took part in an NBC broadcast to salute King George VI and Queen Elizabeth who were listening with President Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt from Hyde Park while the royal couple was visiting the United States in June 1939.
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| [Back Row: George Sanders, Basil Rathbone, Leslie Howard, Nigel Bruce, Reginald Gardiner, Roland Young, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Brian Aherne, David Niven, Madeleine Carroll; Front Row: Anna Neagle, Greer Garson, Vivien Leigh, Will Fyffe, Radie Harris, Errol Flynn, Heather Thatcher, Edna Best, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Cecilia Loftus, unknown] |
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| [Back Row: Leslie Howard, Basil Rathbone, Brian Aherne, David Niven, Reginald Gardiner, Roland Young, George Sanders, Ronald Colman; Middle Row: Greer Garson, Nigel Bruce, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Neagle, Will Fyffe, Vivien Leigh, Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Cecilia Loftus; Sitting on Floor: Freddie Bartholomew, Heather Thatcher, Edna Best] |
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| [From left to right: Greer Garson, Leslie Howard, George Sanders (back), Vivien Leigh, Brian Aherne, Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone] |
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| [Greer Garson and Leslie Howard] |
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| [From left: Brian Aherne, Leslie Howard, Ronald Colman, David Niven, Nigel Bruce and Basil Rathbone (sitting on floor)] |
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Reticence
Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, 1939.
Leslie Howard said of his role, "I hate the damn part. I'm not nearly beautiful or young enough for Ashley, and it makes me sick being fixed up to look attractive." Howard did not attend the opening in Atlanta as he had hurried back to London to help in the war effort. By doing this, he forfeited all his royalties from the film. He was disgusted by the price being charged in England to see the film because England was already at war with Germany. His sister said later that the family never saw the movie because of Howard's strong feelings about it. It was his last Hollywood movie.
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Leslie Howard said of his role, "I hate the damn part. I'm not nearly beautiful or young enough for Ashley, and it makes me sick being fixed up to look attractive." Howard did not attend the opening in Atlanta as he had hurried back to London to help in the war effort. By doing this, he forfeited all his royalties from the film. He was disgusted by the price being charged in England to see the film because England was already at war with Germany. His sister said later that the family never saw the movie because of Howard's strong feelings about it. It was his last Hollywood movie.
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