Trivial Fond Records

[Leslie Howard with his son Ronald
on one of their many crossings]

I have recently been reading transcripts of Leslie Howard's WWII radio broadcasts transmitted from England to the United States asking the U.S. to enter the war in support of the Allies. I will be sharing his thoughts this week.

But first I would like to give you this poem Howard's son, Ronald, wrote to his father on the occasion of his father's death. Ronald Howard was

Programming Note - Rare Viewing Event

[Leslie Howard and Conchita Montenegro in
Never the Twain Shall Meet, 1931]

Never the Twain Shall Meet to air on TCM on Monday, July 25, at 11:00 AM PST [Please check your local listings]

This film is one of Leslie Howard's earliest ventures into talking films. The film is rarely shown and very hard to find on DVD. Never the Twain Shall Meet was produced and distributed by MGM. It was filmed on location in Tahiti. The south seas, Polynesian theme was very popular with movie goers at the time. Although the film isn't one of Howard's best, his performance was excellent as usual. The New York Times review stated "Mr. Howard comes through with another of his specimens of finished acting, investing his character with humor and

Remembering Leslie Howard

Today is the anniversary of Leslie Howard's death. He died while serving his country in a civilian capacity on a mission to secure the support of England's Allies during WWII. Howard was returning to England from Portugal on June 1, 1943, when his civilian plane was shot down by Nazis over the Bay of Biscay and was never recovered.

I am showing a video from Ginevra Di Verduno's YouTube site, Leslie Howard Forever. Ms. Di Verduno is my inspiration. She has kept Leslie Howard's memory alive through her YouTube site and through her pictorial blog, Leslie Howard Forever, and her word blog, Inafferrabile (Elusive) Leslie Howard. I encourage everyone to visit her sites.

The video is actually a Happy Birthday video, not an In Memoriam video. But it is my favorite of all Ms. Di Verduno's beautiful and thoughtful videos and it is somewhat apropos considering that I started my Facebook page because the classic movie channel forgot Mr. Howard's birthday this year.

[My series on Hollywood's influx of foreigners will resume tomorrow.]

In Memory:

Happy Birthday, Leslie Howard, 2015

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Kind Words for Leslie Howard

Sir Malcolm Robertson, M.P., Chairman of the British Council, said of Leslie Howard who had been lecturing for the British Council in Spain and Portugal at the time of his death June 1, 1943:

“Leslie Howard was one of the finest people who could have been chosen to help us in our work of making the British way of life more widely known abroad. He went on an arduous trip at considerable inconvenience to himself. He recognized that his visit would have an admirable effect on Anglo-Portuguese and Anglo-Spanish relations, and gladly undertook this tour as a contribution to the increasingly great part being played by actors, scientists, and men of letters in cementing international friendships.

“The reports we have had from both Spain and Portugal show that to his popularity as a lecturer he had added a host of personal friendships, won for him by the modesty and charm of his manner. His death leaves a gap in the world of the British film and theatre which can hardly be filled. The British Council is proud to feel that this great actor was associated with them in a venture which began so auspiciously and ended so tragically.”

[Leslie Howard in portrait by
Ernest Bachrach (backstamped), c. 1934]

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The Third Attack

April 19, 1943, less than two months before Leslie Howard's death, the BOAC DC3 Ibis was attacked by a Messerschmitt Bf 110 on its scheduled Lisbon–Whitchurch route, not considered to be in a war zone. The pilots managed to escape using evasive tactics.

On June 1, 1943, "G-AGBB" again came under attack by a schwarm of eight V/KG40 Ju 88C6 maritime fighters. The DC3's last radio message indicated it was being fired upon at longitude 09.37 West, latitude 46.54 North. The plane crashed into the Bay of Biscay and has never been recovered. Howard was among the 17 fatalities, including four KLM flight crew.

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