Programming Note

[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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A Most Unappreciated Man

[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

Monsieur Beaucaire

Today's show is Monsieur Beaucaire, a short novel written by Booth Tarkington (29 July 1869 - 19 May 1946) adapted into a radio play. It differs from the novel. Monsieur Beaucaire was produced for Lux Radio Theater and aired on CBS Radio Network June 21, 1937. It stars Leslie Howard, Elissa Landi, Pedro de Cordoba and Dennis Greene with an introduction by Cecil B. DeMille, Producer.

[Cecil B. DeMille always the showman, dressed in
jodhpurs, as producer of the CBS Radio Theatre, 1937]

Monsieur Beaucaire is in reality the Duke de Orleans, played by Leslie Howard, who wants to marry for love. His cousin, King Louis XV of France, had the Duke imprisoned for refusing to submit to his arranged marriage. He has escaped to England and has fallen in love with Lady Mary. The story follows his efforts to win her love. Howard was fluent in many languages, including French, and does a very good job with his French accent.

Also appearing on the show is Ray Jones, a photographer for Paramount in the 1930's. He gives a very interesting explanation of how still photography is used in film. If you are like me and watch your favorite movies over and over again until you know every scene, you may have wondered, as I have, why there are so many photos of movie scenes (production stills) that never appeared in the movie itself. This segment will answer your questions.

Evelyn Keyes appears in a commercial for Lux Soap. You will remember her as Suellen O'Hara, Scarlett's sister, in Gone With The Wind (1939). At the time of this broadcast she had just been "discovered" by Cecil B. DeMille. If you are a fan of Gone With The Wind, you may remember that the production had been delayed many times. However, David O. Selznick used the delays to create a buzz for his film by advertising his search for Scarlett, holding casting calls all over the country (sort of like American Idol). The search for Scarlett always reminded me of the search for Cinderella. As Evelyn is leaving the studio, DeMille says what I think is, "Goodnight, Scarlett." It could have been, "Goodnight, starlet." I'm not sure. But I am sure that in 1937, Evelyn Keyes would have been salivating over the part of Scarlett, just like a million other girls.

[Evelyn Keyes, 20 November 1916 - 4 July 2008]

At the end of the show the announcer tells the audience that next week's guest will be Amelia Earhart who is at that time in Java. Earhart has promised to appear on the show in two weeks if she is late from her flight around the world. Of course, we now know that Earhart never makes it back.

[Amelia Earhart, c. 1935]

At the end of the show Howard discusses his plans for the near future. He never made either of the two movies he talks about. There was a sequel made to The Scarlet Pimpernel (1935), but Howard did not reprise his role. Bonnie Prince Charlie was made in 1948, after Howard's death, and starred David Niven. Howard did film Stand-in (1937) with Humphrey Bogart and Joan Blondell and then went on to film It's Love I'm After (1937) with Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland, a film which can be seen in July on TCM.

[Leslie Howard and Elissa Landi are being introduced to CBS radio
audiences by Cecil B. DeMille for the Lux Radio Theatre
production of Monsieur Beaucaire, June 21, 1937]

[Leslie Howard and Elissa Landi in the Lux Radio Theatre

production of Monsieur Beaucaire, June 21, 1937]

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Programming Note

[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

[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

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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.

[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.

Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939

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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.

Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939

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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.

[Leslie Howard and Ann E. Todd in Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939]

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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.

Gone With The Wind, 1939

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