Programming Note

[Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in A Free Soul (1931)]

A Free Soul to air on TCM Sunday, January 15, 2017, at 9:00 AM PST [Please check your local listings]

Vague Leslie

[Leslie Howard in John Galsworthy's Escape, Booth Theatre,
New York, 26 October 1927 - March 1928, 173 Performances]

By 1927 Leslie Howard had become very well known as one of Broadway's best comedic actors. But it wasn't until his appearance as Matt Denant in John Galsworthy's Escape that he was fully accepted as a dramatic actor. And his reviews were the best of his ten-year career:

"One of the fine performances of our day in the theatre is

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

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]

Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email

You Call That Praise?

Leslie Howard's performance as Hamlet was not favored by The Lewiston Daily Sun, November 17, 1936. Although the crowds appeared for opening night, the play only lasted through thirty-nine performances.

Howard said of his performance, “There is a terrible penalty attached to acting Hamlet. Comparisons are unavoidable, not only with the present but with memories of the past. Worst of all is the conception which each person has placed upon the character. There is something in Hamlet which each of us could use. Hamlet belongs to all men and therefore nobody will receive 100% approval.”

Leslie Howard's Hamlet Praised

[Leslie Howard in Hamlet, 1936]

Hamlet - Producer, Director, Actor
Imperial Theatre
November 10, 1936 thru December 1936
Performances: 39

Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email

New York Times Review of Service for Ladies

New York Times movie review of Service for Ladies, aka Reserved for Ladies, May 21, 1932.

Leslie Howard in an Amusing Comedy Involving a Headwaiter, a King and an Heiress.

[Lobby Card for Service for Ladies, 1932]

Subscribe to Leslie Howard by Email