The "Phoney" War

[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

The Fighting Democrat

[Leslie Howard and J.B. Priestly on Britain Speaks, 1940]

It was the end of January 1941. Leslie Howard had been at home in England since August 1939. Great Britain had been at war with Germany for approximately sixteen months. Howard had been appearing on J.B. Priestly's BBC radio program Britain Speaks, or "Britain Pleads" as some called it, since July 1940 pleading with America to enter WWII on the side of the Allies.

Within the previous week, Howard had heard what would come to be known as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "The Four Freedoms" speech

Trivial Fond Records, Concluded

[Leslie Howard and his son, Ronald, at
their home, Stowe Maries, c. 1938]

Over the last two days I have been sharing Ronald Howard's "Hamlet" letters to his father. Those letters were written when Ronald had come to believe that his father had been murdered by the Germans. Howard had also finally accepted the fact that he would never know who ordered the shoot down of his father's civilian plane. Ronald had tried so

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

Don't Expect A Happy Ending

The Petrified Forest (1936), which will be shown this Friday on TCM, was a product of Warner Bros. Warner's was frequently on the cutting edge of what movie audiences wanted to see. They produced the first talkies, the first horror films in color, and Warners was the studio to later become known for film noir, a movement in film that reflected society's angst and conflicts and is shot in low light and shadows, with pessimistic stories about shady characters and not so happy endings.

The Petrified Forest is considered by movie historians to be a precursor to film noir. The film itself is named after an area in the Arizona desert known for its fossilized trees, conjuring up a picture of the death 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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More Inward Bound

Outward Bound (1930) was Leslie Howard's first "talkie." By this time he already had an extensive background in the theatre, having authored, acted in and directed his own productions many times. He had also appeared in many silent films.

It's hard to figure out why Howard ever acted at all. He never felt himself suited to the profession and he didn't seem to enjoy the process. He once wrote:

"First of all, let me admit that I am one of those unfortunate persons to whom any kind of public appearance is an embarrassment...from the moment when...I got my first job on the stage and sheepishly daubed my face with greasepaint, I had an inner conviction that this was the most embarrassing occupation in the world. And this belief, far from being modified by experience, I find only to be intensified by the years."

His real love was writing. But he considered himself to be lazy, unable to apply himself in that solitary confinement required by the writer. His friends and family, however, asserted that he was far from lazy.

After appearing in Gone With The Wind, he returned to England somewhat disillusioned and angry. And he actually feared that England might not win the war against Germany. But Howard would do his best to see a different outcome. He worked tirelessly creating films to bolster his countrymen's spirits and determination. Howard also appeared on radio broadcasts heard in America and traveled throughout Europe attempting to bolster the support of England's allies. It was on such a trip that his civilian aircraft was shot down by Nazis over the Bay of Biscay.

Unfortunately, Howard would never be able to experience the joy that so many others felt when the enemies of peace were eventually vanquished. Ronald Howard, Leslie Howard's son, in speaking of his father's short time on earth in Leslie Howard: Trivial Fond Records said "that was his destiny, to end his life incomplete, as if on the penultimate note of an unfinished concerto."

[Leslie Howard in a publicity photo
for Outward Bound, 1930]

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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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