Dear Brutus

Leslie Howard was not only an accomplished writer, producer, director and actor on film and in the theater, he appeared on the radio as well.

Here is a show he did for The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour, also known as The Rudy Vallee Show, for the NBC Blue Network, June 27, 1935. The show stars Leslie and his daughter, Leslie Ruth, aged 10. This episode is an encore to a show father and daughter did six weeks earlier which received an unprecedented outpouring of requests for a repeat from fans who missed the original episode and heard about it from their friends. It was the first time in the history of the show that a performance was repeated. The Howards' success led to their being featured on the cover of Radio Guide, February 22, 1936. Leslie had to be convinced to allow his daughter to appear with him on the cover.

[Leslie Howard and his daughter, Leslie Ruth,
appear on the cover of Radio Guide]
Radio Guide, February 22, 1936

Howard was a shy man and although he was happy about the success of the show and the acclaim his daughter received for her performance he often felt exploited by his own fame and he was wary of the sudden attention that was being focused on his daughter.

Leslie and Leslie Ruth are performing a short scene, "The Enchanted Forest," from James M. Barrie's, Dear Brutus. They are performing before a live studio audience. I have added photos taken the day they appeared. I have edited the original program to only the Howards' appearance and to add Leslie Ruth's brief interview which actually appeared at the end of the show. The complete show is available at: Fleishmann's Yeast Hour/Rudy Vallee Full Show, Dear Brutus, June 27, 1935. (Joe Louis appears at the end of the show.) The audio is very good except for a bit of static during the audience applause.

The Rudy Vallee Show, Dear Brutus, June 27, 1935

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Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, everyone! Hope you are all having a splendid time.

[Leslie Howard with his daughter, Leslie Ruth "Doodie" Howard,
and his son, Ronald "Winkie" Howard, enjoying themselves on the
beach in Bermuda, 1935]

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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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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth." ~ Pablo Picasso

[Autographed "Can this be true? Leslie Howard"
by Alex Gard, for Sardi's Restaurant]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"I dream my painting and I paint my dream." ~ Vincent van Gogh

[Leslie Howard, digital art by Nicole M. Climons, 2012]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

 ~ Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

[Leslie Howard as Prof. Henry Higgins in
Pygmalion, 1938, watercolor by Alice Teeple, 2014]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television." ~ Woody Allen

[Caricature of Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in
The Petrified Forest, 1936, from Merrie Melodies'
She Was An Acrobat's Daughter, "The Petrified Florist,"
Supervision I. Freleng, Animation Bob McKimson
and A.C. Gamer]

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Leslie Howard As Seen By The Artist

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." ~ Edgar Degas

[Leslie Hates Spinach, by J. Welch, 1933]

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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!

[Leslie Howard by Reginald G. Eves]

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"Winkie"

In Leslie Howard: Trivial Fond Records, a book containing the writings of Leslie Howard, Howard tells a story of the first time his son, at the age of nine, visits him in the theater, long before Howard made his way to Hollywood and the movies. His son was Ronald Howard, aka "Winkie," who became an actor himself.

Howard recalls that his son, upon entering his dressing room, commented on how small, poorly furnished and dirty it was. Winkie wanted to know why his dad didn't have a dressing room like the movie stars. His father tried to explain that everyone connected to the movies had a lot more money than was available in the theater. Of course, Winkie wanted to know why his dad wasn't in the movies. Movie actors had much bigger houses--bigger than theirs. He also wanted to know why his dad's name wasn't on the marquee outside. Leslie Howard was beginning to see that his son thought his profession undignified and poorly paid.

Winkie watched as Howard applied his makeup, commenting that he would hate to have to put that "stuff" all over his face everyday. At that point the stage manager came into the room to advise Mr. Howard that in Act I he had called the bartender George instead of Charles. Because his son was watching, instead of saying what he normally would have said, he apologized and admitted how terrible it was that he had made this error. When the stage manager left the room Winkie asked him if he had to say the same words every day, over and over again. "Holy smoke," he exclaimed, "I wonder you don't go cuckoo!"

What Howard wanted to say was, "I do go cuckoo, my lad. After the first few weeks of saying the same things night after night even the substitution of George for Charles is a holiday." But what he actually said was, "A play is a work of art conceived by an artist and every word counts." Howard told his son he would realize this after he had watched his performance, to which Winkie replied, "Have I got to see it?" "Isn't that what you came for?" asked his father. "Well, no," his son explained apologetically. I came to get 75 cents to see The Student Prince."

[Leslie Howard with his son, Ronald]

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Leslie Howard, Horse Whisperer?

Leslie Howard had a horse named Betty. Betty was a thoroughbred but had fallen and broken her hip during a game of polo. But Leslie Howard took pity on Betty and bought her a field in England for her to live out her days.

One problem. Getting her on the boat. As Howard tells the story:

At the time that Betty was being shipped away to pastures new, there was a big dock strike and scabs were working to load the boat and great crowds had gathered, about two thousand strong, at the pier to watch things generally. A friend of mine who is very good with horses promised to look after Betty and as soon as I had finished a picture, or something, I promised to get down. 

They had tried for two hours, with this enormous gallery, to get her into the cradle, that coop-like contraption for carrying live stock from the dock to the boat, but no one could get her near the thing and it got to be pretty embarrassing. Just as soon as they worked her close she'd shy off and that was that. 

Finally I came along and found the situation fairly desperate, from their point of view. I could see the horse was simply frightened and needed some intimate conversation to take her mind off her troubles. So I walked her up and down the pier a bit and spoke soothingly to her all the time, and then I'd edge her nearer and nearer the cradle, always making sure that my body obstructed her view. She calmed down and in no time--just two minutes to be exact--I had her backed into the thing, the gate was quickly clamped down and she was on her way.

[Leslie Howard with three of his polo ponies]

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So Why Act?

Leslie Howard was one of the few actors in Hollywood during the "studio system" to refuse long-term contracts. He had a specific idea of the types of pictures he wanted to make and he didn't want to be forced to do films he thought were beneath the audience. Howard took on the roles that other actors refused--roles they said the audience wouldn't understand. But Howard thought the audience was smarter than previously believed and that they wanted something different.

Howard wanted to direct. He wanted to make pictures that challenged the audience. He had written, produced and directed plays in school and on the stage in London and New York. He thought that to be a successful movie director "one should either write the story or collaborate on it." He didn't see his acting performances as accomplishments at all. But the plotting of pictures "according to scenic effects and camera angles" and seeing this through to production, that was an accomplishment. Acting was just a means to an end.

[Leslie Howard directing Spitfire, aka
The First of the Few, 1942]

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The Horsy Mr. Howard

Leslie Howard once said, "Polo is living, much more than acting is."

Howard didn't much care for acting. As a matter of fact, he said that "acting isn't a profession for men. It's much better for women. It's an outlet for emotion..." And Howard did not like to show emotion. His performances are known for his nuanced style. He was known as the "thinker's actor." One reporter noted that while watching him film Of Human Bondage (1934) with Bette Davis the only difference she could see in his acting between the first take and the fiftieth take was that by the fiftieth take he seemed bored. But he did act.

During the 1930's Howard was considered to be one of the consistently best actors in Hollywood and was nominated for two Best Actor Oscars, one for Berkeley Square (1933) and one for his portrayal of Henry Higgins in Pygmalion (1938). When Rex Harrison was asked how he won the Best Actor Oscar for the same role in My Fair Lady (1964) he stated he merely played Leslie Howard. Howard was always in demand by leading ladies and he was a favorite of studio executives. His peers thought he should have won the Oscar for his performance as Peter Standish in Berkeley Square. Back in those days the winner was announced along with the runners up in order of votes. When Charles Laughton was announced the winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), the audience applause was muted with one watcher stating they "sat on their hands." When Leslie Howard was announced as runner up, however, the audience roared.

[Leslie Howard on the polo field]

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History Repeats Itself, Again

Ok. So let's get real. Neither The Dickstein Bill nor Mr. Murray W. Garsson was actually gunning for the Marlene Dietrichs or the Maurice Chevaliers or the Leslie Howards. Those people always have teams of lawyers on the case. It was aimed at "a lot of 'extras' over here who are foreigners...Those people will not be allowed here." And no more renewing of six-month visas by making a weekend trip to Agua Caliente and calling the return to Hollywood Monday morning a re-entry.

So, you might be wondering why I am even talking about Mr. Murray W. Garsson or The Dickstein Bill. Well, what those experts say, you remember the ones I talked about yesterday, is that The Dickstein Bill, even though it never passed into law, led the country right into The Hollywood Blacklist. It seems that an ambitious Congressman from east Texas, Martin Dies, resuscitated the bill and out of his efforts the House Committee of Un-American Activities was formed. And we all should know what happened next. If you don't, look it up. In the words of President Harry S. Truman it was the "most un-American thing in the country today."

So next time you hear someone saying they have a solution that will solve all our problems, and it involves the elimination of one group or another, you might want to think about Mr. Murray W. Garsson and The Dickstein Bill. Remember, no matter how well intentioned Mr. Garsson was, his efforts to rid America of undocumented and over-staying immigrants eventually ended up hurting and even destroying the lives of a lot of good people, very American people. If I may borrow a quote by David G. McAfee and rephrase it a bit: If for every well-intended idea uttered in hopes of making one's world a better place, there was instead a good deed accomplished, the world might look as though those ideas had come to fruition.

Have a great weekend everybody!

[Leslie Howard Aboard Europa, UK to NYC,
November 27, 1934]

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Let's Legislate Them Away

Continuing my theme for the week of making Mr. Murray W. Garsson famous again...

Well, it seems Mr. Garsson had a solution to America's problem of "them furr-in-ers." What solution you ask. The Dickstein Bill.

Ok. I am no expert on The Dickstein Bill and I don't plan to be, although some are. But there are books written about The Dickstein Bill. The Dickstein Bill would have greatly affected the "foreign colony" in Hollywood. The bill would prohibit the bringing of foreign players, directors, writers or technicians, unless they are of proven worth and have genius in their line. Does anyone see the problem here? It would be the government's business to decide who is a genius in a business they know absolutely nothing about. Can you imagine some schmuck sitting in a gray government building in a gray government cubbyhole scratching his gray government hair trying to decide if Marlene Dietrich is a "genius" or not? Well, even the government knew that would not work.

So, The Dickstein Bill would require the studios to present a signed and sworn affidavit to the Immigration Department stating that Marlene Dietrich is the only person on earth who can be Marlene Dietrich and that no actress in America could be Marlene Dietrich.

Oy vey. The conclusion tomorrow.

[Leslie Howard with Marlene Dietrich,
Palm Springs, 1939]

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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...

[Leslie Howard leaving America for
the last time, August 22, 1939]

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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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History Repeating Itself?

Back in the early 1930's there was a movement abroad in the land started by a few in Washington, in particular Murray W. Garsson, Special Assistant Secretary of Labor, to kick out all of "Hollywood's aliens." According to Mr. Garsson:

"I would not even venture a guess as to the number of foreign players illegally in Hollywood--there are so many of them. These people will have to get out and go back where they belong. We are doing this to protect American actors and actresses. We do not object to the bringing of a player like Chevalier here to do a part no one else can do. But we do object to hordes of players coming here and settling, many of them illegally and, while claiming allegiance to another flag, taking the work that is so badly needed by our own players."

The people who Mr. Garsson was targeting were not only actors, but also writers, directors and technicians. Among the "hordes" who were asked to make a hasty retreat back to "where they belong" were: George Arliss, Charles Chaplin, Elissa Landi, Marlene Dietrich, Lupe Velez, Maurice Chevalier, Greta Garbo, Gregory Ratoff, Maureen O'Sullivan, George Brent, Ronald Colman, Benita Hume, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and, of course, Leslie Howard, along with many others. And then there were those Americans who were married to "one of those" people who had to get out or be arrested and deported, such as Constance Bennett. And don't forget about those dangerous Canadians like Norma Shearer. Oh, right, she doesn't count. She had become naturalized. Sorry.

If Rudolph Valentino had still been alive at that time, I think it is safe to say that the women of America would have run Mr. Murray W. Garsson out of town on a rail.

More tomorrow...

[Leslie Howard on one of his many crossings]

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This Makes Me Love Him Even More!

I love this story. It just proves what an absolute gentleman Leslie Howard was. And how much he enjoyed a good prank.

Leslie Howard, sitting on a stool at the RKO lunch counter, was amazed to hear the two "extra" girls next to him talking about the Howards.

 "Oh, yes," one of them was saying, "Leslie and Ruth are very dear and old friends of mine. Why, I'm at their house often for the week-end."

Impressed, the other girl uttered sounds of admiration that died away in a gasp as she suddenly nudged her friend, pointing to their neighbor. Smallish, freckled, wearing big horn-rimmed glasses, Leslie Howard is not always recognized, but the hapless girl who "knew him so well" knew who he was, all right. Her face registered horror, which changed to relief as he leaned forward genially, nodded and said matter-of-factly, without a trace of facetious irony:

"Yes, indeed. But haven't you been neglecting us lately? Haven't seen you out at the house for some time!" 

Later, on the set, the girl came to Leslie and, with tears in her eyes, apologized and thanked him for not letting her down.

This is a special shoutout to When Hollywood was "Golden" and Clark Gable: When Hollywood was "Golden" for recommending my Facebook page. Thanks again!

Have a great weekend everybody!

[Leslie Howard - most likely a publicity
photo for Pygmalion, c. 1938]

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Mickey Mouse Polo

Leslie Howard had a love of horses. He once said that "one does not want many friends. But horses..." And for friends? He liked people who liked horses. He loved to ride and he loved to play polo. He considered polo, "unlike acting, really living." Howard was a member of The Riviera Club and his polo team was captained by none other than his friend, Walt Disney. They were the Mickey Mouse Polo Team. Honestly. The team included Will Rogers and his son, Will, Jr., Howard's good friend, Robert Montgomery, and a couple of other players.

[Leslie Howard with Walt Disney]

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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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Out of the Picture

Today's photo is missing Leslie Howard. Why? Because he was behind the camera, a place he would much rather be. He was an avid photographer and his interests were really behind the camera, writing, producing and directing, rather than in front of it.

Here, he snaps a photo of his friends at Los Angeles station there to retrieve him and his wife, Ruth Martin (far right), upon their return to Hollywood after one of many trips east or abroad. How would you like to have this welcoming committee?

[Leslie Howard and his wife, Ruth Martin (far right)
being met at Los Angeles station by
Mr. and Mrs. Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.,
Claudette Colbert, Douglas Fairbanks and Joan Crawford]

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I'm Just Here For The Violin Lessons

Leslie Howard once stated that he didn't chase women but couldn't always be bothered to run away. However, while he was filming Captured! (1933) he was a frequent visitor to the set of Gold Diggers of 1933 which was filming in the next soundstage.

Apparently, he was so enthralled with all the women that when asked if he would take the salary cut being imposed by First National Films during the studio financial crisis of 1933, he quipped, "First, tell me, will those girls be working on The Gold Diggers of 1933 set very long?" After being informed that they would, Howard finally responded, "Well, in that case, just don't bother about cutting. I'll be only too happy to work for nothing."

[Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who were filming Captured!,
are being taught violin basics by Busby Berkeley, dance instructor
for Gold Diggers of 1933. Yes, their eyes really are on the violin.]
Modern Screen, July, 1933

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Remembering James Gleason On His Birthday

James Gleason (23 May 1882 to 12 April 1959), known as Jimmy to his friends, is another one of those character actors that always caught my eye. I love that New York tough guy with a kind heart character that he is so well known for playing. He was loved by his fellow actors as well. His friends (including Eddie Cantor and Gloria Swanson) had their monograms made of gold, silver, platinum or enamel and had them placed on his plain platinum cigarette case.

Did you know that he was also a playwright and screenwriter? He co-wrote and had a small part in Janet Gaynor's Broadway stage play, Change of Heart (1934). Gleason also had his own sitcom on radio with Robert Armstrong, Gleason and Armstrong (1931). His television credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Public Defender, and The Real McCoys.

Gleason enlisted in the U. S. Army at the age of 16 and served three years but didn't hesitate to re-enlist when his country needed him in WWI. It was after the war that his acting career took off. He had a small part in The Broadway Melody (1929) which was only the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. But my two favorite James Gleason films were A Free Soul (1931) with Leslie Howard, Norma Shearer, and newcomer, Clark Gable, and as the hot dog vendor in The Clock (1945), with Judy Garland and Robert Walker. Gleason will also be remembered for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Meet John Doe (1941) and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). I also loved him in Crash Dive (1943) with Tyrone Power and as the taxi cab driver in The Bishop's Wife (1947). I could go on and on.

Happy Birthday, James Gleason.

Learn More About James Gleason

[James Gleason in
Miss Grant Takes Richmond, 1949]

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That Kiss

That kiss was a magical thing,
My heart did fly and the angels did sing
Oh oh oh....

~ That Kiss by Tiffany Alvord

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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A Little Romance

I have often asked myself what it was about Leslie Howard that got me to notice him and why I stay so hooked.

If I believed in reincarnation I would surmise that I had met him in a previous life because he is very personal to me. We all have those people we see up on the big screen, or even the small screen, that we feel a connection to. Well, I feel that connection to him.

But then again, it may be the roles he played. Maybe I just like men who are walking tragedies. You know, those men who need the love of a good woman, with me being the good woman. Hmmm, is that it?

I think more likely, though, it is the way he loved the women in his films. You can see that he adored women, he exalted women. The way he held his female stars, especially while dancing, shows how tender and caring he was. And when he kissed a woman, he held her so close he sometimes lost his balance while enveloping her. You can see him balance himself against the wall as he falls forward while kissing Vivien Leigh in the Paddock Scene in Gone With The Wind. And the way he seems to naturally hold and kiss the hands of all his female actors--it's so gentle, so loving.

Leslie Howard once said, "What the actor is in private life, he is to a large extent on the stage, because he cannot conceal himself and his true personality from his audience." But where some people associate Leslie Howard with his roles, I associate him with the feeling he conveys, the need and the availability for love and connection. He may have been a man always falling in love, not realizing what he was getting in to, in the movies and out, but he was always falling in love. But as Hilary Lynn noted in Photoplay, August, 1933, Howard exhibits "more of a frail tenderness, of worshipful adoration, than of engulfing passion." Lynn goes on to say that "Howard's screen wooing indicates clearly that it's the woman herself who matters to him--not the fact of being in love, nor the fleeting pleasure of making love." Leslie Howard always conveyed, in comedy or drama, that women made the world livable and women made living worthwhile. I kind of like that.

[Leslie Howard, c. 1934]

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We're All A Lot of Saps

"Well, let me tell you something. You're a forgetful old fool. Any woman's worth everything that any man has to give: anguish, ecstasy, faith, jealousy, love, hatred, life or death. Don't you see that's the whole excuse for our existence. It's what makes the whole thing possible and tolerable. When you get to my age you'll learn better sense." ~ Alan Squier, The Petrified Forest, 1936

Leslie Howard and Charley Grapewin
in The Petrified Forest, 1936

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Romance Made Real

Following is a letter that appeared in the "How Readers Rate Them" column in the January, 1936, issue of Motion Picture magazine. (You'll notice that in those days the reader's name and address appeared at the bottom of the letter.) The writer, Mary T. Pyle, won $1 for her submission.

[Leslie Howard in
Intermezzo: A Love Story, 1939]

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One Woman

"I love all women; I love womankind. In the love of a good woman you have everything, all the wonders of the ages, the brown skinned girls who inflame your senses with the play; the cool, yellow-haired women who entice and escape you; the gentle ones who serve you; the slender ones who torment you; the mothers who bore and suckled you--all women whom God created out of the teeming fullness of the earth are yours in the love of one woman."

   ~ Leslie Howard

Leslie Howard and Bette Davis

in The Petrified Forest, 1936

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Remembering Joseph Cotten On His Birthday

Joseph Cotten (15 May 1905 - 6 February 1994) was one of my favorite actors. Between 1930 and 1981 he had a successful radio, stage, film and television career. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Journey Into Fear (1943). In 1934, Cotten had the good fortune to meet and become friends with Orson Welles, who helped launch his film career.

Cotten appeared on Broadway as C. K. Dexter Haven in the original production of The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn. He expected to recreate the role in the film version but found once he got to Hollywood that the role had been given to Cary Grant. At that point, Cotten made good use of his friendship with Welles by securing a role in Citizen Kane (1941). Although Citizen Kane did not do well at the box office due in large part to William Randolph Hearst's refusal to allow any of his newspapers to advertise it, Cotten did go on to play lead roles in Welles' productions of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Journey Into Fear (1943) and The Third Man (1949).

My favorite movies came later. And there are so many: Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943) where he played a ruthless serial killer (also Hitch's favorite film), Gaslight (1944) with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, the WWII tearjerker Since You Went Away (1944) with Claudette Colbert and Jennifer Jones, Love Letters (1945) again with Jennifer Jones and one of my favorite character actors, Cecil Kellaway, and one of my all-time, absolute favorite movies, Niagara (1953) with Marilyn Monroe. And who can forget Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).

 Happy Birthday, Joseph Cotten.

Joseph Cotten's Obituary, The New York Times, February 7, 1994

[Joseph Cotten, 1957]

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Have A Great Weekend!

It doesn't take brains to remember to have a fantastic weekend. See you Monday. Remember the blog.

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Getting Even

Apparently, Leslie Howard was a bit of a prankster and liked to keep the cast and crew of The Animal Kingdom on its toes during performances by pulling gags and ad libbing during the show. Well, they finally had enough and decided to seek revenge. Following is an excerpt from an article which appeared in New Movie Magazine, December, 1934, by Douglas Gilbert:

"In one of his scenes, alone upon the stage, he had to drink a rye highball. I needn't tell you good readers that a stage 'rye highball' carries about as much jolt as cold tea--which, in fact, it is. Well, he'd been gagging the cast to distraction. They saw this bit of business as a chance to out-smart him.

"Coming to the wings for his entrance the property man handed him his highball which he was to drink on the stage. No quotes on this one--it was a highball and no foolin'. The cast had jolted it with real rye, two-fingers of dynamite that would have lifted W. C. Fields into the flies. Then, they hastened behind the set to various points of vantage where they could watch Howard unseen by the audience. Howard took the drink, drained it, and without batting an eye, turned to the set where he knew the prankers must be stationed and, his back to the audience, raised his glass in a toast to the hidden cast and bowed low."

[Leslie Howard and Lora Baxter in The Animal Kingdom
at the Broadhurst Theatre, NYC, January - June, 1932]

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Leslie Howard, Swindler?

Bill Gargan recalls his time with Leslie Howard at the out-of-town engagement of The Animal Kingdom, 1932:

"When the show went on to Cleveland, before returning to Broadway, we stopped at a hotel near the station. There was a great deal of noise, which Howard, being an Englishman, couldn't stand. So he inquired regarding accommodations in the residential district.

"Finding a quiet location forty-five minutes by taxi from town, really a delightful place, he and Mrs. Howard engaged a suite and insisted I go along. When we signed the register, my room was thirty-five dollars a week. At the other hotel, I had paid at the rate of sixteen dollars a week.

"On my salary, with a wife and apartment to keep in Brooklyn, I couldn't figure how I could stand the gaff until Howard went into his act and said thirty-five dollars was too much for his secretary's room. 'That's different,' the manager told him, 'in that event, the rate will be twenty-two dollars.' At that reduced rent, I occupied a room adjoining the Howards. After the manager had seen the play, he seemed to get a great kick out of the trick played on him."

[from the article, "Pals," New Movie Magazine, October, 1934, by Whitney Williams]

[Leslie Howard with Bill Gargan, 1934]

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Best Friends

William Gargan, who named one of his sons after Leslie Howard, recalled their beginnings:

"Our friendship started from the moment Howard grasped my hand and said I was okay for the part ["Red" Regan in the play, The Animal Kingdom, 1932]. We seemed to click from the start, and on the way to Pittsburgh we really had a chance to get acquainted.

"Mrs. Howard accompanied her husband, and both accepted me as one of the family. The play made a great hit at its first tryout, so much so that Barry [Philip Barry, playwright] declared my part, the butler, too important for the sake of the starring role. He told Howard he'd cut it down.

"'You won't cut down any of the parts,' Howard informed him. 'If you have to make the play stronger, build up the star, but don't chop any of the lines the others have.' At that opening night, too, Howard made me take five curtain calls of my own."

[from the article, "Pals," New Movie Magazine, October, 1934, by Whitney Williams]

[From left: Mrs. Gargan, Leslie Howard, Mrs. Howard,
William Gargan, and Leslie's son, Ronald Howard]

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Too Tall for Leslie

Rehearsals began for The Animal Kingdom in November 1931. The play was to appear at the Broadhurst Theatre beginning in January, 1932. Leslie, the co-producer, was set to play Tom Collier and Bill Gargan had secured the part of his butler friend, "Red" Regan.

Katharine Hepburn had been cast in the part of Daisy Sage, Tom Collier's bohemian girlfriend. Hepburn only lasted through six days of rehearsal, though. According to Hepburn's biography, Me: Stories of My Life, she blamed Howard for her demise stating that she was too tall for him and that he was afraid she would run away with the play. In fact, Hepburn was at least three inches shorter than Howard and anyone who has studied Howard would know that he wouldn't care who emerged as the bigger star. As a matter of fact, the play's co-producer, Gilbert Miller, and the playwright, Philip Barry, thought Hepburn all wrong for the part. Even Bill Gargan noted that she was too inexperienced for the role which called for a passive femininity. A year later her performance in The Lake was panned by all the New York critics. Dorothy Parker wrote in The New Yorker that "she ran the gamut of emotions from A to B." [from Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor by Estel Eforgan]

Katharine didn't seem to hold a grudge though, as seen in the photo below.

[Leslie Howard and Katharine Hepburn
leaving a private screening at Jessie Lasky's
beach home in Santa Monica, May 12, 1933]

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Lots of Leslie Howards

Did you know that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are not the only couple to have named their child after Leslie Howard in gratitude for his help and friendship?

Howard first met Bill Gargan when Gargan read for the part "German Play Reader" in Leslie's new play, Out of a Blue Sky, which Howard wrote and directed. Howard had dismissed Clark Gable from the part during rehearsals. The comedy ran at the Booth Theatre in NYC for 17 performances in February, 1930.

A year or so later when Gargan heard that Leslie was returning to Broadway to perform as Tom Collier in The Animal Kingdom he didn't waste a minute asking Howard for the part of Richard "Red" Regan, Tom Collier's comic butler. Gargan met Howard at the pier as his boat pulled in from England. Initially, Howard thought Gargan too young for the part but brought him along to the theater to try out anyway. Gargan got the part and the two were on their way to becoming fast friends with Bill promising to name his next child, boy or girl, after Leslie. It was a boy and it was named Leslie Howard Gargan.

[Leslie Howard with Leslie Howard Gargan]

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