One of Those Guys Named Leslie

Leslie Nielsen had a long and varied career as, well, Leslie Nielsen.

Leslie Townes Hope thought "Leslie" sounded girlish, so he thought of shortening it to "Les," as in "Lester." (In fact, some early records of his show him as having the name Lester!) Somewhere around the time he became an entertainer, he quickly saw that "Les Hope" could be twisted to "hopeless." He went with "Bob Hope" instead.

But Leslie Howard used his own name -- well, kinda (and more on that soon) -- with pretty good results, I'd say.

I think it's safe to say that he (and admittedly, a few other actors of his ilk) defined the genteel British gentleman in the eyes of America during the 1930s and beyond. He was far more than just an "actor," having produced and directed films as well. I've enjoyed many of his works.

Admittedly, I found 1934's Of Human Bondage -- the star-making vehicle for Bette Davis, whom I must admit has never been a huge favorite of mine -- to be a bit over-bearing, but that's just a personal taste (and this is, after all, my personal blog, right, fellow babies?).

I loved The Petrified Forest, the 1936 film which co-starred him with (again) Bette Davis, and provided a great springboard for a motion picture newbie named Humphrey Bogart. (Legend has it that after having appeared with Bogart on Broadway, Howard insisted on Bogie's casting in the film, against the wishes of the studio which desired a bigger "name" actor in the role of Duke Mantee.) Howard's character (and his noble sacrifice) might have been a great role model for me... if only I'd first seen the film at a more impressionable age.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I saw Howard's take on The Scarlet Pimpernel, another of his movies from 1934. I was drawn to it by the "secret identity" aspect later utilized by such childhood heroes of mine like Zorro, Batman, and so many others. (By the way, when I refer to Zorro as having "later utilized" the secret identity aspect, I'm referring to the fact that the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel, published in 1908 after premiering as a play in 1903, pre-dated the first Zorro story , which appeared in 1919!) So when I encountered a listing in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide a few years ago for "Pimpernel Smith," a 1941 updating of the original Pimpernel tale with Howard again in the title role, I determined to search for it on video... a search which took me until a few months ago.

My locating Pimpernel Smith coincided with my finding a copy of Howard in 1938's Pygmalion (the film precursor of My Fair Lady), which was highly recommended to me by fellow Blogger-blogger Willow. This acquisition was also made a few months ago.

Typically, for me, I didn't actually make time to watch either film until a very short time ago. And, as the anniversary of Howard's 1893 birth was on April 3rd, I decided to watch the two back-to-back, and possibly craft an April 3rd post from this double viewing. (The fact that I'm posting this on April 4th says that I have a life outside this little blog.)

Pygmalion, as Willow promised, was a delight. Although I'm very familiar with the plot of -- and songs from -- My Fair Lady, I've never seen that whole movie! (You may pick yourselves up, now!) Therefore, there were a lot of surprises for me. (Actually, I'd read Pygmalion in a high school English class, but it didn't make that much of an impression on me then.)

I must admit, I was very amused by the fact that the British allowed the liberal use of the word "damn" in that 1938 film, while we in America -- thanks to the Hays Code -- would be scandalized by its single use in 1939's Gone with the Wind only a year later... a film which also featured Mr. Howard! (And I'll bet you thought I was going to leave his appearance in GWTW unmentioned, eh?)

Of course, I've read that the word "bloody" -- a word which is totally inoffensive to most Americans, who don't know its slang etymology to the British -- was used in Pygmalion to no little controversy!

Pimpernel Smith is also a fun flick, albeit more seriously handled, for the most part, as befitting its anti-Nazi subject matter. Once you get past the Nazi soldiers speaking in heavy British accents, the movie draws you in admirably.

The real-life Howard was quite involved in fighting against Nazism, both prior to and during World War II. In fact, said involvement may -- or may not -- have lead to his untimely death in June of 1943... a fascinating controversy, discussed at great length here. Howard's anti-Nazi feelings may have been exacerbated by the fact that he was born Leslie Howard Steiner, son of a Hungarian Jew and his British wife (herself the granddaughter of a Jewish immigrant from East Prussia).

In fact, the only thing I didn't like about Pimpernel Smith was that my copy of the movie ended right before the emotional final speech given by Howard's character, as promised by the notes on the back of the VHS tape's box! I've never seen the freakin' ending! And at this late date, I really doubt I could finagle a free replacement copy of Pimpernel Smith from the video company.

Well, at least I now know that it's available on DVD...

What's this? Why, it's nothing more

or less than a DVD rewinder! Heh.

Thanks for your time.