Previous to July 2012, the only Leslie Howard movies I had seen were "The Petrified Forest" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel," the latter of which I had only seen once when I was probably about 12, and hence didn't remember it quite well. "The Petrified Forest" is one of my all-time favorite films; however, I had never really liked Leslie Howard in it. His character had always seemed whiny and over-dramatic to me, and I was somehow under the impression that he played that same type of character in everything (This was most likely due to the influence of my mother, who does not care for Leslie Howard much.)
Due to this influence, I was a bit wary of having Leslie Howard movies playing every Thursday in July; however, much to my joy and enlightenment, TCM showed a variety of films that showed the actor in many different lights. More importantly, it showed him as a man of many hats. Sure, he was cast in many "tragic lover" and "squeaky clean" dramatic roles, but he was also brilliant in comedies.
I'd never considered Mr. Howard as a comedian, but I think I enjoy his comedies most. In particular, It's Love I'm After was one of my favorites, showing a different side (for me) of his roles. Not only was this a comedy role, but his character was also quite mean-spirited and downright jerky at times. Rather the opposite of what I had thought of his roles! I am currently reading his biography "Trivial Fond Records," from which I learned that Leslie Howard actually tried to create his own comedy film studio in England to create more "witty" comedies than the slapstick that had reigned on the screen at the time. He had produced several short films, but unfortunately they did not make enough money to keep the studio afloat. Quite a shame!
While I didn't care for the film as much, Pygmalion showed Howard in a role very different from what I expected. While he did play a professor (a typical role for him, it seems), the character was completely opposite of the sparkly-eyed lover that I thought he always played. Seeing him pull of such a mean-spirited person what quite interesting, indeed!
Anyway, I shan't ramble on any more in this post. In short, TCM's Star of the Month special completely reversed my opinions of this fine actor. I am so glad that TCM does such tributes to actors, so viewers can appreciate all their films and achievements, instead of relying on preconceived notions based on a single performance. Perhaps this enlightenment has just been a case of originally letting others influence me, and relying on said preconceived notions to the point of closed-mindedness, but still....I am glad TCM helped me get through that and form my own opinion!
Did anyone else have any comments about this particular program? Have any other "Star of the Month" specials enlightened you or reversed your thinking?
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