Motion Picture (Feb-Jul 1933)

Explaining Leslie Howard, Who Needs Explainin ? By Jack Grant LESLIE HOWARD isn't particularly handsome, as hand•^ someness is judged by screen standards. He isn't the brawny, burly type that women the world over are alleged to adore. He isn't the embodiment of the dashing, breath-taking lover of whom schoolgirls dream and whose image they carry always in their hearts, although they grow up to marry entirely different sort of men. He has none of these qualifications for movie preferment. Yet Leslie Howard is unquestionably the most romantic fellow in Hollywood. What is the secret? Producers shake their collective heads in complete bewilderment as they admit the fact of his popularity. Boxoffice returns and the unusual deluge of his fan mail have forced upon them the knowledge of Howard's tremendous romantic appeal. He has long since established himself as the most sought-after leading man in films. Ask any feminine star to choose between Leslie Howard and Clark Gable, Fredric March, George Raft, Herbert Marshall or anyone else. Almost invariably, they signify Howard as their choice. And the producers, still unable to understand the whys and wherefores, attempt to obtain his desired services. Really, Hollywood has made a mystery of a thing that isn't at all mysterious, if you know Leslie. The answer to the riddle is to be found in his private life. It is very simple. He is to-day's most romantic screen actor because he is, himself, romantic — incurably so! Graham He isn't the Great Lover type — but he's putting all the Great Lovers in eclipse. What's the secret? When you read about his private life — never revealed before —you'll have the explanation ! Romantic? Leslie Howard married Ruth Martin (left) after a three-week courtship! Their 8-year-old daughter (above) once called screen love-making "amazing business" Unfortunately, most examinations of an actor's offscreen life are all too cursory— and this is particularly true in the case of Leslie Howard. His calm British exterior repels intimacies. He tells interviewers that he is happily married and the father of two fine children. Further than that reserved statement, he does not reveal much about himself. Adroitly, he turns the conversation into the more general topic of the art of acting and, somehow, the interviewer forgets to steer it back into intimate channels again later. I know all too well. Twice has Leslie thus charmingly evaded my attempts to pry into his off-screen life. And each time, I have been unaware of his artful dodging until after we had parted. He is that elusive. Determined upon a third try, I requested an appointment at his home. If I couldn't nail him on his own hearth, I might just as well go out on called strikes. (Three is out, you know, Leslie, in American baseball.) His Private Life Unknown TO my knowledge, Leslie Howard's family life has never been reported for publication. It deserves to be. His is one of the most unusual households in Hollywood. Let me take you there, just as I went for tea that afternoon. You arrive at four, the appointed hour. Outside the house, several young boys are engaged in a game of scrub baseball. {Continued on page y8) 51