David Niven deserves recognition

[Tomasso]

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Dapper, dapper and more dapper.

.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Plus, both Niven and Moore played James Bond!

Great pic, Tomasso!

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

But I guess David Niven has been overshadowed by the likes of William Powell and Cary Grant. You want to talk about "forgotten", try bringing up Leslie Howard!

I call that really to bad......

 

[LadyStardust]

I absolutely love Niven. He may not have been very versatile, but what he did good (comedy), he did BRILLIANTLY. My favorite of his is Bachelor Mother, with Ginger Rogers, who was also a razor sharp wit in her own right. That movie is pure gold. He's also wonderful in Please Don't Eat The Daisies, and many others. And what finesse and charisma he had! His autobiography is also excellent, a real insight, without putting on airs, a read I'd recommend to anyone! :eusa_clap
AH! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention Raffles! He is charming in the role of the gentleman thief! Absolutely wonderful!

 

[griffer]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

good call, great chap.

 

[HadleyH]

David Niven was brilliant!!! If you like his sense of humor you must read his two autobiographies 'The Moon's a Balloon' and 'Bring On The Empty Horses', the first one is just too funny... did you know that David Niven and Errol Flynn shared a beach house that was nicknamed Cirrhosis By the Sea??? lol Can you imagine what went on in there????? lol Yep. Those were the Glamour Years in Hollywood..... hmmmm....perhaps not that glamourous after all. lol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I love David Niven

I just finished re-watching Separate Tables on VHS.
An old print ad in the 60s for an airline or rental car or something had him saying "I hate to wait." We can envision the picture of him in that, I think.
He is mentioned in the Ian Fleming James Bond book "You Only Live Twice" as the only (I think) actor who was nice to the heroine during her days in Hollywood.
How about that still and quote when he was an Oscar presenter? Classy and funny.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

What I love about Niv, as he was known, how he never let facts or credit stand in the way of telling a great story.

His books complied stories that other people told and lived but put himself into them - and they seem to totally fit.

He was so suave and cool, he could tell those great stories and he took ownership of them. I read somewhere that used to drive Cary Grant crazy because some of those stories were his!

If you search the used market - there are old "books on tape" of him reading his books. Highly recommened.

Long Live the Niv!

 

[Haversack]

David Niven's public character of suavity overlaying steel was not superficial. He was one of the first of the Hollywood British Colony to return to the UK when the Second World War started in 1939. He ended up in what was called Phantom, or more properly, the GHQ Liaison Regiment. This innoccuous-souding organization was a special branch of the commandos who operated communications networks behind enemy lines in order to facilitate SAS operation. Niven landed at Normandy a couple of days after D-Day and spent the rest of the war conducting operations. There is not much publically available about what Phantom did and Niven was close-mouthed about his military activities. He finished the war as a colonel. Coincidentally, when he first went back, his batman was Peter Ustinov. Two world-class racontuers. I wonder what stories they told each other.

Haversack.

 

[PADDY]

Currently reading "Bring on the Empty Horses"

And loving it!! he's a born story teller or after dinner speaker!!

 

[Flitcraft]

If you like that one, you definitely owe it to yourself to read his other autibiography- its hilarious!

 

[dhermann1]

Niven

I've always adored David Niven. If you want to see a great alternative to the great Hugh Laurie as Berty Wooster, try 26 year old David Niven in Thank You Jeeves (1936). A nice variation on the Wooster theme.