Well written and very entertaining book about this incredible actor.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Top reviews from other countries
- Peter JanuariusReviewed in Australia on February 28, 2021
A great autobiography about a life and not just Hollywood
"In the autumn of '41, the Trees invited Primmie and me to spend my week's leave in the comfort of Ditchley. Walter Monckton, Director General of the Ministry of Information was there, also a charming American, David Bruce. as the Germans had radio beams from Norway and France pinpointing Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat was considered a bad risk so Ronnie and Nancy made a large part of Ditchley available to Winston Churchill and his staff. It was fascinating to rub shoulders with the greats, with Sir Charles Portal, the Commander in Chief of the R.A.F., and Sholto Douglas, Chief of Fighter Command.Peter JanuariusA great autobiography about a life and not just Hollywood
Reviewed in Australia on February 28, 2021
Churchill bade me take another walk in the walled garden. Things were looking grim - the war in the desert was at its lowest ebb with Rommel snapping at the gates of Alexandria and after their spectacular success in Crete, the possibility of an enemy airborne invasion of the U.K. had now superseded the threat of a conventional one. Food was getting more and more scarce and a glance at the map sent cold shivers down one's back."
The Moon's a Balloon is actually a poem by E.E Cummings about escaping the World and living a pain free life. I think that David Niven titled his autobiography with this moniker because he actually felt that his life whilst certainly not pain free - was something to be very grateful for. Niven certainly lived his life with purpose, taking every opportunity - according to this book anyway.
If you think about David Niven (if you even know who he was), you probably think about films like 'The Pink Panther', 'Casino Royale' and possibly 'The Prisoner of Zenda', 'Around the World in 80 days' and maybe even 'Special Tables' for which he won the Oscar for best actor. You also probably imagine the archetypal British gentleman.
Niven was born in 1910 - he never really knew his father who was killed in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915 whilst serving with the Berkshire Yeomanry (FUN FACT: I grew up in Berkshire in the UK). Niven was packed off to boarding school and after a couple of terrible experiences ended up at Stowe Public school - a new breed of school where they nurtured them into adulthood instead of what you might expect from an English Public school in 1920 (for Aussies - English Public school is generally associated with money and privilege). Stowe's first headmaster J.F Roxburgh is credited with being a major influence on 20th century English education - David Niven benefited hugely from this innovative environment.
After school he joined Sandhurst (military college) and subsequently was comissioned as an officer in the Highland Light Infantry and ended up doing a stint in Malta in command of #3 Platoon at the tender age of 18.
Niven left the army in a hurry after a slight indiscretion (by army standards anyway), resigned his commission and sailed for Canada. This was followed shortly by a failed stint as a Wine salesman just after prohibition ended and a crazy (also failed) project involving a rodeo and 150 ponies. Niven was close to broke and without many prospects! The interesting thing about him was that he just got on with it - didn't feel sorry for himself and took every opportunity that followed. One always gets the feeling that there is not a small amount of 'luck' involved in such a story however.
Niven found his way into the movies through connections & friends and also into a 7 year contract with MGM (Samuel Goldwyn himself!). He made some good films like Mutiny on the Bounty, The Prisoner of Zenda (first major success), The Dawn Patrol & Wuthering Heights opposite Olivier. Then WWII struck...
He was one of the first major British actors to (re) signup with the army (although he wanted to be a RAF pilot as it was something different to what he had already experienced). He ended up with the Second Battalion. During the 'phoney war' Niven ended up at dinner with friends. Churchill was there:
"He talked at great length about vegetables and the joy of growing one's own. He made it clear that before long, rationing would become so severe that 'every square inch of our island will be pressed into service'. He questioned me about the problems of a junior officer in the Army and listened most attentively to my answers. It saddens me most greatly that I had the enormous good fortune to have several of these 'garden tours' with this unique human being and that I remember so little of what he actually said"
He met his first wife, 'Primmie' during the war and had 2 children by the end of it. He starred in a couple of propaganda films and was involved in the Normandy landings in June 1944. At the end of the war he was a lieutenant colonel: David and Primmie went to start a new life in the USA in a new home. Tragedy struck however and Primmie died after a fall in the house - she was 25.
The book pretty much ends there - it was less about Hollywood than his early and military lives. Niven starred in some notable postwar films such as "Around the World in 80 Days" which at the time was the most successful film ever - fortunately as the producer Mike Todd (Mr Elizabeth Taylor) was writing fake cheques to get it made. It made them all rich! The Pink Panther, Force 10 from Navarone were two more.
David Niven strikes me as someone who was the same on and off the set, unpretentious, generous and a lover of life.
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- Ben DaviesReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2024
An amazing read on the early days of Hollywood
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