Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

3. Hope and Glory: In Which We Serve and This Happy

Getting฀Started 50 early฀talkies฀made฀from฀his฀sophisticated฀plays;฀thus,฀Private฀Lives฀(Sidney฀ Franklin,฀1931),฀which฀starred฀Robert฀Montgomery฀and฀Norma฀Shearer,฀ seemed฀little฀more฀than฀a฀photographed฀stage฀play฀(even฀the฀exteriors฀were฀ painted฀backdrops). Coward’s฀first฀brush฀with฀the฀cinema฀was฀a฀walk-on฀in฀D.฀W.฀Griffith’s฀ World฀War฀I฀propaganda฀film฀Hearts฀of฀the฀World฀(1918),฀starring฀Lillian฀ Gish฀and฀Erich฀von฀Stroheim.฀He฀decidedly฀did฀not฀have฀a฀supporting฀role,฀ as฀some฀film฀historians,฀who฀apparently฀have฀not฀seen฀the฀movie,฀have฀reported .฀His฀only฀other฀appearance฀on฀the฀screen฀before฀In฀Which฀We฀Serve฀ was฀in฀The฀Scoundrel฀(Ben฀Hecht฀and฀Charles฀MacArthur,฀1935),฀in฀which฀a฀ famous฀writer฀is฀drowned฀at฀sea฀and฀comes฀back฀as฀a฀ghost฀to฀search฀for฀the฀ meaning฀of฀life. In฀Which฀We฀Serve฀originated฀with฀the฀independent฀producer฀Filippo฀ Del฀Guidice,฀who฀was฀the฀moving฀spirit฀of฀Two฀Cities฀Films฀(a฀company฀ named฀after฀London฀and฀New฀York).฀The฀career฀of฀the฀Italian-born฀Del฀ Guidice฀ paralleled฀ that฀ of฀ Gabriel฀ Pascal฀ in฀ many฀ ways.฀ Like฀ Pascal,฀ Del฀ Guidice฀came฀to฀England฀in฀the฀1930s฀as฀a฀destitute฀immigrant฀determined฀ to฀produce฀motion฀pictures.฀He฀made฀his฀mark฀in฀the฀British฀film฀industry฀ with฀the฀1939฀French฀without฀Tears฀(see฀chapter฀2). Del฀Guidice฀asked฀his฀partner,฀Anthony฀Havelock-Allan,฀who฀knew฀Noël฀ Coward฀socially,฀to฀arrange฀a฀meeting฀in฀which฀they฀could฀persuade฀Coward฀ to฀make฀a฀major฀film฀to฀serve฀the฀British฀war฀effort.฀Coward฀was฀intrigued฀ with฀their฀proposal.฀“The฀actual฀proposition฀they฀put฀to฀me,”฀Coward฀records ฀in฀his฀autobiography,฀was฀that฀he฀was฀to฀codirect฀and฀produce฀a฀film฀ for฀them—as฀well฀as฀write฀the฀script,฀compose฀the฀score,฀and฀play฀the฀lead.฀If฀ he฀agreed,฀he฀would฀have฀complete฀artistic฀control฀over฀the฀production.฀ “The฀very฀next฀evening฀Fate฀intervened,”฀Coward฀continues.฀He฀was฀dining฀ with฀Lord฀Louis฀Mountbatten,฀a฀commander฀in฀the฀Royal฀Navy,฀who฀had฀ just฀come฀home฀after฀the฀sinking฀of฀his฀ship,฀HMS฀Kelly,฀in฀the฀Mediterranean฀ off฀the฀island฀of฀Crete฀on฀May฀21,฀1941.฀“He฀told฀me฀the฀whole฀story;฀I฀was฀ profoundly฀moved฀.฀.฀.฀by฀this฀odyssey฀of฀one฀destroyer.฀I฀knew฀this฀was฀a฀ story฀to฀tell,฀if฀only฀I฀could฀tell฀it฀without฀sentimentality,฀but฀with฀simplicity฀ and฀truth.”1 Once฀Coward฀had฀made฀a฀definite฀commitment,฀Del฀Guidice฀obtained฀ British฀Lion฀to฀distribute฀the฀movie.฀When฀Coward฀informed฀HavelockAllan ฀that฀he฀intended฀to฀take฀the฀role฀of฀the฀captain฀of฀the฀destroyer฀in฀the฀ film,฀Havelock-Allan฀reflected฀that,฀though฀the฀debonair฀Coward฀was฀nobody ’s฀idea฀of฀a฀sea฀dog,฀he฀would฀do฀a฀credible฀job.฀Indeed,฀the฀press,฀ particularly฀Lord฀Beaverbrook’s฀Daily฀Express,฀raised฀a฀hue฀and฀cry฀when฀the฀ project฀was฀announced.฀Beaverbrook’s฀broadside,฀published฀on฀August฀29,฀ LeanChap03B.indd 50 9/21/06 2:53:57 PM Hope฀and฀Glory 51 1941,฀sneered฀at฀the฀very฀notion฀that฀Coward฀was฀to฀play฀a฀part฀modeled฀on฀ the฀stalwart฀Mountbatten฀since฀Coward’s฀public฀image฀was฀that฀of฀a฀matinee฀ idol฀belonging฀to฀the฀cigarette฀holder฀and฀smoking฀jacket฀set.฀The฀yellow฀ press฀also฀implied฀that฀the฀effete฀Coward,฀whose฀homosexuality฀was฀an฀open฀ secret฀in฀theater฀circles,฀was฀not฀an฀appropriate฀choice฀for฀the฀role฀of฀a฀naval฀ commander.฀Coward฀replied฀that฀he฀was฀not฀playing฀the฀real฀Mountbatten;฀ rather,฀he฀was฀to฀enact฀the฀role฀of฀Captain฀Edward฀Kinross,฀a฀fictional฀character ฀who฀was฀conceived฀as฀“an฀average฀naval฀officer,”฀the฀skipper฀of฀the฀ Torrin,฀not฀the฀Kelly.฀Admittedly,฀Coward฀writes,฀the฀film’s฀scenario฀was฀inspired ฀by฀the฀story฀of฀the฀Kelly.฀He฀was฀able฀to฀get฀“first-hand฀information฀ and฀accurate฀technical฀details”฀from฀Mountbatten฀and฀those฀of฀his฀shipmates฀ who฀survived฀the฀disaster.฀“The฀story฀told฀in฀In฀Which฀We฀Serve,฀however,฀ could฀have฀applied฀to฀any฀other฀destroyer฀sunk฀in฀action฀during฀the฀war.”2 In฀Which฀We฀Serve฀(1942) Del฀Guidice฀and฀Havelock-Allan฀petitioned฀the฀Film฀Division฀of฀the฀MOI฀to฀ cooperate฀with฀the฀making฀of฀the฀film,฀as฀it฀had฀given฀cooperation฀to฀Powell฀ and฀Pressburger฀for฀the฀making฀of฀The฀49th฀Parallel฀and฀One฀of฀Our฀Aircraft฀ Is฀Missing฀(see฀chapter฀2).฀Coward฀submitted฀a฀preliminary฀prose฀treatment฀ to฀Jack฀Beddington,฀the฀director฀of฀the฀Film฀Division;฀it฀was฀a฀fictionalized฀ account฀of฀the฀captain฀and฀crew...