Quote:
Originally Posted by gwm
A young Ginger Rogers was also in Golddiggers of 1933.
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I love the story about David Niven in Word War II. Having been a junior officer in the pre-war British Army, rather than stay safe in the USA where doors to success were beginning to open for him, he re-joined the Queen's forces (Royal Marine commandos I think) when WWII broke out.
Late in WWII, his unit were tasked with attacking a well defended enemy position. Well liked by his troops, Niven was very conscious of the challenge to life & limb that the assignment could present, Niven apparently tried to sell the plan to his subordinates only to be confronted with reluctance on their part.
His response (recounted by one of the men rather than Niven who preferred not to speak about his part in the war) showed the kind of officer, leader and man Niven was,. was along the lines of :-
"lads, the job needs to be done and it's our responsibility to carry it out. All in all I'd prefer yo be back in Hollywood tickling Ginger Rogers' tits, but I'm not and there you have it"
While that story is not told in either of Niven's auto biographies, for anyone who is a Niven fan or even remotely interested in the behind the scenes side of Hollywood you never heard about in those days, his books are a very good read and I wholeheartedly recommend them to you.