David Niven’s The Moon’s a Balloon.
Who the hell is he you might be asking – well, if you don’t know IMDB him and see an acting career that spans 5 decades which includes films such as ‘Around the world in 80 days’ ‘the guns of navarone’ and ‘The Pink Panther’ to name but a few.
David, as luck would have it, fell into acting by chance when he was travelling around the US after serving in the British army and was recommended to try his hand in acting and ended up doing some extra work on various productions.
He managed to move in the right circles and brush shoulders with some stars including Douglas Fairbanks which eventually got him to meet up with the MGM mogul Samuel Goldwyn who signed him up to a contract and got him off to his acting career.
Now, I know I make it sound simple but in fact David Niven was beginning to feel the pressure prior to his contract when he was being considered the face that’s been around and hadn’t made it. Invitations to parties became fewer and test for auditions no longer came his way. He was close to giving up but he stuck with it non the less.
Of course, he had help from some of his close friends but it did take time for him to turn the tables around and make a name for himself.
Also, his life was inflicted with numerous tragedies, one being his first wife falling down the stairs and dying soon after because of the concussion she received from the fall plus his second wife got shot in the face while out with David in a day of hunting, but luckily managed to survive.
One piece of advice David got when starting out in his acting career was from the great Charlie Chaplin who saw his performance in one of his earlier films and while the other guests were flattering and enthusiastic of David’s performance in the film, Chaplin said:
Don’t be like the majority of actors… don’t just stand around waiting your turn to speak – learn to listen.
After being fired by his agent Samuel Goldwyn for refusing to take on roles which he believed weren’t suited for him David went through a lull period where no work was available.
Running short of cash, with no prospect of acting David began to feel the pinch. Other actors tried to comfort him but it was Humphrey Bogart that gave it to him real, he said:
Let’s face it kid – you’ve screwed up. Keep going somehow, mortgage your house, sell the kids, dig a ditch, do anything but for christ sakes never let them think they’ve got you running scared because somewhere on somebody’s desk is a script that’s right for you and when they dig it out – its you they’ll want and nobody else and everything will be forgotten.
And low and behold several years later, the director Otto Preminger wanted David to play the lead in his film ‘the moon is blue’ because of seeing David’s performance in a theatre show believing that he was the right actor for the part.
The director, though, had a great deal of opposition from the studios who were financing, declaring David to be a washed up actor and to get somebody else but Otto was a determined individual and didn’t give up on David.
David, eventually got the part and also won his first Golden Globe award for his performance in the film and as they say the rest is history.