Review of Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn

I started this documentary mildly interested in its subject. About halfway through, though, I became quite taken with the subject's daughter who, as depicted onscreen, was a tough, clear eyed but not insensitive old gal, certainly fond of her dad and admiring of his virtues but able, as a previous reviewer stated, to see his flaws. Chief among these was serial adultery which, in Howard's case, included using his daughter as a deux ex machina to break up with Merle Oberon, a stunt that I would place somewhere between weak and appalling. In addition to chronic philandering there was a failing I noticed that seemed to escape the daughter, namely a supercilious attitude toward Hollywood which went something like this: "If I must endure the vulgarians on the coast then I will at least be compensated with lots of weekends at San Simeon". This is doubly snobby in that Howard feels superior to both the American film industry as a whole and to all the American film industry boobs who can't crack the A list.

Howard's good points, however, chiefly his anti Nazi patriotism and courage in wartime, along with solid craftsmanship as an actor, clearly more than balance the shortcomings and, as filtered through the charming, intelligent and acerbic eyes of his daughter, make this documentary's subject a beguiling combination of good and not so good. Is there any greatness in the mix? Not in my opinion, but you might have a different view. Give it a B.

PS...Big dropoff in talking head quality from Leslie Ruth to Howard's son, as well as various film historians and biographers.