On September 19th we will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of the beginning of World War II with a very special film starring Leslie Howard. The film is Pimpernel Smith (released in the United States as Mister V) and it is a fitting epitaph to his career—together with one more film before his death at the hands of the Luftwaffe. Known to American audiences primarily for his role in Gone With The Wind, his wartime work is virtually forgotten. Pimpernel Smith is a veritable tour de force… directed, produced, and starring Howard in a taut psychological war of intrigue between a seemingly nondescript but heroic archeology professor and a general in the Gestapo. Pimpernel Smith, produced at the height of the London blitz in 1941, was designed to lift the morale of the British population by shredding the Nazi image of invincible superiority. It is not a war movie. The film ends on the eve of WW II, the night before the invasion of Poland. Pimpernel Smith is not a great film, but Howard’s speech at the end is worth the watching. It was good enough for Goebbels to put a price on his head.
Pimpernel Smith will screen at 7:00pm at Old City Hall on Friday, September 19th.