David Niven (41 page)

The Bishop's Wife
(1947, Samuel Goldwyn). Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, James Gleason, Gladys Cooper.
Producer
Samuel Goldwyn.
Director
Henry Koster. Trivia: Niven made a slight change to a line he gives during a Christmas sermon. Instead of saying, ‘You give me a tie. I give you a book,' he said, ‘I give you a book, you give me a tie,' because he felt it sounded better.

Bonnie Prince Charlie
(1948, London Films and British Lion). David Niven, Margaret Leighton, Judy Campbell, Jack Hawkins.
Producer
Edward Black.
Director
Anthony Kimmins. Trivia: The original running time of 138 minutes was cut by Goldwyn to 98 minutes for release in the US.

Enchantment
(1948, Goldwyn). David Niven, Teresa Wright, Evelyn Keyes, Farley Granger, Jayne Meadows.
Producer
Samuel Goldwyn.
Director
Irving Reis. Trivia: Evelyn Keyes cohabitated with Niven in 1939 and later lived with Michael Todd at the time he made
Around the World in 80 Days
.

A Kiss in the Dark
(1949, Warner Brothers). David Niven, Jane Wyman, Victor Moore, Wayne Morris, Broderick Crawford.
Producer
Jack L. Warner.
Director
Delmer Daves. Trivia: Jane Wyman converted to Roman Catholicism and regularly attended Mass with her good friend Loretta Young.

AKiss for Corliss
(1949, Strand Productions). Shirley Temple, David Niven, Tom Tully, Virginia Welles.
Producer
Colin Miller.
Director
Richard Wallace. Trivia: Shirley Temple's last film.

The Toast of New Orleans
(1950, MGM). Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza, David Niven, J. Carrol Naish.
Producer
Joe Pasternak.
Director
Norman Taurog. Trivia: Mario Lanza's first film in a movie career cut short when he urinated on a piano in front of reporters.

Happy Go Lovely
(1950, A.B.P.C.). David Niven, Vera-Ellen, Cesar Romero, Bobby Howes.
Producer
Marcel Helman.
Director
H. Bruce Humberstone. Trivia: H. Bruce Humberstone had, four years earlier, directed
Three Little Girls in Blue
which was the musical remake of Niven's 1938 film
Three Blind Mice
.

Soldiers Three
(1951, MGM). Stewart Granger, Walter Pidgeon, David Niven, Robert Newton.
Producer
Pandro S. Berman.
Director
Tay Garnett. Trivia: Robert Newton, a drunkard and the screen's definitive Long John Silver in three films, was called by Niven ‘Legless Silver'.

The Elusive Pimpernel
(1951, London Films). David Niven, Margaret Leighton, Cyril Cusack, Jack Hawkins.
Producers/directors
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Trivia: Richard England loaned his schooner to the producers provided he played the schooner captain and operated it himself.

Appointment with Venus
(1951, British Film Makers). David Niven, Glynis Johns, Barry Jones, Kenneth More.
Producer
Betty E. Box.
Director
Ralph Thomas. Trivia: Ralph Thomas is often wrongly credited as the director of the
Carry On
films. However, his brother, Gerald Thomas, was the producer of the
Carry Ons
.

The Lady Says No!
(1952, Stillman). Joan Caulfield, David Niven, James Robertson Justice, Lenore Lonergan.
Producers
Frank Ross, John Stillman Jnr.
Director
Frank Ross. Trivia: Frank Ross's only attempt at directing. Its failure convinced him to stick to producing.

The Moon is Blue
(1953, Preminger-Herbert). William Holden, David Niven, Maggie McNamara, Tom Tully, Dawn Addams.
Producers
Otto Preminger, F. Hugh Herbert.
Director
Otto Preminger. Trivia: The movie was used as part of a plot line in the
The Moon is Not Blue
episode of TV's
M*A*S*H
.

The Love Lottery
(1953, Ealing Studios). David Niven, Peggy Cummins, Anne Vernon, Herbert Lom.
Producer
Monja Danischewsky.
Director
Charles Crichton. Trivia: Shortly after this picture, Charles Crichton stopped directing films and turned to TV but made a phenomenal comeback with his very last film,
A Fish CalledWanda
, in 1988.

Happy Ever After
(1954, Mario Zampi for A.B.P.C.). David Niven, Yvonne de Carlo, Barry Fitzgerald, George Cole.
Producer/director
Mario Zampi.
Trivia: Mario Zampi was an Italian but made quintessentially British comedy films.

The King's Thief
(1955, MGM). Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven, George Sanders, Roger Moore.
Producer
Edwin H. Knopf.
Director
Robert Z. Leonard. Trivia: Stewart Granger was originally cast in the lead role but after production was delayed he was unavailable and replaced by Edmund Purdom.

Carrington V.C
. (1956, Romulus). David Niven, Margaret Leighton, Noelle Middleton, Laurence Naismith.
Producer
Teddy Baird.
Director
Anthony Asquith. Trivia: Margaret Leighton suffered from claustrophobia.

The Birds and the Bees
(1956, Gomalco Prods). George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor, David Niven, Reginald Gardiner.
Producer
Paul Jones.
Director
Norman Taurog. Trivia: The film was intended to launch TV star George Gobel's movie career – it failed.

Around the World in 80 Days
(1956, London Films-Michael Todd Prods). David Niven, Cantinflas, Robert Newton, Shirley MacLaine, Charles Boyer, Ronald Colman.
Producer
Michael Todd.
Director
Michael Anderson. Trivia: The film reputedly features 140 purpose built sets, 68,894 extras, 74,685 costumes, 90 animal handlers, 3,800 sheep, 2,448 buffalo, 950 donkeys, 800 horses, 512 monkeys, 17 bulls, 15 elephants, 6 skunks and 4 ostriches.

The Silken Affair
(1956, Dragon Films). David Niven, Genevieve Page, Ronald Squire, Beatrice Straight, Wilfred Hyde White.
Producers
Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, Fred Feldkamp.
Director
Roy Kellino. Trivia: The last film of Roy Kellino, a former cinematographer and special effects designer who died of a heart attack on 16 November 1956.

The Little Hut
(1956, MGM). Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, David Niven, Walter Chiari.
Producers
F. Hugh Herbert, Mark Robson.
Director
Mark Robson. Trivia: Was remade in Belgium in 1966 as
La Petite Hutte
, directed by the play's author Andre Roussin.

Oh Men! Oh Women!
(1957, 20th Century-Fox). Dan Dailey, Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Barbara Rush, Tony Randall.
Producer/director
Nunnally Johnson. Trivia: The final film appearance by comedy character actor Franklin Pangborn, and the first by Tony Randall.

My Man Godfrey
(1957, Universal).
June Allyson, David Niven, Jessie Royce Landis, Robert Keith, Eva Gabor.
Producer
Ross Hunter.
Director
Henry Koster. Trivia: The film was intended to launch German star O.W. Fischer in American films but he suffered from memory loss and was replaced by Niven.

Bonjour Tristesse
(1957, Wheel Productions/Columbia). Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Jean Seberg, Mylene Demongeot.
Producer/director
Otto Preminger. Trivia: Jean Seberg was Preminger's protégé but found success in Jean-Luc Godard's
À bout de soufflé
in 1960 and thereafter in European films.

SeparateTables
(1958, A Clifton Production/Hill-Hecht-Lancaster). Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Burt Lancaster.
Producer
Harold Hecht.
Director
Delbert Mann. Trivia: Originally Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were to play the dual roles played by Kerr and Hayworth, Niven and Lancaster, and Olivier was to direct.

Ask Any Girl
(1959, Euterpe Productions/MGM). David Niven, Shirley MacLaine, Gig Young, Rod Taylor, Jim Backus.
Producer
Joe Pasternak.
Director
Charles Walters. Trivia: Pasternak's mantra was, ‘Never make an audience think. It always worked for me.'

Happy Anniversary
(1959, Fields Productions Inc/United Artists). David Niven, Mitzi Gaynor, Carl Reiner, Loring Smith.
Producer
Ralph Fields.
Director
David Miller. Trivia: Gaynor's role was originally declined by Doris Day who feared it would damage her pure screen image.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies
(1960, Euterpe Productions/MGM). Doris Day, David Niven, Janis Page, Spring Byington.
Producer
Joe Pasternak.
Director
Charles Walters. Trivia: Spring Byington began her feature film career playing Katharine Hepburn's mother in
LittleWomen
in 1933 and ended it playing Doris Day's mother in this picture.

The Guns of Navarone
(1961, Open Road Films/Columbia). Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle.
Producers
Carl Foreman, Cecil Parker.
Director
J. Lee Thompson. Trivia: David Niven wore a Highland Light Infantry cap badge on his beret.

The Best of Enemies
(1962, Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica/Columbia). David Niven, Alberto Sordi, Michael Wilding, Amedeo Nazzari, Harry
Andrews.
Producer
Dino De Laurentiis.
Director
Guy Hamilton. (Original Italian title
I Due Nemici)
Trivia: Rex Harrison's son Noel's film debut – he was billed 11th in the cast.

The Guns of Darkness
(1962, Cavalcade/Concorde/A.B.P.C.). Leslie Caron, David Niven, James Robertson Justice, David Opatoshu, Derek Godfrey.
Producers
Ben Kadish, Thomas Clyde.
Director
Anthony Asquith. Trivia: Derek Godfrey was dubbed by Roger Delgado.

The Captive City
(1962, Maxima Films/Lux Films/Galatea). David Niven, Ben Gazzara, Michael Craig, Martin Balsam. (US title
The Conquered City;
original Italian title
Le Citta Prigioniera)
Trivia: Cut from its original 108 minutes to 87 for release in the US.

55 Days at Peking
(1963, Samuel Bronston). Charlton Heston, David Niven, Ava Gardner, Robert Helpmann, Fora Robson.
Producer
Samuel Bronston.
Director
Nicholas Ray (uncredited: Guy Green, Andrew Marton). Trivia: A Florentine family loaned out to the producer a number of authentic clothes for the Royal Chinese Court which had been rescued from the collapse of the dynasty right after the Boxer Rebellion.

The Pink Panther
(1963, Mirisch Company/United Artists). David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine, Claudia Cardinale.
Producer
Martin Jurow.
Director
Blake Edwards. Trivia: Edwards thought that Claudia Cardinale's Italian accent was too difficult to understand so all her dialogue was dubbed by an anonymous actress.

Bedtime Story
(1964, Lankershim/Pennebaker/Universal). Marlon Brando, David Niven, Shirley Jones, Dody Goodman.
Producer
Stanley Shapiro.
Director
Ralph Levy. Trivia: Brando's stand-in was a girl.

Where the Spies Are
(1965, MGM). David Niven, Francoise Dorleac, Cyril Cusack, John Le Mesurier, Nigel Davenport.
Producers
Val Guest, Steven Pallos.
Director
Val Guest. Trivia: Niven was unable to master the idiosyncratic gearbox of the Cord 810 and subsequently drove it in bottom gear, resulting in its overheating. The scene was rewritten to work around the problem.

Lady L
(1965, Concordia/Champion/MGM). Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, David Niven, Claud Daupin.
Producer
Carlo Ponti.
Director
Peter Ustinov. Trivia: The film was originally intended as a comedy vehicle for
Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida and Sir Ralph Richardson, with George Cukor directing.

Eye of the Devil
(1966, Filmways/MGM). Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Donald Pleasance, Edward Mulhare, Flora Robson.
Producers
Martin Ransohoff, John Calley.
Director
J. Lee Thompson. Trivia: Filming began with Kim Novak as the leading lady but when she was injured in a riding accident eight weeks into production she was replaced by Deborah Kerr.

Casino Royale
(1967, Famous Artists/Columbia). Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Orson Welles, Joanna Pettet, Daliah Lavi, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, William Holden, Charles Boyer, John Huston.
Producers
Charles K. Feldman, Jerry Bressler.
Directors
John Huston, Ken Hughes, Val Guest, Robert Parrish, Joe McGrath, Richard Talmadge, Anthony Squire. Trivia: For a brief uncredited cameo, Peter O'Toole was paid a case of champagne.

The Extraordinary Seaman
(1968, MGM/Frankenheimer/Lewis). David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda, Mickey Rooney.
Producer
Edward Lewis.
Director
John Frankenheimer. Trivia: While filming a scene in which Niven falls into the sea, he saw a dorsal fin, yelled, ‘Shark!' and refused to get back into the sea for another take. Director Frankenheimer insisted it was a dolphin but Niven took no chances.

Prudence and the Pill
(1968, 20th Century-Fox). Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Robert Coote, Irina Demick, Edith Evans.
Producers
Kenneth Harper, Ronald Kahn.
Directors
Fielder Cooks, Ronald Neame. Trivia: Niven wore a watch in the film given to him by Deborah Kerr.

The Impossible Years
(1968, Marten Productions/MGM). David Niven, Lola Albright, Chad Everett, Ozzie Nelson, Christina Ferrare, Jeff Cooper.
Producer
Lawrence Weingarten.
Director
Michael Gordon. Trivia: Film debut of 18-year-old Christina Ferrare, later wife of disgraced auto executive John DeLorean. She later gave up acting and became a born-again Christian and TV personality.

Before Winter Comes
(1969, Windward/Columbia). David Niven, Topol, Anna Karina, John Hurt, Anthony Quayle.
Producer
Robert Emmett Ginna.
Director
J. Lee Thompson. Trivia: Niven agreed to do the film without reading the script because of his unending gratitude to director J. Lee Thompson for
The Guns of Navarone
.