Tag: Second World War

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Sam Smith Mystery Series

Lilac Cottage

Lilac Cottage

The Howe Family, 1939-45

When my 2 x great grandfather William Howe died on 14 May 1933 the newspapers carried the following obituary: “We regret to report the death of Mr William Howe, aged 78, of Wood View, Cornelly, who passed away on Sunday. Mr Howe was senior deacon at Cornelly Calvinistic Methodist Chapel and superintendent for many years at the Sunday School in South Cornelly. A man of Godly character and exemplary life, he was held in respect by all whom he came into contact with, and his memory will be cherish, especially by those who first learned the path of rectitude and duty at Cornelly Sunday School. He was employed for a number of years as the foreman to Mr Gaen at the quarries, and his fellow workmen were given a half day off to attend the funeral.”

The report continued with a long list of notable people who attended the funeral.

William died at Wood View, a house that remained in the family. However, he’d spent many years of his life at Lilac Cottage, South Cornelly. 

For decades after William’s passing his descendants, my ancestors, continued to live at Lilac Cottage. I intend to take a snapshot of their lives, focusing on the war years, 1939-45, and tell the story of the Lilac Cottage Howes who served on the Home Front and the Frontline. It’s a tale of ordinary people, of village life, and great sacrifice. It’s a story personal to me, yet common to many people. During 1939-45, Britain was full of “Lilac Cottages” and the lives of my Howes mirrored the lives of many people who lived through this challenging time.

Lilac Cottage, a watercolour by Priscilla Doreen Howe

The Howes at Lilac Cottage, 1939

William David Howe – son of William Howe

Gwendolyne Thomas – wife of William David Howe

Joan Mary Howe – daughter of William David Howe

William Kenneth Howe – son of William David Howe 

Clifford Roy Howe – son of William David Howe

Evan Howe – brother of William David Howe

Mary Ann Howe – sister of William David Howe

Also, Priscilla Doreen Howe – daughter of William David Howe – who in 1937 married Handel Edwards.

Living in Wood View, next door to Priscilla and Handel Edwards:

Christiana Howe – sister of William David Howe – her husband David T David, and their two children.

The cottage was divided in two with William David Howe and his family living in one part of the building and Evan and Mary Ann living in the other part.

Consider this the prologue. I will tell you more in Chapter One, next time.

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Movies ‘48

Movies ‘48 #1

My latest Golden Age of Hollywood article for the Seaside News appears on page 42 of the magazine.

Movie News – January 1, 1948

A party to announce the engagement of Lana Turner (pictured) to tinplate millionaire Henry J. Topping was hastily cancelled when Topping discovered that he couldn’t make the event. Four hundred invitations had been sent out to “the cream of Hollywood society and the international social world”.

Topping had proposed to Lana Turner at the 21 Club in New York City by dropping a diamond ring into her martini. The couple married in April 1948, and divorced in 1952.

Movie News – January 2, 1948

Film critics in New York named Deborah Kerr as the actress of the year for her performances in Black Narcissus and The Adventuress, a Second World War spy movie with comic touches. Released in Britain as I See a Dark Stranger, The Adventuress also featured Trevor Howard.

Movie News – January 3, 1948

Bing Crosby (pictured) was the silver screen’s box office favourite for the fourth successive year, Motion Picture Extra announced, after polling exhibitors. The runners up: Betty Grable, Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Bob Hope, Clark Gable, Gregory Peck, Claudette Colbert and Alan Ladd.

Movie News – January 4, 1948

Evacuated from London to Pasadena during the Second World War, and now taking Hollywood by storm after her appearance in National Velvet. many in the film industry, including Mickey Rooney, predicted that Elizabeth Taylor would be the “sensation of 1948”.

Movie News – January 5, 1948

“Only about fifteen percent of film made in Hollywood in 1948 will be based on original stories. The remainder will be based on ‘sure-fire successes’ – sixty-five percent will be remakes of old successes and the remaining twenty percent will be new versions of successful stage plays.”

One of the sure-fire successes, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, an adaptation of B.Traven’s 1927 novel of the same name.

Movie News – January 6, 1948

Films showing in British cinemas this week included The White Unicorn (also known as Bad Sister in America) starring Joan Greenwood and Margaret Lockwood, Duel in the Sun starring Jennifer Jones, Desert Fury starring Burt Lancaster, Uncle Silas starring Jean Simmons and Ivy starring Joan Fontaine.

Movie News – January 7, 1948

Sunday’s double feature at the Grand Theatre, Banbury: Tarzan’s Secret Treasure starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, and Man From Music Mountain with Roy Rogers.

My Latest Book News

Amazon charts. Betrayal, Ann’s War Book One, is #1 this weekend, Tula, The Golden Age of Hollywood Book One, is #12, and Sunshine, The Golden Age of Hollywood Book Two, is #10 on the Hot New Releases chart.

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #207

Dear Reader,

Latest Publications

Future Projects

Clara Bow’s forty-sixth movie was Three Weekends produced between September 10 and October 11, 1928, and released on December 8, 1928. Clara played Gladys O’Brien, a chorus girl.

Three Weekends is a lost movie, so we must rely upon the critics of the time for an opinion. Respected film critic Richard Watts Jr said, “Ever since Clara Bow had the doubtful fortune to be labelled the “It” Girl she has been placed in a wearying succession of unexhilarating comedies.” 

The producers had hit upon a formula: place Clara in a funny scene; place Clara in her underwear; place Clara in a funny scene in her underwear; repeat, repeat, repeat…

And the formula worked. Three Weekends made big money. However, some studios were now making talkies…

The Tatler, March 1933. Mary Pickford, Gary Cooper and Marion Davies at a party thrown by Gary Cooper. Mary was short, 4’ 10”, Gary was tall, 6’ 3”, and Marion loved to party 🍾

Port Arthur News, 23 December 1945

I stumbled across this article during my research into the murder of Hollywood film director William Desmond Taylor. The newspaper asked the question: which past and present actresses have to stand on a box during the love scenes? Here’s the answer 👇

Favourite Movie Quote of the 20th Century, First Round

Result: 63% v 37%

Result: 65% v 35%

Result: 60% v 40%

Result: 72% v 28%

Result: 63% v 37%

Result: 14% v 86%

Result: 46% v 54%

Social media https://toot.wales/@HannahHowe

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 38 occasions.

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Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #206

Dear Reader,

Some book news. Operation Zigzag, Eve’s War Heroines of SOE book one, is #1 on Amazon’s genre charts in America and France 🙂

Clara Bow’s forty-fifth movie was The Fleet’s In produced between June 18 and July 16, 1928, and released on September 15, 1928. Clara played Trixie Deane a “taxi dancer” who performed “The Clara Bow Stomp” with sailors for a dime a song. 

Clara was dancing in her private life too, in all-night gin-soaked jazz parties at her Malibu home. She was having a whale of a time. Or so she thought.

Comedian Jack Oakie met Clara at this time. He observed: “(When acting) she could turn even the simplest action into a moving one. The redhead was one of the greatest emotional actresses ever.”

Oakie was right, Clara Bow was a great emotional actresses. The tragedy: I don’t think Clara ever truly appreciated how good she was.

Hedy Lamarr was well cast in Dishonoured Lady (1947) as a hedonist who seeks help from a psychiatrist, then finds herself accused of murder. Hedy was married to one of her co-stars, John Loder, at the time of filming, but they divorced later in the year.

The Hays Office went into meltdown over this movie. They insisted that two love affairs in the script, one in Mexico and the other in New York, might be “overloading” the picture. They also objected to the “night of sordid passion.” 

A memo dated April 25, 1946 stated that, despite revisions, the script was unacceptable because of its “gratuitous sex”. Therefore, the “night of sordid passion” was cut from the film. 

All suggestions that Hedy’s character, Madeleine, was a murderer, or had even contemplated murder, were also removed from the film. Despite this, the plot remained solid, and the movie deserved a higher level of success.

The William O. Jenkins House, Norma Desmond’s house in Sunset Boulevard (1950). At the time of filming, the house was occupied by one of J. Paul Getty’s (five) former wives. As a condition of rental, she requested that Paramount Studios build her a new swimming pool, which they did, and promptly dropped William Holden’s “corpse” into it.

Favourite Movie Quote of the 20th Century, First Round

Result: 59% v 41%

Result: 80% v 20%

Result: 32% v 68%

Result: 57% v 43%

Result: 82% v 18%

Result: 56% v 44%

Result: 59% v 41%

Social media https://toot.wales/@HannahHowe

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 38 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂

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Dear Reader

Dear Reader #204

Dear Reader,

Yesterday, we published Operation Butterfly, book eleven in my Eve’s War Heroines of SOE series. I’m pleased to say that the book is doing well on Amazon’s genre charts.

Clara Bow’s forty-third movie was Red Hair produced between December 13, 1927 and January 9, 1928, and released on March 10, 1928. Clara played Bubbles McCoy. Sadly, the film is now considered lost. The opening sequence was filmed in two-strip Technicolor, and that sequence survives.

For the movie, Clara’s hair was bleached then dyed with henna to make it redder than ever. 

Red Hair was a success. Indeed, in terms of box office the only movies that could compete with a new Clara Bow movie were previous Clara Bow movies.

At this juncture, Clara parted company with producer B.P. Schulberg, the man who had boosted or blighted her career, depending on your point of view.

An incident during the making of Red Hair affected the lives of every female star. Clara was ‘different’ in many respects, including the fact that she menstruated twice a month. She was scheduled to shoot a swimming scene (producers and directors loved placing Clara in water), but she informed the assistant director, Fred Fleck, that she couldn’t. Shooting had to be suspended. Fleck informed Schulberg and Schulberg fired him. 

Word reached Clara and she played hell. She said the delay in shooting was not Fleck’s fault and that if Schulberg was going to fire anyone he should fire her. Schulberg reinstated Fleck and, of course, he did not fire Clara. 

This incident was typical of the way Clara stood up for the people around her. However, from that moment on every assistant director was informed of the menstrual cycle of every major star.

Favourite Movie Quote of the 20th Century Poll

Result: 29% v 71%

Result: 52% v 48%

Result: 42% v 58%

Result: 79% v 21%

Result: 66% v 34%

Result: 14% v 86%

Result: 26% v 74%

Result: 46% v 54%

Result: 15% v 85%

You can read more on my Timeline https://hannah-howe.com/timeline/2023-july-24-30/

Social media https://toot.wales/@HannahHowe

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

For Authors

#1 for value with 565,000 readers, The Fussy Librarian has helped my books to reach #1 on 38 occasions.

A special offer from my publisher and the Fussy Librarian. https://authors.thefussylibrarian.com/?ref=goylake

Don’t forget to use the code goylake20 to claim your discount 🙂