The White Cliffs of Dover ( 1944 )

  I have loved England dearly and deeply, since that first morning, shining and pure, 

  The White Cliffs of Dover, I saw rising steeply, Out of the sea that once made her secure.
  I had no thought then of husband or lover, I was a traveler, the guest of a week.
  Yet when they pointed " the white cliffs of dover!", startled I found there were tears on my cheek.

It is with these poetic words that the film The White Cliffs of Dover begins. Based on the narrative poem by Alice Duer Miller, The White Cliffs of Dover tells the story of an American widow ( Irene Dunne ) who, in a war-torn London of the 1940s, reflects back on the life she found overseas and the husband she lost in the Great War. Spanning twenty-some years of her past, we follow Susan Dunn from the first day she arrives in England as a young woman travelling with her father ( Frank Morgan ), to her first ball and her chance encounter with a baron ( Alan Marshall ) who, instantly smitten with this Yankee, persuades her to extend her stay and spend a few weeks with his family. Thus begins a new life for Susan, a life filled with moments of happiness and later.... great sorrow.

The first time I saw this film, it was the story that appealed to me; now having seen it more recently it is the quality of the film that becomes its notable feature. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the grand lady of the great film studios and when it came to telling a tale of honor, patriotism, and self-sacrifice, she knew how to give the audiences the best she could give in entertainment. Hence, this film abounded with top-notch performances from MGM's roster of stars, beautiful sets, a well-written script, and, above all, that Louis B. Mayer trademark stamp of approval - class. Graced with a stellar cast including many of Hollywood's famed British "colony": Gladys Cooper, Roddy McDowall, Dame May Whitty, Sir C.Aubrey Smith, Peter Lawford and a very young ( and uncredited ) Elizabeth Taylor, this picture is indeed oozing with sophistication.

Ronald Colman had originally purchased the rights to Ms. Miller's poem and he may have possibly thought of starring in a production of it himself, but instead he sold the rights to Clarence Brown, who in turn sold it to MGM on the condition that he be the director of the picture. Clarence Brown had recently completed filming The Human Comedy, which became a personal favorite of Louis B.Mayer's and, like that film, The White Cliffs of Dover is a story of war, the soldiers who fought it, and the courage their loved ones at home had to muster to face a life without them. It was, understandably, a common theme at the time, and Mrs. Miniver ( 1942 ) - another MGM production - is probably the best example of that genre. 

Although The White Cliffs of Dover never won critical praise or garnered any awards like Mrs. Miniver, it nevertheless is a noteworthy production with a distinct charm of its own. Interestingly enough, the film's flag-waving message was written in such a way that you cannot help feeling patriotic about England and America at the same time. Our heroine was clearly not intending to spend her entire life in England and, when she first encounters the baron's family, their compliments on how "very un-American" she is hurts her. She is sorely tempted to return home. But her future husband persuades her to stay, and she comes to love his family and their England as "dearly and deeply" as a native. Still, throughout her life, she holds on to her American spirit and proudly has her infant son wave to the US soldiers as they march through London on their way to battle the foe overseas, reminding him that he is "half a Yankee!".

It is at the end of the film that the audience gets to share in the moral that she had to learn the hard way : having pride in being American, or in being English was not the issue at stake, but the important thing was to unite to fight the common enemy, the Axis forces, to pave the way for future peace. The White Cliffs of Dover was released in May, 1944...exactly one year before VE day.

C. Aubrey Smith on England, Cricket, Actors and Pictures

He puffed meditatively at his briar pipe. C. Aubrey Smith, like most Britishers, smokes a briar. He has his own pet mixture, compounded after the English trick to blending tobacco that Hollywood has never quite mastered. To hear him lecture on it is like reading a chapter of “My Lady Nicotine.” 

“It started when Sir Walter Raleigh first brought back the weed,” remarked the famous M-G-M character actor, as he puffed away between scenes on the studio floor. 

“Smokers began flavouring it, sometimes with rum, and blending different varieties, ageing it, and so on, until they found the secret. As soon as a Britisher goes to college, he forms his own particular taste in tobacco — just as a writer forms a style in writing.” 

Aubrey’s pipe is a great solace to him. It helps him think and relax. A typical Britisher is Smith, tall, athletic, with piercing grey eyes, bushy eyebrows, his London accent intact, as well as his British outlook and loyalty. He might have stepped out of Kipling. He could have been the actor member of the group of pals in the Sir James Barne book on the delights of smoking. 

A Londoner, he attended Charterhouse school, and graduated from Cambridge, where he first won fame, not as an actor, but as a cricketer. He later captained Sussex and was also in command of English teams in Australia and South Africa. 

Playing for the Sussex County Cricket Club 

“American baseball,” he remarked, " has some of the thrills of cricket — it’s an interesting game and I like it — but an old hand like me would never be bothered to get the hang of the American pitching.” 

It was his prowess in cricket, doubtless, that gave Smith that strong, athletic figure he carries to this day. As an officer in Daybreak he was superb. Six feet two in his stockinged feet, he weighs 184 pounds — solid bone and muscle. 

He still is devoted to cricket and golf. Amateur photography is another of his hobbies. He reads avidly, and knows almost every play ever produced. 

He is staunchly loyal to the land of his birth. He still maintains his home in Middlesex, though with the great success he has achieved in Hollywood it may be a long time before he sees it again. 

It was in 1892, after his cricket tours, that Smith first took up the stage — not in any great theatre in London, but in a provincial stock company at Hastings. “I think we take a greater pride in our profession in England, and I know that the public is more loyal to its favourites,” he told me. 

In The Flag Lieutenant with Cyril Maude

“It is an almost everyday occurrence to see a London audience give an ovation to some player who has been a favourite for years and years. 

“In America favourites pass more quickly. Life is faster in the States. Britishers don't like to be hurried in the American manner.” 

This respect for the profession in England, Smith believes, is largely due to the fact that there is more tradition behind the stage — from the days when the Bard of Avon wrote and directed his plays. Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Sir George Alexander, Sir John Hare — such names and names like those of Garrick, Keane, Mansfield — these cast a lustre about the traditions of the stage in England. 

Smith played with Sir George Alexander in a number of plays in London — "As You Like It", "The Prisoner of Zenda", "A Man of Forty", "The Wilderness".

He played in New York in "Hamlet" and "The Light that Failed". "The Morals of Marcus", "The Legend of Lenora", and others are among his successes. His last stage appearance was in "The Way to Treat a Woman". 

One of these stage plays incidentally led to the talkies — "The Bachelor Father". Smith was brought to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios to play his stage role in the talkie version, starring Marion Davies. Then followed Daybreak, Never the Twain Shall Meet, The Man in Possession, Just a Gigolo, and Son of India. 

With Robert Montgomery in The Man in Possession

He was no stranger to the camera. In 1915, early days of even the silent pictures, he appeared in Builder of Bridges, when Frohman, the theatrical magnate, was trying to become a film producer. He made several other pictures in England. 

“There is a vast difference between American picture methods and those in England,” Smith said. “ In America it's so much more organized. You have your producer, your director, production managers, assistants, all working in a well-oiled machine. 

“In England the director is the centre of things, as on the stage— and of course much more of the atmosphere of the stage pervades, as the players are practically all stage people. In fact, we haven't got away from simply filming stage plays entirely yet. The hugeness of the organization in Holly- wood always astounds me.” 

Audiences are different, too, Smith believes. 

"A London audience has a certain psychology, and a certain loyalty to players — yet it is a harsh audience if you give it something it doesn't like. Its likes and dislikes are often more positive than those of audiences in America. American audiences have a greater capacity for enthusiasm. 

“The first thing the British actor learns is clear enunciation and correct speech," the actor declared, in outlining his early career. "Pure speech has been one of the traditions of the stage since the days of Shakespeare. It is a good thing because it fosters the love of pure speech in the public at large. I hope the talkies will do the same thing from the screen.” 

After all, he believes, the actor is something of an educator — another thing to be proud of in a profession in which he takes a very intense pride.

This article originally appeared in The Film Lovers Annual published in 1932. To find more stories like this, check out the other posts in our series - Movie Magazine Articles. Enjoy!