The History of
Celia and Trevor
“Brief
Encounter” was Trevor Howard’s ‘breakthrough role’ in modern parlance. Until
then, he had only had a couple of bit parts in wartime flicks such as “The Way
to the Stars”. Of course, he wasn’t new
to acting, he had put in some well received performances on the stage, both in
the West End and in Stratford-on-Avon.
He had also studied at RADA. But to give someone such an intense role
without a solid cinematic track record seems to be rather a risk. However, it
paid off. Celia does get all of the
acting plaudits it is true. The crew seem to have preferred working with her
too, finding her more professional and efficient. There seems to have been
issues with Trevor taking a slack attitude to learning his lines. But it is
difficult to imagine anyone other than him playing Dr Alec Harvey.
Howard’s
personal life is in fact rather more interesting than his role. In 1940 he
joined the Royal Signals and publicity from early on in his career suggested
acts of heroism. After his death, it emerged that these heroisms were fictional
and he had in fact been invalided out due to mental health issues. These
perhaps stem from his early life. He was born in Cliftonville in 1913, but
moved around a lot with his mother, while his father worked in insurance. It seems that he was left alone regularly, and
reading between the lines he may well have grown up lonely and feeling unloved
by his parents. Perhaps he forever
sought approval, no matter the morality behind his actions.
Off
screen he lived for cricket – and a regular tipple. He married actress Helen
Cherry.
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| "I have promised David Lean not to punch you on the nose today" |
Celia
Johnson was a little more experienced than Trevor Howard, and had appeared in
two previous Noel Coward/David Lean collaborations – “In Which We Serve” and
“This Happy Breed.” Previous to her appearance in film she had also had a
successful stage career throughout the 1930s after finishing her course of
study at RADA.
It
is said that Celia turned to film and radio work because of other pressures
that made taking on a long London theatre run undesirable. Married to
journalist Peter Fleming (brother of Bond writer Ian), she had given birth to
the first of her three children in 1939. When war broke out, she took on
several roles outside of the entertainment industry. She enrolled as an
Auxiliary Policewoman in Henley-on-Thames as well as helping to maintain the
farm that she lived on. She also took in several relatives – and all this while
her career continued, albeit at a lower key.
I
read recently that Celia earned considerably more than Trevor for her role in
“Brief Encounter”. If this is true – how refreshing! She certainly deserved it, and apparently had
to show a great deal of patience as well as talent, sitting through numerous
takes while Howard fluffed his lines. Although the pair got on alright, no
great friendship blossomed on this film set.
Celia
had been hand- picked by Coward to play Laura Jesson and he was very pleased at
being proved correct. I’ll finish with a typically modest entry in Coward’s
diary from June 1945:
“Saw
a very rough cut of “Brief Encounter”. Delighted with it. Celia quite
wonderful, Trevor fine and obviously a new star. Whole thing beautifully played
and directed – and, let’s face it, most beautifully written.”
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