The Moon's a Balloon

 In every way as good as all the reviews. There are so many amazing anecdotes from this fascinating man. I thought he almost apologises for the number of famous people he meets along the way, it never feels as if he is bragging. His boyhood and teens are punctuated by pranks that get him into a lot of trouble. He is expelled from Heatherdown private school and was therefore refused by every other public school as a result. That is until the brand new school at Stowe where he just about survives.

On to Sandhurst, never entirely ridding himself of those pranks that were his earlier undoing, and joining the Highland Light Infantry. He is invited to America where his English accent made him. (I remember going to the cinema in the depths of Clearwater, miles away from the tourist spots, where the girls on reception insisted I talk about anything just to hear my voice). In America he lands on his feet, living like a prince with no money.

He becomes friends with Ann Todd whose acting career was booming. (In the fifties she lived in a big house in Holland Park and, having met my father in his shop on Kensington High Street, my brother and I were taken to visit her). Ann introduces Niven to Laurence Olivier who became a lifelong friend. A story about HMS Bounty is hilarious, but is important in that he arrives at the studios and meets the screenwriter and director Edmund Goulding. "I owe more to him than anyone else in the business". (He gave Niven his first screen test and directed him in 1938's "Dawn Patrol".

He turns down the role of Edgar in "Wuthering Heights" but is persuaded to change his mind and on the first day meets the star. Laurence Olivier is accompanied by Vivienne Leigh who is just there for a holiday. But she is seized upon by Hollywood mogul David Selznick to play Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" in front of many leading actresses hoping for the part. In Chapter Eleven, halfway through, Hollywood is going through a "British period" and Niven's Hollywood career takes off. he is meeting everyone famous in the next breathless pages. Sharing a house with Errol Flynn no less, the parties and the parties.

When war breaks out, Niven returns to England. His wartime exploits sees him rise trough the ranks. He marries Primmie and they have two children. I wish I had finished there. Back in America he finds it hard to resurrect his career but eventually succeeds, so much so he is awarded the Oscar for Best Actor in "Separate Tables". And then "The Guns of Navarone", a fitting conclusion for an amazing memoir.