Latest news with #GoneWithTheWind
Irish Examiner
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Renault 5 EV review: retro looks meet modern tech in electric supermini reboot
it might not go terribly far, but it does so brilliantly JUST like the movies, it would seem, the motor industry appears incapable of allowing past great moments to simply revel in their greatness. Seeing as how Hollywood — or wherever is the epicentre of the movie world these days — has seemingly re-made every single great movie from the past, apart maybe from Gone With The Wind, to try and turn it into profitable dollars for a second time, car makers sometimes feel equally in thrall to their own greatest hits. Consistently, they go back to the font of greatness which spawned wonderful originals to either attempt to revive currently dire circumstances, or simply to trick the public into believing they have not lost the magic which made those cars great in the first place. We are not talking here about such as, say, the Toyota Corolla, which has rolled from generation to generation without a pause in profitability or popularity. No, we are talking about cars which were once generational icons and which have been revived spectacularly. The most obvious example has been BMW's Mini; the Germans took over Austin Rover (or whatever it was called when it was sold off for a few quid and a McDonald's voucher), with the sole intention of reviving the Mini brand. That must have been the case because they, in turn, sold everything else off — MG, Rover, Land Rover, etc, apart from the Mini brand. Their success in revitalising it has been inspirational. So too the Fiat 500, the modern version of which possibly single-handedly saved the Italian company's bacon and spawned a whole family of cars with everything in there from a speedy Abarth version to the dull-as-ditchwater MPV. Lately, though, we have seen a raft of former greats being dug up from the grave, dusted down, and given a second life. Most recently, Renault has been close to the top of this pile, with old hit makers being given a chance to top the charts again. The Renault 4 — the new one — will be with us soon, but while we are waiting for that, we can ogle at the new Renault 5. Already a European Car of the Year (COTY) winner last year, the original R5, of course, vanished into the mist when it was replaced by the Clio in 1990. Now, while the Clio itself was a hugely successful car (one of only two cars to have won the European COTY prize twice), there was always a place for the car it took over from in the hearts of motoring savants everywhere. That being so, Renault decided to build a new one, and that's what we're testing this week. Like so many reenvisioned motors these days, the R5 has been reawakened solely as an EV, so it's not quite the car it once was, but that's OK too, because we have moved along somewhat in the intervening years. The end result, however, is spectacular. Renault 5 futuristic interior Those of you who remember the old 5 will see the new one and, more than likely, think: 'Wow, they sure got this one right.' While the designers have woven in plenty of modernity in the new car, there is just enough retro character imbued in it for people of a certain age to get misty-eyed. And I would be one of them. Not long after coming to Cork to work for this august organ, I owned one — GIO 84, was the registration number, and that identified it as originally having been registered in Kildare under Ireland's pre-1987 registration system. Dark blue, it was and very pretty, although by today's standards of technology, it was most certainly prehistoric. There was no central locking, no power steering, no radio, no auto gearbox, no ABS — none of that malarkey. But it was a tiger and made it through many experiences which, undoubtedly, the designers had never intended it for. Roomy, practical, and possibly quicker than many other contemporary superminis, the R5 amounted to more than the sum of its parts and, interestingly, that is a conclusion I also arrived at when assessing the new one recently. In its 'pop yellow' overcoat, it certainly caught the eye, and the bi-colour roof further stood it out from the crowd. That the body is roughly the same shape as the original and yet still looks of this moment is a tribute to the detailed work of the designers who truly have forged something new from old building blocks. Certainly, it is not perfect as there are a couple of things that should annoy most sensible people, but it sure comes close. The new R5 is new from the ground up and is the first car based on the AmpR Small platform, which will underpin a bunch of new Renault models, including the R4. That fact means the car has been built to do loads of things, including supporting vehicle-to-grid technology, so you can power your home from it. Cool, or what? New too is the whole interior, and it is largely made from recycled materials, including the vivid yellow and grey upholstery. So French is it that you can even specify a baguette holder, but quirks like that aside, it really is very modern and stacked with tech, to the point you're left wondering how the original managed to function at all. The new Renault 5 EV The infotainment system is excellent — much is shared with the new Megane and Scenic — but one downside is the stalk arrangement on the steering column for the lights, indicators, wipers, and sound system control, which is fussy and takes a while to get used to. This is not a big car, and that's reflected in the amount of room afforded to the rear seat passengers, and the boot is tidy rather than generous. Performance-wise, there is an element of Jekyll and Hyde going on. The test car's battery — 52 kWh — is the bigger of the two offered and produces some 148bhp, as well as a top speed of 150km/h and a 0-100km/h time of eight seconds dead. By way of reference, that's only a smidgen behind the capability of the R5 GT Turbo of the 1990s, which was regarded as very hot back in the day. It is thus quite quick, but has the handling nous to cope, and at no point did you get the feeling that the chassis was overwhelmed. That was in stark contrast with the original, it has to be said. The ride, too, is accomplished and very forgiving in Irish conditions. If, however, you were expecting deal-breaking range performance from this, most modern of hatchbacks, forget it. The claimed range is 410km, but I found that wildly optimistic. I know I have a heavy right foot at the best of times, but the 320km maximum I extracted from the car suggested to me that — in reality — this is a town car that'll only get a little way beyond your urban boundaries. Moderate journeys are possible, but getting to Aunty Maisie's funeral in Ballybofey will be challenging. Despite the downsides, this is still a fantastic piece of kit, and while some might blanche at such things as the colour schemes, their antipathy should be ignored. I found pretty much everything about the new R5 to be delightful, and that's why it gets a five-star rating. Read More Volvo XC90 review: hybrid SUV blends luxury with practicality but shows its age on the road
New Paper
2 days ago
- Sport
- New Paper
Choi's Platinum Boss is all set to turn to gold
With 12 races beckoning on June 22, racegoers would like nothing better than to get off to a flying start. Rhett Butler in Race 1 and Tangesh in Race 2 could be worth some thought early in the day, split between the two Class 5 divisions over 1,150m. Both gallopers tossed in decent training gallops on the morning of June 18. The Nick Selvan-trained Rhett Butler loosened up with a spot of cantering before turning on the after-burners to run the final 600m in 39sec. The three-time winner is plying his trade in lowly Class 5B, but his win over the Ipoh 1,400m on May 11 was noteworthy. He came from third at the 400m mark to win despite drifting out over the concluding stages. While the 1,150m does appear to be on the short side for the Charm Spirit four-year-old, he is not out of it. At his debut on April 29, 2023 when he was under the care of Donna Logan at Kranji, he blitzed his rivals in a race over the 1,100m. Rhett Butler can sprint. Come June 22, he could make the board - at a price. Still wary because it is a tricky Class 5 race? Well, just remember what his namesake said in the movie, Gone With The Wind. "With enough courage, you can do without a reputation." As for Tangesh, he settled for some serious cantering and should be good to go in the Class 5A event. The Deep Field six-year-old's last-start second to Joyee Go on May 25 was sound but he was still beaten by four lengths. It was the second time in his last three outings that the Charles Leck-trained three-time winner had to play second fiddle, having found one to beat in Loving Babe in a race on April 20. Tangesh deserves a winning break and the thing going for him is the fact that he knows what it is like to win a race, and his form figures look good. Going back to March 16 they read: 1-2-4-2. To help him along, Tangesh will get the riding services of leading jockey Andre da Silva, which is a big plus. But perhaps the one with the best shot at getting a win on June 22 is Platinum Boss. Entered in Race 6, a Class 3 (1,400m), the son of Rageese was in a galloping mood when sent out for his work on June 18. One of a handful to go fast on the day, he clocked 37.5sec for the 600m. From a small team of five for the upcoming meeting, Platinum Boss could be the ace in trainer Ricky Choi's poker hand. Owned by the Platinum Racing Stable, Platinum Boss has yet to open his Malaysian account in three starts, but he does know a thing or two about winning races. Until being flown out to join Choi's stables at Sungai Besi, Platinum Boss was quite a hit in Macau where he won four races, all over 1,200m. Now a six-year-old, he will be having his fourth Malaysian outing on June 22 and it comes in the wake of his last-start third to Sacred Buddy in the Penang Turf Club Memorial Trophy (1,100m) on May 31. Given the fact that this New Zealand-bred knows how to win, his breakthrough performance on Malaysian turf could come sooner rather than later. Then, and again from the training track, there was Elliot Ness. Another one from Selvan's yard, he had a breezy workout, cantering to loosen up before running the 600m in 39sec. The Written Tycoon seven-year-old's Malaysian campaign has so far been rather lukewarm. But he is hardly what one would call a washout. Until being sent over when racing folded in Singapore last Oct 5, Elliot Ness won four races over the sharp sprints. Until just a race ago on May 25, he had been taking on Class 3 opposition. Down in grade, he will get his chance in the Class 4A race (1,200m) slated as Race 8 on June 22. But he will have to jump from an outside gate (15) which will surely test him. Still, he deserves a second look and, maybe, a vote of confidence. brian@
Vancouver Sun
08-06-2025
- General
- Vancouver Sun
The Bookless Club: Do you have a Little Free Library in your neighbourhood?
Vancouver has 22 civic libraries. Victoria has 12. The streets of these two cities, however, have well over 1,000 unincorporated 'little libraries'. You've seen them, of course. Those quaint little bird-house structures, placed along sidewalks, usually with a glassed-in front to keep the contents safe from the elements. Inside these little boxes there is always the oddest selection of books, and almost always something that will pique your interest. Victoria, in particular, seems to have taken to this citizen book exchange idea in a big way. I was recently in that city and took dozens of photos of these creative little structures. Clearly, it's not enough to just stick a box on a post — you've got to bring some imagination to the task … and certainly some carpentry skills, too. Many of these mini lending libraries are made to replicate the exterior of the houses they sit in front of. Some take their inspiration from literature itself — say, a Hogwarts theme, or Tara from Gone With The Wind. I lost count of the number of little libraries, but Greater Victoria Place-Making Network shows a map of their LFL — Little Free Libraries — and the unofficial count is in the range of 1,000. The network even offers a LFL Bingo card where the task is to find things such as a Danielle Steele novel, anything in French, a textbook, or a LFL made from old furniture. None of this existed at the turn of the century. The LFL movement began in 2009 in Wisconsin, as a son's tribute to a book-loving mom. Todd Bol's mother was a teacher. When she died, he built a model of a one-room schoolhouse and filled it with books, then put it up on his front lawn. The lending principle was, 'Take a book. Leave a book.' People loved his little lending library, so he made several and gave them away to friends and family. Shortly thereafter, a professor from the University of Wisconsin saw an LFL and contacted Bol, suggesting that they expand the idea. They took as their inspiration Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish philanthropist who set out to create over 2,500 free libraries for the English-speaking world. The goal of the LFL was to match the number of Carnegie's libraries by the end of 2013. Well, by early 2012, Bol's humble project leapt well beyond that target, a year and a half ahead of plan. The Little Free Library idea grew into a global movement. Bol would die in 2018 from pancreatic cancer, but not before the organization he created celebrated the landmark 75,000th Little Free Library. Shortly before his death, he restated the mission behind his novel idea: 'I really believe in a Little Free Library on every block, and a book in every hand. I believe people can fix their neighbourhoods, fix their communities, develop systems of sharing, learn from each other, and see that they have a better place on this planet to live.' So, that's the back story behind those darling little houses you see perched on posts on sidewalks … and isn't it grand? Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She writes The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane's up to, check out her website, Question: Do you have a Little Free Library in your neighbourhood? What's the story behind it? Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at thebooklessclub@ . We will print some next week in this space. Question: What were the backyard games in your neighbourhood? • In my childhood in Tehran we played a game called Donkey. It was a little complicated, but you needed two teams, and one side would back up blindly and the other side would jump on their backs. Part of the fun was that you would have to hold the other person up for as long as you could. It was so very much fun. Valentin Yersian • Our game was called Relievo. It was a take on Hide And Seek. You could sneak up unseen and tag the power pole home base to relieve those already caught. This went on in the back alley and on the hill behind our houses for hours. Great fun for neighbourhood kids of any age. Joan Kowalenko • This game starts with two people. It can be more, but you only need two to make it work. Each person gathers 10 rocks. One person says to the other, 'I'm going to guess how many rocks you have in your hand.' The other person can put one, none or 10 in their hand, but the person has to guess the amount. If they are right, they get the rocks. If they're wrong, they have to give the other person the amount that they were wrong by. The winner of the game is who ends up with 20 rocks. If playing with more people, when you run out of rocks, you're out of the game. This game was started at the beach by my mother who was trying to teach three little girls counting and patience. I now play it at the lake in Nakusp with my grandchildren, who all loved it. Judy Toffolo • My best friend, Gilles, and I were the oldest kids on our block. When our large group of young children gathered together, we had to keep the little ones entertained. It was a challenge to keep them from getting bored, so we put on plays. I had a patio on the back of our house that doubled as an outdoor theatre. Admission to our plays was one clothespin. Once we got over the quarrels over who was going to be in the play and who would be the audience, we began. The young ones' favourites were our comedies, especially the two carpenters. Gilles and I played inept carpenters who would keep messing up our projects. My mother had to step in and halt the play when I swung a two-by-four, narrowly missing Gilles every time. E. Drieling • Yes, Red Rover was lots of fun because all different ages could play together, although us littler kids would sometimes get knocked about. Same goes for Tag, or Hide And Seek. The girls used to do a lot of rope skipping (Double Dutch!) and have Dolly Tea Parties. We boys spent many summer hours playing at Livestock Management Technicians and Indigenous Warriors. Sometimes we would hop on our bikes and raid the tea parties if there were cookies to be had. And lots of exploring on our bikes — neither mom nor grandma seemed obsessed with knowing my whereabouts, as long as I turned up on time for lunch and dinner. Bruno Bandiera • Red River Rover. We call such and such over. That's what we sang in Kamloops around 1955 or so. Besides, 'Red Rover, Red Rover' just doesn't have a sing-song quality. Other games we played were marbles, skipping, jacks, and civil war, plus Pigs and Wolf — my favourite. Sheila Humphrey • Growing up in East Van, no one seemed to mind that we played '500' or 'Cherry' with a baseball bat and ball, hockey with a tennis ball and our coats as goals, or 'Yards', throwing or kicking a football, 'Kick the Can' and 'Night Tag' on 30th Avenue by Fraser St. No one shouted at us to get out of their yard or not hit their parked car or to keep it down. I recall getting trapped on a neighbour's back porch while playing tag one evening, so I simply opened the back door and proceeded to walk through the main floor of the house. 'Hi, Mr. Holmes. Hello, Mrs. Holmes' as they watched TV, and then I skedaddled out their front door. Times were much simpler in the late-1960s. Dirk van Renesse
News18
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
6 Romantic Hollywood Films For A Summer Movie Marathon With Partner
Last Updated: This dreamy romantic plot of Before Sunrise tells the story of two strangers falling in love with each other. There's always something magical about warm summer nights. With a light breeze and the scent of something sweet in the air, summer nights make for the perfect excuse to stay in and cosy up with your bae. Whether you want to escape the heat or are just craving some quality time, a movie marathon is always a good idea. Here are six movie ideas that will be perfect for a movie marathon with your partner: When Harry Met Sally—Amazon Prime Video This timeless classic film follows the encounter between the title characters, culminating in a short-term friendship over their shared drive to New York City. Years later they cross paths again, and they're forced to deal with their feelings for each other. At its core, this classic Nora Ephron film addresses the age-old question, 'Can men and women ever just be friends?" Before Trilogy —Netflix/Amazon Prime Video This dreamy romantic Trilogy tells the story of two strangers falling in love with each other. With Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight – the movie series explores the twists and turns of the relationship between Jesse and Celine. From meeting on a train journey to getting to know each other and finding comfort and love in one another, the trilogy touches upon every aspect of a budding romance and ultimately provides an honest view of a long-term relationship and the problems that come with it. With deep conversations and emotional confrontation, the film proves that even soulmates need to fight for their love and to stay connected. The Princess Bride – JioHotstar The ultimate fairy tale mashup captures romance, comedy, and adventure with a hint of fantasy as Buttercup, a princess, falls in love with Westley, a farm boy. Their enchanting love story blooms in all its glory as the couple fights all evils to rekindle after a long separation. Gone With The Wind – Amazon Prime Video Adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel, Gone With The Wind is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. This epic historical romance follows Scarlet O'Hara, a strong-willed woman chasing her love Ashley Wilkes, who is married to his cousin. With dramatic twists, burning passion, and the grandeur of characters, the film always remains a classic. The Notebook—Amazon Prime Video The classic Nicholas Sparks film follows the love story of Noah and Allie. Hailing from different worlds, the couple faces countless problems as they strive to be together. But their bond endures all heartbreaks and the intense test of time as Noah and Allie end up together forever. The first encounter, 365 love letters, and the iconic rain-soaked kiss culminate into one of the greatest love stories of all time that perfectly embodies the 'till death do us part" emotion. Based on Jane Austen's one of the greatest novels, Pride and Prejudice is the perfect slow-burn love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Set against the backdrop of Regency England, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's love story unfolds in ballrooms, banters, and against all societal odds. This iconic period drama is a must-watch for couples. First Published:
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Tragic tales of three Hollywood legends killed in World War II revealed in honor of Memorial Day
As the Second World War ravaged the globe, every sort of person was swept inexorably into its grisly vortex - royals and villagers, dockworkers and debutantes, plucky daredevils and cowardly psychopaths. Even Hollywood, then at its pinnacle of glamour and sophistication, found itself hemorrhaging lives to the titanic struggle engulfing the planet. A debonair movie star who brought his cut-glass English élan to America and acted in the highest-grossing movie of all time then had his career cut hideously short when he was shot down by the Luftwaffe. A ravishing blonde who established herself as one of the queens of the screwball comedy lost her life when her tempestuous marriage to an A-list screen idol collided disastrously with her pioneering war work. And one musical icon went missing in action the night before the Battle of the Bulge began and was never found, leaving a generation of his shattered fans clinging to wild theories about how he might somehow have survived. This Memorial Day, as America honors its war dead, remembers three showbiz legends killed in the bloodiest conflict in human history.... Leslie Howard In December 1939, three months after Hitler invaded Poland, the faraway city of Atlanta, Georgia played host to the star-studded premiere of the most feverishly hyped movie Hollywood had ever seen. Gone with the Wind, with its intoxicating blend of Civil War history and doomed romance, plus the electrifying central performances by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, exploded onto the scene as an instant classic. But one of the main stars was absent from the Atlanta gala, having already rushed back to his native Britain when it entered the war against Nazi Germany. Leslie Howard, born to a Hungarian Jewish father with the surname Steiner, had fashioned himself a screen persona so frostily elegant that any outsider might have imagined he came from the crème de la crème of the English upper classes. He established himself as a towering figure of interwar British cinema, playing Sir Percy Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel and Henry Higgins in a movie of George Bernard Shaw's comic masterpiece Pygmalion. But his most enduring role was in Hollywood's Gone with the Wind as the wanly indecisive Southern gentleman Ashley Wilkes, the husband of Olivia de Havilland's Melanie and the unshakable romantic obsession of Vivien Leigh's Scarlett O'Hara. The year 1939 saw Howard poised for a sensational career as a Hollywood A-lister, riding high as one of the main characters in a box office juggernaut. But after Neville Chamberlain declared war that September, Howard bought himself out of his Hollywood contract, relinquished his royalties and raced home. He quickly became a deft propagandist for the Ministry of Information, starring in movies about the inventor of the Spitfire and the escape of Jewish refugees, to the mounting fury of Joseph Goebbels. By May 1943, he had proven his mettle enough to be sent on a mission to neutral Spain and Portugal, both of which were under rightist dictators but also potentially susceptible to Howard's charms, particularly Madrid, where the iron-fisted generalissimo Francisco Franco apparently quite liked Gone with the Wind. But Howard, having spiraled into a depression after the recent meningitis death of his mistress Violette Cunnington, was recklessness itself. While on his madcap Iberian trip, he had a fling with a baroness even though he was told she might be a Nazi spy and also crossed paths with his ex, the local actress Conchita Montenegro - who claimed more than half a century later that Howard attempted to use her fascist husband's connections as a means of bending Franco's ear. In the end, when he was leaving Lisbon to go home, Howard held a ticket on a commercial KLM plane that often went from Portugal to England under an arrangement whereby civilian flights would be left alone by both sides. But he rescheduled his trip to be a day earlier than planned, such that two passengers had to be kicked off to accommodate the movie star and his pudgy cigar-chomping agent, who bore a distinct resemblance to Winston Churchill, according to the book Flight 777: The Mystery of Leslie Howard by Ian Colvin. The Luftwaffe shot his flight down over the Bay of Biscay, killing everyone onboard. Why did the Germans obliterate the civilian plane - an airline from a country, the Netherlands, that they had already occupied? The topic is a wellspring of conjecture to this day: Did they mistake Howard's agent for the real Churchill? Was Howard himself so effective an Allied propagandist that he became a target in his own right? Or was the whole episode an error? But amid all the speculation, the fact is that Howard's incandescent talent was snuffed out when he was just 50, and his remains were never discovered. Carole Lombard Carole Lombard looked like the woman who had it all: a glittering career as one of the top heroines of the Hollywood comedy and an envied marriage to America's premier rugged sex symbol, Clark Gable. But the luminous façade concealed a private life rocked by betrayal and insecurity, one that sent Lombard careening down the path to her destruction. She started off as a fuller-figured actress in silent movies, but when talkies arrived and standards shifted, Lombard found herself under intense pressure to rapidly lose weight or have her career cut off at the heels before it got fully off the ground. A studio executive pleaded with the house dietitian: 'We're supposed to give her parts. But look at that figure! Think you can do anything?' Lombard was plunged into a monastic regime of sad little green salads and gelatin desserts, presided over by a dietitian who bragged to Photoplay about how she 'pounded and squeezed and slapped that flesh away' from the actress' body. After wrenching herself down four dress sizes in three weeks, Lombard rose to become the sleek crown jewel of the screwball comedy. Along with her radiant beauty, she found herself in a genre where she got to be as funny as the men, matching her formidable comic chops up against those of John Barrymore in Twentieth Century and her ex-husband William Powell in My Man Godfrey, the latter of which earned her an Oscar nomination. As the shadow of war gathered over America, she remained a platinum blonde beacon of wit and chic, starring in one of Alfred Hitchcock's rare light comedies, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which came out at the dawn of 1941. That December, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Two weeks after the attack, Lombard and Gable summoned up a claque of Hollywood luminaries to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for an emergency summit of the Victory Committee actors' branch. Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Bob Hope, Claudette Colbert, Rosalind Russell, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Charles Boyer and more were in attendance, per Christian Blauvelt's book Hollywood Victory: The Movies, Stars, and Stories of World War II. Hollywood was mobilized to the cause of the Allied victory, and right from the start, Lombard was at the forefront of the war bond tours that became a key prong of the industry's contribution to the struggle. With Gable as the head of the Victory Committee and Lombard at his side, the pair emerged as the reigning power couple of Hollywood's war. But the united front they displayed to their fans belied a tortured relationship poisoned by a fatal strain of distrust. To the public, Gable was adored as the ultimate smoldering totem of raw male sexuality - but from inside the marriage, Lombard knew that the other edge of the sword was his ravenous appetite for other women. She repeatedly paid jealous visits to the set of her husband's 1941 movie Honky Tonk, where he was widely thought to have carried on an affair with his co-star Lana Turner, who later denied as much in her memoirs. By the time Lombard was about to embark on her war bond tour in January 1942, five weeks after Pearl Harbor, she and Gable were on the rocks. They had a furious row over his adultery the night before her departure, according to Robert Matzen's book Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3. When she boarded her train the next day, he neglected to see her off at the station - while she, demonstrating her ability to always find the joke, left a nude mannequin with blonde hair in their bed to tide him over while she was gone. Lombard thundered through a triumphant tour of her native Indiana, at one point selling $2 million worth of war bonds in a single day. But she was going to pieces inside, desperate to get back to Los Angeles and confront her straying husband in a bid to salvage the marriage. There has even been a nagging rumor that she was plotting to surprise Gable by reaching him early and catching him with Lana Turner. She was meant to take the train home, but she was unable to resist the urge to see her husband as soon as possible and so booked passage on a commercial flight. Dragging along her frightened mother and press agent, Lombard used her star power to hustle her way onto the full plane, undeterred by the dangerous winter weather or the fact they would have to stop multiple times in order to refuel. At the last minute, the frantic press agent tried to dissuade Lombard by wagering the decision on a coin toss, but he lost. The plane crashed into a mountain in Nevada on a dark night owing to pilot error, killing all 22 people onboard including Lombard, aged 33. In spite of his inability to stay true to her, Gable loved Lombard madly and was thrown into a frenzy of grief over her death, even attempting the climb the 7,800-foot mountain her flight hit in a vain mission to find her corpse. The month after she died saw the release of her last and perhaps best-loved movie To Be or Not to Be, a giddily vicious Ernst Lubitsch farce starring her and Jack Benny as an egomaniacal actor couple in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Her effervescent sparkle in the film had the same champagne fizz she always exhibited onscreen, but it was now overlaid with the haunting knowledge of her death during the very war she had just helped satirize. Glenn Miller As a bandleader, Glenn Miller had more Top 10 hits than either Elvis Presley or the Beatles got years later; pictured circa 1937 not long before he reached his peak of stardom Now that the Big Band Era has passed into the woozy haze of gentle nostalgia, it may be a surprise to remember what a superstar Glenn Miller was. A trombonist from Iowa who dropped out of college to pursue music, Miller worked his way up into the stratosphere of interwar American pop music. As a bandleader, he had more Top 10 hits than either Elvis Presley or the Beatles got years later, and he created some of the most lasting smash records of his genre, most famously Moonlight Serenade and Chattanooga Choo Choo. He cut the original recording of At Last nearly two decades before Etta James, amid a string of successes like Little Brown Jug, In The Mood and Tuxedo Junction. Miller commanded a devoted fanbase with his earworm ballads, breezy charisma and quirky smile, which sent more than a few of his female admirers swooning. By the time America entered the war, he was 38 years old with weak eyesight, and his attempts to enter the Navy were rebuffed - but he was still determined to forego his $20,000 weekly earnings and serve his country. His art, as usual, was his way through the door, and the Army Service Forces accepted his pitch to join up and try 'streamlining modern military music.' Miller gave his final civilian performance in New Jersey on September 27, 1942, three years to the day after Warsaw surrendered to the Nazis. He was taken under the wing of the commander of U.S. Army Air Forces, General Henry 'Hap' Arnold, who declared that Miller's work was 'my kind of music' and gave him license to recruit 38 of the best musicians from more than 400 continental bases to form his Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra. Miller brought his signature style to the front, adding strings to the big band and creating a sound that became the gold standard copied by his successors. 'The band helped the war effort. It made people want to join,' said Bill Chivalette, curator of the Air Force Enlisted Heritage Hall, to Air Force University Public Affairs. 'It helped with recruiting. They created the greatest orchestra of its time in the military. Their performances were wonderful. He truly had rock star status.' Miller took the show to Britain and then toured Europe, performing for over a million troops in 11 countries and playing on even when the bombs were falling nearby. His musicians were somewhat less delighted than his audiences, owing to his merciless perfectionism - one recalled a day known as 'Black Monday,' when Miller told every single performer precisely 'what he thought' of him. In December 1944, while France was in the process of being liberated, Miller, 40, was supposed to fly there from England to play, but to his increasing exasperation, the planes kept getting canceled because of bad weather. Ultimately, the irascible musician was so fed up he caught hold of an officer he knew who was flying across the English Channel on December 15 and hopped aboard, without getting authorized or even sending the information up the chain of command. The plane disappeared over the water and was never found. It took three days for Allied forces to even realize Miller was missing, as they were preoccupied with the Battle of the Bulge, which broke out hours after he vanished. The eventual investigation failed, and he was pronounced dead in absentia a year and a day after his disappearance, in accordance with U.S. military etiquette. His legions of fans went wild with heartache and seized on the mystery surrounding Miller's flight to formulate theories about how he might actually have arranged to go missing in order to be a spy, or for a woman, or to flee to South America, etc. Among those who accepted that he was dead, one line of thinking held that he was taken down by friendly fire, another that he made it to Paris but succumbed to a heart attack in the arms of a local prostitute, still another that he was at Allied headquarters in France and was killed in a Nazi assault. As late as 1989, there was a joke on The Golden Girls where Blanche (Rue McClanahan) mentions that 'Glenn Miller's dead' and Dorothy (Bea Arthur) emotionally bursts out: 'He's not dead! He's missing!' But most of his admirers resigned themselves to the likelihood that Miller's plane crashed into the English Channel, adding him and his two fellow passengers to the ranks of the millions killed in the conflict. He left behind his widow Helen, who had been his college sweetheart before he dropped out to launch his big band career, and their young son Steven. And he left behind his music, which was cherished for decades by countless listeners who had borne the same bereavement Helen did and held onto his records as a memory of their last dance with the loves they lost to the war.
