“You can say that I, also, am in love with my husband’s brother!”
Renée Houston, 1936
She always admired her brother-in-law Brian Aherne.
He stood for no nonsense, was gloriously funny and loyal to his British friends.
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BRIAN AHERNE (1902-1986)
The Motion Picture Star
Film Career
Brian Aherne made his first Hollywood picture for Paramount Pictures in 1933. He was tall and masculine but sensitive. He had a stubbornness and a free spirit – an attitude appealing to male cinema-goers at the time. His screen characters seemed endowed with traits that were ‘typically British’.
In American films, he was most frequently cast as a man in authority: impeccably mannered and meticulously groomed. He epitomised the debonair, self-assured British gentleman.
He played opposite some of the most glamorous actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age: Marlene Dietrich, Merle Oberon, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell, Carole Lombard, Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly, Jean Simmons and others . . .
Several leading ladies specifically requested him for their pictures.
He began his career in British Cinema starting in the Silent period. His early films attract a lot of interest. Back in the early sound era, British film industry friends included Alfred Hitchcock and Merle Oberon.
Above – The young male lead
A few highlights from Brian’s film career – from 1925 onwards . . .
Here’s a press cutting talking about his career in 1926:
Not enough interest is given to Brian’s first Talkie: a brilliant film – The W-Plan.
Brian’s English Rose, Madeleine Carroll
Brian Aherne conducts the orchestra in this scene from The Constant Nymph (1933). He’s world-famous composer Lewis Dodd. This scene was filmed at The Queen’s Hall in Langham Place, London – original home of ‘The Proms’. Shortly after bowing out – to the notes of Elgar – this building was sadly lost forever in May 1941, after an incendiary bomb caused irreparable damage.
His first impressions of Hollywood, California?
Here’s Brian and Miss Dietrich. Of course he fell for her . . .
In 1934 Brian, Ann Harding, Paul Lukas and Jean Hersholt made ‘The Fountain’, directed by John Cromwell and distributed by RKO Pictures.
It’s a deeply poetic film, set in Holland during the First World War.
Below: With Helen Hayes in ‘What Every Woman Wants’
Brian showed he was very good in a comedy role.
His Scots accent wasn’t very convincing though.
The comedy continues with ‘The Great Garrick’ (below)
Brian could also play quite complex characters.
Below, images are from the film ‘Sylvia Scarlett’ (1935)
Brian is very good as a Joan Crawford leading man . . .
The following images are from ‘Beloved Enemy’ – my favourite Aherne picture from this era. Merle Oberon and David Niven co-star and the performances are moving. Brian had worked with Merle already on ‘The W Plan’.
It’s a loose re-telling of events in London in October 1921 culminating in the Anglo-Irish Treaty – which ushered in the Irish Free State (signed on 6 December 1921, by British government officials and visiting Irish negotiators). Brian plays the ‘Michael Collins’ character.
‘Beloved Enemy’ does not mention the terrible conflict that was quickly to come, namely the Irish Civil War. Nor does the film make mention of Winston Churchill, who played a big part in the 1921 negotiations (along with Loyd George). Churchill was actually in the political ‘wilderness’ in 1936, when this was made. The film manages, nevertheless, to convey the uncertainty and sadness of these times.
To the real life Collins, the treaty was simply the start of a process that would lead to full independence. Yet, as he signed the treaty, Collins eerily commented: “I tell you, I have signed my death warrant”.
He would be killed soon after.
A few years later Brian and Merle worked together on ‘First Comes Courage’.
Back to a comedy role . . . ‘The Lady in Question’ (1940)
These photos are with two of my favourite actors: Rita Hayworth and Glenn Forde
Next, here’s Brian and Carole Lombard in ‘Vigil in the Night’ (1940).
This is a very unusual film with Lombard playing a serious role. She’s a world apart from her screwball comedies playing an English nurse, with Anne Shirley as her younger sister. It’s a gritty, very poignant film I would recommend. Brian plays a suave doctor.
Interesting to see the young Peter Cushing, who went to Hollywood right at the start of his film career playing alongside Brian and Carole. He would later appear in a film with Renée Houston.
This is from My Son, My Son! (1940)
Brian worked with Kay Francis in ‘The Man Who Lost Himself’
Below: with Constance Bennett.
The following is from ‘The Locket’ (1946)
The next images are from ‘The Best of Everything’ (1959).
This was supposed to showcase a bunch of up-and-coming 20th Century Fox actors.
Nevertheless, Brian and Joan Crawford seem to walk off with the film.
Mr Shalimar: As my friend Eugene O’ Neill used to say:
‘When you get older it’s the things you didn’t do that cause you the most pain.’
Mr Shalimar: You know Bernard Shaw was right:
“Youth is such a wonderful thing.
What a pity it’s wasted on the young.”
Miss Farrow: Are you still pinching all the girls?
Mr Shalimar: Well, of course I’m still pinching all the girls.
You don’t think I’m interested in their minds, do you?
Have dinner with me tonight?
Miss Farrow: Promise no pinching?
Mr Shalimar: I promise nothing.
And just so that you feel completely at home,
do remember that I’m a married man.
Miss Farrow: Of course you are.
What a darling you are to remind me.
Brian played King Arthur in ‘Lancelot and Guinevere’, a Universal-International picture with Cornel Wilde and Jean Wallace co-starring.
The film was made in Yugoslavia with interiors shot at Pinewood Studios in England. Harry Waxman was director of photography.
Theatre Work
Looking back at Brian’s stage career you see the trust built between performers after a successful stage partnership has been formed – Brian’s long association with Katherine Cornell (nicknamed “The First Lady of the American Theater” by critic Alexander Woollcott) is perhaps the best illustration.
Edith Evans (who had toured with Ellen Terry) acted with Brian on 3 occasions. She played the Nurse in 1934’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and she and Brian reunite in 1965’s ‘The Chinese Prime Minister’.
Joyce Carey figures a lot in the New York casts. Brian had been a favourite of her mother, Lilian Braithwaite, when he was in ‘The Silver Cord’ – perhaps a case of ‘who you are’ and ‘who you know,’ determining who gets the good parts.
It’s remarkable also to think of the 1934 New York ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in which the young Orson Welles joined the cast.
Also present in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is the young Al McCleery who became a Hollywood screenwriter then producer, joining the NBC network as a seminal figure in 1950s Television, famously using the ‘Cameo Technique’ to convey in close-ups what was going on in a character’s heart. Al even got to meet Sir Winston Churchill.
I’ve listed below notable stage productions (USA and Great Britain) featuring Brian Aherne. The later productions are shown first followed by the earlier.
Please note that this is not a complete list
I 1945 – 1970
| Date / Venue | Play Title / Description | Cast Included |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 Globe Theatre London |
The Chinese Prime Minister | Brian Aherne Edith Evans Peter Barkworth Simon Lack |
| 1957 Touring |
My Fair Lady | Brian Aherne Anne Rogers Charles Victor Hugh Dempster |
| Mar 17, 1960 – Apr 30, 1960 Billy Rose Theatre New York |
Dear Liar | Katherine Cornell Brian Aherne |
| Nov 03, 1954 – Mar 12, 1955 Coronet Theatre New York |
Quadrille | Brian Aherne Edna Best Lynn Fontanne Alfred Lunt |
| Nov 18, 1953 – Nov 28, 1953 48th Street Theatre New York |
Escapade | Brian Aherne Carroll Baker Nicholas Howard Ursula Jeans Roddy McDowall |
| Dec 08, 1951 – Apr 05, 1952 National Theatre New York |
The Constant Wife | Brian Aherne Katharine Cornell John Emery |
| 1950 Olney TheatreBaltimore |
Dear Brutus | Brian Aherne |
| Dec 28, 1949 – Jan 08, 1950 City Center |
She Stoops to Conquer | Brian Aherne Olive Dunbar Jack Fletcher Burl Ives Carmen Mathews Tom Moore |
| 1948-9 Boston |
The Beaux Strategem | Brian Aherne Maureen Stapleton |
| Dec 08, 1945- Jan 05, 1946Cort Theatre | The French Touch | Brian Aherne Arlene Francis |
| Mar 26, 1945 -Jun 09, 1945 Ethel Barrymore Theatre New York |
The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Brian Aherne Katharine Cornell |
I I 1925 – 1944
| Date / Venue | Play Title / Description | Cast Included |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 06, 1937 – Jan 1937 New Amsterdam Theatre New York |
Othello | Brian Aherne Lloyd Bridges Michael Brodkin Walter Huston Edward James |
| Mar 09, 1936 – May 23, 1936 Martin Beck Theatre New York |
Saint Joan | Katherine Cornell Brian Aherne George Coulouris Maurice Evans Robert Champlain Tyrone Power Jr. |
| Feb 25, 1935 – Mar 1935 Martin Beck Theatre New York |
The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Katharine Cornell Brian Aherne Joyce Carey Robert Champlain John Emery Margalo Gillmore Burgess Meredith David Vivian |
| Dec 20, 1934 – Feb 1935 Martin Beck Theatre New York |
Romeo and Juliet | Brian Aherne Katharine Cornell Robert Champlain John Emery Edith Evans Albert McCleery Basil Rathbone Orson Welles |
| Dec 20, 1932 – Jan 1933 Belasco Theatre New York |
Lucrece | Katharine Cornell Brian Aherne Joyce Carey George Macready |
| Feb 09, 1931 – Dec 1931 Empire Theatre Biltmore Theater New York |
The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Katharine Cornell Brian Aherne Joyce Carey |
| Nov 04, 1930 – Nov 15, 1930 Duchess Theatre London |
An Object of Virtue | Brian Aherne George Curzon Jean Forbes-Robertson |
| Nov 25, 1929 – Dec 07, 1929 Duchess Theatre London |
Tunnel Trench | Brian Aherne Emlyn Williams Reginald Long |
| Apr 25, 1929 – Aug 17, 1929 Ambassadors Theatre London |
Rope | Brian Aherne Anthony Ireland |
| Mar 07, 1927 – Apr 09, 1927 Strand Theatre Golders Green Hippodrome |
White Cargo | Brian Aherne Eric Portman |
| 1927 St Martin’s Theatre London |
The Silver Cord | Brian Aherne Claire Eames Lilian Braithwaite |
| 1927Everyman Theatre
London |
This Year Next Year | Brian Aherne |
| May 15, 1924 – May 15, 1926 Playhouse Theatre Fortune Theatre London |
White Cargo | Brian Aherne Godfrey Tearle Frank Lacy William Matthews Mary Clare |
| 1923-24Tour | The Flame | Brian Aherne Violent Vanbrugh |
Like many actors in the early 20th Century Brian’s career was aided by the demand for plays by JM Barrie which was huge then. Brian appeared in productions of ‘Quality Street’, ‘What Every Woman Knows’, ‘Mary Rose’ and ‘The Admirable Crichton’ – all performed in Australia in early 1926. Back then he was part of Dion Boucicault’s troupe. Later decades saw several of these plays go out of fashion.
Above: Katherine Cornell as St Joan (1936)
Above: Left: Katherine Cornell as Juliet; Right: The Martin Beck Theatre (now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre) at 302 West 45th Street, New York City, where Christmas 1934 saw Brian Aherne in the role of Mercutio, in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Brian Aherne – The undergraduate
Brian had many successes on London’s West End stage in the 1920s.
His role in ‘Rope’ – the play Patrick Hamilton produced at the Ambassadors Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue in 1929 put him at the vanguard of London’s theatre world.
The play dealt with a morbid and gruesome theme: two undergraduates decide to commit a ‘perfect murder’ – a crime that shall be motiveless and therefore impossible to detect. Brandon (played by Brian) and Granillo (Anthony Ireland) kill another undergraduate as an expression of their supposed intellectual superiority. In order to savour new sensations of horror, they invite his family and friends to supper, serving food on the chest which contains the body.
The atmosphere of terror achieved by the play was remarkable.
Soon, he would appear on Broadway in ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’ acting alongside the great American actress Katharine Cornell.
Brian Aherne was an ‘actor’s actor’ and a great leader within his profession.
Events were set in motion for a British Actors’ Equity on December 1st 1929 at a special meeting at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London.
In early February 1930 there was a meeting where a draft constitution, modelled on the American Actors’ Equity Association, was drawn up by committee consisting of Dame May Whitty, Godfrey Teale, Brian Aherne, Fisher White, Lewin Mannering, Bromley Davenport and Coulson Gilmour.
Brian Aherne was by then well known for his role in ‘Rope’ at the Ambassador’s Theatre.
A campaign was launched to try to bring about 100% organisation among entertainment workers in the country. On 18 May 1930 there was another meeting at the New Theatre, St Martin’s Lane and another meeting at the Duke of York’s Theatre.
The stalls and circle were full and on stage were Dame May Whitty, Marie Burke, Alfred M Wall (London Trades Council), Godfrey Tearle, Brian Aherne, Fisher White, Lewin Mannering, Coulson Gilmer, Hannen Swaffer and George Hicks.
There was another meeting in July attended by Ethel Barrymore.
Brian was involved in the early Equity meetings until 1933.
BRIAN’S EARLY LOVE
Brian and Clare Eames in ‘The Silver Cord.’
On September 13th, 1927 a new production (by Daniel Mayer and Alec Rea) began its run at St Martin’s Theatre. The play was based on a story Sidney Howard had written.
Sidney Howard – notable for the part he had played in American theatre’s fight against censorship, began casting ’The Silver Cord’ with his wife Clare Eames. The couple, who had arrived in London that August, immediately hired the 25 year-old actor whom they likened to ‘the Hermes of Praxiteles’.
The play is about mother-love or rather egotism: a woman fighting against a son’s natural affection for his wife.
’The Silver Cord’ had recently been performed by the New York Theatre Guild. The critics considered the last act of the London production ‘magnificent drama’. Clare Eames was praised by the London critics for her tense emotional feeling.
David Phelps, studying architecture, has met Christina – a young biologist, abroad and married her. They return home to life in New York but Mrs Phelps has made other plans for her son to keep him in a small provincial town. There begins a tussle between mother and buoyant young wife. News of a coming child is received coldly. Young Robert Phelps is engaged to Hester. Mrs Phelps hates her too!
CAST
Mrs Phelps – Lilian Brathwaite
Christina – Clare Eames
David – Brian Aherne
Robert – Denys Blakelock
Hester – Marjorie Mars
Maid – Jane Millican
Eight years older than the young actor, Clare was like a teacher to Brian. She gave him a copy of Anna Karenina. Like someone with a sort of ‘divine spark’, she once said to him:
“Be true to the God within you . . . Listen to your own secret heart and you can do no wrong.”
And so began a close friendship that lasted until Clare’s untimely death at the age of 36. She died at Trumpeter’s House, Old Palace Yard, Richmond, Surrey – a beautiful Queen Anne house that was home to close friends of the Aherne family.
Her loss deeply affected Brian.
Clare had been one of the players in the The Swan (1925) – a silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky distributed by Paramount Pictures. When an MGM remake was made in 1956 Brian Aherne acted the part of a man who has left the halls of privilege to become a monk.
Television Work
Brian Aherne – The Saint
Hollywood’s British Colony
Los Angeles first got to see Brian when ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’ came to the Biltmore Theater in 1932.
Brian first met Ronald Colman at an after-show party in this city.
A British actor, Colman was an established star by the early 30s, quite some years before the British Invasion of Hollywood had truly begun. It was Colman who welcomed Brian into his circle, inviting him on boat trips out to Catalina Island, or motor trips taking in the California coastlines, deserts and mountains.
A few years later Colman married Brian’s old friend from the London Theatre – Benita Hume.
It was a friendship that lasted years.
Best of Friends
As a group they maintained strong ties to the old country – so much so that the term British Colony was no understatement.
Brian helped the British Red Cross in 1940, presenting them with £30K and four ambulances. Great Britain was single-handedly dealing with the Nazi onslaught at the time. Brian, along with colleagues from the New York Theatre, participated in the schemes Noël Coward initiated, to evacuate orphans and allow money from sympathetic Americans to reach British causes.
Brian’s most vital war work was serving as a flight instructor training RAF cadets in Arizona. The value of this work was immense.
Based in the United States throughout the years of the Second World War, Brian was among the actors and actresses from the American Theatre Wing in New York who flew out to appear in United Service Organizations (USO) shows for the Allied troops. The following website is a good source of information about Katherine Cornell and tells us about the time this troupe travelled to the Italian war front.
Actors from the New York Stage – WWII USO shows
In the United States he was one of the few actors from Hollywood’s British Colony who helped new arrivals from his homeland in the difficult job of making a start in the movie business.
Alan Napier said that Brian was the kindest person to him, opening doors. Brian remained Napier’s staunchest friend.
Brian Aherne – Aviator
“Do you have doubts about your ability as a pilot?
Well, don’t let that worry you. Just go ahead and fly anyway.”
Brian Aherne, 1942
MARRIAGE TO JOAN FONTAINE
“When Death strikes down the innocent and young, for every fragile form from which he lets the panting spirit free, a hundred virtues rise, in shapes of mercy, charity and love, to walk the world, and bless it . . . and his dark path becomes a way of light to heaven.”
innocent joys, devastating tragedy, blame and reprehensions . . .
There had been a lot of love at the beginning.
The following You Tube video provides a bit of commentary about Brian’s life (and has taken images from this web page!)
Watch the video
Some Houston connections:
A TRIP TO THE NOTTINGHAM EMPIRE (May, 1938)
. . . Tonights lineup – The Houston Sisters (or rather Renée in a hurriedly re-arranged act with her sister Shirley)
MC: ‘Renée, I’m going to surprise you.
Renée: ‘Be a sport darling, and do that.’
MC: ‘Now, Ladies and Gentlemen – Just wait for this.’
‘There’s a movie star up in the box.’
MC: ‘In fact we have BOTH Aherne Brothers: Brian and Pat.’
‘We’d like to shine the spotlight on them!’
Renée: ‘I wouldn’t bother doing that, ducks –
or they will get up and walk out.
They’re very retiring, you know.’
STAGE DOOR OF THE NOTTINGHAM EMPIRE
Reporter: ‘Have you come to Nottingham to see Renée Houston?’
Brian: ‘I enjoyed the show immensely. I cannot understand why films haven’t got her!’
Brian: ‘Has everyone here now switched to using the mikes?’
Pat: ‘Yes and yet the Music Hall was once the stronghold of the human voice.’
Reporter: ‘What is it like to be back in the old country, Mr Aherne?
Brian: ‘Very convivial! I’m having a splendid holiday and excited to be visiting your city.’
Reporter: ‘Will you be staying here long?’
Brian: ‘I’m going to visit a lot of theatres in London and Paris.’
Brian: ‘I’m finding many things are new. Your streets here are curiously different.’
Reporter: ‘Hollywood must be a fine place.’
Brian: ‘You would be surprised. In Hollywood they are sacking hundreds of stenographers and other people in behind the scenes roles.’
Brian: ‘I hope conditions are better now in Nottingham. How many are unemployed?’
MARRIAGE TO ELEANOR
Eleanor Aherne with her brother ‘Delly’ (Alfred de Liagre) – legendary Broadway producer and director.
BRIAN AHERNE BETTER HOMES
Pevensey – where siblings: Pat, Brian and Elana, spend family holidays.
Sun and sand and houses bordering the sea.
In the 1930s Brian buys this Santa Monica beach house from Cary Grant and Barbara Hutton.
Today, a stylish residence, with many memories.
It’s a home from home for some of Brian’s best buddies.
That pool attracts many a Hollywood recluse.
Above: Dedicated to Mrs Eleanor Aherne.
The beach too – always ideal for a photo shoot.
The home in Brentwood, Hollywood. This is Brian’s folks on a visit:
Brian held many parties here. Everyone came: Merle, David Niven, Olivia de Havilland, Ronald Colman, Herbert Marshall.
Relax by the pool.
Have Joan Fontaine get you a beer!
Brian in Brum
The only way is Birmingham (England)
A HOLLYWOOD STAR RETURNS HOME (October, 1949)
The suburbs of Birmingham, England.
Parking a hired black Ford 8 outside the gate of a house, Brian Aherne steps out, leaving his wife Eleanor inside the car.
He’s a local boy – returning after forty years. He was only seven when he left.
‘Can I come in and take a look? I’m Brian Aherne. I was born here.’
‘Back then, the house was surrounded by fields, everywhere you looked.’
‘This is something. I’m moved.’
‘Pat told me not to come back but I had to. And Eleanor wanted to see the place while we were here on holiday.’
Above: An old home: Monyhull Cottage, Monyhull Hall road, King’s Norton, England.
‘Hallfield! By gad! Are we all becoming Catholics!’
‘In my day, this was where they sent the sons of gentlemen. How the world is changing!’
Above: Building that housed the original Hallfield Prep School (1908-1933) where Brian was a day pupil for a while. Located near Egbaston Old Church, for some years the Convent of the Holy Child Jesus (set up by Cornelia Connelly) moved its girls’ school here at the invitation of Birmingham’s Catholic Archbishop, to train ‘better class Catholics’ – for whom, in 1933, there was ‘no provision in the city. (my thanks to J.M.C. Hill and C. Stinton)
Above: The old Market Hall, Birmingham, England.
‘Oh my giddy aunt! The old Market Hall.’
‘How can it have come to this. Now a bombed-out shell.’
Will I ever forget Pet’s Corner and the meat and fish stalls?
So many memories. The quaint old English ways were the best!’
‘Well, enough sad thoughts.’
‘Eleanor, the time has now come for you to taste your first cockle.’
‘Blessed heavens – Corporation Street. Exactly the same!’
‘Ah! Here we are – corner of Fore Street. Pattison’s. Home of the farthing bun. You had to get here early, mind. They used to sell these in the early mornings.’
‘Eleanor, my sweet. One iced bun for you.’
Talented Kids
When you can’t escape the theatre as a young child there’s an instinct to steer clear of it thereafter.
Nevertheless, the Ahernes fell into it. In Brian’s case his sister Elana, pursuing a career on the stage in the early 1920s, was the one who influenced him – eventually saving him from the Liverpool shipping clerk job he was languishing in.
Elana was talented, bright, brave and bold – just like her son David – a tireless political campaigner. Brian’s nephew David was a founding member of Britain’s Green Party, spending his life committed to animal rights and environmental issues.
Renee Houston Site 