David Niven is sorely missed. He didn’t hesitate to return to the U.K. to serve in WW2 even though it meant abandoning “stardom”. He was one of the most self deprecating of people and a wonderful raconteur.
I am absolutely love David Niven! What a great entertainer and lovely and wonderful man he was. How horrible he had to suffer from such an awful disease... God bless his soul.
Indeed. In one of his books he mentions an encounter with Churchill who commended him for choosing to return and serve. Churchill then said 'of course if you hadn't, it would have been reprehensible'
@@Stratboy999 Churchill said a great many things. He also said "If all the world were united in believing you were in the wrong, and yet you were sure you were right, you should maintain your belief". If Niven had been sure he was right to stay in the USA, a (or even EVERY) British persons BELIEF it was reprehensible would mean NOTHING.
Dick Cavett had the same interviewing techniques as David frost. He would ask a question, then listen to the answer. A technique that many modern interviewers would be wise to adopt.
Interviewers have to keep things moving. Some guests can't keep things interesting and are only there to promote their movie/ book/ fragrance line etc... Not to negate your point though.
Niven was pure class and elegance. His two books, The Moons a Balloon and Bring on the Empty Horses are absolutely wonderful reads. Just a charming man.
The large Queen he is referring to is Queen Salote Tupou 3 of Tonga. When she died in Auckland, New Zealand in 1965, my father was chosen as one of the pall bearers, from the New Zealand Army, who carried her coffin onto a Hercules, for her final flight back to Tonga. She was a huge lady, about 350 pounds and in a lead lined casket. There were eight pallbearers , who had to walk across the tarmac and up the ramp, which was lined with vine matting. My father reckoned his knees didn't recover for about 6 weeks afterwards!
The gulf between these classic talk show hosts and the modern day clowns is quite incredible. Cavett would ask erudite questions, often difficult questions and give his guests the space to answer.
Whilst I agree these are much more sophisticated then the current shows, television has adapted with culture with the times. Like it or hate these times it's how it is, you either live in the past or move on and adapt, grandad.
@@Yamah12a Rather condescending advise. It's not just a matter of adaptation. The OP made a relevant, unshakably true remark about how lower our standards with late shows have fallen. You'll also be a grandad one day, never lose this fact from sight. Kiddo... 😐
@@raminagrobis6112 Well, I am certainly not a grandad , but please Ignore the ignorance. That was just another fool who is reflecting the intellectual decline, and intentional "dumbing-down" of society in the name of equity, not equality all ushered in by poor parenting. Deep down he knows this is all true... so obviously that's what's bothering him and reinforcing his sense of hopelessness... which resulted in his disrespectful reply.. Obviously there is no need for any of us to adapt to this as the speaker suggested.
Niven and Cavett were both good eggs, which seems odd to even say now about celebrities, since today's icons have mostly devolved into these bizarre, unpleasant creatures.
@@haeuptlingaberja4927 Bizarre and unpleasant is a perfect way to describe them. Maybe I could let some of that slide if they were truly creative and talented, but they just keep making the same movies and television shows over and over. And then they get attitudes when we say anything they don't like. Hollywood hasn't had an original idea since Edison invented the movie camera.
David Niven was always one of my personal favorites because he was himself. His death left me devastated because he was too young to leave us, and he had more work to do on earth. I am glad that we have youtube to keep his memory alive and for younger generations to find out about him.
Great raconteur indeed. It's something that seems to be missing from talk shows these days. I'm from the UK, and the best interviewer we had back in the day was Michael Parkinson and when I watch these clips from Dick Cavett's show, I can't help but draw comparison between the two. They both had interesting guests, who they would prompt with an occasional question then sit back and let the guest talk. The guests were never there to plug their latest movie or book or whatever. David Niven was always a great guest as he had such in interesting background beyond just being an actor. Peter Ustinov was one of the best talk show guests ever, his background was incredible and he was a fantastic story teller and a great mimic.
David Niven = class, a true gentleman, a great talent. I love to watch his movies! He was very young in Wuthering Heights with Lawrence Olivier and Merle Oberon. Great classic movie!
What a gentleman, David Niven. Wants to tell a raw story about one of the Hollywood Dictators. But has a hard time proclaiming his own innocence in the whole affair. We learn only that he was petrified with fear for his career when in the presence of the Hollywood chief. This, from a man, Niven, who showed much courage against the Nazis in WW2.
David Niven -- what a brilliant raconteur. I read his books in the 1970s. Bring on the Empty Horses and The Moon's a Balloon were wonderful and hilarious.
@@joeblack8915 some were true,some were not,some were embellished over the years but so what? we all do it from time to time,no harm was done and he was a wonderful entertainer of anecdotes-David had his faults but he was a good man
I love his candor. Exposes how cut-throat Hollywood was.... and still is. Skid Pictures.... No one openly talks about it, but it would explain why certain big stars have appeared in obvious big failures of movies.
Studios would lend out disgruntled actors to third rate film projects. That way the studio is still making money off them instead of totally suspending them. It was like sending a batter down to the minors for a while as punishment. They owned their @$$3s under the contract system and reminded them of it.
Modern celebrities do not have the type of character those older celebrities had. Niven while in Hollywood with a career returned to Britain for WW2 and served in the Commandos the sort of character that required is simply hard to find today. I remember listen to Tarantino talking about how there is simply no males actors today like Lee Marvin and that the female actors today are closer to them than the males.
I’ve said it before on this channel and I’ll say it again. Every single video is absolute “fried gold”. Dick is probably the best interviewer TV has ever or will ever see.
When David Niven died,The porters at London’s Heathrow Airport sent a wreath saying “To the finest gentleman that passed through this airport”If the story is true it say’s a lot about Niven
Now, I also must add, that Cavett's modest personality and not taking himself too seriously approach DID bring out comfort and ease in his guests. That led to some wonderful shows. At his best (often, by the way, when he interrupts least) his interviews ARE a pinnacle of how to do them for any age to enjoy!
So true what a gent and In Separate Tables a wonderful performance. His co-stars were supreme also, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, etc. I personally keep the movie on my planner.
One of my favorite books is The Moon's a Balloon. A rollicking read. Then Bring on the Empty Horses. Niven was fast in the quips. Remember the streaker at the Oscars? The rafters shook.
I admire how Cavett showed respect for his guests. It seems like they felt they were in safe hands and that he wouldn’t set them up for embarrassment. I don’t watch late night tv but I’ve seen a few YT clips. It seems more like the Roman Forum today. I guess today’s audience wants bread and circuses.
The one where it all started with. Dick Cavett. Cavett was the host that every celeb wanted to talk to. His interviewing techniques were just simple. The guest is important at that moment and I just sit here and listen. Worked every time. Very few presenters can do that.
A real gentleman, one of a kind. I remember his dialogue with our Alberto Sordi...in "two enemies". And the pink panther... casino royale... was a master in noble art of comedy.
We are lucky that Dick appreciated old Hollywood actors and that many of them were around when his show was on the air. As far as very conversational interviews go, only Charlie Rose equaled him in my opinion.
@@brianarbenz7206 That's obvious Brian, but it's Charlie's interview style that was being discussed...Not his off camera escapades. Charlie was indeed, an amazing interviewer.
Dick Cavett was considered the "intellectual" talk show host. Television had room for that then. However, Jack Parr and Steve Allen had more authors, philosophers, and world figures: television had already begun to "dumb down" by Cavett's time.
Love these classic interviews. Nowadays it seems that a star comes on, plugs the movie or book with some pre-approved questions and then gets off. These older interviews might have 1-2 guests for the entire show which I much prefer.
Re The brilliant dog joke (still does the rounds in England) St Dunstans was a home in Ovingdean East Sussex England for ex service personnel with visual impairment and blindness formed in 1915. DN was a consummate pro, happy to do the talk show circuit where his raconteur side came to the fore and delighted audiences wherever he went. Make no mistake under the ‘I was very lucky’ persona lay a very focussed man who literally over time created his own brand on and off the movie screen. DC had such a subliminal way of interviewing that he got the best out of many interviewees such as DN as he tended to lean towards entertaining in interviews but DC guided him to his more objective views of Hollywood and much more.
And led to the Caravan album title "Blind Dog At St Dunstans" - with the added detail that St Dunstans was an area of Canterbury, where the band came from.
The dog pushing the other to St. Dunstan's is immortalised in the Caravan album "Blind Dog at St Dunstans". But I'm sure it was Noel Coward who first said it and Caravan gave due credit. But listen to Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night for the best intro to Caravan. You'll love it.
I read his book " the moon is a balloon" and was instantly hooked after the first sentence " if you want to know how I lost my virginity go to page 14". It was the first time a book made me laugh out loud and shed a tear...... BBC radio 4 listeners will understand that the moon is a balloon is my desert island disc book of choice....... brilliant
Indeed. I was thinking the same thing during the course of this excellent interview. The audience, intently listening; not interrupting with laughs after every second sentence from the guest. Respectful. And a line of questioning that was intelligent and thoughtful, which is what I always loved about Mr Cavett.
@@michaelnotigan7796 and this was one of his interviews that were kept more or less along a humorous line. The craft is even more visceral when it is on serious subject matters. The capacity to relish interchanges between thoughtful personages, the radically shortened attention-span and decline of critical thought and respectful discourse- even arguments- seem to be only memories of our childhood, when we didn't fully appreciate or understand what we had. "Oh the times they are a...changed already, from my teens to now, a different US.
I have got movie DVDS of David Niven with Gregory Peck Anthony Quinn Anthony Quayle James Darren Stanley Baker and James Robertsons Justice in The Guns Of Naverone and with Telly Savalas Elliott Gould Stephanie Powers Anthony Valentine and Roger Moore are both German Officers in Escape To Athena and with Peter Sellers with Herbert Lom in The Pink Panther and with Gregory Peck Roger Moore Patrick Allen Trevor Howard and Barbara Kelsay in The Sea Wolves and I am dedicating these movie DVDS to my old school friends who are both sisters as I hope to see them both again very soon to Chris and Hester from Billyxxxxx
An entirely different style I know, but for my part the only modern talk show host that can elicit interesting and entertaining answers from a diversity of guests is the UK’s (although I really ought to say Ireland’s) Graham Norton. Like Cavett, he listens, knows his guests, knows when to speak and, most importantly, when to shut up. Gods, when I compare Cavett with the likes of that intrusive and sadly representative lightweight, Fallon, I wonder how it is we’ve come so low. Watch Cavett with Orson Wells. Now THAT’S an interview.
They did when you were of no value to them anymore. Paramount with B.P. Schulberg purposely ruined Louise Brooks career by not helping her during the transition to sound because she went to do Pandora's Box in Germany. Louis B. Mayer at MGM ruined Esther Ralston's career because she wouldn't sleep with him during the making of Sadie McKee (1934). She was a silent film actress that had made a successful transition to sound. He sold her contract to Universal, which was a crappy studio in the 30s because of the horror films, and made a lot of stinkers there until her contract finished in 1937. She made her final two films of her career in 1941. She then acted on television in the 1950s. She died in 1994 at age 90
Apparently when David lost his virginity dare I say he was with a lady of the night and while he was doing his business the song was playing yes we have no bananas he mentioned this in one of his autobiographies.🤫😃
A real character was Niven. Apparently he was asked at a party which partner was best in bed. He laughed and started to say Grace Kelly just as her royal husband joined his group. He stopped at Grace and with his gentlemanly wit he said Gracious me I can't answer that.
@@kenhunt9434 I can't place Niven and Fields together in any romantic situation. Kelly and Niven sounds right? Maybe he had relations with both, the dirty dog? Still a great British man, sadly missed.
I can remember the queen of Tonga she was the star of the show the newspapers loved her and so did the British people I was 7 when our queen was crowned
Interesting how times change. Coward's line about Queen Salote of Tonga - acclaimed as delightfully witty in its day - would these days get someone instantly cancelled.
Salote, who was a jolly lady, laughed when she heard about it. Tongans had renounced cannibalism 150 years earlier. As a fan of the South Seas, Noel probably knew that Tonga was Christian. As another queen regnant at the Coronation, Salote endeared herself to Londoners by refusing to take shelter during the processional downpour.
Time was when we sent you Cary Grant, James Mason, David Niven.....nowadays it's Simon Cowell, Sharon Osborne, Ricky Gervais....have we inflicted Piers Morgan on you also? I don't follow his career
Cohn only represented "one-eighth," not "one-fifth" of the studio heads. Cohn, of course, was the head of Columbia Pictures, but there wereseven more studios (MGM, 20th Century-Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal, United Artists and (at least until 1957), RKO Radio . And actually, we could further because there also was a Republic or Monogram (Allied Artists).
@@garryferrington811 i\ I was talking about the studios which were considered ''Major'' or ''Mini-Major.'' Cohn died in 1958 and his studio, ironically released Sam Goldwyn's last film, ''Porgy and Bess'' a year later. As far as Selznick and Roach were concerned, they were just memories by the 1950s. Disney released his usual assortment of animated films and swashbucklers from England (e.g. the great Disney version of ''Treasure Island''), but he never approached the number of feature films that MGM or even Columbia released.
What's your favourite interview on the Dick Cavett Show?
Impossible to say. Mr Cavett was such a class act. As a Brit I really can't think of a British equivalent of his calibre.
EXACTLY.
John Lennon
John Lennon
Too many to list, but Orson Welles was a great one
David Niven is sorely missed. He didn’t hesitate to return to the U.K. to serve in WW2 even though it meant abandoning “stardom”.
He was one of the most self deprecating of people and a wonderful raconteur.
I am absolutely love David Niven! What a great entertainer and lovely and wonderful man he was.
How horrible he had to suffer from such an awful disease...
God bless his soul.
Indeed. In one of his books he mentions an encounter with Churchill who commended him for choosing to return and serve. Churchill then said 'of course if you hadn't, it would have been reprehensible'
His books are a great read 👍🏻
@@Stratboy999 Churchill said a great many things. He also said
"If all the world were united in believing you were in the wrong, and yet you were sure you were right, you should maintain your belief".
If Niven had been sure he was right to stay in the USA, a (or even EVERY) British persons BELIEF it was reprehensible would mean NOTHING.
Indeed respect for David Niven ... and what a huge difference with today's pointless "celebrities" !
Dick Cavett had the same interviewing techniques as David frost. He would ask a question, then listen to the answer. A technique that many modern interviewers would be wise to adopt.
Interviewers have to keep things moving. Some guests can't keep things interesting and are only there to promote their movie/ book/ fragrance line etc... Not to negate your point though.
@@violinmke his guests are interesting, he did not need to move them along
Absolutely!
Funny, Cavett said Frost copied his technique.
so agree
Niven was pure class and elegance. His two books, The Moons a Balloon and Bring on the Empty Horses are absolutely wonderful reads. Just a charming man.
The large Queen he is referring to is Queen Salote Tupou 3 of Tonga. When she died in Auckland, New Zealand in 1965, my father was chosen as one of the pall bearers, from the New Zealand Army, who carried her coffin onto a Hercules, for her final flight back to Tonga. She was a huge lady, about 350 pounds and in a lead lined casket. There were eight pallbearers , who had to walk across the tarmac and up the ramp, which was lined with vine matting. My father reckoned his knees didn't recover for about 6 weeks afterwards!
What a cool memory!
During the Parade for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II it was raining, but she delighted the crowds by travelling in an open carriage!
She was 6 ft. 3 in. tall.
@@adrianjordan6291 wow!
Oh my goodness, what an illustrative story! 😂
David Viven is almost impossibly elegant, intelligent, gracious, and witty as well. They don't
make them like him anymore...
What you'd call a "thoroughly good sort."
One could say the same about David Niven as well.
@@xiaoka David Viven has such a nivid style!
David Vivian
To be honest not many were made in any era! He is a rarity!
The gulf between these classic talk show hosts and the modern day clowns is quite incredible. Cavett would ask erudite questions, often difficult questions and give his guests the space to answer.
Whilst I agree these are much more sophisticated then the current shows, television has adapted with culture with the times. Like it or hate these times it's how it is, you either live in the past or move on and adapt, grandad.
@@Yamah12a Rather condescending advise. It's not just a matter of adaptation. The OP made a relevant, unshakably true remark about how lower our standards with late shows have fallen. You'll also be a grandad one day, never lose this fact from sight. Kiddo... 😐
Even Carson was intellectually superior than the current ones. Crass ignorance and vulgarity rule now.
@@raminagrobis6112 Well, I am certainly not a grandad , but please Ignore the ignorance. That was just another fool who is reflecting the intellectual decline, and intentional "dumbing-down" of society in the name of equity, not equality all ushered in by poor parenting. Deep down he knows this is all true... so obviously that's what's bothering him and reinforcing his sense of hopelessness... which resulted in his disrespectful reply.. Obviously there is no need for any of us to adapt to this as the speaker suggested.
@@leslieackerman4189 because they’re all political hacks
The man was all class, talent and style.
The *genuine* genuine article ;)
Niven and Cavett were both good eggs, which seems odd to even say now about celebrities, since today's icons have mostly devolved into these bizarre, unpleasant creatures.
@@haeuptlingaberja4927 Bizarre and unpleasant is a perfect way to describe them. Maybe I could let some of that slide if they were truly creative and talented, but they just keep making the same movies and television shows over and over. And then they get attitudes when we say anything they don't like. Hollywood hasn't had an original idea since Edison invented the movie camera.
@@Johnconno Everyone does.
I heard that he treated everyone with respect. That is laudable.
David Niven was always one of my personal favorites because he was himself. His death left me devastated because he was too young to leave us, and he had more work to do on earth. I am glad that we have youtube to keep his memory alive and for younger generations to find out about him.
Great actor, great raconteur and excellent writer. Much missed talented man.
Great raconteur indeed. It's something that seems to be missing from talk shows these days. I'm from the UK, and the best interviewer we had back in the day was Michael Parkinson and when I watch these clips from Dick Cavett's show, I can't help but draw comparison between the two.
They both had interesting guests, who they would prompt with an occasional question then sit back and let the guest talk. The guests were never there to plug their latest movie or book or whatever. David Niven was always a great guest as he had such in interesting background beyond just being an actor. Peter Ustinov was one of the best talk show guests ever, his background was incredible and he was a fantastic story teller and a great mimic.
David Niven = class, a true gentleman, a great talent. I love to watch his movies! He was very young in Wuthering Heights with Lawrence Olivier and Merle Oberon. Great classic movie!
didn't like to pay taxes tho
Do you know what the british taxman did to him ?@@clintstewart5545
What a gentleman, David Niven. Wants to tell a raw story about one of the Hollywood Dictators.
But has a hard time proclaiming his own innocence in the whole affair. We learn only that he was petrified with fear for his career when in the presence of the Hollywood chief.
This, from a man, Niven, who showed much courage against the Nazis in WW2.
David Niven -- what a brilliant raconteur. I read his books in the 1970s. Bring on the Empty Horses and The Moon's a Balloon were wonderful and hilarious.
I read these books in high school. They were incredible.
You do know he made a lot of it up, don't you? He was famous for it.
@@joeblack8915 Prove it.. most are backed up by the other Star autobiographies of contemporaries of the time..Fontaine, Bacall, etc.
And WW2 Veteran
@@joeblack8915 some were true,some were not,some were embellished over the years but so what? we all do it from time to time,no harm was done and he was a wonderful entertainer of anecdotes-David had his faults but he was a good man
I love his candor. Exposes how cut-throat Hollywood was.... and still is.
Skid Pictures.... No one openly talks about it, but it would explain why certain big stars have appeared in obvious big failures of movies.
Studios would lend out disgruntled actors to third rate film projects. That way the studio is still making money off them instead of totally suspending them. It was like sending a batter down to the minors for a while as punishment. They owned their @$$3s under the contract system and reminded them of it.
You never hear honesty like this from celebrities anymore, except on very rare occasions 😒
Modern celebrities do not have the type of character those older celebrities had. Niven while in Hollywood with a career returned to Britain for WW2 and served in the Commandos the sort of character that required is simply hard to find today.
I remember listen to Tarantino talking about how there is simply no males actors today like Lee Marvin and that the female actors today are closer to them than the males.
He was class personified. I loved his reaction to the streaker when he was at the Academy Awards in 1974.
A class actor, and a true gentleman. Unlike most "stars" of today, he was self-effacing and modest.
David Niven. Unmatched in talent. Acting that stands for all time. I wish there were more like him.🇬🇧
How wonderful it is that these gems from the past are now available to everyone on demand here on UA-cam.
This is my favorite interview of David Niven. Loved watching both these guys. So smooth, yet funny!
I’ve said it before on this channel and I’ll say it again. Every single video is absolute “fried gold”. Dick is probably the best interviewer TV has ever or will ever see.
Try Michael Parkinson (UK/BBC)
Johnny Carson was his equal, with an obvious different, but equally amazing style.
Johnny is #1
Tom Snyder could give good interview.
I think Mike Wallace gave him a run for the money
I remember reading his autobiography when I was a kid - he sure had some adventures. I always loved old movies and the stars. He was wonderful.
When David Niven died,The porters at London’s Heathrow Airport sent a wreath saying “To the finest gentleman that passed through this airport”If the story is true it say’s a lot about Niven
The Moons a balloon is a laugh out loud read, I recommend highly……
David Niven , complete and utter class 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Now, I also must add, that Cavett's modest personality and not taking himself too seriously approach DID bring out comfort and ease in his guests. That led to some wonderful shows. At his best (often, by the way, when he interrupts least) his interviews ARE a pinnacle of how to do them for any age to enjoy!
Dick Cavett always kept the interview a wonderful self-portrait by the guest, with just the right combination of intervention and discretion.
I’ve always liked his quiet energy. Doesn’t talk over his guests. Asks interesting questions, not boring ones everyone asks.
Love David Niven. His performance as the Major in Separate Tables is brilliant. Fascinating man, read a biography of him a few years ago.
So true what a gent and In Separate Tables a wonderful performance. His co-stars were supreme also, Deborah Kerr, Burt Lancaster, etc. I personally keep the movie on my planner.
Love David Niven, The Moon's a Balloon, and Bring on the Empty Horses are two of the best-written bios out there.
Dick was worthy of the great interviewees, and Clive James greatly admired his sharp wit and intelligence. Niven's biography was very funny.
InterviwERS surely?
My uncle worked for him, lovely guy, read his books, so funny and self deprecating 😊
David Niven was the epitome of a gentleman. Todays movie stars would do well to try and emulate him.
David, so sorry that a gentleman like you had to go through such because of people that were supposed to be adults. 🥺 Bless You and Peace.❤️
One of my favorite books is The Moon's a Balloon. A rollicking read. Then Bring on the Empty Horses. Niven was fast in the quips. Remember the streaker at the Oscars? The rafters shook.
I might read them again - I remember them fondly from reading them over 30 years ago.
I'm just reading it now - yes I agree it's great!
Both are a fantastic read, very clever and funny.
I love Mr. Niven...the dry humor and sarcasm kicks ass!
And the fact that he's British too, love the pure savagery! ❤
What a fantastic interview! Both brilliant, I enjoy Cavett's show.
I admire how Cavett showed respect for his guests. It seems like they felt they were in safe hands and that he wouldn’t set them up for embarrassment. I don’t watch late night tv but I’ve seen a few YT clips. It seems more like the Roman Forum today. I guess today’s audience wants bread and circuses.
One of natures true gentleman,I remember when he left us in 1983 remember him in the guns of Navarro.i read the moon's a balloon,laughed my ass of.
He was also an officer and and a gentleman.
Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst) Graduate.
The one where it all started with. Dick Cavett. Cavett was the host that every celeb wanted to talk to. His interviewing techniques were just simple. The guest is important at that moment and I just sit here and listen. Worked every time. Very few presenters can do that.
Niven was always a great interview, but with Cavett, he was at his best.
I chauffeured his son David. Pure class also!
My father liked very much David Niven.
A whole generation or two very much liked David Niven.
A real gentleman, one of a kind. I remember his dialogue with our Alberto Sordi...in "two enemies". And the pink panther... casino royale... was a master in noble art of comedy.
Love the understatement when Niven says that the time he shared a house with Errol Flynn was, 'kind of an unreliable moment in my life.' : )
Just imagine having David Niven, Noel Coward and Errol Flynn to dinner.
That really would be a marvelous party
We are lucky that Dick appreciated old Hollywood actors and that many of them were around when his show was on the air.
As far as very conversational interviews go, only Charlie Rose equaled him in my opinion.
Yes, but about the respective off-camera behavior of the two. I'll go with Dick Cavett.
@@brianarbenz7206 That's obvious Brian, but it's Charlie's interview style that was being discussed...Not his off camera escapades. Charlie was indeed, an amazing interviewer.
Gentleman class RIP Lt Col Niven
Dick Cavett was considered the "intellectual" talk show host. Television had room for that then. However, Jack Parr and Steve Allen had more authors, philosophers, and world figures: television had already begun to "dumb down" by Cavett's time.
Each day, I would count the hours until Dick Cavett's late night show on ABC. I found the show's combination of wit, color and intellect just right.
The other hosts were entertainers and Cavett WAS an intellectual.
Great actor of the grand time of films.
The days when a star was a star......
Love these classic interviews. Nowadays it seems that a star comes on, plugs the movie or book with some pre-approved questions and then gets off. These older interviews might have 1-2 guests for the entire show which I much prefer.
Around the world in 80 days ...... Great actor
Re The brilliant dog joke (still does the rounds in England) St Dunstans was a home in Ovingdean East Sussex England for ex service personnel with visual impairment and blindness formed in 1915.
DN was a consummate pro, happy to do the talk show circuit where his raconteur side came to the fore and delighted audiences wherever he went.
Make no mistake under the ‘I was very lucky’ persona lay a very focussed man who literally over time created his own brand on and off the movie screen.
DC had such a subliminal way of interviewing that he got the best out of many interviewees such as DN as he tended to lean towards entertaining in interviews but DC guided him to his more objective views of Hollywood and much more.
And led to the Caravan album title "Blind Dog At St Dunstans" - with the added detail that St Dunstans was an area of Canterbury, where the band came from.
Niven was the best guest ever
The dog pushing the other to St. Dunstan's is immortalised in the Caravan album "Blind Dog at St Dunstans". But I'm sure it was Noel Coward who first said it and Caravan gave due credit. But listen to Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night for the best intro to Caravan. You'll love it.
I once belonged to match making service and asked the coordinator if she had anyone like David Niven to introduce me to.
I once dated a detective who bore a strong resemblance to Niven. I fell hard and he didn't.
I love watching these older shows when there were still class acts in Hollywood.
David Niven you are wonderful. I have seen every film.
I read his book " the moon is a balloon" and was instantly hooked after the first sentence " if you want to know how I lost my virginity go to page 14". It was the first time a book made me laugh out loud and shed a tear......
BBC radio 4 listeners will understand that the moon is a balloon is my desert island disc book of choice....... brilliant
Read Niven's autobiography "The moon is a balloon", a wonderful book.
Had a lot of fun.
"Her lunch". I'm dead.
He looks very tall I didn't realise. Beautiful speaking voice 👌
One of the best loved actors of the golden age of cinema
David Niven is a good story teller.
The truth always comes out, rip D.Niven much missed.
There actors lived in a time before Creep Media existed and thus lived full adventurous lives.
I love David Niven but I'm shocked at how old he looks here when he was just 63.
When talk shows featured intelligent discourse. How far the bar has been lowered.
Indeed. I was thinking the same thing during the course of this excellent interview. The audience, intently listening; not interrupting with laughs after every second sentence from the guest. Respectful. And a line of questioning that was intelligent and thoughtful, which is what I always loved about Mr Cavett.
@@michaelnotigan7796 and this was one of his interviews that were kept more or less along a humorous line. The craft is even more visceral when it is on serious subject matters. The capacity to relish interchanges between thoughtful personages, the radically shortened attention-span and decline of critical thought and respectful discourse- even arguments- seem to be only memories of our childhood, when we didn't fully appreciate or understand what we had. "Oh the times they are a...changed already, from my teens to now, a different US.
@@michaelnotigan7796 Glad to be born in the 60's.
@@mchoffner8497 MC: Well said.
I have got movie DVDS of
David Niven with Gregory Peck
Anthony Quinn Anthony Quayle
James Darren Stanley Baker
and James Robertsons Justice in
The Guns Of Naverone
and with Telly Savalas Elliott Gould Stephanie Powers Anthony Valentine
and Roger Moore
are both German Officers
in Escape To Athena
and with Peter Sellers
with Herbert Lom
in The Pink Panther
and with Gregory Peck Roger Moore
Patrick Allen Trevor Howard
and Barbara Kelsay in
The Sea Wolves
and I am dedicating these movie DVDS to my old school friends who are both sisters as I hope to see them both again very soon to Chris and Hester from Billyxxxxx
Party at your place. I'll bring the popcorn.
An entirely different style I know, but for my part the only modern talk show host that can elicit interesting and entertaining answers from a diversity of guests is the UK’s (although I really ought to say Ireland’s) Graham Norton. Like Cavett, he listens, knows his guests, knows when to speak and, most importantly, when to shut up. Gods, when I compare Cavett with the likes of that intrusive and sadly representative lightweight, Fallon, I wonder how it is we’ve come so low. Watch Cavett with Orson Wells. Now THAT’S an interview.
david niven, one of the greats
"Bring on the Empty Horses" Niven's autobiography.
Flynn and Niven on the prowl together................hide your daughters
I’ll remember that dog answer for life 😂
I'm pretty good in English, but I can't understand what he said the second dog did. Please?
@@svdumitrescu ... the dog in front is blind and the one behind is pushing her along...
@@dinojay8410 "...Pushing her along" Got it. :))) Thanks.
@@svdumitrescu No, he said the one behind is pushing him all the way to... (it sounded like a town in England that I am not familiar with).
@@annemccarron2281 :: Seemed to me there was more. Thanks.
Movie studios would put an actor into a bad movie on purpose in order to get rid of that actor, eh? Bastards.
They did when you were of no value to them anymore. Paramount with B.P. Schulberg purposely ruined Louise Brooks career by not helping her during the transition to sound because she went to do Pandora's Box in Germany. Louis B. Mayer at MGM ruined Esther Ralston's career because she wouldn't sleep with him during the making of Sadie McKee (1934). She was a silent film actress that had made a successful transition to sound. He sold her contract to Universal, which was a crappy studio in the 30s because of the horror films, and made a lot of stinkers there until her contract finished in 1937. She made her final two films of her career in 1941. She then acted on television in the 1950s. She died in 1994 at age 90
Or revenge as with Brooks even though she was box office gold for Paramount in the 20s.
Difficult to use that tactic these days as most movies are bad.
I was just watching casino royale last night!!
Here comes Bond, with a Redhead on each arm!
It's a #1 not-so-guilty pleasure movie. Niven as avuncular Bond is my favorite Bond.
"Her lunch."
Apparently when David lost his virginity dare I say he was with a lady of the night and while he was doing his business the song was playing yes we have no bananas he mentioned this in one of his autobiographies.🤫😃
Miss the old days.
From a time when movie stars, and even common every day people had class
The queen was Salote, queen of Tonga, the Friendly Isles, which are in the Pacific and sort of near Fiji.
The Tongan gag is not terrible, it's FUNNY. GOT IT! Virtue signalling way back then.
He made a porter feel like a king.
So miss these interesting in depth conversations done no better then by Mr. Cavett
this one was hardly in depth
They definitely should have made Bond films with David Niven in the 50s!
David Niven acted as James Bond 007 (retd.) in Casino Royale (1967)
Still the present day Queen!
I loved David Niven, I don't think he had a bad bone in his body
What a class act.
A real character was Niven. Apparently he was asked at a party which partner was best in bed. He laughed and started to say Grace Kelly just as her royal husband joined his group. He stopped at Grace and with his gentlemanly wit he said Gracious me I can't answer that.
I read that he actually said Gracie Fields, a WW2 songstress
@@kenhunt9434 I can't place Niven and Fields together in any romantic situation. Kelly and Niven sounds right? Maybe he had relations with both, the dirty dog? Still a great British man, sadly missed.
@@oldwelshbloke6860
Sounds right does not mean it happened.
All this stuff's great.
I like british actors ,they seem so down to earth
Is this channel ever going to show the Dick Cavett shows where he interviews Art Carney or Jackie Gleason? I don’t have Decades.
I can remember the queen of Tonga she was the star of the show the newspapers loved her and so did the British people I was 7 when our queen was crowned
He. N. Peter O Toole were not only great Actors but great raccontuers! N both wrote some very hunurkus funny books A mountain oof class,
Interesting how times change. Coward's line about Queen Salote of Tonga - acclaimed as delightfully witty in its day - would these days get someone instantly cancelled.
Yeah. No.
Salote, who was a jolly lady, laughed when she heard about it. Tongans had renounced cannibalism 150 years earlier. As a fan of the South Seas, Noel probably knew that Tonga was Christian.
As another queen regnant at the Coronation, Salote endeared herself to Londoners by refusing to take shelter during the processional downpour.
Time was when we sent you Cary Grant, James Mason, David Niven.....nowadays it's Simon Cowell, Sharon Osborne, Ricky Gervais....have we inflicted Piers Morgan on you also? I don't follow his career
Pink Panther 🐆
A matter of life and death great movie .
Cohn only represented "one-eighth," not "one-fifth" of the studio heads. Cohn, of course, was the head of Columbia Pictures, but there wereseven more studios (MGM, 20th Century-Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal, United Artists and (at least until 1957), RKO Radio . And actually, we could further because there also was a Republic or Monogram (Allied Artists).
They were dreadful people and still are.
There was also Goldwyn, Selznick, Hal Roach, and if you want to bring up cheap studios, PRC.
And Disney
@@garryferrington811 i\
I was talking about the studios which were considered ''Major'' or ''Mini-Major.'' Cohn died in 1958 and his studio, ironically released Sam Goldwyn's last film, ''Porgy and Bess'' a year later. As far as Selznick and Roach were concerned, they were just memories by the 1950s. Disney released his usual assortment of animated films and swashbucklers from England (e.g. the great Disney version of ''Treasure Island''), but he never approached the number of feature films that MGM or even Columbia released.
If he'd been a little younger at the time, he'd have made a great James Bond.
Actually, he did play one of the first James Bond in Casino Royale in 1965.
@@tomgradwell9872 That was actually a comedy, just a spoof of the James Bond series.
@@hyperbius760 Agreed but he still played James Bond, same as Blockbusters Bob Holness played him on radio.
@@hyperbius760 Fleming wanted Niven as Bond in Dr. No. And the Bond books are a spoof!
Back when talk shows were about entertainment, not about political assasination.