ARLISS ARCHIVES

LETTERS 1939 to 1942

One of the first letters that Mr. A wrote following the Declarations of War was to Godfrey Davies, a well-respected English historian of the 17th century and a member of the research staff of The Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Mr. A discusses the publication of his autobiography that may be affected by the war. The second part of this letter comments on the war and the opposition by some factions in America to aiding Great Britain. Arliss was likely aware that the isolationist movement in the U.S. had a charismatic leader in Charles Lindbergh, the famed aviator.

Mr. A wrote the following letters to Grace and Edwin Hubble. Edwin was a prominent astronomer in the United States and the Hubble Telescope is named in his honor. The book referenced is Mr. A’s second volume of autobiography. The American title was MY TEN YEARS IN THE STUDIOS. Germany declared war on September 1, 1939, and three days later, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. As this letter relates about six weeks into World War II, not much happened at first.

By six months into the European war, Mr. A’s continued his trans-Atlantic correspondence with Godfrey Davies focusing on his book and expressing his opinions over how Britain was managing the war so far:

A mere five days after the Japanese air attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Mr. A had this to say:

By January 30, 1942, the date of Mr. A’s next letter to the Hubbles, adjustments to living in a war zone are beginning to tell.

These letters are presented through the courtesy of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Watch for more of the George Arliss WWII correspondence to be posted here soon.