In times of conflict

An email from Sir Roger Moore concerning two prominent Hollywood Hungarians whom I failed to mention last week. Did you know that Bernie Schwartz, aka Tony Curtis, was Hungarian? As was the wonderful director Michael Curtiz. The latter pronounced the words ‘Bring on the empty horses’ during the shooting of The Charge of the Light Brigade, or some cavalry epic like it. He meant the props, but David Niven used the Hungarianism as the title of the second volume of his memoirs. Roger also pointed out that Taki means waterfall in Japanese, something I knew but had kept awfully quiet about until now.

And, speaking of the Land of the Rising Sun, are you aware that in July 1941 FDR froze Japan’s assets, shut off her oil, sent military aid to China under lend-lease and dispatched B-17s to Manila to prepare to attack Japanese islands? All this before Pearl Harbor, of course. FDR was warned that his actions meant war, by Admiral Richard Kelly Turner, to be exact. But that’s what FDR wanted. When he cut off Japan’s oil supplies, it was a de facto declaration of war. What troubles me greatly is the fact that FDR fell into the Japanese militarist trap. The government of Prince Konoye, a civilised, dignified and humane gentleman, did not want war. The militarist clique did. Konoye offered to meet FDR anywhere, and stated that, if the oil shipments were renewed, Japan would pull back from Indochina and have FDR mediate the Sino-Japanese war. Konoye was given the back of FDR’s hand. Konoye killed himself after the war rather than face trial as a war criminal.