Future Indefinite by Noël Coward

Author:Noël Coward [Coward, Noël]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, General, Drama, Social Science, LGBTQ+ Studies, Gay Studies, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Performing Arts, theater
ISBN: 9781408191477
Google: QHjjAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2014-07-21T23:58:50.631235+00:00

9

On Thursday, October 16th, when I was hard at work in my studio in Gerald Road on the second draft of In Which We Serve, I was interrupted by the arrival of two police inspectors with two summonses from the Finance Defence Department. They told me, politely enough, that I was to appear, on Friday the 24th, before a court and that I was liable to a fine of £22,000 for having broken certain rules, the very existence of which I knew nothing about. They also informed me that another summons was on the way. This, naturally, was a shattering blow and I was horrified and extremely angry. I realised that unless I could get the case postponed, pending further investigations, I should be landed with a Press scandal which not only would smear my personal reputation, but might quite conceivably damage my relations with the Admiralty, Mountbatten and the Navy, and place the whole film in serious jeopardy. As it subsequently transpired, I needn’t have worried about the Admiralty, Mountbatten or the Navy because, I am proud to say, they held me in too much honour to pay any attention to such palpable celebrity-baiting. Nevertheless it was a black moment and had to be dealt with firmly and swiftly. I immediately telephoned Nicholas Lawford, Anthony Eden’s secretary at the Foreign Office, and asked him for the name of a good lawyer. The one he suggested, although sympathetic, was unable to represent me, for he was representing the other side, i.e., the Bank of England and the Treasury, but he was kind enough to ring up another lawyer, Dingwall Bateson, who agreed to deal with my case. A few days later I was served with three further summonses. These dealt with currency. I was told for the first time – my accountants having maintained a stately silence on the point – that on August 26th, 1939, a law was passed decreeing that all English people with money in America must declare it and not spend it in any circumstances whatever. This was entirely news to me, and exceedingly unpleasant news, for it meant that by spending the money I had spent from my personal account in New York, principally on work for my Government, I had been committing a criminal offence.

Bateson, who was understanding and shrewd, took a gloomy view. I gathered from his manner that he suspected somebody high up was specifically gunning for me. He said, at all events, that the Treasury was out for well-known blood, but that he hoped at least to be able to get a temporary adjournment. This he succeeded in doing, and my case was ultimately tried at Bow Street Police Court on October 30th. In the meantime Geoffrey Roberts (‘Khaki’ Roberts) had been engaged to defend me. Four days before the case I was surprised and most touched to receive out of the blue the following letter from George Bernard Shaw:

4, Whitehall Court,

London, S.W.I.

26/10/1941

DEAR NOËL COWARD,

The other day George Arliss, being in

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