Howard is perhaps best remembered for his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind" (1939), his last American film, but he was uncomfortable with Hollywood, and returned to Britain to help with the Second World War effort. He starred in a number of Second World War films including "49th Parallel" (1941), ""Pimpernel" Smith" (1941) and "The First of the Few" (1942, known in the U.S. as "Spitfire"), the latter two of which he also directed and co-produced. His friend and "The First of the Few" co-star David Niven said Howard was "...not what he seemed. He had the kind of distraught air that would make people want to mother him. Actually, he was about as naïve as General Motors. Busy little brain, always going."