Editing David Niven (section)

==== 1935–1938: Early roles ====
When Niven presented himself at [[Central Casting]], he learned that he needed a [[work permit]] to reside and work in the United States. Since this required leaving the US, he went to [[Mexico]], where he worked as a "gun-man", cleaning and polishing the rifles of visiting American hunters. He received his [[Permanent residence (United States)|resident alien visa]] from the American consulate when his birth certificate arrived from [[UK|Britain]]. He returned to the US and was accepted by Central Casting as "Anglo-Saxon Type No. 2,008."<!--David Niven - Parkinson Interview Ji_K_jpCZSE --> Among the initial films in which he can be seen are ''[[Barbary Coast (film)|Barbary Coast]]'' (1935) and ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1935). He secured a small role in ''[[A Feather in Her Hat]]'' (1935) at [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]] before returning to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] for a bit role, billed as David Nivens, in ''[[Rose Marie (1936 film)|Rose Marie]]'' (1936).

Niven's role in ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' brought him to the attention of independent film producer [[Samuel Goldwyn]], who signed him to a contract and established his career. For Goldwyn, Niven again had a small role in ''[[Splendor (1935 film)|Splendor]]'' (1935). He was lent to MGM for a minor part in ''[[Rose Marie (1936 film)|Rose Marie]]'' (1936), then a larger one in ''[[Palm Springs (1936 film)|Palm Springs]]'' (1936) for [[Paramount Pictures]]. His first sizable role for Goldwyn came in ''[[Dodsworth (film)|Dodsworth]]'' (1936). In that same year he was again loaned out, to [[20th Century Fox]] to play [[Bertie Wooster]] in ''[[Thank You, Jeeves!]]'' (1936), before landing a significant role as a soldier in ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (1936) at [[Warner Brothers]], an Imperial adventure film starring his housemate at the time, [[Errol Flynn]]. Niven was fourth billed in ''[[Beloved Enemy]]'' (1936) for Goldwyn, supporting [[Merle Oberon]] with whom he was romantically involved. [[Universal Pictures]] used him in ''[[We Have Our Moments]]'' (1937) and he had a good supporting role in [[David O. Selznick]]'s ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]'' (1937).