Hi all!
Wanted to re-post my blog entry about Robert Matzen's “Errol & Olivia” book (since it's way down on the page), and also wanted to ask if anyone else (besides Brenda and Kathleen, I think) has read the book, and what are your thoughts on it?
Here's what I had to say:
I finally finished reading Robert Matzen's E&O book, and “WOW!” is what I have to say. I highly recommend this book — it's an absolute must-read for Flynn fans (esp “Errolivia” fans)! After reading it, I felt a lot like I felt after I read Errol's autobio MWWW…Matzen's book sucked me in and “drained” me emotionally; it was like being on an emotional rollercoaster, but one I very much enjoyed in the end. One reviewer of the book said it best: at times she wanted to kiss and hug the book (b/c it's *that* good), and other times she wanted to throw the book across the room (b/c parts of it were “intense”). That's pretty much how I felt while reading it. Still, I'm SO glad a book like this was finally written about Errol and Olivia, and it contains so many wonderful photos too! My one and only “complaint” about the book is that, at times, Matzen comes down hard on Errol, more so than he does on Olivia. I know Matzen is a long-time Flynn fan, but he doesn't let Errol off easy much of the time, he doesn't cut him much slack, as it were. Yet you can still tell how much he does admire both Errol and Olivia, and in the end he concludes they really did love each other (in a bittersweet kind of way). Needless to say, this book made me laugh out loud at certain moments, made me cry, and made me think more about both Errol and Olivia, and made me love and appreciate them and their films all the more. Thank you, Robert Matzen!
— Rachel
Anonymous
November 1, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Matzen has a book out on Errol and Olivia?
Anonymous
November 1, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Robert, where were you these past months? :-)) *lol*
Anonymous
November 2, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Hello everyone, and kudos to Robert Matzen! I just finished my book and wow! I have been in a fog ever since, like I'm on some high or something. This book I think is a must-have for any Errol Flynn fan. The fan should read his book, MWWW'S, and then read this book, because the book kinda connects the dots between him and Olivia, because when you become an Errol fan you also become an Olivia fan too. The chemistry between them in their movies is so captivating and visible, you can't help but get caught up in their history with each other, and Robert's book explains in jucy detail, just that! I was left wondering though after reading, why, when Olivia decided to date and throw caution to the wind why she didn't turn to Errol and also, what was it that caused the estrangement all of those years, I mean up to this point, she knew everything that there was to know about him so what could of happened to make them be estranged for so long? I'm just sad that Olivia didn't mail that letter to him, it just goes to show that you should follow through with your intentions. Happy reading, Tammy
Anonymous
November 2, 2010 at 3:04 pm
LOL
Anonymous
November 2, 2010 at 4:56 pm
What's so funny?
Anonymous
November 2, 2010 at 5:43 pm
That you somehow seem to have missed the new book? Or was your question a rhetorical one? :-))
Anonymous
November 2, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Hi Tammy! Glad to read your comments on Matzen's book. I felt the same way, being on a “high”, in a “fog” as you said. :-) And I agree that Matzen's book does in many ways help to connect the dots (good analogy) between Errol and Olivia. Yes, the book is full of “juicy details”, though like you I'm also dying to know what it was that caused the 15-year estrangement btw Olivia and Errol. And I too wish Olivia had sent that letter to Errol in 1959; she really should've sent it! Who knows what it could've done for him to read it….
Anonymous
November 3, 2010 at 3:02 am
Hi Rachel, yeah, I've been intrigued for many years about their chemistry and their deep affection for one another, gosh, to have been in her shoes!! I just finished reading a little article about her recently and in it she says that out of all the actors she's ever kissed, it was Errol's kisses that she enjoyed the most, and whew, who can blame her right?! But, after reading Robert's book I now know that she didn't have such an easy time either and just how much their lives really mimicked each other in some ways. Maybe when Olivia's book finally surfaces, she will hopefully, explain it all. Gee, I haven't missed it have I, seems like forever that we have been waiting, but it's worth the wait!
Anonymous
November 3, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Olivia enjoyed Errol's kisses the most…well, no surprise there. :-)
Anonymous
November 7, 2010 at 2:16 pm
This is a wow book that shows the reader the inside track on the lives of two people who did
love each other but never quite made it as a couple off screen. Olivia is definitley the “iron fist in a velvet glove” and highly driven, while Errol is more juvenile and live for the moment which is part of his charm, I do agree that Matzen is a lot tougher on Errol than Olivia and as to the big “estrangement” we will never know maybe after “boots” they agreed this was the best the relationship would ever get. but a fantastic book and a must read for any fan of the golden age of Hollywood
Anonymous
November 7, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Thanks for sharing your review, daringthorpe! And I quite agree about Olivia being an “iron fist in a velvet glove” — well said. :-)
Anonymous
November 8, 2010 at 3:57 am
Sure can't help but wonder about their estrangement…..so odd, so mysterious. Wonder if Olivia will ever open up and tell. Probably not…there was a code of silence back then I think, not so common today. People could keep a secret better…
Anonymous
November 14, 2010 at 7:18 pm
One can only speculate as to the estrangement. Whatever it was, I'm sure it led to deep regrets. :(
I personally think that Errol's torment in the later part of his life had to include this loss. Maybe it was just too much: the loss of somebody he loved very deeply, regret at not being able to serve in the capacity he wished, and fallout from the rape trial.
I would love to see any picture of them on an official “date”. I wonder if there are any? (I'm not including the Ball of 1937. heh heh)
Anonymous
November 15, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I'm with you on all the above, Elayna. I too think his estrangement from Olivia had to have been one of the factors adding to his “torment”, as you said, later in his life. And I too would love to see a photo of Errol & Olivia from one of their “dates”. I imagine there's gotta be at least one photo out there somewhere. :-)
Anonymous
November 16, 2010 at 12:28 am
I would love to see a picture like that. I mean, if press reports had them out on dates, I'm sure SOME kind of picture had to have been taken. Somewhere. :)
I can only hope. :)
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the estrangement. Some misunderstanding? Outside influences? Pressure?
:(
Anonymous
November 16, 2010 at 12:48 am
Yep, all my thoughts exactly…and I've been wondering the same things. But I'm afraid we may never know the answers…unless Olivia herself finally reveals what happened btw her and Errol.
Anonymous
November 19, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Olivia has stated that a picture was snapped of the two of them at the Coconut Grove. (After the dinner at Errols which David Nivan invited her to and where she found out later that she was with Errol…I am sure you ladies know the story.)
Patti
Anonymous
November 19, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Hi Patricia!
Yeah, and I think that photo is in Matzen's E&O book. It's the photo of them dancing together at the Coconut Grove the night of the Coronation Ball.
Anonymous
November 19, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Hi Rachel.
I know Olivia refers to the ball as a “British Ball.” She attended with EF and then went down stairs to the Coconut Grove and danced to Sweet Lalani and someone snapped the pic.!
Anonymous
November 20, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Yep, that's the one.
Anonymous
November 30, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Well, it took me a little longer here in Europe to get the book, but I have finally finished it and I can only agree with all of you and repeat what you said – it's an amazing read, it sweeps you away and leaves you with hundreds of questions. I think I could come up with at least one question for every page because it is all so interestingly written and well researched, and one wants to dig deper and deeper and know just EVERYTHING. I only wished that some pictures would not have been enlarged (for the sake of the layout probably), some of them are quite “pixeled” now which is a pity, but does not really disturb the overall positive impression.