Who was it Errol showed to the door in the photo below?
— Tim
Archive for April, 2015
“Errol Flynn was The Man – The Man in Havana””
16
Apr
I had the wonderful fortune this week to spend time with a prominent member of Miami’s Cuban American community. In his late seventies now, he grew up in Havana and was very familiar with Errol’s legendary times in pre-Castro Cuba. In fact, he saw him on one very memorable occasion at the Havana Hilton, in a scene somewhat reminiscent of Dodge City.
After we first met and he mentioned his time in old Cuba, I eventually asked him if he ever remembered hearing “anything about Errol Flynn?” Instantly,he broke a big smile and said “Errol Flynn? Errol Flynn was the man in Havana. Everyone knew when Errol Flynn was in Havana. Everyone. And the women, they all loved him. He couldn’t go anywhere without women chasing him. And he was the man for all of the men. Nobody was bigger than Errol Flynn in Havana. It was the perfect town for him.”
I asked if he had ever seen Errol, and he had, the first time being quite amazing. He believed it was in either ’57 or ’58, shortly after when the Havana Hilton opened. His uncle took him to see the hotel and when they entered the nightclub area they witnessed wild commotion and a huge brawl. For reasons still unknown to him, Errol was fighting with someone near the bar, by the the dance floor. The show was stopped and there were “chairs flying”. He knew nothing more, no details of why this happened, nor who Errol was fighting. He believed however that it likely was over a women, because “all the women were always after Errol. He was older than, but still very handsome.”
He recalled too that Errol often drank at La Bodaquitos del Medio.
The other big thing he remembers, which he said was big news around town when it happened, was that Errol’s hotel room at the Hilton caught on fire and it was a ver big deal. That’s all he ever knew, again not how nor why.
He said that the Hilton was in not too long taken over by Castro’s guerillas, but his parents got him out of Cuba to the U. S. (via Jamaica) before that happened. He said he loved Cuba so much and didn’t want to leave, that Havana was so great for a young man, but soon it was all ruined, especially after Castro sided the Soviets.
He added saw Nat King Cole quite a bit, at The Flamingo, not ever the Hilton. He emphasized though that “no one was as big as Flynn, not Hemingway, not anyone, Errol Flynn was the man.”
— Tim
Nora New Mum
15
Apr
Came across this recently, Nora is carrying Deirdre. Any thoughts people. First time I’ve seen it.
— daringthorpe
Script for sale
15
Apr
Dear fellow Flynn fans,
see the spoof on Errol in print and own it if you will:
Mel Brooks remembered his high time with our Hollywood hero vividly in an 1997 interview like this:
“I was locked in the Waldorf Towers with Errol Flynn and two red-headed, Cuban sisters. For three days I was trying to get them out of there and he was trying to get me drunk and in there. It was the craziest weekend of my life. I was 20 years old and just starting with The Show Of Shows. He was a tough guy to corrale and get to rehearsals. Max Liebman assigned me to him and said, “Get him into rehearsal! Make him learn his lines! Work with him on the sketch!” Errol Flynn was a raving maniac. All he wanted was booze and to fool around. He did learn the sketch. Actually, I whispered into his ear when he was asleep. I’d say all the lines and unconsciously, I knew it would get through to his head.”
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
Sol Gorss – In for Flynn
14
Apr
Various Involvements Reported for Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, Dive Bomber, Don Juan, … The Sword of Villon.
— Tim
Hal Kent – “Errol’s Dare-Devil Double”
12
Apr
Hal Kent, Hell-Driving Co-Star of the Legendary Joie Chitwood Thrill Show – Reported to be One of Errol Flynn’s Stunt Doubles. Anyone Know for Sure?
Orange Bowl Spectacular, with Girl Blown Up in Casket
Hell on Wheels
Jumping Like Evil, Long Before Knieval
Dive Bomber – the Stunt, Not the Movie
Chi-Town 1948
EDIT/ADDITION, BASED ON MARIA’S FIND OF A HAL KENT PHOTO – SEE HER POST BELOW:
— Tim
In the Company of Legends
12
Apr
I found an interesting post from Newsweek regarding a book written by David Heeley and Joan Kramer: “In the Company of Legends“. Turner Classic Movies showed 5 of their biographies this past week. Not included in the TV program, but in their book (I believe) is a section on Errol. Excerpt:
Any examples of getting too close to the subjects to make your treatment balanced?
DH: Sometimes it’s tricky when you’re getting very close to the people involved. You don’t want to offend them but you can’t let that color how you tell the story. In the case of the Errol Flynn show we got very close to [his widow] Pat Wymore, who initially wouldn’t talk to anybody about him. Joan got her on the phone and that was the end of that [laughs]. Joan can persuade anybody. At the end of the phone call she said, “Why don’t you come down and visit me?” We were very close to Pat but we said Errol Flynn did not lead a life that was all hunky-dory. If we’re going to really tell the truth, we risk offending Pat. We talked to her and she said, “Just tell the story straight.” She knew who she was married to. So we did tell the story straight and she said, in the end, “Errol would have been so happy. Because yes of course we showed his flaws, but we also showed the world that he was a great actor.”
Right On Pat!
— Maria
