Grabbing breakfast this morning at the Brooklyn Water Bagel Company in Boca, I noticed the following 3′ x 3′ image. It’s a WWII era photo of the College Theater in Brooklyn, on the southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Glenwood Road. I can perrsonally attest that Flynn was HUGELY popular in Brooklyn, along the lines of a superhero – something touched upon in My Favotite Year.
— Tim
In early 1941, Errol reported that he had purchased land where he said “[he’d] rather live than anywhere else in the world.”
It’s breathtakingly beautiful.
A famous king was born nearby.
It was tens of thousands of acres.
It’s name had 2 ‘H’s, 2’U’s, and 2 ‘E’s.
He intended to raise Hereford cattle there.
There were already thousands of cattle there.
There were already hundreds of horses there.
There is a view of a famous geological feature.
He said he intended to bring Sean and Lili there.
The attack on Pearl Harbor may have sabotaged his plans.
_______
There is a golf course now on part of the property:
There are majestic beaches:
Peacocks live off the land:
And whale’s off it’s coast:
— Tim
Going over stuff for 1943, and looking over a shoot at Mulholland with Errol and his artwork during the week of July 20th, before Errol left for Mexico. In a few of the pix Flynn is outside with a doberman pinscher.
My question: Is that Errol’s dog? … or was it Buster’s dog? … and regardless, what was the dog’s name?
Even Matzen’s book, which has a couple of pix of the dog, never mentions his name …
— David DeWitt
Errol/Titchfield Hotel
I enjoy reading your articles. I have often wondered if anyone knows what work Cahill Interiors did at the hotel for that this check paid for?
Thanks, Delaine!
— David DeWitt
Great film from the Forties, including many of Errol’s old haunts, exactly how he would have seen them. LA, Beverly Hills, and Hollywood, Catalina, Snow Valley, Lake Arrowhead, San Juan Capistrano, and Laguna, down the coast to Del Mar, San Diego, Coronado, and Tijuana, back north to Palm Springs and Pasadena – all along the Santa Fe Railroad Trail.
— Tim
He made Errol’s Robin Hood leather boots, and lent his horse Don to Errol for “Boots”. He was Bob Brown. Norman Rockwell declared him “The Leonardo of Leather”.
“Bob Brown’s first job was to create the tunic, belt, shoes and cap for Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood. Other famous owners of Bob’s work are John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Lash Larue, Sunset Carson, Hopalong Cassidy, Tex Williams and many many more. There is a story saying that Bob Brown was the one who taught John Wayne his famous walk.”
— Tim
Errol is in the news today in an article about the also immortally great Glenn Miller, both of whom were voted number one male entertainer favorites at Asbury Park High School in 1939 – Miller for music, Flynn for film – assessments I’m sure were true throughout the country. Here’s the article, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s superlative version of “Along the Santa Fe Trail”, “intended for but never used for the 1940’s film The Santa Fe Trail.”
forbiddenmusic.org… (Note the reference to Erich Korngold’s famous music-critic father, Julius.)
— Tim
Errol once had a employee who typed for him, made (a lot of) tea for him, and helped him run a business across from Warner Bros. Who was he or she?
His or her employment started prior to and ended during WWII.
He or she worked for Uncle Sam both before and after working for Errol.
His or her first name and last name are among those listed below:
FIRST NAME
Gordita
Junior
Max
Minnie
Shorty
Slim
Stretch
LAST NAME
Avalon
Berkeley
Carmel
Fresno
La Jolla
Monterey
Ventura
— Tim
We heard from actor Jonathan Stewart who starred as Errol Flynn in the musical play Errol & Fidel after two of our members Karl Holmber and Gentleman Tim attended the play in NYC.
Hi there,
I qwas given your card by an audience member after one of our performances last week. I’m the actor who played Errol and I hope you enjoyed the show. We all had a wonderful time living in the world of Errol and Fidel and the audiences seemed to love the show. It was a very tall order as an actor to try and inhabit his now almost mythical existence, and I had the time of my life giving it a go. What a fascinating man he was, though I suppose you already know that!
Hi David,
Glad to hear your friends got to see the show and enjoyed it. We had a very short run as the show was part of the annual NY Musical Festival which features new works in development selected from hundreds of submissions each year. The creators are all Australian (not surprisingly) and I know their hope is that the show will have a further life somewhere down the road. However at the moment I’m not certain of the status of that. They are all lovely people and huge fans of Errol’s. Please let Rory know what an honor it was for me to play her legendary father, and how much I enjoyed The Baron of Mulholland which I read as part of my preparation for the role. Yes please feel free to use my email as a Mail Bag item on the blog. I’ve attached a few production photos which you may have already seen published on line.
Best,Jonathan
Thanks so much, Jonathan!
— David DeWitt
