Sixty-six years ago Errol selected the cover photo for a magazine because it reminded him of the location depicted below. Where is the location and why was it memorable to him??
Added Friday 10 p.m. EST
— Tim
Archive for July, 2020
The Show Must Go On — But with Whom??
16
Jul
Which of these two terrors would you pick for Errol- Bette or Tallulah??
July 16, 1936
Louella O. Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner
The witty, inimitable Tallulah Bankhead of Broadway and points West, is being tested like mad over at Warner Brothers Studio for the leading feminine role in Another Dawn, the film in which Errol (Captain Blood) Flynn is the hero. In fact, Tallulah is probably signed at this very minute.
This is the role originally slated for Bette Davis before she decided “to take a walk.” However, there is nothing but the friendliest of feelings at the Warner Brothers Studio toward Bette, and if she chooses to return she’ll find the door wide open and a big Warner welcome on the mat. But the show must go on with or without Bette.
…
Bette Before Another Dawn
Tallulah Before Another Dawn
O-Kay then, at the end of the day, who was in Another Dawn?
— Tim
The Escape
15
Jul
July 15, 1949
Armand Archerd
Evening Herald express
Susan Hayward has turned down, she says, $150,000, a chance to co-star with Errol Flynn and an Italy location for The Escape.
The fair lady’s reason: she would be required to cut her hair a la Bergman for For Whom the Bell Tolls. She refused to cut her hair for My Foolish Heart, which she’s now making. This gal’s haircuts come high.
…
Gorgeous, Talented, Courageous, Susan Hayward
— Tim
Dinner-Dance at the BHTC
14
Jul
July 14, 1937
May Hobart
Hollywood Citizen News
Attracting an impressive array of filmland notables, the formal opening of the Beverly Hills Tennis Club on N. Maple Dr. began Saturday night and didn’t end until Sunday evening, although the activity wasn’t quite continuous. The return from Europe of Fred Perry and Ellsworth Vines, two of the club’s directors, was celebrated at the invitational dinner-dance Saturday evening, which was held out-of-doors, with tables placed around the swimming pool.
In addition to the orchestra which played for dancing, Benny Goodman, with a trio, was present to entertain the throng. Impromptu entertainment was offered by Groucho Marx, Charles Lederer, Oscar Levant and others.
Those who dined and danced included Mssrs. and Mmes. Harpo Marx, Arthur Sheekman (Gloria Stuart), Basil Rathbone, John McCormack, Zeppo Marx, Robert Riskin, Donald Woods, Gordon Jones; Misses Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Bennett, Eleanore Whitney, Paula Stone, Paulette Goddard, Mary Brian; Messrs. Robert Taylor, Richard Rodgers, Johnny Downs, Charlie Chaplin, Eddie Buzzell, Ernest Pascal, Walter Kane, Arnold Kunody, William Wyler and Charles Butterworth.
The membership returned Sunday afternoon to pack the gallery for the official opening matches.
…
Beverly Hills Tennis Club 1938
Errol at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, 1945
Fred Perry, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx and Ellsworth Vines at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, 1937
And here’s how astonishingly hot Benny Goodman was in 1937, the very year he and Gene Krupa soared with Sing, Sing, Sing in Hollywood Hotel!
— Tim
Cover of The Queenslander — July 13, 1938
13
Jul
The Queenslander was the weekly summary and literary edition of the Brisbane Courier, the leading journal in the colony — and later, federal state—of Queensland since the 1850s. The Queenslander was launched by the Brisbane Newspaper Company in 1866, and discontinued in 1939.
— Tim
A Slightly Imperfect Specimen
13
Jul
July 13, 1937
Harriet Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner
Errol Flynn off production for a couple of days because of a fractured rib acquired during a boxing workout over the weekend
…
May 11, 1937
Elizabeth Yeaman
Hollywood Citizen News
Errol Flynn will lay aside his rapier and don boxing gloves for his next picture, The Perfect Specimen, for in this story he will portray a gent who is handy with his dukes. Furthermore, he is going modern in more ways than one. He is to have a smart-cracking leading lady in the person of Joan Blondell. Joan, however, should not be classified as a leading lady, but as a co-star. Incidentally, the Flynn physique can now be bared for the entertainment of feminine fans. The age of chivalry and its uniforms will be tossed out completely.
…
Sparring for The Perfect Specimen
— Tim
Eighty Five Years Ago Today — Captain Blood Gets Ready to Sail Again
12
Jul
July 12, 1935
Jimmy Starr
Evening Herald Express
Nearly a dozen years ago, 150 carpenters and laborers reported to work at the old Vitagraph studio on Talmadge Street. They started construction of ancient man of war vessels for the rapidly-declining film firm’s last lavish venture, Captain Blood.
Today the Warner studio now owns the Vitagraph plant, and nearly 300 carpenters and laborers are starting the construction of three Seventeenth Century war vessels for Captain Blood, to be one of the most costly of the Warner specials this year. Something near $100,000 will be spent for the ships and reproduction of the village of Port Royal on the Spanish Main.
Odd, isn’t it, that 12 years later the Vitagraph studio is again the setting for this adventuresome tale of the sea?
…
Vitagraph’s Captain Blood
— Tim
“An Unscrupulous Writer”
12
Jul
On July 11, 1981, UPI reported that Rory and Deirdre sued low-life Chuck Higham, correctly describing him as:
“An unscrupulous writer with gross imagination given to extravagant charges, deceit and defamation of deceased persons as his modus operandi of authorship.”
“A skilled and practiced character assassin who used the law preventing libel suits of relatives of a deceased person to defame the family without any threat of legal action.”
Our Man Flynn by Tony Thomas
Tony Thomas cites another outrageously unscrupulous writer and notorious fraud in his “Our Man Flynn” article -Falseman Capote.
Brava Rory & Deirdre!!
— Tim
VIRUS X!
11
Jul
“VIRUS” X STRIKES BING CROSBY AND ERROL FLYNN!
In late 1947 or early 1948, Errol and Bing Crosby were stricken by a very serious and mysterious disease the Los Angeles Health Department of Health called “Virus X”. Ultimately, a ‘Virux X’ epidemic spread through California, Oregon, and Washington. In Greater LA alone, there were hundreds of thousands of cases. It contributed to the early death (at 53 years old) of Hollywood star Warren Williams.
It’s not known how Errol got the virus. Perhaps kissing the wrong person?
— Tim
