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Mutiny on the ?

30 Aug

In the last week of August many years ago. there was a mutiny on a ship that has a very strong connection to the history of Errol Flynn.

What ship was it, where was it, and who led the mutiny???

— Tim

 
17 Comments

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, QUIZ PAGE, Ships & the Sea

 

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  1. Gentleman Tim

    August 30, 2020 at 12:52 pm

    The mutiny took place off foreign land in the Pacific.

    The mutineer complained bitterly about Captain B____.

    When the story of the mutiny reached the ship’s home country it received much publicity.

     

  2. Gentleman Tim

    August 30, 2020 at 4:20 pm

    Two authors on the EFB were there!!

     

  3. Gentleman Tim

    August 30, 2020 at 4:42 pm

    In addition to some very rough language, there were also very some rough seas, the result of a tropical storm. Additionally, the mutineer was reportedly “keel-hauled”., i.e. dragged overboard in a net.

     

  4. barb

    August 30, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    This is really a far out guess, Tim, but could the ship be the Zaca? I only think that because of your clue that one two blog authors were on the ship. That made me think Rory, when Nora was pregnant with her. Plus there the friction aboard during the cruise, and wasn’t Nora at some point referred to as Captain Bligh? Beyond that, I haven’t a clue.

     

    • Gentleman Tim

      August 30, 2020 at 9:16 pm

      Once again, barb, you have sailed to victory with flying colors!

      Yes, it was nasty John Decker who quite outrageously called Nora “Captain Bligh”, during the Cruise of the Zaca because she didn’t put up with his incessantly abusive and often filthy behavior. So he initiated a mutiny, which largely sabotaged the scientific.expedition. After he jumped ship at Acapulco, he returned to LA and viciously bad-mouthed Nora to the press.

      And, yes, Rory was on-board, in Nora’s womb! Very good, barb!! Talk about an amazing maiden voyage!

       

  5. Gentleman Tim

    August 30, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    newspapers.library.in.gov…

     

  6. barb

    August 30, 2020 at 11:26 pm

    Wow! I haven’t yet read the newspaper articles, but what exactly did whomever do to Decker?

     

    • Gentleman Tim

      August 31, 2020 at 1:10 am

      Decker was a despicable character and drunk to begin with. His inability to endure a cruise at sea made his behavior even more unconscionable than usual. So, being a physical weakling and moral coward, he turned on Nora, who he knew was pregnant, and repeatedly mocked her for her slightly expanding womb. He was clearly a man who hated women. Here’s some of what he told the press:

      “Interviewed in Hollywood upon his precipitous return from Acapulco on September 9, Decker growled of Nora: “She turned into a female Capt. Bligh. And I’m no Fletcher Christian. Ships are for men to run. It’s a man’s world at sea.. • • She kept making sarcastic cracks that I don’t take from women. Like, ‘Don’t throw cigarettes on deck: “Pick up your cup and take it to the galley,’ ‘Don’t eat in the salon; it’s not the mess hall.’ ••• Dames are okay on board a yacht. But they oughta stay in their place — preferably below deck.””

      Oh yes, and he also physically attacked Nora, giving her a black eye.

       

  7. David DeWitt

    August 31, 2020 at 3:06 am

    An answer from one of the mail subscribers: Antes de llegar a Hollywood Errol Flynn protagonizo el filme el motín de la Bounty, en el papel de Christian Fletcher

    Before arriving in Hollywood, Errol Flynn starred in the film Mutiny on the Bounty, in the role of Christian Fletcher

    Jess Guedes

     

  8. catschutz

    August 31, 2020 at 3:09 pm

    Did Errol put up with this abuse of Nora?….I can’t imagine he would….

     

    • Gentleman Tim

      August 31, 2020 at 5:59 pm

      No, he did not. Once Errol was able, he “keelhauled” Decker (an astonishingly rare thing to do in any century, never mind the 20th Century!), locked him away from the ship’s liquor, and had him banished forever from the Zaca as soon as they reached the mainland (Acapulco). Decker was dead in less than a year, at age 51, a great talent but miserable man.

       

  9. barb

    August 31, 2020 at 6:09 pm

    As a human being, Decker sure was a piece of work. Another amazing story, Tim.

     

  10. Karl

    September 1, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    People are NOT always at their best towards the end, so… here is the rest of the story~

    More to be found on Decker in 2 contemporary works: Hollywood’s Hellfire Club: The Misadventures of John Barrymore, W.C. Fields, Errol Flynn and the Bundy Drive Boys and Bohemian Rogue: The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker.

    And from the past, Gene Fowler’s Minutes of the Last Meeting.

     

  11. Karl

    September 2, 2020 at 12:13 am

    Not everybody at their best towards the end, so… for your further consideration (and the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say):

    More to be found on Decker in 2 contemporary works: Hollywood’s Hellfire Club: The Misadventures of John Barrymore, W.C. Fields, Errol Flynn and the Bundy Drive Boys and Bohemian Rogue: The Life of Hollywood Artist John Decker.

    And from the past, Gene Fowler’s Minutes of the Last Meeting.