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Archive for May, 2023

His Name iz Curtiz. Michael Curtiz.

16 May

Dear Flynnstones,

the Filmarchiv Austria is showing a retrospective of director Michael Curtiz, née Kertesz, during the months of May and June.

Very appropriately it takes place in one of the oldest and most beautiful venues of movie theatres in Vienna- the METRO KINO.

What makes this event so special for every Flynnophile is, not only will the obvious choices of his best works like “The Adventures of Robin Hood“, “Dodge City“ and “Captain Blood“ be presented, but also the early silent flicks starring Lili Damita are shown on the big screen.

It will be my privilege to lip read to you impressions of little Tiger Lil’ in movies like “Fiaker No. 13“ (Horse Carriage No. 13) and “Das Spielzeug von Paris“ (The Toy of Paris). I expect them to fully convey the divaesque quality, which made Errol think: “That is the star I am going to marry..“

Also in program are “Sodom und Gomorrah“, the monumental movie that got Curt to Hollywood, “The Sea Wolf“, a film tailor made for Flynn, but realized with Edward G. Robinson instead and the inevitable classic “Casablanca“ with local boy Paul Henreid second to the right.

“Mildred Pierce“ (Joan Crawford), “King Creole“ (Elvis Presley), “Yankee Doodle Dandy“ (James Cagney), “Young Man with a Horn“ (Kirk Douglas) and “Angles with Dirty Faces“ (Humphrey Bogart) amongst others round up an intriguing selection of an outstanding oeuvre.

One could say, the Hungarian Hun has come home.

Welcome to Viennawood, my laddies,

 

 

 

 

— shangheinz

 

Lock, Stock and Errol

15 May

Dear Flynnstones,

“If the lock doesn’t click, you must acquit.“

Enjoy,

 

 

— shangheinz

 

In the Den of Cap‘n Don

12 May

Dear Flynnstones,

Errol attracted the most colorful characters. Don Dickerman, being one of them, came in Technicolor. He thought of himself, dressed and behaved like a pirate.

In addition he opened several nightclubs in various cities called “Pirate‘s Den“.

Flynn fronted Don the money for the outlet in LA along with several other celebrities.

The den had a pen to put damsels in distress. Once a beautiful piratess had been captured and put behind the makeshift bars, she had one way to escape- scream as loud as she could. That would set her free and even get her a screaming diploma.

The Den took a dive, when one of the true life buccaneer waiters overcharged a highschool kid. The club never recovered from billhauling and from then on had the reputation of a real cutthroat venue.

Don though would be rewarded for his constant cultural appropriation with a role of a…in “The Sea Hawk“

Enjoy,

 

 

— shangheinz

 

Olivia’s belongings go under the hammer

12 May

www.hollywoodreporter.com…
Hi all I am hopeless at this but if you go to address above you will get a good read. Genene

— tassie devil

 
 

Mail Bag! A Pictorial History of Errol Flynn in Two Volumes by Topper Mackay!

10 May

The Mail Bag brings us something that was a bit secretive until now! Our mission, should we choose to accept it, and we do, it to enjoy news of Topper MacKay’s superbly produced new two-volume book “A Pictorial History of the Life and Times of Errol Flynn, Movie Star” …

He says:

I am  introducing the latest published work on Errol Flynn, simply titled volume 1 “Errol Flynn”, and volume 2 “Movie Star”, authored by long-time blog follower, Topper MacKay.

It is a two-volume brace, totaling 492 pages, plus 12 pages of  preliminary materials.

The books were published in late 2022 and distruibuted shortly thereafter. Please note  that they were released as a ‘fair-use copyright publication’ with a limited edition of 50.

This means that the books are not for sale or readily available to the public…a true laborof love, so to speak.

Some fun facts are:

The books are 10 1/2″  X  12″ and weigh six pounds together.

There are over  2,364 illustrations and 1,989 of them contain Flynn.

It is chronologically based on his life with some pictures and articles that have not been seen in over 80 years.

I have attached a photo of the two volumes along with a pic of the back covers of each one.

Enjoy!

 

Topper has agreed to share parts of the contents of his volumes with the blog in upcoming presentations of some of the pages.

 

Thanks, Topper, we take the assignment seriously, and will do our duty!

— David DeWitt

 

Did Errol Ever Meet Otto?

09 May

Heinz Kampel sends me this private misdive then grants us a new Mail Bag item! Thanks!

I am currently writing an article called “Der Nazi im Mond” (“The Nazi in the Moon”) and during my researches finally managed to locate the daughter of Otto Skorzeny, the SS man who in a daring mission snatched Benito Mussolini from Italy, when the Duce was put under house arrest at a remote hotel high in the Appenin mountains.She is 83 years old kindly agreed to do an interview with me. Her son Robin (!) assisted. Right off  the bat, I asked if she knew, if Otto and Errol ever met. Skorzeny moved to Mallorca after being cleared at the Nuremberg trials and the EF blog`s own Ventu Sala indicated, his house was not too far from Errol`s Es Moli- that being on an island though. Not to her knowledge, but she remembered Rudi`s Bar (Chez Rudi « The Errol Flynn Blog) quite vividly- Skorzeny went there quite often. His idea of an ideal night was being recognized in the streets of Majorca, getting invited to dinner and then recounting his rescue mission of Mussolini to an awed crowd at lenght. “…alpha male and penny pincher that he was…” (O-Tone). I think Errol and Otto would have gotten along quite well, they even may have traded punches. LOL! If they ever met, it could have been in Argentina at the film festival, for Otto established the structures of secret services for Peron, and for Nasser and…King Hussein of Jordan. Saw an inscribed photo of the king in full regalia. I saw a photo of Skorzeny with Hitler in their family album too. The 6 foot 4 henchman and the Austrian madman in unison- SCARY! Manfred Lentner, the convicted crew member of Freddie McEvoy was cut out of the same wood. Same stature, same ideology (volunteered at 17, one year short of graduation). Fred and Freddie met along the so-called rat line (Rome-Genova- South America), the route paved by the Vatican for nazis with dreams of a Forth Reich. This story surrounding the untimely death of Errol Flynn`s best man Freddie Mac has still to be told!

All the best,
Heinz

— David DeWitt

 
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Remembering Another Coronation… and a Film!

06 May

Not everyone (?) here may be old enough to remember 2 Brits of note: Edward VIII and King George VI, and how a film of Errol Flynn’s, literally, came BETWEEN them… if you don’t remember~ read on courtesy of Wicki:

“The Prince and the Pauper is a 1937 film adaptation of the 1881 novel of the same name by Mark Twain. It starred Errol Flynn, twins Billy and Bobby Mauch in the title roles, and Claude Rains and has been described as “a kids’ fantasy.”[2]

The film was originally intended to coincide with the planned coronation of Edward VIII in 1936. However, its release was delayed until the following year.[3] The film was released on May 8, 1937, four days before the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $1,026,000 domestically and $665,000 foreign making it the studio’s most popular film of the year.[1]

Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times wrote, “Bobby and Billy justify their twinship completely, not merely by investing the Twain legend of mistaken royal identity with a pleasing degree of credibility, but by playing their roles with such straightforwardness and naturalness that the picture becomes one of the most likable entertainments of the year … The novel and the screen have been bridged so gracefully we cannot resist saying the Twain and the movies have met.”[9] Variety published a negative review, reporting: “The fragile plot scarcely holds together a full length screen play”, and suggesting that its running time could have been trimmed at the beginning so Flynn could enter the film earlier.[10] John Mosher of The New Yorker praised the film as “a fine spectacle”.[11] Harrison’s Reports called it “An excellent costume picture” with “outstanding” performances.[12]”

 

— Karl

 
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