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Mail Bag! Errol pitches The White Rajah to Jack Warner!

07 Mar

Our new subscriber, Eric Clarke, sends us a couple of images of Errol’s pitch to Jack Warner about his script of The White Rajah and a page of the 14 page synopsis.

 

 

Thanks, Eric!

— David DeWitt

 
20 Comments

Posted in Collectibles, Documents, Films, Flynn and..., Flynn-related, Main Page

 

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  1. Karl

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    March 8, 2018 at 2:09 am

    Whoa Eric (my brother also shares your “forename”)!

    Is this something you own or do you have copies?

    I can’t make it all out… does the letter have a date of 1947? And is there a date for the script?

    Would it be possible to do a better scan of the 2 documents you shared with us?

    Every so often something RARE appears from out of the forgotten mists of time and this is DEFINITELY one of them!

    Looking forward to hearing more!!!

     

  2. rswilltell

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    March 8, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    Eric; Thanks for this. More than 20 years ago, a great Errol Flynn scholar told me about a movie memorabilia shop in London that was selling type-written original copy of ‘The White Rajah’ for $5000.00 I wrote the owner of the shop who gave me his business phone number. I made a long distance phone call and the owner said that he did not mean five thousand US dollars but 5,000 British Pounds Sterling! That was way beyond my meager budget but he said something interesting. The script for ‘The White Rajah’ was not written as a shooting screenplay but simply a story treatment, fiction. He said it was much longer than 14 pages. Maybe Eric can share more with us. If he has the entire story treatment, he should consider publishing it via ‘CreateSpace’. Ralph Schiller

     

  3. Mary Anne

    March 8, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    I’d love to see a clear version of this, or a transcript. I tried blowing it up but it’s too pixelated to read. Please? Thank you!!

     

    • David DeWitt

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      March 8, 2018 at 6:06 pm

      I am waiting for a better copy from Eric!

       

  4. Gentleman Tim

    March 9, 2018 at 1:18 am

    Tabik basa, Eric! Aram ngirup mih kitai!

    Errol was certainly right and very prescient to re-recommend White Rajah after World War II. A sensational film could be made today based on Queen of the Headhunters, published about ten years ago, which tells the story of Sylvia Brett, the “Ranee” of Sarawak.One of the highlights in that book recounts the Ranee’s visit to Errol and Lili’s home on (the very appropriately named) Lookout Mountain, in which Sylvia strongly implied that Errol and Dynamita tried to very dramatically seduce her.

    Hollywoodheads mocked Errol for pushing this story (even in the Warners movie Boy Meets Girl with Cagney, O’Brien and Reagan),, but he was absolutely right, it could have been and should have been a fantastic movie. A story of Sylvia, focusing on both the virtues and abuses of colonialism could be an even bigger hit today, IMO, with a wonderfully plum and potentially Oscar-fetching role for the actress who plays the Ranee. … But who could possibly play Errol during his Hollywood heyday up on Appian Way?

    www.google.com…

    [img]https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/08/03/books/review/03becker-SUB/03becker-SUB-jumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp[/img]

     

    • rswilltell

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      March 9, 2018 at 6:40 pm

      I agree with Tim. This could have been a blockbuster film with Errol Flynn. I sincerely hope we here more from Eric on this. Maybe he came up with the 5,000 Pounds British Sterling! Ralph Schiller

       

      • Gentleman Tim

        March 9, 2018 at 10:12 pm

        Here, from Cagney and O’Brien’s Girl Meets Boy, is the announcer for the fictional premier of The White Rajah. The theater’s marquis with the title can be seen in this scene from the movie, but not in this particular image.

        [img]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5464/9073590810_6efea9862c.jpg[/img]

        Filmed at the legendary Cathay Circle Theater, where Snow White and Gone with the Wind famously premiered shortly preceding and following the fictional premier of The White Rajah.

        [img]https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nI1H4oQDV_k/WYyO4wJHtgI/AAAAAAAAQF4/vo_V_UClmgEvL9xLn7hbYlkK28h0YQPzACLcBGAs/s1600/Carthaycircle-5-zilf.jpg[/img]

         

        • Eric Clarke

          April 17, 2018 at 9:21 pm

          Unfortunately the old Carthay Theatre in old Hollywood was torn down, however a new replica of it was built for the Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, CA. It’s beautiful if you haven’t seen it yet!

           

      • Gentleman Tim

        March 11, 2018 at 11:31 am

        Well, Ralph, when “The White Rajah” is finally made, here’s a place we can hold an EFB after party – the Cathay Circle Theater, on Buena Vista Street!*

        video.disney.com…

        *”Sylvia – Queen of the Headhunters” could be too risqué for celebration at Disneyland!)

         

        • rswilltell

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          March 14, 2018 at 5:48 pm

          Tim; That’s a great idea. I doubt the film will ever get made these days as all the public wants now are comic book characters. However, one day soon in New York will have the premiere of either ‘Hello God’ or Errol Flynn’s co-star Orson Welles’ last directed movie ‘The Other Side Of The Wind’. We should all meet (everyone here is welcome) for dinner afterward and toast our hero! Ralph Schiller

           

          • Gentleman Tim

            March 15, 2018 at 1:43 am

            Count me in, Ralph!

            I wonder if Sherry would come?

            www.youtube.com………

            Hello God. Please God!

            [img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/3/39/Andrea.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110417182638&path-prefix=en[/img]

             

  5. David DeWitt

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    March 10, 2018 at 1:26 pm

    Eric provided better scans today. Enjoy!

     

  6. Maria

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    March 11, 2018 at 1:17 pm

    Hi all- is that Errol’s signature or was it signed “on behalf of”?

     

  7. Karl

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    March 12, 2018 at 10:21 pm

    IMhO… secretarial.

    This is NOT his distinctive way of accenting certain letters in his (EARLIER “for the fan” signed) signature. The E wasn’t bad except that his didn’t cross the first “r” and as for the “F”, it’s just not his.

    At one point in the mid 40s his signature took on “speed’.

    (And his checks were particularly hurried).

    See, the attached for an exemplar circa 1946 from the media library for his Showdown dedication to his parents.

    [img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Showdown-Inscription.jpg[/img]

     

    • David DeWitt

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      March 12, 2018 at 11:15 pm

      Yes, Karl and Maria, I thought the same thing. We have many examples of his signature and this does not look authentic but does not to me throw doubt on the document itself.

       

  8. Karl

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    March 13, 2018 at 12:16 am

    David- and I AGREE with THE!

     

    • Karl

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      March 19, 2018 at 2:39 am

      Some more related news:

      tinyurl.com…

       

      • Gentleman Tim

        March 20, 2018 at 12:23 am

        Ini hebat, Karl! Sekali lagi, Flynnster membuktikan dirinya jauh di hadapan waktunya!

         

  9. Karl

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    March 20, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    Sama seperti “sukan lama”; anda hanya melakukannya SETIAP HARI!

     

  10. Eric Clarke

    April 17, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    You’re all very welcome, it’s my pleasure to share this very rare piece of (almost) Hollywood history.