Today was the day that was fini for the Fabulous Flynn… he would have been 98 had he lived a long, long life. But his short fifty years were packed with he experiences of two lives as he himself said. If you want to have a good look at how this day was spent read Tom McNulty's account of Errol last days in his wonderfully thorough Flynn bio, The Life and Career of Errol Flynn from McFarland and Company, published in 2004…
Flynn shows up in the most unusual places, I have noticed, on this day for me. This evening I was watching a film noir movie called Night and the City, starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney, two favorites of mine.
With Richard Widmark, in a clinch! Richard is a small time tout who gets in over his head and ends up of the target of Herbert Lom, a wrestling promoter in England who has it in for Widmark. Night and the City is a classic of its type and quite engrossing until its tragic ending…
And wouldn't you know it?
FLYNN inserts himself into the movie in the form of a billboard for Escape Me Never with Ida Lapino and Eleanor Parker!
Reminding me again that today was the day a drab world lost a bit of color…
— David DeWitt
Anonymous
October 15, 2007 at 3:16 pm
On this sad day I was watching Footsteps in the Dark and was quite amused and entertained by Flynn's crack at comedy. I believe that had his public accepted him in anything other than his swashbuckler roles, and using this film as a springboard, he would have had a whole new career ahead of him.
I found him quite charming, devastingly handsome and fun. It looked like he enjoyed the change and the venue. His natural humour and sense of fun would have done him well. Osborne said that Warner's with pressure from Flynn for different roles had this script written just for him.
What a comedy of errors, swashbuckler roles were what gave him his start, and was the thing responsible for keeping him from what he wanted … more diversified roles and the opportunity to strut his stuff.
Nice way to spend the evening!
Little Scout
Anonymous
October 16, 2007 at 2:11 am
Dave –
first, I'm a day late here, but thanks for the kind words.
You have an eagle eye. I've never noticed that Flynn billboard in the background before. Go figure. I need to have my bifocals cleaned.
Tom