…
Very notably, this incident occurred nearly three months prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, serving to support, along with other medical ailments and injuries, the U.S. Armed Forces’ rejections of Errol’s applications for active duty during WW II.
P.S. Errol appears to me as though he may be ill, possibly anemic, in the Boots publicity photo above. What do you think?
— Tim
In September of 1942, as a reward for the town of Libertyville, Illinois’ record-breaking war bond sales in 1942, the town’s Liberty Theater was chosen to be the location of the world premiere of Errol’s first of five World War II films, “Desperate Journey”, which, much more notably now than then also starred Ronald Reagan. Far more notably at the time was the fact that Jimmy Cagney hosted the event.
This historic event of September 1942 was cited in the Freedom Bonds Act Hearings of 2001 U.S. Congressional Hearings of 2001, as follows:
From the Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14][Pages 20376-20379]
FREEDOM BONDS ACT OF 2001
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2899) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue War Bonds in support of recovery and response efforts relating to the September 11, 2001 hijackings and attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2899
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Freedom Bonds Act of 2001”.
SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF FREEDOM BONDS.
Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“Freedom Bonds.–The Secretary may designate one or more series of bonds or certificates (or any portion thereof) issued under this section as `Freedom Bonds’ in response to the acts of terrorism perpetrated against the United States on September 11, 2001.”
…
Mr. KIRK of Illinois:
Mr. Speaker, I want to rise in strong support of H.R. 2899, the Freedom Bonds Act of 2001. This legislation draws upon the heritage of our greatest generation. During World War II, war bonds were one important way that every American could help make sure that our men and women in uniform had what they needed for victory. My own district is home to Libertyville, Illinois. Libertyville sold more war bonds per capita than any other city in America. Libertyville oversubscribed every bond quota assigned, and this achievement led to a unique honor.
In the fall of 1942, a young sailor reported for duty at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Like the 3 million Americans who entered the Navy there, James Cagney trained for war. On September 10, 1942, he was able to leave the base and paid a unique honor to Libertyville’s war bond drive by opening a major Hollywood movie there, Desperate Journey. Desperate Journey was a war thriller starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan and it opened at the Libertyville Theater. Tickets went for a $25 war bond, and the evening was a smashing success, raising $110,000 for the war effort.
Mr. Speaker, in these tough times after September 11, we return to our values in tested ways to support our country and the cause of freedom. This legislation recalls that spirit of Libertyville to enlist the help of every American in our cause against terrorism. I would hope that this legislation receives quick action and that Libertyville can help launch our State’s freedom bond effort.
— Tim
Added ~ Sept 7 – 9:45 PM EST
Added ~ Sept 7 – 10:45 PM EST
— Tim
September 5, 1980 / May 1942
Errol Flynn’s Antic Stay at the Hotel Del Coronado
Excerpt from Esquire Magazine, May 1942. The Writings of Errol Flynn. “It Shouldn’t Happen to an Actor”
Friendship with Arno meant you were a cinch to lose most of your friends. There were times when the only answer seemed to be to change my name or leave the country. Like that time at the Coronado Hotel The Coronado Hotel is an austere establishment where rich old folks go to play until they die. The waitresses get off weekends to visit their grandchildren. You are kept awake nights by the dull thud of guests dropping dead.
Disaster, ever Arno’s sidekick, struck one day in the dining room of that hotel. Eating was always a problem because Arno insisted on eating with me. If you chased him out of the restaurant, he would just come in another door. When the door was shut he would wail for some customers and come in again camouflaged between their legs.
On this particular day I had (I thought) double-locked him in my room upstairs. One of the hotel’s younger set – a quaint little thing of about seventy – always complained that the dining room was cold, in spile of the temperature being a good eighty. She also maintained it was so dark she couldn’t see, though you could take snapshots in there at night and they would have been overexposed. So she announced she would provide her own lighting. Soon a tall stand-lamp arrived and was installed behind her chair. When lit the first night it was found to contain a 200-watt bulb of such brilliance that it temporarily blinded everyone who looked in her direction. The waitresses were the ones who suffered most They would serve her something and turn around to get something else, and everything would immediately go black. They would usually drop whatever they were holding. One of them partially solved the problem by wearing dark glasses. Of course nothing much could be done about the heating arrangements. From the heat generated by her lamp, people at adjoining tables already perspired freely throughout meals, but the frail little old lady sat serenely under her 200-watt umbrella and remarked how cold she was. She . finally achieved some measure of comfort by coming into meals wearing several silver fox furs. This was partly the cause of the trouble.
One night I was sitting in the dining room over a bottle of wine when a cat passed by the table. I knew this cat slightly. He was a prosperous executive-looking kind of cat and apparently had the exclusive use of the kitchen and dining room. Business was good with him. Suddenly there was a commotion at the dining room entrance. There was a scraping of chairs; the head waiters began moving around agitatedly. The hair on the back of the business cat shot up as though someone had got by the secretary he didn’t want to see.
It was Arno. How he got out of the room I don’t know. He had just started to give me a brief nod, a sort of double take, when he saw the cat. That was enough! They broke beautifully from the gate without a second’s difference in the start hugging the rail the cat skidded around several tables three lengths ahead of Arno. At the far turn, Arno had shortened and was coming up on the outside. Coming into the stretch it began to lode like a photo finish when the cat taking a desperate gamble, swerved sharply under the frail little old lady’s table. Arno, trailing by barely half a length now, saw dangling in front of him the fox fur and! It was horrible.
The screams of the waitresses, the hoarse shouts of the men, the smash of crockery, rose to a sudden deafening explosion as the 200-watt lamp crashed to the floor and broke shivering into a thousand pieces. Arno had the little old lady’s silver fox fur by the throat in a killer’s grip. On dark nights, the sounds still ring in my ears. All in all, the hotel was very nice about it After I had paid for the damage the management said I could come and stay there practically any time – alone.
…
Here’s Errol at the Hotel Del pool … sans Arno
— Tim
September 4, 1953
Errol Flynn Stricken by Arthritis
VENICE, Italy *
Errol Flynn, swashbuckling star of dozens of films, is suffering from spinal arthritis, his physician Dr. Guido Cassone, said today. The doctor sped to Flynn’s hotel through the canals of Venice when the 44-year-old actor complained of severe pains in his back.
Dr. Cassone said Flynn was afflicted with a type of arthritis brought on by the dampness of this city of canals. He said the condition resulted from a fall about four years ago.
* This was during the 1953 Venice International Film Festival.
— Tim
September 3, 1937
Longreach was established by the Thomson River in the late 1800s. The town got its name from the river’s ‘long reach’. The famous flying Father Flynn – “Flynn of the Inland” and face on the Australian 20 dollar note – flew the world’s first aerial ambulances through here. Then, on September 3, 1937, that other Flynn, Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn, “showed”, in the Mark Twain classic Prince and the Pauper at the (open air) Palace Theater.
This (2020) is the Centenary Year of Qantas – Australia’s most famous corporation, being celebrated at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach. Adding another illustrious name to the mix, Qantas flew all de Havilland aircraft in its earliest days – aircraft created by aviation design pioneer, Geoffrey de Havilland, Olivia’s cousin.
Celebrate the Qantas Centenary in Longreach
Top Ten Things to Do in Longreach
— Tim
September 2, 1968
Errol Flynn’s Son Wounded On Assignment In Vietnam
Da Nang, Vietnam (AP) -Sean Flynn, working as a cameraman for the Columbia Broadcasting System, was wounded slightly by grenade fragments Saturday during a counterattack by U.S. Special Forces on an enemy squad 85 miles south of Da Nang. Flynn, 27, son of the late actor Errol Flynn, and Associated Press photographer Dana Stone were with the Special Forces as they retook a small outpost overrun by the enemy Friday near the special forces camp of Ka Thanh. Flynn was hit in the chest but did not require hospital care, and returned to the Da Nang press center. Flynn calls Paris, France, his home. He was wounded slightly in February 1966, while covering U.S. troops in South Vietnam.
Sean under fire during the 1968 “Mini-Tet”. Photo by Tim Page.
— Tim
September 1, 1938 – 12:30 Matinee
“The cream and black tiles glistened and the neon sign spelled out its welcome. The new Lafayette Theater, with its modern Art Deco design, was opening! The line stretched down the block as people waited to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in “Fours A Crowd.”
— Tim
Late on the evening of August 31, 1946, Zaca arrived in Acapulco. Though Carl Hubbs diligently pressed on with his scientific explorations, he did so predominantly on his own. The scientific purpose and portion of the Cruise of the Zaca was almost entirely abandoned for the sun and fun of Acapulco.
Here’s what Acapulco looked like in 1946:
…
— Tim
