Author Archives: Robert

More from my “Captain Blood” shots. Three Arch Bay is a private beach within a naturally enclosed double-cove that’s part of a gated community and not open to the public. In the fourth photo you’ll notice the top of a rock I call “the teapot handle” has eroded away. The Flynn-Rathbone duel was actually filmed in both coves but edited… (more…)

Here are a couple of samples that won’t be in the book, mostly because they just aren’t good enough, but also because I don’t want it to be Flynn-heavy. The publisher who first expressed interest convinced me to widen the scope of film choices to include more films from recent times, something I reluctantly agreed to even though seriously cutting… (more…)

In the 1980s I was privileged to have lived on John Barrymore’s estate, Bella Vista. When Flynn came to Hollywood he searched out Barrymore. When I came to Hollywood I searched out Flynn–or his footsteps, to be precise–and, in a strange, circular coincidence ended up in Barrymore’s home. Here is a photo collection of the house from my days there… (more…)

….with my Mrs. standing in for Errol!       — Robert

Some extras from my photo session at Three Arch Bay in 2008….     — Robert

Over the years the Gretna Green Wedding Chapel has moved locations around Yuma, Arizona, with at least one disappearing altogether. The actual chapel where Errol and Lili were married on June 19, 1935 still exists and is now a simple, unassuming private home. Because of the growth of foliage in the convening years, it was difficult to line up a… (more…)

— Robert

Here are some newer Then & Now shots, with corresponding screen grabs from the film. I have often found that it would require a higher vantage point, perhaps a ladder or platform, to accurately line up shots with the original scenes, but I think these serve to give a reasonable idea of filming at this location (which is private). In… (more…)

— Robert