The Errol Flynn Blog

I thought this might be of interest to fellow members …

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9764503/Historic-Sussex-hotel-inspired-Cluedo-boardgame-goes-market-1million.html…

Genene.

— tassie devil

Hi, Everyone! Whilst going through Steve’s pic on his phone … This is hanging on the wall in the Jerico hall …

— tassie devil

www.times-news.com… Genene

A very decided 4 a.m. opinion
For the Cumberland Times-News 12 hrs ago

We’ve been in lockdown now since about the last time Henry VIII got married, so I’ve had plenty of leisure to watch old movies from the 1930s and ‘40s. The all-time sexiest, heart pounding actor was Sydney Poitier, no contest, but he came later. You know what 1930s/’40s movie star was really sexy? I mean, really, REALLY sexy? Gregory Peck, that’s who! I’ve always had a secret hankering for Gregory Peck (don’t tell my husband.) Just watch that man oozing quiet, wordless agony as he gives up Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday,” or woos Greer Garson with heart-tugging, innocent sincerity in “Valley of Decision” — well, any woman, gay, straight, or otherwise, would have to be dead six days not to respond to that! And probably lots of men would have, too!

You know who else was really sexy? Gregory Peck again! I’m telling you, that man could charm a smile out of the Sphinx and still have enough appeal left to make Lady Gaga gaga!

Humphrey Bogart wasn’t sexy in the same way; he was a wounded soul who needed comforting. He was broken, and every woman wanted to fix him. Suave and witty, Cary Grant’s smooth façade covered unsuspected depths, and he could actually play anything from the man-about-town to the Cockney thug. Still, you don’t really want to get mixed up with a man who gets chased by crop dusters on a regular basis.

Errol Flynn was dashingly, wickedly carefree, even when chained to an oar in “Captain Blood;” you just wanted to share a good old fashioned into-the-sunset horseback gallop with him. As he aged and grew to look more dissipated he lost some of that roguish electricity, but that’s what DVDs are for — just pop “The Adventures of Robin Hood” into your player and you’re good to go! It’s sort of like bumping into your graying, slightly paunchy childhood sweetheart, and then rushing home to look him up in your high school yearbook — but without the fear that he’s doing the same.

Jimmy Stewart wasn’t sexy in my book, probably because he was built like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz,” but he had a sort of “aw shucks” folksy way about him that rendered him quite endearing. You wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating corn on the cob. His best pal, Henry Fonda, never set my heart fluttering either. At all. He was a decent actor, but just not my cup of tea. I couldn’t tell you why, except that he always seemed like a less good-natured Jimmy Stewart.

Mickey Rooney was too impish to be truly sexy, although apparently at least eight women, including Ava Gardner, disagreed with me on this. It wasn’t that he was too short, it was just that he wasn’t tall enough. Also, it’s hard to take seriously anyone who had played a dope like Andy Hardy — or am I getting too obscure? Does anyone but me still remember the Andy Hardy movies? There were roughly 628 of them produced over a span of about 95 years, and Andy Hardy never aged beyond high school, even when Rooney himself had dentures and arthritis. They had to keep recasting his parents because the actors playing them kept dying, and the girl who played his older sister finally took up residence in Forest Lawn, too. But the ageless Mickey went right on being Andy Hardy. It’s frustrating to an actor to be so type cast — but then, he also played Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and if you can pull off Puck you can pull off anything. Especially when you have to play him dressed like Tarzan.

The world-renowned Laurence Olivier never struck me as sexy, though he was handsome as all get-out and had that accent. I think the teeth-pulling bit in “Marathon Man” killed it for me. Dentistry is not very appealing, especially when done deliberately as torture. And without anesthesia. Or a good script.

Peter Lawford had the delicious British accent, too, and looked quite toothsome in his early pictures — but after he took up with Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack he became so jaded and ultra-sophisticated that you would have had to chip at him with a chisel to get at the real man. Similarly, Frank Sinatra could light your flame with his voice in his youthful roles alongside Gene Kelly in “Anchors Aweigh” and “On the Town,” but as soon as he adopted the cigarette-and-highball character the only thing he could set afire was Lucky Strikes and alimony checks.

Marlon Brando was a legend in his own mind, and that sort of bravado doesn’t float my boat. He was the type who didn’t need the adoration of women — fawning females just blocked his view of the mirror. (I think Errol Flynn probably had the same problem in real life, but his on-screen persona was always far too boyishly pleased with himself to be off-putting. How can you not like a lad who looks on the world with such frolicsome glee?)

Fred Astaire could play sexy, which is odd considering he looked rather like a praying mantis with a receding hairline — but the man could sweep you off your feet on the dance floor or woo you with songs like “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” in that whispery, magnetic voice of his. Gene Kelly simply knocked you over with raw sexuality and animal magnetism, and he could evoke heartache, too, in roles like Jerry Mulligan in “An American in Paris.” That sort of intense masculinity can only be taken in small doses — or from the safe distance of a theater seat.

But when you come right down to it, finally and conclusively, you wanna know who was really, truly, overwhelmingly sexy? GREGORY PECK, that’s who! Just Gregory Peck! And if you want to argue with me, get your own column. But on your way out, would you pop “To Kill a Mockingbird” into the player, please…?

— tassie devil

TCM, beginning at 8pm EST, Catch a Classic!

Two classic films based on famous written works by Rudyard Kipling air tonight. First up is the legendary 1939 adventure film Gunga Din, adapted from Kipling’s 1890 poem Gunga Din, as well as from elements of his short story collection Soldiers Three. Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. star as three British sergeants in colonial India who, with their native water bearer Gunga Din (Sam Jaffe), battle a murderous cult. Next is Kim(1950), an adventure film starring Errol Flynn and Dean Stockwell, and based on Kipling’s 1901 novel.

— tassie devil

YOU WILL PROBABLY REMEMBER THESE NAMES IF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH

We all know Errol served in his own way. With his tours Etc

THE OLDER PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER THESE & THE YOUNGER ONES CAN LEARN ABOUT OUR PAST. THIS BROUGHT BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES. COMPARE WITH HOLLYWOOD TODAY!

Sterling Hayden , US Marines and OSS . Smuggled guns into Yugoslavia and parachuted into Croatia .

James Stewart , US Army Air Corps. Bomber pilot who rose to the rank of General.

Ernest Borgnine , US Navy. Gunners Mate 1c, destroyer USS Lamberton.

Ed McMahon, US Marines. Fighter Pilot. (Flew OE-1 Bird Dogs over Korea as well.)

Telly Savalas , US Army.

Walter Matthau, US Army Air Corps., B-24 Radioman/Gunner and cryptographer.

Steve Forrest , US Army. Wounded, Battle of the Bulge.

Jonathan Winters, USMC. Battleship USS Wisconsin and Carrier USS Bon Homme Richard. Anti-aircraft gunner, Battle of Okinawa

Paul Newman, US Navy Rear seat gunner/radioman, torpedo bombers of USS Bunker Hill

Kirk Douglas, US Navy Sub-chaser in the Pacific. Wounded in action and medically discharged.

Robert Mitchum , US Army.

Dale Robertson , US Army. Tank Commander in North Africa under Patton. Wounded twice Battlefield Commission.

Henry Fonda , US Navy. Destroyer USS Satterlee.

John Carroll , US Army Air Corps. Pilot in North Africa . Broke his back in a crash.

Lee Marvin US Marines. Sniper. Wounded in action on Saipan . Buried in Arlington National Cemetery , Sec. 7A next to Greg Boyington and Joe Louis.

Art Carney , US Army. Wounded on Normandy beach, D-Day. Limped for the rest of his life.

Wayne Morris, US Navy fighter pilot, USS Essex . Downed seven Japanese fighters.

Rod Steiger , US Navy Was aboard one of the ships that launched the Doolittle Raid.

Tony Curtis , US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus. In Tokyo Bay for the surrender of Japan

Larry Storch. US Navy. Sub tender USS Proteus with Tony Curtis.

Forrest Tucker, US Army. Enlisted as a private, rose to Lieutenant.

Robert Montgomery , US Navy.

George Kennedy , US Army. Enlisted after Pearl Harbor , stayed in sixteen years.

Mickey Rooney , US Army under Patton. Bronze Star.

Denver Pyle , US Navy. Wounded in the Battle of Guadalcanal . Medically discharged.

Burgess Meredith , US Army Air Corps.

DeForest Kelley , US Army Air Corps.

Robert Stack , US Navy. Gunnery Officer.

Neville Brand , US Army, Europe . Was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart

Tyrone Power, US Marines. Transport pilot in the Pacific Theater.

Charlton Heston , US Army Air Corps. Radio operator and aerial gunner on a B-25, Aleutians

Danny Aiello , US Army. Lied about his age to enlist at 16. Served three years.

James Arness , US Army. As an infantryman, he was severely wounded at Anzio , Italy .

Efram Zimbalist, Jr., US Army. Purple Heart for a severe wound received at Huertgen Forest

Mickey Spillane, US Army Air Corps, Fighter Pilot and later Instructor Pilot.

Rod Serling. US Army. 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific. He jumped at Tagaytay in the Philippines and was later wounded in Manila .

Gene Autry , US Army Air Corps. Crewman on transports that ferried supplies over “The Hump” in the China-Burma-India Theater.
William Holden , US Army Air Corps.

Alan Hale Jr, US Coast Guard.

Russell Johnson , US Army Air Corps. B-24 crewman who was awarded Purple Heart when his aircraft was shot down by the Japanese in the Philippines

William Conrad , US Army Air Corps. Fighter Pilot.

Jack Klugman , US Army.

Frank Sutton , US Army. Took part in 14 assault landings, including Leyte, Luzon, Bataan and Corregidor .

Jackie Coogan , US Army Air Corps. Volunteered for gliders and flew troops and materials into Burma behind enemy lines.

Tom Bosley , US Navy.

Claude Akins , US Army. Signal Corps. , Burma and the Philippines

Chuck Connors , US Army. Tank-warfare instructor.

Harry Carey Jr., US Navy.

Mel Brooks , US Army. Combat Engineer. Saw action in the Battle of the Bulge

Robert Altman , US Army Air Corps. B-24 Co-Pilot.

Pat Hingle , US Navy. Destroyer USS Marshall

Fred Gwynne , US Navy. Radioman.

Karl Malden , US Army Air Corps. 8th Air Force, NCO.

Earl Holliman , US Navy. Lied about his age to enlist. Discharged after a year when they Navy found out.

Rock Hudson , US Navy. Aircraft mechanic, the Philippines .

Harvey Korman , US Navy.

Aldo Ray. US Navy. UDT frogman, Okinawa .

Don Knotts , US Army, Pacific Theater.

Don Rickles , US Navy aboard USS Cyrene.

Harry Dean Stanton , US Navy Served aboard an LST in the Battle of Okinawa

Soupy Sales, US Navy. Served on USS Randall in the South Pacific.

Lee Van Cleef , US Navy. Served aboard a sub chaser then a mine sweeper.

Clifton James , US Army, South Pacific. Was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

Ted Knight , US Army, Combat Engineers.

Jack Warden , US Navy, 1938-1942, then US Army, 1942-1945. 101st Airborne Division.

Don Adams. US Marines. Wounded on Guadalcanal , then served as a Drill Instructor.

James Gregory, US Navy and US Marines.

Brian Keith, US Marines. Radioman/Gunner in Dauntless dive-bombers.

Fess Parker, US Navy and US Marines. Booted from pilot training for being too tall, joined Marines as a radio operator.

Charles Durning. US Army. Landed at Normandy on D-Day. Shot multiple times. Awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.SurvivedMalmedy Massacre.

Raymond Burr , US Navy. Shot in the stomach on Okinawa and medically discharged.

Hugh O’Brian, US Marines.

Robert Ryan, US Marines.

Eddie Albert , US Coast Guard. Bronze Star with Combat V for saving several Marines under heavy fire as pilot of a landing craft during the invasion of Tarawa

Cark Gable , US Army Air Corps. B-17 gunner over Europe .

Charles Bronson , US Army Air Corps. B-29 gunner, wounded in action.

Peter Graves , US Army Air Corps.

Buddy Hackett , US Army anti-aircraft gunner.

Victor Mature, US Coast Guard.

Jack Palance, US Army Air Corps. Severely injured bailing out of a burning B-24 bomber.

Robert Preston , US Army Air Corps. Intelligence Officer

Cesar Romero , US Coast Guard. Participated in the invasions of Tinian and Saipan on the assault transport USS Cavalier.

Norman Fell , US Army Air Corps., Tail Gunner, Pacific Theater.

Jason Robards , US Navy. Was aboard heavy cruiser USS Northampton when it was sunk off Guadalcanal . Also served on the USS Nashville during the invasion of the Philippines , surviving a kamikaze hit that caused 223 casualties

Steve Reeves, US Army , Philippines .

Dennis Weaver, US Navy. Pilot.

Robert Taylor , US Navy. Instructor Pilot.

Randolph Scott. Tried to enlist in the Marines but was rejected due to injuries sustained in US Army, World War 1.

Ronald Reagan. US Army. Was a 2nd Lt. in the Cavalry Reserves before the war. His poor eyesight kept him from being sent overseas with his unit when war came so he transferred to the Army Air Corps Public Relations Unit where he served for the duration.

John Wayne Declared “4F medically unfit” due to pre-existing injuries, he nonetheless attempted to volunteer three times (Army, Navy and Film Corps.
so he gets honorable mention.

And of course we have Audie Murphy , America ‘s most-decorated soldier, who became a Hollywood star as a result of his US Army service that included his being awarded the Medal of Honor.

Would someone please remind me again how many of today’s Hollywood elite put their careers on hold to enlist in Iraq or Afghanistan ? The only one
who even comes close was Pat Tillman, who turned down a contract offer of $36 million over three years from the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the US Army after September 11, 2001, and serve as a Ranger in Afghanistan , where he died in 2004. But rather than being lauded for his choice and his decision to put his country before his career, he was mocked and derided by many of his peers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I submit to you that this is not the America today that it was seventy years ago. And I, for one, am saddened. My generation grew up watching, being entertained by and laughing with so many of these fine people, never really knowing what they contributed to the war effort.
Like millions of Americans during the WWII, there was a job that needed doing they didn’t question, they went and did it, those that came home returned to their now new normal life and carried on, very few ever saying what they did or saw.

They took it as their “responsibility”, their “duty” to Country, to protect and preserve our freedoms and way of life, not just for themselves but for all future generations to come. As a member of a later generation, I’m forever humbly in their debt!
Please pass this on to remind people of what real men were like, not the show dogs of today’s screen.

— tassie devil

worldinsport.com…

Very interesting long piece. Genene.

— tassie devil

After introducing live-action formats to classics such as ‘The Lion King’, ‘Aladdin’ and the latest ‘Mulan’, Disney is working on remaking the 1973’s classic animated film ‘Roin Hood’ for its streaming platform Disney Plus.

The remake version of ‘Robin Hood’ will be helmed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, who is known for working on ‘Bindspotting’. According to Hollywood Reporter, the new film is to be a musical and will include anthropomorphic characters in a live-action/CG hybrid format.

The deal was reportedly sealed before the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and the project is in its early development, according to reports.

However, the news regarding the remix of the classic hasn’t been well received by fans, who are asking Disney to “reconsider” its options as there can never be a “good live-action ‘Robin Hood’ movie.”

And some, terming it disrespectful to the original, wrote, “This is particularly insulting because we already have a perfect ‘Robin Hood’ movie with Errol Flynn. No one’s been able to top that. I’m assuming that this will be a mocap movie with real sets and locations. What else could Disney do to justify calling it ‘live-action’?”

One fan, who is of an opinion that Disney always takes good classic movies and turns it bad, said, “Bad idea. ‘Robin Hood’ has been remade COUNTLESS times. Why can’t corporations just leave the classics alone? I know it’s for a generation but more often than not, they find a way to screw the classics up.”

Meanwhile, another agitated fan added, “Unpopular opinion but Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ is a masterpiece all on its own, and shouldn’t be tampered or remade. Disney, please consider your options.”

Similar to the original, the remake version is said to portray the Sherwood Forest warrior as a fox and Little John as a black bear, Friar Tuck as a badger, the wolf as the sheriff of Nottingham and Maid Marian as a vixen.

However, fans have expressed disappointment in Disney for not coming up with something new.

“What is wrong with Disney? No one likes the remakes- spoils the original. I’d be sacking my story writers – just come up with something new already. ‘Robin Hood’ is one of my all-time faves, I can still recite it word for word,” lamented one Twitter user.

Robin Hood as Fox

— tassie devil

The author says that there is no relationship between Errol and the Bounty. Most of you would know by now that Errol’s mother was a Young and related to midshipman Young who was on the Bounty. This was researched by Bob Casey of Hobart for his book Sword of Fate.
The cocktail sounds good though. Sorry I dont have the ingredients or I would be trying it!

— tassie devil

variety.com…

Hi all Rudy co rote the book The films of Errol Flynn with Tony Thomas. A wonderful book for reference book and more when you want to look up films what year what kind etc. Regards Genene

— tassie devil