Versus
Inspired by the U.S. Army’s “Merrill’s Marauders”, Warner Bothers produced Operation Burma! in 1945. It’s an outstanding film and one of Errol’s personal favorites. Nevertheless, it backfired big time for Flynn, with Winston Churchill, Lord Mountbatten, enraged members of the British Army and citizenry, hurling personal attacks at Flynn, falsely accusing him of acting as if “he won the War single-handedly”.
See, for example, this article from just last week again mocks and maligns Errol and the movie (along with some other great films):
www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/772318/Based-true-story-historical-action-films-accuracy…
Despite all these bitter complaints and attacks, however, Operation Burma! had a very strong and obvious connection to actual military operations of Merrill’s Marauders in Burma. As evidence, here is a National Archive video including 1944 news reel film which I believe likely inspired production of Operation Burma! Similarly, the second link is a transcription of a New York Times report further hailing the heroics of Merrill’s Marauders. Clearly, this unique operation in Burma was all very well and widely known and praised prior to the making of Operation Burma!.
Here is a better, more informed and informative criticism of the film:
I recently visited the outstanding World War II Museum in New Orleans and was very significantly impressed by their extensive exhibit on Merrill’s Marauders (Below are a couple of poorly-taken cell phone photos I took which fail to capture the very high quality of the museum and exhibit.) This exhibit serves to further confirm the profound actual and public relations impact Vinegar Joe Stillwell and Frank Merrill’s operations had against the Japanese in Burma, and on the American public.
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SO, based on the unquestionably significant and heroic courage and accomplishments of Merrill’s Marauders, my question for all on both sides of the pond and beyond, is:
Was Errol and Operation Burma! wrongly and/or excessively criticized (or at least not properly or sufficiently credited) for this extraordinary war film?
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— Tim
On tour discussing The Princess Bride, including this weekend in Florida
Merging multiple news sources …
“Cary Elwes was chosen for the role of Westley in Princess Bride because he reminded Carl Reiner of the swashbuckling heroes of early cinema, specifically Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks As depicted below, he later joined Flynn and Fairbanks in playing Robin Hood, of course.
Elwes and Mandy Patinkin spent more months perfecting their famous swordfight — right- and left-handed. Reiner hired the best coaches in Hollywood: Peter Diamond and Bob Anderson. Not only did both men train the original swashbuckler, Errol Flynn, they both worked on Star Wars.”
— Tim
Sunday Morning Tribute to Flynn Fan and Scholar Extraordinaire, Lincoln Hurst
— Tim
Well, maybe not so easy …
Thanks to top Flynnside source(s).
How do the below images relate to Errol? What, where, why, and with whom????
— Tim
Thanks to Our Man Bob, I was able to learn before leaving New Orleans that, per Buster Wiles, Errol visited Arnaud’s and Antoines, two of the Crescent City’s most legendary restaurants.
Arnaud’s has what is considered one of the world’s greatest bars. It is also often said to be “the most beautiful dining room in New Orleans, Arnaud’s offers the quintessential New Orleans dining experience. Remaining true to its traditions and courtesies, Arnaud’s has served exceptional Creole cuisine for nearly 100 years.”
Errol is very prominently mentioned in the obituary of Germaine Cazenave Wells, the daughter of “Count Arnoud”, an astonishing New Orleans legend in her own right.
“No New Orleans trip is complete” without a “sumptuous” French-Creole meal at this “classic of all classics” (established 1840) “in the heart of the French Quarter”, where “oysters Rockefeller was invented”; the “elegant” setting is “composed of many rooms” that boast “museum-quality artifacts” (“ask for a guided tour”), so even if prices are thoroughly modern, everything else is a “throwback to a more gracious time.”
Antoine’s, Daddy-O, featuring Candy and Kostner in a film Flynn would have been sensational in. You dig?
— Tim
We here all know Flynn was by far the best buccaneer in cinematic history. But he was always a Brit in one form or another, right? Here in New Orleans, however, the most “heroic” or at least heralded real-life buccaneer of all was the anti-Brit Jean LaFitte. How do you think Flynn would have fit and fared in the role of The Buccaneer, Jean LaFitte?
“The Buccaneer [was] a 1938 American adventure film made by Paramount Pictures based on Jean Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. It was produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.”
“The film stars Fredric March as Lafitte, Franciska Gaal and Akim Tamiroff with Margot Grahame, Walter Brennan, Ian Keith, Spring Byington, Douglass Dumbrille, Beulah Bondi and Anthony Quinn in supporting roles.” This, therefore, would have “reunited” Errol with “I Adore You” Margot Grahame, paired him with Hungarian star Francisca Gaal (fresh off her noted role as “Lilli”, and had his radio producer, silver screen great, Cecil B. DeMille, producing him for the first and only time on film.
“Cecil B. DeMille remade the film in 1958 in Technicolor and VistaVision with the same title, but because of ill health, he allowed Henry Wilcoxon, his longtime friend and associate, to produce it, and the film was directed by Anthony Quinn, who was his son-in-law at the time. DeMille received no screen credit, but did make a personal appearance in the prologue to the film, much as he did in The Ten Commandments. The 1958 version of The Buccaneer stars Yul Brynner, Charles Boyer and Claire Bloom, with Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson. Douglass Dumbrille appeared in both versions and Quinn acted in the earlier version.”
I have not found clips from the 1938 version with the always excellent Fredric Marsh, but here’s a photo, followed by a terrific trailer, in ’58, featuring Ceci B. DeMille and Yul. Yul agree, I believe, that Flynn would have been better than Brynner.
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In the French Quarter footsteps of Flynn, can be found the following relevant sites, all along Bourbon Street:
“Jean LaFitte’s Blacksmith Shop”, a front for his piratical activities.
And here, upstairs, is where LaFitte is said to have planned the Battle of New Orleans, in 1812 (and where, during WWII, Errol was also in a bit of a battle himself, when this building, downstairs, was known as the Old Absinthe House.
The second and third photos below of a 19th Century painting of the Battle of 1812 in the original planning room upstairs, and a wooden model of LaFitte’s lead ship, carved by one of the pirates from that ship.
— Tim
In like Flynn at the Lundi Gras tonight. Presently at one of Errol’s Big Easy watering holes, the Sazerac Bar, in the Hotel Roosevelt. Been gathering Flynnfo all about town.
If anyone has any request of me to Flynnvestigate or consider please do send asap. For example, anything from Buster Wiles book, in which he discusses his trip to NO LA Land with Errol, circa ’43, which I do not have with me!
P.S. Hard to tell from these photos, but that’s the great Harry Connick Jr. heading up the Krewe of Orpheus Parade tonight. That’s Harry at the front of the float, with beads for throwing to the crowd draped over his right arm.
— Tim
