Errol files his Declaration of Intention to become an American Citizen
“A Declaration of Intention is the act of an alien, who goes before a court of record, and in a forma manner declares that it is, bona fide, his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, whereof he may at the time be a citizen or subject. Act of Congress of April 14, 18O2, s. 1.”
Errol became a naturalized American citizen on August 14, 1942.
Following Errol’s heavy losses at the Happy Valley race track, he decided to leave the British colony of Hong Kong for the Portugese colony of Macao in seek of better luck, especially at fan-tan, a Chinese game of chance he learned in New Guinea. He and Herr Erben hopped “the Fusham a small packet” to Macao, a 35-mile trip, an approximately 3 or 4 hour trip west across the Pearl River Delta. Macau was a largely undeveloped refuge for fishermen, wayfarers and exiles until the Portuguese settled there in the mid 16th century. In the 1930s, when Errol visited, it was had an extremely poor population, and reputation. As Errol states in MWWW, it was known as “the stinkpot of the orient”. No longer, though: Now it is one of the wealthiest regions in the world.
Here is a passenger ferry schedule from Hong Kong to Macao typical of when Errol took the trip:
Here’s junk-filled Macoa Harbor circa the time of Errol’s visit:
Here’s a 1930’s bird’s-eye view of Macoa:
Much of Macau’s prosperity is owed to gambling, which was legalized by the Portuguese in 1847. As many as 200 gambling dens when Errol visited, offering traditional Chinese favorites, including most notably fan tan.
In the years since Errol’s time there, “Macao has transformed from a sleepy Portuguese colony of amateur gambling dens and down-at-the-heel hotels to the Las Vegas of the East.”
Happy Valley is where one could find Errol most every day in Hong Kong. “But those horrible little ponies wouldn’t behave,” as he put it in My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Originally opened in 1850 primarily for the British ex patriates, is today one of the premier horse race courses in the world.
When he wasn’t betting the ponies, it was a wicked good bet he was in the Hong Kong’s legendary red light district, where it was he and his companions that likely wouldn’t behave. In 1930, Hong Kong had 200 legal brothels with over 7,000 licensed prostitutes. Prostitution was outlawed, however, shortly after Errol’s visit. (Just a coincidence.) Below are Siu Sheung Fei and Fa Yuk Lan of the Tsui Lok Brothel in Hong Kong.
On May 7, 1933, , on his meandering, months-long adventure-by-sea west from New Guinea to England, Errol arrived in Hong Kong. This photo shows Victoria how Errol would have seen it.
John Hammond Moore’s superb, pioneering biography of “Young Errol Flynn” states that it was likely the Nankin on which Errol and Erben steamed to Hong Kong (via Manila.) Moore has the date as March 4 – date corrections encouraged.) Below is a photo of the Nankin, which, I’ve read, was captured by the Nazi warship Thor in May of 1942 carrying very highly secret British correspondence and intelligence. It’s a good thing Chuck Pigham did not learn of this major security breach and blame it, too (along with Pearl Harbor … the Holocaust, 9/11, and the Covid-19 corona virus, et al) on Young Herr Flynn.
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And this magnificent film depicts and describes what “The Gateway to China” looked like and was like in the 1930s.
Errol collapsed during filming of a boxing scene in Gentleman Jim as the result of a heart attack
and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.
While we’re down Mexico way on Cinco de Mayo, here’s a photo of Hedda Hopper, Errol, and Faye [future daughter-in-law of FDR and “First Lady of television”] Emerson boarding a flight to Mexico City for a Red Cross benefit premier showing of Yankee Doodle Dandy at the Palacio de Bella Artes in May of 1942. The premiere would be broadcast over WMCA Radio, with members of the cast interviewed by “The Perfect Ingenue”, Helen Twelvetrees.
Palacio del Bella Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is known as the “Cathedral of Art in Mexico”. Construction began again in 1932 and was completed in 1934. The building is best known for its murals by Diego Rivera, Siqueiros and others, as well as the many exhibitions and theatrical performances its hosts, including the Ballet Folklórico de México.
Errol was a very frequent traveler to Mexico during his heydays in Hollywood. He drove, he flew, and he sailed to South of the Border. In celebration of today’s Cinco de Mayo holiday, here are five chronological photos taken in Mexico City, Acapulco, and Morelia, plus a bonus bow-and-arrow-fishing film with Howard Hill in the famous sportfishing waters off the coast of Old Mexico.
During Nazi occupation of France in World War II, the showing of “American, Russian, and British, films were out of the question.” Directed primarily by Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, film censors were especially assiduous in barring presentation of Jewish productions out of Hollywood. Warner Brothers were/was at the top of their hit list. In the post war years, however, movie fans in France and throughout Europe very much welcomed, even clamored for, great Hollywood films. Hence, on May 2, 1947, La Charge Fantastique (They Died with Their Boots On) was released in France.
In addition to its connection to Robin Hood, May Day has had a very long and very strong association with the Virgin Mary, most especially among Roman Catholics. The legend of Maid Marian may have arisen from that association, as did apparently Olivia’s costuming, as well as her physical appearance, in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
In the 1400s Catholics, as all Christians were at the time, in England celebrated May Day on the religious holiday of Whitsun featuring a quasi-religious rebel who robbed and murdered government tax collectors and wealthy landowners in plays and games. Agrarian discontent lay at the foundations of the feudal system that was built on the shoulders of toiling peasants. As time went on, the characters of Maid Marian, Friar Tuck and Alan-a-Dale entered May Day rituals as well. Robin Hood was actually shown at this time participating in Mariology, the cult of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Originally Maid Marian (or the French Marion) was a shepherdess associated with the Queen or Lady of May or May Day. Keeping this in mind, “the world’s foremost authority on Robin Hood,” author Jim Lees in The Quest for Robin Hood set forth that the hypothesis that Maid Marian may originally have been the personification of the Virgin Mary and derived from the older French tradition of a shepherdess named Marion and her shepherd lover Robin in Adam de la Halle’s Le Jeu de Robin et Marion, 1283. In fact, Marian’s association with May Day celebrations lasted long after Robin Hood’s did, as pointed out by Scottish born poet Alexander Barclay in 1500, “some merry fytte of Maid Marian or else of Robin Hood.”
