What does a $500 reward have to do with Errol Flynn?
— Tim
Archive for the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Category
The Valley of Death
06
Mar
March 5, 1936
Harrison Carrol
LA Evening Herald Express
Movie location scouts have found a replica of Tennyson’s famous near Chatsworth, Cal., and the scene will shortly become one of Hollywood’s biggest sets. The picture, of course, is The Charge of the Light Brigade. Warner Bros had to find a valley floor big enough for the operations of 300 infantry and of 690 calvarymen. Tennyson’s poem had only 600 calvarymen in the charge, but studio research depts. are more accurate than poets and they have determined that 690 calvarymen actually stormed the Russian fortifications.
These fortifications, to be erected upon the top of the hills forming one wall of the valley, are to be on a grand scale. No miniatures for this battle scene, which, if you remember, finds the English the French and the Turks pitted against the armies of the czar.
Looking toward an English market for this Crimean War special, Warners is out to get a British cast to support Irish-born Errol Flynn in his second screen appearance. They have cabled Irving Asher to test the best available young actors in London for the role of Flynn’s younger brother.
…
“The Battle of Balaclava is one of the most famous battles of all time, despite being a comparatively minor engagement in the Crimean War. The futile heroics of the soldiers who fought there may have gone relatively unnoticed if not for a picture and a poem.”
“The battle itself is fraught with anecdotes and personalities that combine to make legend. The events of October 25th, 1854 evolve like the episodes of a Greek tragedy, with the fate of the soldiers hinging on the acts of a handful of characters.”
— Tim
Morning After
05
Mar
March 4, 1939
Erskine Johnson
Behind the Makeup
Los Angeles Examiner
Morning after the Academy Awards banquet, Donald Crisp sent a telegram to Errol Flynn, vacationing in the South. “Dear Errol,” it read. “Last night the Academy Awards banquet was held. Your name was not mentioned.”
…
Deplorable that Flynn was not even nominated for his immortal portrayal of Robin Hood.
The nominees were:
Spencer Tracy, for Boys Town
Charles Boyer, for Algiers
James Cagney, for Angels with Dirty Faces
Robert Donat, for The Citadel
Leslie Howard, for Pygmalion
And the winner was:
Spencer Tracy, for Boys Town
Proper Evaluations of Flynn’s Greatness
The model of an action hero in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, the dashing star made the swordplay and wooing look so effortless that it’s easy to ignore the craft behind his derring-do. – Entertainment Weekly
He was the Tom Cruise of the 1930s, a global superstar whose natural charisma and box-office power put him at the tippytop of Hollywood — and he never won an Oscar. Unlike Cruise, Flynn was never even nominated, not for “Captain Blood,” “The Charge of the Light Brigade” or 1938’s still-dazzling “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” – Boston Herald
Unfortunately, at the time when Errol enjoyed his greatest success, the adventure film, as a genre, was not sufficiently appreciated and therefore [Errol’s] appearances therein were not as highly regarded as they [are now.] … [He] played his roles with unmatchable verve, conviction, and style. In doing so, he inherited the mantle of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who was my favorite film star at the age of 9 and whose ‘The Black Pirate’ left an indelible impression on me. No one since Errol has worn that mantle; it is buried with him. – Lady Marian Fitzwater
— Tim
Uncommonly Quiet
03
Mar
March 2, 1942
Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express
Are Warners trying to keep Errol Flynn under wraps these days? His set is usually closed to newspaper people and the studio publicity department is uncommonly quiet about the star.
…
This article was written during filming of Desperate Journey, at a time which Errol was said to be suffering from tuberculosis, dropping to 165-pounds at one point.
— Tim
In a State of Chaos
02
Mar
As quoted in My Wicked, Wicked Ways
March 1, 1949
Sheila Graham
New York Journal-American
Errol Flynn is far from being the happiest man in the world at this point. Not only is his domestic life in a state of chaos, but he has to make a western as his next movie. Errol is tired of shooting it up in the saddle. He doesn’t want to be a rich man’s Roy Rogers.
1949 – In the State of Chaos
1950 – In the State of Montana
— Tim
Leap Day 1940 – Part 1
29
Feb
Gone Fishin’ – On the Sirocco – With Bow & Arrow
27
Feb
February 28, 1939
Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express
It was a hectic weekend the old Pacific dealt out to Hollywood sailors.
Errol Flynn’s yacht, the Sirocco, with Howard Hill, the archer, and two camermen among those aboard, limped into port at Mazatlan with sails and mast torn away by a gal encountered 300 miles at sea.
Flynn’s boat, according to reports reaching Hollywood, was badly crippled and will be in dry dock for some time. The Sirocco has been in Mexican waters for Archer Hill to film a short subject about fishing with bow and arrow. Flynn was not with the party but is expected to join them at Mazatlan.
…
Howard Hill’s Hunting the Hard Way: Marlin Fishing with Errol, Bow, and Arrow
— Tim
The Adventures of Don Flynn: 1939
27
Feb
February 27, 1939
Louella Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner
How would you like to see the dashing Errol Flynn play the equally dashing Don Juan? Academy Award winning producer Hal Wallis is plotting such a story as a follow-up to Robin Hood. He will not use the Lord Byron material, but will base The Adventures of Don Juan on a story by Bess Meredyth wrote when she was a Warner scenarist. Bess, who retired from active work to enjoy her ranch, will do a rewrite job with Roland Leigh. Of course it will be a Michael Curtiz picture.
….
Though rarely remembered today, Bess Meredyth was a brilliant talent, maybe even a greater talent than Michael Curtiz, her husband from 1929 to his death in 1962. She often helped Curtiz on his projects, particularly with writing and rewriting, explaining, I suspect, why a man so infamously challenged by the English language could turn out such masterfully scripted films. Bess was behind the scenes. She was a very accomplished vaudevillian, film actress, musician, comedienne, business women, and screenwriter. Her many friends and colleagues in the industry included Bundy Drive Boys Gene Fowler and John Barrymore. She was reportedly a big help to Barrymore during his Hollywood years. (Notably, she also wrote the screenplay for Barrymore’s Don Juan, released in 1926 and featuring more kisses than any other film in history, 127 at last count.)
Here’s looking at you, Bess:
— Tim
