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Archive for the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Category

Not Errol!?

23 Feb

In 1945, one of Errol’s favorite leading ladies confided in Dolores Moran that the greatest lovemaker she ever had was not Errol Flynn, but, rather, another Hollywood celebrity.

Who was the leading lady?

Who was the purported superior lovemaker?

What were the circumstances of that hard-to-believe revelation?

Clues to Use

It was whispered into Miss Moran’s ear in the leading lady’s studio dressing room (dressing room no. 7) during the filming of a Warner Brothers movie.

There’s a good chance Raoul Walsh was there also, and almost certainly he knew what was whispered, though unlikely he actually heard it.

Errol traveled many thousands of miles with this alleged lovemaking competitor, prior to and subsequent to this dubious disclosure.

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— Tim

 

Sorry Margaret

22 Feb

February 22, 1935

Jimmy Starr
Evening Herald Express

Margaret Lindsay’s heavily bandaged wrist, a badly wrenched shoulder, and several black and blue marks all the cause of an overly-enthusiastic newcomer to the screen, handsome Errol Flynn, Irish actor, brought here from England by Warner Brothers.

When Mr. Flynn was cast in a small role in The Case of the Curious Bride, his first scene was with Miss Lindsay. He was to grab here and fake a terrible struggle. Mr. Flynn, ex-gold miner of New Guinea, pearl-fisher of the South Seas and boxer in the Olympic Games of 1928, suddenly became much too realistic in his handling of the fair heroine.

Director Michael Curtiz, enjoying the excitement of the splendid struggle, was too engrossed in getting action in his pifture to stop the rough treatment of his star. At the finish of the scene, however, Maggie was rushed to the studio hospital, where she was treated for severe bruises and her sprained wrist.

It is needless to say that Mr. Flynn has been warned to curb his “realism” in the future.

February 23, 1935

By Peter Pry
Behold Them Minus Hokum
Hollywood Citizens News

Errol Flynn, the he-man Irish actor under contract to Warners who previously was an Olympic Games boxer, does not entirely realize his strength. For a scene in The Case of the Curious Bride he was told to grab Margaret Lindsay by the wrist and throw her across the room. He did as he was told. Margaret landed 12 feet away. Her hand and arm began to swell with alarming speed. First aidcarrived and the swelling members were taped up. But director Michael Cuttiz said it was a wonderful scene.

— Tim

 

Ahoy All Boys

21 Feb

February 21, 1938

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

Here’s a vacation offer to fit any boy’s dream.

Errol Flynn has decided to give two youngsters, between the ages of 15 and 18, a chance to accompany him on his Carribean cruise.

The star originally invited the Mauch twins, but they are going into a western picture at Warners and won’t be able to make the trip.

So Flynn is going to extend the opportunity to two other boys.

Anybody has a chance, but certain qualifications are necessary.

First of all, the consent of the parents. No boy who runs away from home will be given consideration.

Secondly, the star wants boys who have had an elementary training in seamanship and who possess some knowledge of the mathematics of navigation.

The cruise is to be made in the star’s yacht, Sirocco, and the sailing date is about the middle of March. Flynn plans to be gone six weeks. With him on the boat will be the captain, the two lucky boys and a couple of the actor’s men’s friends.

Don’t write this reporter for more information. Address all communications to Flynn at the Warners Brothers studio, in Burbank, California.

— Tim

 

Leading the Charge

20 Feb

February 18, 1936

Jimmy Starr
Evening Herald Express

For his splendid directorial work on Captain Blood, Michael Curtiz has been awarded the important task of wielding the megaphone on The Charge of the Light Brigade. again starring new rave Errol Flynn, which will be one of the most lavishly produced on the Warner lists this season.

And now a whack from Lizzie Yeaman…

February 18, 1936

Elizabeth Yeaman
Hollywood Citizen News

The directorial stock of Michael Curtiz has soared many points since the rekease of Captain BloodThe Charge of the Light Brigade. This picture will be a big special production with a budget even larger than that established for Captain Blood. Curtiz, futhermore, is well qualified by experience to direct this story of the Crimean War. For four years he fought as an officer in the Austrian calvary during the World War, and he also served during two Austrian revolutions. Flynn, meanwhile, is rapidly recovering from his appendix operation.

— Tim

 

Captain Morgan ⛵🐕🌴 The Wizard of Dogs

19 Feb

February 17, 1939

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

The Frank Morgan yacht is being equipped with a dog house for his five dachshunds. Errol Flynn’s gesture is tops, though. When the Irish star took his dog, Arno, on a cruise last summer, he installed potted palms on a deck of the boat.

Frank had the perfect name for a dachshund devotee, Moreover, the man behind the curtain loved all kinds of canines. Indeed, The Wiz earned an Oscar nomination for his poignant love of mutts as “Pirate” in Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat.

On top of all that, he was a skilled Hollywood yachtsman. Here he is doing a happy hula following his winning of the 1947 TransPac on his beloved Dolphin II.

Bellamy, Morgan & Flynn (The actors, not the law firm)

Not to rub Frank’s nose in it, but … despite all that, Captain Morgan had nothin’ on Captain Blood, who pampered his pup with parties and potted palms. Errol may have been in a dog house a time or two, but never Arno.

….

BTW – Speaking of dachshunds – Toto was not Dorothy’s first dog in TWOO. Otto, a doxie, was, owned by Wicked Margaret Hamilton, no less! …Here’s Otto, hanging out with Judy in Kansas. …He wasn’t in Kansas anymore, nor Oz, though, after MGM big wigs decided they did not want a perceived German breed while war was brewing in Europe.

yourdachshund.blogspot.com…

— Tim

 

Sittin’ Like Flynn?

16 Feb

February 15, 1938

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

At the Belfast School attended by Errol Flynn, they’ve made the star’s old desk a sign of honor. The student with the highest grades of the week gets to sit in it for five days. Desk was identified by a carved inscription on the back: “Errol Flynn, 1926.”

Falsely identied, says Flynn. He remembers the incident and says that he carved his name on the desk in front of him.

Here’s how Errol looked circa the time of this alleged desk signing.

A school desk signed in 1926 Belfast by Errol Flynn? I believe that would be Errol’s most rare and valuable autograph … if it indeed ever existed! Perhaps they should have said Australia, rather than Northern Ireland. Or did Errol really attend school in Belfast???? (Possibly before or after his admission into or expulsion from Sydney Church of England Grammar(aka “Shore”)?) I think that would be news to me. In any case, what school, and what happened to the desk/where is it now??

— Tim

 

Governor Flynn

13 Feb

February 12, 1936

Reine Davies
Hollywood Parade
Los Angeles Examiner

The tremendous success of the Bellamy-Farrell Racquet Club at Palm Springs was bound to serve as an impetus for the creation of a local club for the tennisers of the sports-loving colony.

To be known as the West Side Tennis Club, it is to be ideally housed in the Bath and Tennis Club building in the Cheviot Hills, with Stephen Morehouse Avery, president; Elmer J. Griffin, secretary and treasurer; and completing the board of governors, Errol Flynn, Frank X. Shields, Ralph Jester, and the ace screen scribe, Edith Fitzgerald.

As a rendezvous for screen actors, artists, directors and writers, the entire place is to be remodeled and redecorated to create a truly country club atmosphere. All of which is under the direction of Adrian’s prized aide, Ruth Hawks. And to provide the only grass courts on the coast, two new tennis courts are now in the course of construction.

The new club will open on March 15 with Edith Fitzgerald as hostess to a whole day of social and tennis events, beginning with a hunt breakfast in the morning and followed by luncheon bridge, tea, cocktails, and supper.

griffinclubla.com…

(Original Caption) Hollywood’s Seeded No. 1. According to Francis X. Shields, former tennis star, who founded the West Side Tennis Club in Cheviot Hills, near Hollywood, Errol Flynn, (above), is ranked tops in a list of the film colony’s ten-best male players. Believe it or not, Greta Garbo is No. 1 among actress tennis wizards.

* Though cool artwork above depicting Errol and Lili at the West Side Tennis Club, it appears to me that the artist may have mistakenly used the Tudor-like New York West Side Tennis Club clubhouse in the background, rather than the same-named club in Cheviot Hills, which had Colonial Spanish architecture and Errol on the Board of Governors.

— Tim

 

15,000 Pictures of Errol

13 Feb

February 10, 1936

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

The Warner Brothers fan mail department is swamped by requests for pictures of Errol Flynn. More than 15,000 were sent out in the month of January.

— Tim

 

Dangerous Curves Ahead!

11 Feb

February 11, 1935

Sydney Skolsky
Cover Hollywood
Los Angeles Examiner

Lili Damita is now Trocaderomancing with Errol Flynn, a new Irish actor with Warners. It’s sizzling.

— Tim

 

Club Unique/Cap’s Place

10 Feb

“With South Florida’s constant development, there are very few remnants of old Florida in this corner of the state. Yet, in Lighthouse Point, one spot survives — Cap’s Place, a classic Florida seafood restaurant, onetime speakeasy and gambling den, draped in Florida history.”

Over the years, Cap’s Place was visited by a notable cast of characters including Vanderbilts and Rockefellers; actors Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart; sports figures Jack Dempsey and Joe DiMaggio; and even mobster Al Capone. Oral history suggests Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt may have dined there during a strategy meeting amid World War II.”

www-browardpalmbeach-com.cdn.ampproject.org…

Errol’s early days in SoFlo, when he gambled at Cap’s Place:

The Baron in Boca

— Tim