Hamilton Hip Hopper vs. Mistress Marianne:
The Lynne Flynn Fling:
www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/470862/Dame-Gillian-Lynne-Nights-with-Errol-Flynn-dancing-for-the-Queen-and-keeping-fit-at-88…
— Tim
Archive for the ‘Candids’ Category
Cocoanut Grove
21
May
Errol & Olivia on their first date, at the Coronation Ball. The Coronation Ball was in celebration of King George’s ascension to the British throne on May 12, 1937, after his brother Edward’s scandalous affair with Wallis Simpson compelled his abdication.
“Electrifying Homage to thr Cocoanut Grove”
History of the Coconut Grove:
Fiction at The Grove, with Flynn, Hepburn & Hughes:
— Tim
Mail Bag! Errol Reichow: Don’t Hesitate to Live Fully!
01
May
The Mailbag brings us a great photo and story from Errol Reichow:
Greetings Mr. DeWitt,
Another contribution to your blog as I sift through the memories of my father. Flynn once quoted “We fritter our lives away in endless details but I plan to live it” and he did. My dad once said to me that Flynn had just come back from visiting a doctor, he had various ailments later in life, and the doctor said if you quit drinking you could have a few more years to which Errol said “I take the drinking and another good 6 months”. My father also mentioned that Flynn kind of burned out on live and said to him “I’ve seen everything twice so what does it matter”. We all have our highs and lows so with it goes our attitudes but better to test the ends of the spectrum then ride the middle of the fence because for many that just doesn’t get it done.
One last note, this past Friday I visited an old family friend (Gloria Zomar) and as we talked she had an interesting story. She meet Flynn, through my father, down at the Garden of Allah and Errol just had a chiropractor work on his back as my mom, dad, and Gloria waited in the other room and they could hear the groans as Errol got adjusted. Then Errol came out in a terry cloth rope and engaged in conversation and proceeded to ask Gloria out for a date. Gloria accepted and was very nervous and she let Flynn drive her old Pink Cadillac to some spread in the Valley for a party where Errol spent most of the time talking to a producer about an upcoming film. Gloria was so nervous she didn’t say two words the whole evening and when they went home Flynn invited her in for a tottie and she said no, guess he had a reputation. My dad ask Errol the next day how it went and Errol said she doesn’t like me as she didn’t talk all evening. The fact is she was so nervous she didn’t know what to do or how to act. So, I gather the moral of the story is speak up and live a little because if you don’t do it now there may never be a next time.
This picture is from the old Frascati restaurant that was on the Northwest corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset Bl, across the street from the Garden of Allah. In it is Errol ( back of head), Mickey Rooney, Nora Eddington, Beverly Aadland, and Otto Reichow (my father) – I do not know the folks in the upper right hand corner.
Hope the shot is worthy of a post on your site and if so send me the link or save it for another day but then again better to live for today then wait for tomorrow.
Thanks’ Errol!
— David DeWitt
ERROL FLYNN AND ALEXIS SMITH AT MGM (1949).
16
Mar
Both Warner Bros contract stars and good friends Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith were loaned out to MGM to star in different films in 1949: Flynn in, ”THAT FORSYTE WOMAN” and Alexis in, ”ANY NUMBER CAN PLAY”. While there they would meet in the commissary, They found few people would talk or say hello to them. They were surprised how cold and unfriendly MGM was VS. WB. They were glad when they had the opportunity to see each other while both were making a film there. Here is a candid photo of Flynn as Soames and Alexis as
Lon Kyng. The photo speaks for itself.
— Kevin Wedman
”EDGE OF DARKNESS” (1943) ”ON SET” FASCINATING PHOTO.
07
Mar
”He was one of the wild characters of the world, but he had a strange, quiet side. He camouflaged himself completely. In all the years I knew him, I never really knew what lay underneath and I doubt if many people did.”
–Ann Sheridan on Errol Flynn.
— Kevin Wedman
Mail Bag! Errol Reichow, on Mr. Errol Flynn, his namesake!
18
Feb
The Mail Bag brought a real treat today, and there was more in store as I opened the subsequent emails from Mr. Errol Reichow. Here is his first email to me:
Salutations Mr. DeWitt,
If you would be so kind as to post this picture to the Errol Flynn blog along with anything else you see fit it would be appreciated. I send my favorite picture to you of my namesake because it is by the pool where I grew up and the house I still have which is my own Shangri la. Please share the post if you decide to toss it up for those who may find interest.
My father (Otto Reichow) always used to tell me why he named me Errol. Zo mit his sic german acsunt I vould hear ” If you have half the life Flynn has had then you will have had a good life”. Errol set the bar high and left behind a blueprint as ones did before him so we follow, walk along, and continue ahead down the path we all must travel but chose to in so many different ways which make our lives truly unique. Yes, my heroes gowning up were Errol Flynn (namesake), John Wayne, Bruce Lee, and countless other icons that added a spring to my step and kept a sparkle in my eye because that’s what inspiration does.
One could easily go on for pages about the stories but we all have caught bits and pieces in the wind that fill our sails and take us down memory lane and then with the next tack we are faced with present day reality yet look unto the horizon for a better tomorrow and try to keep a true course. It is said that some people should never die and others should never be born but that just isn’t the way life is so keep the best alive in memories and forget the rest for that is the natural progression and key to perseverance. From what I have heard Errol liked to live on his terms and why not it was his life and better to live it your way than somebody else’s interpretation.
There will only be one Errol Flynn and this picture, by my father’s pool, captures it in the twilight of a supernova. Errol has his Vodka and cigarette in hand as he waves with a smile maybe thinking thanks for a great journey and happy to have done it my way sport. With all the pain one can suffer in life and endure the hardships it is good to know that a smile can always be found just around the corner. This was one of the last pictures of Errol in the land that made him and tried to break him known as Hollywood. My father took Beverly and Errol to the airport to catch a flight to Vancouver and that was the last my father and the world ever saw of Flynn, but the spirit lives on for those who wish to remember and we remember because we want to not because we have to – that is how Errol and we all should live our lives.
So long Sport and thank you for a great name.
Errol Reichow
But there was more! In the next email …
Again, the attached picture is better resolution and this card is from the final memorial service held for Errol Flynn at Forest Lawn Glendale October 19, 1959. I am sure you can crop and enlarge the quarters. If you feel it is worthy of a post please do so.
And finally these wonderful images!
Mr. DeWitt,
The attached picture is better resolution. I saw some old images of Flynn on your blog inquiring where these photos where taken, I believe the response was some hotel but I assure you it was from the home of my father Otto Reichow. The house is currently empty and is located at 1599 Sunset Plaza Dr in the Hills above West Hollywood. There are newspaper shots and various photos floating about from this location as a photographer had contacted my father and asked permission to come by and take some snaps. I have various shots my father saved and then others I see from time to time but felt compelled to clarify the location and mysterious gentleman to the right, my father.
Otto was also a pall bearer at Flynn’s funeral.
Errol, we can’t thank you enough for kindly sharing these extraordinary photos with us! It is such a rare and wonderful thing when somebody comes forward with images like this, and we all appreciate it so much! Your namesake looks like he is full of mischief, and has the expression on his face of someone looking about for the next source of a bit of fun …
Thanks again, Errol!
— David DeWitt
