This time on radio!
— Tim
Archive for the ‘Film Anniversaries’ Category
Tribute to Gentleman Jim – Round 1
12
Nov
77th Anniversary Tribute
This week marks the 77th Anniversary of Gentleman Jim, which was released on November 14, 1942. In tribute to this Errol Flynn-Raoul Walsh masterpiece, I will attempt to present two or three posts involving the film’s history.
This first post contains a review of “Fight to the Finish: The Barge Battle of 1889”, a book on the history of the landmark waterfront battle between Jim Corbett and Joe Choynsky that was prominently featured in the film, with a clip in the gif below. It was “The Fight That Launched Boxing’s Modern Era.”
Though not widely remembered now, Joe Choynsky was one of the toughest and hardest-hitting prize fighters ever, having shellacked some of the ring’s greatest heavyweights (even knocking out Jack Johnson, one of only two men to ever do so.)
FIGHT TO THE FINISH: THE BARGE BATTLE OF 1889
“A thrilling account of one of the most brutal fights in boxing history.”
See, also: Tribute to Gentleman Jim – Round 2
— Tim
Happy 80th ~ Dodge City
10
Apr
“A Technicolor Triumph”
“The Most Spectacular World Premier Ever Given a Motion Picture”
— Tim
It Happened in Little Havana — — Errol Flynn’s Ghost @ The Tower Theater
07
Mar
Saw a premier of ‘Errol Flynn’s Ghost’ tonight at the Tower Theater on Calle Ocho, in Little Havana, Miami. It is a superb documentary, written and directed by an extraordinary talent, Gaspar Gonzalez.
Author and historian Megan Feeny is also sensational in this, drawing on her research from her new book, ‘Hollywood in Havana’.
Making everything about this film even better is the prominent inclusion of magnificent writer and Flynn biographer (and EFB Author) Tom McNulty, which adds very significantly to its caliber, credibility, and importance. Thank you, Tom.
Every fan of Errol and/or Hollywood’s Golden Age should see this fascinating, first-class documentary.
It’s playing one more time in Miami, this Sunday, 1 PM @ The Silverspot Theater.
— Tim
For Auld Lang Syne
01
Jan
Eighty Years Ago
Featuring Errol and a host of Hollywood stars in the 7 minute short For Auld Lang Syne,
James Cagney introduced himself and proceeded to identify the attending guests as they arrived at this benefit function, most of whom stepped up to a microphone to be interviewed on the radio by George Jessel, although the only voice heard during the “arrival” sequence is that of Cagney’s.
Cagney introduced Rudy Vallee as the M.C., and Valle presented the Benny Goodman Orchestra in a swing number and then introduced Dick Powell who sang “Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride” from 1938’s “Cowboy from Brooklyn.” Donald Crisp comes on and introduces himself as the co-M.C. and then he introduces Paul Muni, who makes the appeal to the theatre audience to make donations to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital.
In order of appearance on-screen was: Cagney, Hugh Herbert, Glenda Farrell, George Jessel, Humphrey Bogart, John Barrymore, Bette Davis, Harmon Nelson, Hal Wallis, Louise Fazenda, Basil Rathbone, Marie Wilson, Freddie Bartholomew, Paul Muni, Errol Flynn, Lili Damita, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Dick Powell, Donald Crisp and Muni again.
…
To Fans of Flynn Around the Globe:
— Tim
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood!
24
Dec
Was The Adventures of Robin Hood a Christmas movie?
Read this and tune in Christmas on Sky to see!
“A film does not have to have to take place at Christmas to qualify as a Christmas film. It takes something more. And to this list I would add The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938), starring Errol Flynn, the template for every ‘Robin’ that came after him.
This movie, for me, was like a big Christmas bauble itself. Shot in glorious colour, with lots of green and red, like a Christmas tree itself, it featured the forest, a place to be free. It had a jolly man at the centre who delivered the gifts of his own presence and joy.
It had a dreamer (Maid Marian) waiting for the promise of her life to be fulfilled. And that score. That glorious score, like the feeling of the carols in church, voices sweeping to the ceiling and through the nave, giving us one more moment of the promise of the year to come and a good feeling about the year gone by.”
——-
One can also watch on Little Christmas – in Cincinnati, with Flynn on the Big Screen:
— Tim
Northern Pursuit
16
Nov
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
From Under the Sea, to the Top of the World
— Tim
All Time No. 1 Swashbuckler
26
May
www-independent-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org…
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
“Has there ever been a movie so perfectly cast and executed with so much conviction, professionalism, and joie de vivre? Shot in ravishing Technicolor, with magnificently authentic sets, The Adventures of Robin Hood encapsulates the magic of cinema, bringing 12th-century England to Hollywood with sunny California glades standing in for Sherwood Forest in a wonderful blend of action, drama, romance and humour that has rarely been bettered.
Errol Flynn is at the peak of his roguish charm as the silver screen’s greatest Robin Hood and is once more paired with Olivia de Havilland as an impossibly beautiful Maid Marian.
Claude Rains purrs insidiously as Prince John, and Basil Rathbone as his sidekick is fated yet again to fall to the hero in the wonderfully choreographed and brilliantly executed swordfight with Flynn on the castle staircase, their shadows dancing on the walls – and yes, that is Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger in an early supporting role as Maid Marian’s mount.
A winner of three Oscars, including one for the majestic score from Erich Wolfgang Korngold, which sets the tone of the film from the rousing opening fanfare and then vividly illustrates every thrust and parry of Flynn’s sword, every arrow thudding into its target, every winsome glance from de Havilland.
The Adventures of Robin Hood at 80 years old, remains the perfect example of Hollywood’s supreme artistry in the days of the much maligned studio system, not just the best of its kind, but one of the greatest films ever made.”
— Tim
A Night at the Theater with Mel & Carl
24
Apr
April 23, 2018
LOS ANGELES — Mel Brooks is just two months shy of his 92nd birthday and he still carves out time for movie nights with his pal Carl Reiner. The two just recently got together to watch a restoration of the 1938 Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland classic “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”
This week, Brooks will be on hand to kick off the ninth annual TCM Classic Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theater Thursday night in Hollywood with a special screening of the first film he ever directed: “The Producers.”
— Tim
