In what major motion picture did Errol not kiss, chase, or flirt with a leading lady or any other woman?
Clues:
Included one of Errol’s greatest co-stars, as well as one of his greatest friends, too.
Released for the Christmas season.
The Baron vs. The Baron
Set in France
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Images below added Christmas Eve morning (at dawn):
On the second day of Christmas
For on those it has not dawned
— Tim
Dear Prudence,
A “more skillful swordsman” than Errol? I think not. Though you sure we’re one talented and rediantly-beautiful swashbucklerette, in both B&W and Technicolor.
“Against All Flags, 1952. This was one of the last Hollywood swashbucklers starring Errol Flynn. Maureen O’Hara proves his equal with her swordplay as Prudence “Spitfire” Stevens. In fact, O’Hara swore she was the more skillful swordsman, which might be true, as Flynn was slowing down. Usually he did his own stunts, but he declined the Douglas Fairbanks-style broad-sail-riding stunt here, having already broken an ankle and delaying production two months.
Fortunately for Universal Pictures, they had Russell Metty as cinematographer. He was the fastest Technicolor ace around, and he shot a second pirate movie, Yankee Buccaneer with Jeff Chandler, while Flynn recuperated. Co-star Anthony Quinn competes with Flynn in all sorts of skullduggery, supposedly on the island of Madagascar. The film’s secret weapon? Jokes that were purportedly inspired by Flynn’s randy sex life.”
— Tim
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
FLYNN. WIFE TO N. Y. HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 13 (A. P.)— Errol Flynn and his wife, Lily Damlta, French film star, were en route to New York today to attend the the premiere of his new starring picture, “Captain Blood.”
“Captain Blood had its premiere on December 26, 1935 at the Mark Strand Theatre in New York City[18] and was released in the United States on December 28, 1935.”
— Tim
Reported December 3, 1936
HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN NEWS
by ELIZABETH YEAMAN
The highly publicized reunion of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita and their departure for a “second honeymoon” in Europe may all be called off. That is to say, the trip to Europe may be canceled. Warner’s will decide today if they shall summon Flynn back to take the adult male lead in The Prince and the Pauper</em. This picture is growing daily in budget and production plans. Some enormous sets have been built, and the studio expects the film to be one of its most ambitious efforts. Now Bobby and Billy Mauch, the twin child stars, have the leads, but the are little known to the public and can't be regarded as a box office lure. Errol Flynn is well established with the fans, and while the role for him is of far less scope and importance than any he has been given in the past, it could be built up a little and his presence would insure a certain fan following. The point is, a picture which costs a lot of money needs some star with fan appeal to insure return on the money invested.
Ian Hunter was mentioned frequently for the role now pending for Flynn.
Reported December 14, 1936
by SHEILA GRAHAM
Errol Flynn demanded— and received— a $20,000 bonus for cutting short his European reconciliation trip with wife Lili Damita, returning instead to Hollywood for the leading role in the kiddie story, The Prince and the Pauper*
* A “kiddie story” beloved by adults around the globe.
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BTW, I wonder if Errol ever read this advice from Mark Twain? I’d bet he did.
— Tim
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
From Under the Sea, to the Top of the World
— Tim
While it’s still hurricane season here in the U.S. …
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER – NOVEMBER 16, 1936
by LOUELLA O. PARSONS
Bargaining, I hear from a reliable authority, is going on between the Warner Brothers Studio and Samuel Goldwyn. Sam wants Errol Flynn for the lead in Hurricane and offers in exchange William Wyler, the director, and any other bit of property loose on the Goldwyn lot. First time I ever heard of a star being swapped for a director or vice versa. But Wyler is an ace director and is as valuable in his way as Flynn.
Not only has Sam set his heart on Flynn, but John Ford, who will direct for Goldwyn, also has the same idea. And talking about goofy trades, Ford agreed to direct Hurricane on condition that Sam buy him a boat and equipment to film exteriors in the South Seas where he is now vacationing. Margo, who is superb in Winterset, will probably get the lead opposite Flynn, with Basil Rathbone set for an important role.
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COULD THIS HAVE BEEN A GREAT ONE OF FLYNN? I believe so. With Wyler directing and the film earning three Academy Awards, but ultimately hampered by the casting of Jon Hall. Errol, IMO, could have lifted this to a Hollywood classic.
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Plus, there could have been some very good amour between Flynn and Lamour!
“The Hurricane is a 1937 film set in the South Seas, directed by John Ford and produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions, about a Polynesian who is unjustly imprisoned. The climax features a special effects hurricane. It stars Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall, with Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond Massey, John Carradine, and Jerome Cowan. James Norman Hall, Jon Hall’s uncle, co-wrote the novel of the same name on which The Hurricane is based.”
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning in the category for Best Sound.
Best Sound Recording – Thomas T. Moulton
Best Supporting Actor (nomination) – Thomas Mitchell
Best Music, Score (nomination) – Alfred Newman
New York Times critic Frank S. Nugent praised the climactic special effect created by James Basevi, stating, “It is a hurricane to blast you from the orchestra pit to the first mezzanine. It is a hurricane to film your eyes with spin-drift, to beat at your ears with its thunder, to clutch at your heart and send your diaphragm vaulting over your floating rib into the region just south of your tonsils.”
He complimented the performances of all of the principal actors with the exception of Hall, whose Terangi was described as “a competent Tarzan”. He also faulted the uneven pacing, but in the end, characterized the film as “one of the most thrilling spectacles the screen has provided this year.”
— Tim
35mm THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938 version) at the Vista, Los Feliz
DATE AND TIME
Sat, November 17, 2018
10:30 AM – 1:00 PM PST
Vista Theatre
4473 Sunset Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2018 10:30am: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938, dir by Michael Curtis, 35mm, Warner Brothers, USA)
Yeah, that’s right: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. No one has ever
come close to the swash-buckling joy and pure cinematic ecstasy of
Michael Curtiz’s 1938 masterpiece starring Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Claude Rains, and Basil Rathbone.
If you’ve never seen this version of the movie, you’ve never seen ROBIN HOOD. The movie quite possibly served as a single movie film school for much of the visual language of Steven Spielberg. Sword fights are played almost exclusively in shadow against walls. Action sequences are filled with bursts of expertly choreographed movement to and from the camera. But the whole movie holds together because of the glue of the great charismatic performances from all its leads.
Widely celebrated, director Michael Curtiz had a ridiculously talented grasp of cinematic language, blocking, action, style. If one wants to learn how to make a rip-roaring adventure movie, one studies Michael Curtiz. And this programmer suspects that Steven Spielberg spent a lot of time studying Curtiz before making such swashbucklers as JAWS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
Join us for 102 minutes of pure adventurous joy as lovable rogue Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) romances the beautiful and clever Maid Marion (the luminous Olivia De Havilland), fights the corruption of the selfish Prince Guy (the ever reliable scoundrel, Claude Rains) and crosses swords with the nefarious and murderous Sir Guy (Flynn’s regular foil, Basil Rathbone).
Filled with classic sequences of irrepressible energy and verve, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is one of the all-time great adventure movies.
— Tim
This from Joe Maletta who points out a blooper in Errol’s Charge of the Light Brigade:
Joe Maletta One of Flynn’s best! The young boy is Scottie Beckett who played Perma the son of J. Carrol Nash’s character. Puran Singh. There is a film blooper when Puran finds and holds his dead son after the massacre at Chukoti. Flynn is trying to console him and as he is doing so, the “dead” son is Wiggling his toes! A little levity aside during a sad moment.
Thanks, Joe!
Scottie Beckett with Errol
— David DeWitt
EIGHTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK – OCTOBER 1938
Los Angeles Examiner – Louella Parsons, October 4, 1938
Errol Flynn heard yesterday for the first time that he had pneumonia when he was so critically ill last week. So remarkable was his recovery that he is expected to go home today, and Lili Damita will sail Thursday on the Queen Mary. Errol’s doctors have ordered him to rest for two weeks, after which he is to report to Warner studio for Dodge City.
Don’t say “That’s where we came in,” for Hal Wallis really tried to borrow Ronald Coleman and Cary Grant for the remittance man who goes western. But when neither English accent was available, he went back to the original idea of putting Flynn in the role, postponing The Sea Hawk until early next year. Michael Curtiz, the director, who always favored Flynn, was rejoicing yesterday, for both Flynn and Olivia de Havilland were in Robin Hood Curtiz’ biggest hit.
Dodge City could-have-been cowboys, Coleman and Cary:
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Los Angeles Evening Herald Express – Harrison Carroll
October 5, 1938
Errol Flynn went from the hospital to Edmund Goulding’s house at Palm Springs. He wanted to take a trip to Mexico City, but doctors vetoed it.
movielanddirectory.com…
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Los Angeles Evening Herald Express – Jimmy Starr
October 10, 1938
Lili Damita shushed those Paris divorce rumors by nixing her trip to Gay Paree with the Jack Warners and flying back to hubby Errol Flynn in Palm Springs.
Here they are in Palm Springs:
— Tim
