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Archive for the ‘Films’ Category

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

 
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Posted in Film Anniversaries, Film Reviews, Films, Flynn as..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Articles

 

The Irish at Last Stand Hill

18 May

They died with their boots on.

“Most of them had fled famine-ravaged Ireland in the 1840s and found, in the US Army, a secure meal-ticket and adventure, first in the Civil War – where the Irish fought on both sides – and later in the Indian Wars, as America spread westward across the Great Plains.”

www.google.com…

“Errol Flynn played the swashbuckling Custer in the buckskin jacket, a jacket that in real life, we now know, had been made for him by 35-year-old Sergeant Jeremiah Finley from Co Tipperary, one of the Seventh Cavalry’s regimental tailors. Finley died on Last Stand Hill.”

How Irish was Flynn?

www.irishnews.com…

— Tim

 
1 Comment

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Films, Flynn and..., Flynn-related, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Articles

 

The Sheriff of Savile Row? The Adventures of Modern Hood?

06 May

Evil I see, but Medieval? That haircut, and that outfit??

And what about Hood’s hoodie? Errol could be rolling over in stitches over this error.

www.google.com…

— Tim

 
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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Films, Flynn-related, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Movie Trailers, New Articles

 

Robin and Foxxley

04 May

Have they come to Loxley once too often?

Looks to me like Errol is still King of the Forest.

What do you think?

www.google.com…

— Tim

 
2 Comments

Posted in Film Trailers, Flynn-related, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Articles

 

The Ides of Flynn

15 Mar

Eighty-Five Years Ago Today (Sydney Time), on March 15, 1933, Errol Appeared Live AND On Film at the Prince Edward Theater in Sydney.

Errol was paid £2 to stand on stage in what he later described as a bad wig and bizarre naval uniform, appearing more like “an elderly keeper at a [Sydney brothel] than Fletcher Christian. The Ides of March ended bad for Caesar, but great for Flynn. It signaled the birth of Errol’s acting career.

A superb assembly of contemporaneous news articles by EFB Author “Isabel Australis”:

“In the wake of the bounty” 1933

An intriguing history with some Errol and errors:

books.google.com…

And here’s the cinematic Flynn himself, just as he appeared at the Prince Edward Theater, eighty-five years ago today, March 15, 1933 – On the Ides of Flynn:

— Tim

 
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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Directors, Documentaries, Film Anniversaries, Film Program Photos, Film Reviews, Films, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Guinea, Ships & the Sea, Special Events, The Early Errol

 

A Curious Pair

10 Mar

At the Wilder Theater on Wilshire, in Westwood

www.laweekly.com…

The Adventures of Robin Hood swoops into the Billy Wilder Theater to restore a measure of innocence to the jaded moviegoer. Splendidly operatic in style and resplendent in its Technicolor trappings, the film endeared Errol Flynn to a Depression-era audience and secured his place in the Hollywood pantheon. Director Michael Curtiz replaced William Keighley when Warner Bros. decided that the action needed more oomph, and the film certainly doesn’t lack for excitement, particularly during the climactic swordfight with Basil Rathbone. UCLA Film & Television Archive is pairing it with Flynn’s American debut, The Case of the Curious Bride, as part of its tribute to Curtiz. Alan K. Rode will sign copies of his new Curtiz biography in the lobby prior to the screening.

UCLA’s Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Fri., March 9, 7:30 p.m.; $10. (310) 206-8013, cinema.ucla.edu….

— Tim

 
5 Comments

Posted in Directors, Films, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Articles, Special Events

 

Mail Bag! Errol pitches The White Rajah to Jack Warner!

07 Mar

Our new subscriber, Eric Clarke, sends us a couple of images of Errol’s pitch to Jack Warner about his script of The White Rajah and a page of the 14 page synopsis.

 

 

Thanks, Eric!

— David DeWitt

 
20 Comments

Posted in Collectibles, Documents, Films, Flynn and..., Flynn-related, Main Page

 

The Shape of Errol

05 Mar

Errol’s connection to The Shape of Water? The extraordinarily talented and beautiful Millicent Patrick. Before she worked on the shape of Gil-Man in Creature from the Black Lagoon, she worked on the shape of Errol.

www.theerrolflynnblog.com…

“She began working as a “makeup illustrator” on an Errol Flynn film and worked her way up from there. Patrick created and designed the look of Mr. Hyde in Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Xenomorphs in the B-picture This Island Earth and of course the iconic Gil-Man himself from Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

* Lake Zaca near Santa Barbara, California, which may have inspired Templeton Crockett to name Errol’s future yacht “The Zaca”, is very frequently reported to have been the lagoon filming location in “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.” These reports however may be apocryphal. The true “Black Lagoon” may actually have been Wakulla Springs in Florida.

— Tim

 
2 Comments

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Film Trailers, Films, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Movie Trailers, Special Events

 

Tribute to Tony Thomas

20 Feb

Reminded recently by Jack Marino of his friend, Tony Thomas’s, preeminent contributions to the history of Flynn here is a recollection of his great work:

THE FILMS OF ERROL FLYNN

“This book is a complete record of Errol Flynn’s career from his first starring role in Captain Blood until his untimely death at fifty. All of his 58 films are here, with synopses, casts & credits, reviews of the more important vehicles, and hundreds of photos.”

ERROL FLYNN:THE SPY WHO NEVER WAS

Author of 30 books about movies and movie stars, Thomas here defends Flynn (1909-1959) against the charge made by Charles Higham in Errol Flynn: The Untold Story (1979) that the Hollywood swashbuckler, who played Captain Blood, Robin Hood, the Earl of Essex and Don Juan, was a Nazi spy. Thomas’s detailed examination of Higham’s evidence (including interviews with many original sources) convincingly shows that Higham quoted documents selectively, twisted witnesses’ words and made a flawed case based on guilt by association.

— Tim

 
8 Comments

Posted in Documentaries, Film Reviews, Films, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Recordings, The Last Years

 

Ann and Errol

13 Jan

THE MERMAID AND MISTER CHRISTIAN

A counter-clockwise adaptation of twinarcher’s recent north-of-the-equator post, “Errol and Ann”

www.canberratimes.com…

Physicality and courage on screen were two notable attributes of Kellermann that would continue among a number of other Australian actors, including Errol Flynn, whose screen debut in Australia as Fletcher Christian in 1933’s In the Wake of the Bounty soon led to a major Hollywood career.

Plus, check out this fabulous Annie Kellerman- related, history and gallery of early bathing suits and beauties!

www.boston.com……

The Original Mermaid (G, 2003), a documentary on Kellermann, will be on January 17 at 3pm at 4pm at the National Film and Sound Archive ($10/$8).

The Evolution of the Australian Actor talk will be at the archive on January 18 at 3pm (free, bookings essential) followed at 4pm by Captain Blood (1935, G, tickets $10, $8).

The Rise of the Australian Actor in Hollywood talk will be on at the National Portrait Gallery on January 20 at 2pm (free, portrait.gov….au).

For bookings and more information visit nfa.gov….au.

— Tim

 
2 Comments

Posted in Films, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Articles, The Early Errol

 
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