Relevant Audio runs from about 16 to 25 minute marks (mixed with intermittent discussions regarding John Wayne, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, and Peter O’Toole.)
— Tim
Archive for the ‘Main Page’ Category
Errol aliases?
04
Dec
Errol wrote “letters to the editor” and I guess a “column” under a Alias. Does anyone know what was the alias? Read the rest of this entry »
— Selene Hutchison-Zuffi
Columbus Discovers Errol and Sends Him to America
01
Dec
November 30, 1934
Jimmy Starr
Evening Herald Examiner
Irving Asher, Warners’ London laddie in charge of the foreign studio, played “Columbus” and discovered a handsome Irish chap by the name of Errol Flynn. The young newcomer proved himself in Murder in Monte Carlo. Asher figured Flynn had a better chance in Hollywood, and sent him to Jack Warner, who took a quick look at the English-made movie, snapped a contract under Flynn’s nose and gave him one of the featured leads with Kay Francis in A Present from Margate, her next film following the current Living on Velvet. Mr. Flynn, it seems has made quite an impression — and good leading men are scarce, you know.
…
Here’s Errol in 1934:
…
Irving Asher, an American, actually landed two great stars that year – the other being the lovely Laura La Plante ~ the Doris Day of her day ~ as his wife!
…
It was a big year for Irving! He also laid this stone:
— Tim
Errol Flynn and Gia Scala
27
Nov
I have just read the outstanding biography “Gia Scala: The First Gia”, as told by her younger sister Tina Scala to author Sterling Saint James. This is a compelling, haunting, page-turning book with many shocking revelations of behind-the-scenes Hollywood, which was already in decadent decline. Gia Scala quickly became a top film star and co-starred in major studio productions opposite Robert Mitchum, Glenn Ford, Gregory Peck, George Sanders, Anthony Quinn, David Niven, Rock Hudson, Richard Widmark, and even Doris Day. So why did she suddenly drop out at the box office peak of her career? The death of this accomplished dramatic actress in 1972 at age 38and still a ravishing beauty, was labeled by the film industry and law enforcement as a ‘suicide’. However just like the death of George Reeves it was anything but. Yes Gia Scala co-starred with Errol Flynn in the under-rate ‘film noir’ “The Big Boodle” (1957) and the authors tell a surprisingly wonderful story about Errol Flynn, who came to Gia’s and Tina’s rescue when they needed a guardian angel.
— Ralph Schiller
Bravo, Errol and Raoul!!!! — A Knockout
27
Nov
November 26, 1942
New York Times
…
The robust glamour of the early days of prize-fighting, when the burly, muscle-bound practitioners of bareknuckle mayhem slugged, kicked, bit and clawed one another into submission under the guise of sport, has been recreated in most of its gory glory in “Gentleman Jim,” which opened last evening at the Strand. Though it is primarily a fight-fan’s delight, this lusty Warner Brothers film biography of the life and times of James J. Corbett, who danced his way to fistic immortality and introduced a note of refinement into the fight game, has Errol Flynn in the title role and enough other good qualities as an entertainment to make it a satisfying show for anybody’s money.
For here is not only the story of a great and colorful ring personality but a vividly illustrated album of a once outlawed sport at which the spectator was wont to keep one eye on the gladiators, the other peeled for the raiding police. With Raoul Walsh pulling the directorial reins, the action is sharply pointed most of the way, particularly in the fight sequences. Naturally the highpoint of the drama is Corbett’s historic meeting with the mighty John L. Sullivan at New Orleans on Sept. 7, 1892. If the original battle was as good as that served up by the Warners, then it surely must have been a corker. And it is on this triumphant note of Corbett’s remarkable ring career as a scientific boxer and the first heavyweight champion under the present Marquis of Queensberry rules that the film ends.
In recounting Corbett’s professional career, “Gentleman Jim” sticks as close as practicable to the facts, though the principal’s brashness as a youngster around San Francisco’s Olympic Club is accented almost to the point of boorishness. With pardonable, if not commendable, dramatic license, the scenarists have drawn a picture of the Corbett family life that looks rather spurious, especially Alan Hale’s characterization of the elder Corbett as a garrulous old duffer. But if this tale doesn’t always follow the letter of the record in this respect, it at least has a warm, earthy spirit.
Though the Warners probably have their own ideas about the matter, it struck this observer that they overlooked a natural bit of camera business by omitting the first encounter between Corbett and Sullivan in the old San Francisco Opera House, when they went four one-minute exhibition rounds dressed in formal attire. Errol Flynn is to the manner drawn as the impeccable Gentleman Jim, and Ward Bond has the richest role of his long and serviceable career as the blustering Sullivan, whose boast was that he “could lick any man in creation.” Alexis Smith carries the romantic interest very entertainingly, and lesser roles are engagingly played by William Frawley, Rhys Williams, Arthur Shields, Jack Carson, John Loder, Minor Watson and Wallis Clark. “Gentleman Jim” definitely packs an entertaining punch.
GENTLEMAN JIM, screen play by Vincent Lawrence and Horace McCoy, based upon the life of James J. Corbett; directed by Raoul Walsh; produced by Robert Buckner for Warner Brothers. Gentleman Jim Corbett . . . . . Errol Flynn; Victoria (Vicki) Ware . . . . . Alexis Smith; Walter Lowrie . . . . . Jack Carson; Pat Corbett . . . . . Alan Hale: Carleton De Witt . . . . . John Loder; Ma Corbett . . . . . Dorothy Vaughan; Delaney . . . . . William Frawley; Buck Ware . . . . . Minor Watson; John L. Sullivan . . . . . Ward Bond; Harry Watson . . . . . Rhys Williams; Father Burke . . . . . Arthur Shields; George Corbett . . . . . James Flavin; Harry Corbett . . . . . Pat Flaherty; Judge Geary . . . . . Wallis Clark; Mary Corbett . . . . . Marilyn Phillips; Jack Burke . . . . . Art Foster; Charles Crocker . . . . . Harry Crocker; Leland Stanford . . . . . Frank Mayo; Huntington . . . . . Henry O’Hara; Sutro . . . . . Fred Kelsey
A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 26, 1942 of the National edition with the headline: At the Strand.
— Tim
Just the Facts
23
Nov
November 20, 1942
Minneapolis Star Journal
FBI Jails Boy in Extortion
13-Year-Old Asked $10,000 of Flynn
LOS ANGELES UPI
A $10,000 extortion plot against actor Errol Flynn was attributed to a 13-year-old San Bernardino schoolboy last night by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI said young Billy Seamster had sent a note to the actor, now awaiting trial on statutory charges, demanding the money on pain of death. The lad was arrested, said agent Richard B. Hood, in San Bernardino where he had directed the money to be sent. Hood said the note, received by Flynn Nov. 11 at his Beverly Hills home, read: “If you value your life and career, send a small package containing $10,000 in currency to the Otto Malt Shop. Your phone has been tapped. Don’t call police. You will be killed if you don’t comply.” It was signed “Jack Gilstrom.” The lad was released to his parents while the United States attorney’s office studies possible further action.
— Tim
Boots was Made for Watching — “Errol Flynn in His Greatest Role”
21
Nov
November 21, 1941
New York Times
The Warners have been generous to a fault in paying their respects to General George Armstrong Custer. Certainly the man who is more famed for his celebrated last stand against the Sioux and allied tribes at Little Big Horn than for any of his several other exploits receives his due as a courageous soldier, and then some, in “They Died With Their Boots On,” which thundered into the Strand yesterday. Dismiss factual inaccuracies liberally sprinkled throughout the film’s more than two-hour length and you have an adventure tale of frontier days which for sheer scope, if not dramatic impact, it would be hard to equal.
Wave upon wave of cavalry charges packed with breath-taking thrills have been handled in masterly fashion by director Raoul Walsh, and they alone are worth the price of admission. Mr. Walsh, it is obvious, spared neither men, horses nor Errol Flynn’s General Custer in kicking up the dust of battle. But the director was not so fortunate in handling the personal drama and as a consequence “They Died With Their Boots On” has little verve between campaigns. With all the action of the Civil War sequences, it is not surprising that the intervening account of the General’s domestic life and his battle against political intrigue, which lacks genuine dramatic sustenance, should become a little wearying. After all, two hours and seventeen minutes requires a powerful lot of sustained drama. Mr. Walsh would have had a more compact and compelling entertainment had he whittled a half hour or so out of the script. But he more than makes up for this with his action shots.
From what the records show, “They Died With Their Boots On” is the screen’s first full-fledged attempt at spanning Custer’s remarkable career from his hazing as a West Point plebe, his almost story-bookish rise from second lieutenant of cavalry at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861 to his appointment two years later as brigadier general of volunteers and commander of the Michigan brigade, which performed so brilliantly at Gettysburg. However fanciful the film’s account of his early Army career and the events in between his assignment as lieutenant colonel, Regular Army, of the Seventh Cavalry, may be, it nevertheless provides a broad view of a complex personality.
In the massacre at the Little Big Horn in 1876 the film credits Custer with knowingly sacrificing his small forces to prevent the warring Indians from swooping down upon General Terry’s unsuspecting regiment, a viewpoint in variance with certain historical accounts of the tragedy. Errol Flynn, who approximates the general in physical characteristics, is excellent as the dashing, adventuresome cavalryman. Olivia de Havilland is altogether captivating as his adoring wife. Others in the long cast who acquit themselves with credit are John Litel as General Phil Sheridan, Sidney Greenstreet as General Winfield Scott and Stanley Ridges as the fictitious Major Taipe who engineers Custer’s court-martial. George P. Huntley Jr. gives a magnificent performance as Custer’s fellow-officer and buddie.
THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON; screen play by Wally Klein and Aeneas MacKenzie; directed by Raoul Walsh for Warner Brothers.George Armstrong Custer . . . . . Errol Flynn – Elizabeth Becon (Beth Custer) . . . . . Olivia deHavilland – Fitzhugh Lee . . . . . Regis Toomey- Major Romulus Taipe . . . . . Stanley Ridges – Ned Sharp . . . . . Arthur Kennedy – General Scott . . . . . Sidney Greenstreet – William Sharp . . . . . Walter Hampden – General Phil Sheridan . . . . . John Litel – Lieut. Butler . . . . . George P. Huntley Jr. – Crazy Horse . . . . . Anthony Quinn – California Joe . . . . . Charley Grapewin – Sergeant Doolittle . . . . . Joe Sawyer – Captain Webb . . . . . Frank Wilcox – Captain McCook . . . . . Selmer Jackson – Senator Smith . . . . . Minor Watson – Lieut. Frazier . . . . . DeWolf Hopper
A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 21, 1941 of the National edition with the headline: At the Strand.
…
…
…
— Tim
Beatrice Hudson Ammidown
13
Nov
While researching Errol like I do every day, I found a small snippet from a newspaper of September 1940 in which Errol is linked to Beatrice Ammidown, pocket venus. I started to further research her. She was a society model born in 1915 from New York. She married Henry P Ammidown in 1934. They had a daughter in 1938. In 1939 she started a relationship with Errol. She finalized the divorce in 1940. They were “out” in January 1940 and the press thought she was going to be soon his wife. By September 1940 still together after a break. Nothing after that. She married a rich Greek shipping mogul in 1942.
— Selene Hutchison-Zuffi
“Cupid” Hill – The World’s Greatest Archer
13
Nov
Howard Hill
Born November 13. 1899
Howard Hill was an expert bowman, long regarded “The World’s Greatest Archer”. He established the record for winning the most bow-and-arrow field tournaments in succession, a total of 196 competitions. He also wrote several leading books on the topic. Additionally, he was a tremendous athlete, most notably in football and baseball.
Among his many achievements in archery, Howard Hill in 1928 set a new world record for the farthest recorded flight shot with a bow and arrow, at 391 yards. That same year, he won his 196th field archery competition in a row. Hill, though, was not only one of the most decorated archers in the modern era of target shooting, hunting, and flight archery competitions, he was also a celebrated writer and producer. During his career, he produced 23 films about archery for Warner Bros. He also produced 10 different films of his own and was a technical adviser in many more motion pictures, providing his expertise in the field.
…
Forward to Howard’s book, WILD ADVENTURE
Written by Errol
When you meet Howard Hill you know darn well you have met him before, but you can not remember where or when.
Let me solve your problem. If, like myself, you sometimes find yourself hanging on a bar rail and staring over the head of the bar-tender, behind those character-destroying bottles of Four Posies or Old Step Mother, you will spot Hill. There you will see a reproduction of a painting, the cultural contribution of some beer cartel like Somebody and Rusch, depicting Custer’s Last Stand. That American aborigine, that Indian on the piebald pony is Hill. Yes, the guy giving out with the bloodcurdling war whoop, drawing a bead on the heroic general (if a bead can be drawn with a bow and arrow Hill is the one who can do it) is our boy. This is no quaint flight of fancy; It has to be Hill. God knows, I have stared at both Hill and his weapon often enough, chilled to the marrow.
When Hill goes after any living creature with his bow for whatever reason, whether for food, motion pictures or sport, he has the same intensity, the same piercing black eyes, the same unmistakable snarl, leering with the triumph of the Indian about to wade up to his navel in the gore of the Paleface, He may be stalking only a rabbit, but it is still Hill.
He calls himself a Cre, I think, and is inordinately proud of it, But he is a real Indian, make no mistake, as this Paleface knows. Confronted by Hill bearing down upon me over the bar on that pinto pony charging over countless hordes of Four Posies, I have always felt a keen sympathy for the unlucky Custer.
It is only our long and enduring friendship (based upon a mutual love for hunting and the Great Outdoors) that has induced me to write this foreword to his book, a thing I would do for no one else. As yet, being on a different continent from him at the moment, I have not had a gander at Howard’s book, but I am sure it is a work calculated to bring out the best kind of savagery in American youth. The book is a cinch to stir many a nervous pulse as Hill has stirred mine in the past. It has to be filled with wild adventure. In it naturally, he will not tell you of the time we were out hunting mountain lions, and having just lassoed one, he had the frenzied brute screeching and turning somersaults at the end of a rope snubbed around a tree. Suddenly Howard yelled, “Here, hold this, and I did, only to find out that I had hold of the tail of the enraged cat instead of the rope. Nor, I suppose, will this savage recount another incident that occurred while we were hunting wild boar on Sana Cruz Island when he left me hanging on the side of a cliff several hundred feet above the rocky sea-shore. While he sat in safety fifty yards away, eating boiled eggs and going into sporadic gales of laughter, he watched me suffer the terrors of chronic vertigo, too petrified to move an inch. Yes, Hill is an Indian.
Although no Indian myself, and having no claim to being perhaps even an exceptional hunter, yet I do have much in common with Hill. The wailing note of the loon floating across a placid lake, the distant high pitched cry of the timber wolf, the roar of the jaguar and the blood-curling cough of the charging wild boar, call to some deep inner response within us both that is not acquainted with modern civilization.
“Cupid” Hill, as I have called Howard ever since we first met while making the picture Robin Hood, has done things with a bow and arrow that few have essayed with the rifle and I for one am going to read his book with great nostalgia, for some of the truly wonderful moments of my life have been spent tagging at Howard’s heels on our hunting trips in many strange corners of the world.
Errol Flynn
Rome, italy
…
…
Errol-Related Filmography
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
– Technical adviser and archery instructor
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
– Captain of Archers (credited)
– Elwyn the Welshman (uncredited)
Sword Fishing (October 21, 1939)
– Short Documentary – Himself
Shark Hunting (November 9, 1940)
– Short Documentary – Himself
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
– Stunts (uncredited)
San Antonio (1945)
– Henchman (uncredited)
Deep Sea Fishing (1952)
– Short documentary – Himself
Cruise of the Zaca
(Released December 6, 1952)
– Short Documentary
– Filmed 1946-47
— Tim
