I don't know if this has ever come up before on the blog, I didn't look at all the blog's archive. I have a lot of books about EF. I wonder if other fans know the existence of this book written by D. Bramov in 2005. It is a psychoanalytical biography. I found it quite exciting, interesting and definitely intriguing, no photos though. Worth looking into for sure.
— Don Jan
For many fans of Errol Flynn, this movie has been a Holy Grail quest, to find a decent print and own it on Dvd.
I for one have been one of those fans who has seen a few varying quality versions over the years, none of which have been easy to enjoy, due to washed out colour,poor definition and generally bad picture quality.
But recently some Italian language prints in Brilliant condition surfaced, and it was only a matter of time and determination from a hard working Dvd company,and a persistant fan who will remain nameless, which resulted in the Dvd i see before me now.
A Good Job has been done in restoring this movie to the quality one could only dream of previously. The Picture is Sharp,the colours vibrant and Jack Cardiff's superb Technicolour Photography simply looks lush, at times the outdoor scenes remind me of the Rich Colours seen in Flynn's classic Masterpiece,The Adventures Of Robin Hood.
As for the film itself, well it isn't without it's flaws, the supporting cast crys out for the quality of Flynns classic supporting stars like Alan Hale and Olivia De Havilland or Basil Rathbone, and most of the Italian cast are dubbed into English. However the dubbing isn't bad and is not distracting or indeed always obvious, in fact the voice actors match the characters well, and do not sound as if they've been recorded seperately in an Aircraft Hangar, which is often the case in dubbed movies.
The plus points of the movie outweigh any minus you may find, for a start Flynn looks great, he obviously got himself fit for the role and lost weight,in fact he looks leaner than he had for a few years and looks a lot healthier than he did in Against All Flags, which was made three years earlier.
Flynn bounces around like an Alley Cat and all done with that famous Twinkle in the eye,he looks happy and energetic and seems to be having a ball making the film.
There are several humorous balcony scenes reminiscent of Don Juan, Screaming ladies, angry pursuing lovers and husbands, and of course a few light hearted Sword duels.
Action highlights are a Tavern Duel which is well staged and culminates with Flynn Duelling on top of some beer barrels, taking a few swigs on the way in a tongue and cheek manner.
As for the love interest,Gina Lollobrigida looks Magnificent,perhaps this helped nurture Flynns enthusiasm for the movie,and what red blooded male could blame him for that ?
The Final climatic Duel is probably Flynn's best from his 1950's run of Swashbuckling roles, it is fast paced,aggressive and Flynn's ability to look totally convincing in a duel, not just in his moves but in facial expression, are example again of what makes this legendary actor stand out from the rest. He had no peers in this type of role, others may have tried and come close, but Flynn excelled and never recieved enough credit for the skill required to be not only a convincing action hero, but a sympathetic one.
This is all helped here by some interesting fast paced mobile camerawork from Jack Cardiff, a style Flynn later used in his Errol Flynn Theatre TV Shows in England in 1956.
If you're a Flynn fan who has always wanted a decent copy of this movie, buy it and put yourself out of years of misery….for any other fans curious enough, you should buy it too and revel in seeing Flynn temporarily, looking back to his best.
— InlikeFlynn
Hi all members,
I have a close contact and ardent Flynn fan and collector in Finland, who apparently has a “Sirocco Club” member card with member name mentioned on it dated to the '30s and we both would like to know more about it. Any information regarding this would be welcome to help him out. It has never been mentioned in the many biographies etc, I have read.
Personally, having read almost everything about Flynn that is available, I don't know anything about this particular subject apart from Errol having a yacht named “Sirocco” for the second time which is fatal in naval terms, but nevertheless knowing our hero he did anyway and bless him for this, as we all know that he defied the normal etc. and that is at least one of the reasons why we respect him so much.
Kind regards,
Jan
Spain
— Don Jan
Hi fellow Flynnians!
Aside from being a Flynn fan, I'm also a big Disney fan (and a fan of animation in general). Yesterday I saw Disney's new (50th) animated film “Tangled”. It's a really great retelling/re-imagining of the fairytale of Rapunzel. Anyway, so what does this have to do with Errol Flynn?
Well…the main hero in the film is a guy named Flynn Rider (actual first name Eugene — note the first initial “E”). The Disney filmmakers named him after Errol, and partially modeled his character on Errol and his swashbuckling hero persona. Here's a brief description of Flynn Rider, taken from a promotional magazine for “Tangled”: “The rogue bandit Flynn Rider is daring, and has always relied on his wit, charm and good looks to get out of even the stickiest of situations.”
Also, here's a quote about the character from one reviewer of the movie: “He's named Flynn by the way, and may remind parents, or grandparents, of a similar hero, circa 1937's 'The Prince and the Pauper'.”
And, to top it off, in the film Flynn Rider tells Rapunzel that he took his name from a legendary swashbuckler by the name of Flynnigan Rider — a man who was daring, heroic, good with the ladies, rich, and could do anything and go anywhere in the world. Sound familiar? :-)
So, this is the 2nd time (if you count their animated version of Robin Hood) that Disney has created an Errol Flynn-inspired animated character. I also know of 3 other Errol-inspired animated characters: The heroic archer-poet called Bow and the hero pirate called Sea Hawk — both from the 1980's animated TV series “She-Ra: Princess of Power”, and the heroic swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep — a computer-animated character in the Disney live-action “Narnia” films.
Anyone else know of any others?
— Rachel
Hi all!
Wanted to re-post my blog entry about Robert Matzen's “Errol & Olivia” book (since it's way down on the page), and also wanted to ask if anyone else (besides Brenda and Kathleen, I think) has read the book, and what are your thoughts on it?
Here's what I had to say:
I finally finished reading Robert Matzen's E&O book, and “WOW!” is what I have to say. I highly recommend this book — it's an absolute must-read for Flynn fans (esp “Errolivia” fans)! After reading it, I felt a lot like I felt after I read Errol's autobio MWWW…Matzen's book sucked me in and “drained” me emotionally; it was like being on an emotional rollercoaster, but one I very much enjoyed in the end. One reviewer of the book said it best: at times she wanted to kiss and hug the book (b/c it's *that* good), and other times she wanted to throw the book across the room (b/c parts of it were “intense”). That's pretty much how I felt while reading it. Still, I'm SO glad a book like this was finally written about Errol and Olivia, and it contains so many wonderful photos too! My one and only “complaint” about the book is that, at times, Matzen comes down hard on Errol, more so than he does on Olivia. I know Matzen is a long-time Flynn fan, but he doesn't let Errol off easy much of the time, he doesn't cut him much slack, as it were. Yet you can still tell how much he does admire both Errol and Olivia, and in the end he concludes they really did love each other (in a bittersweet kind of way). Needless to say, this book made me laugh out loud at certain moments, made me cry, and made me think more about both Errol and Olivia, and made me love and appreciate them and their films all the more. Thank you, Robert Matzen!
— Rachel
Hi fellow Flynn fans!
Attached are my Errol Flynn logo designs. I used two Adobe programs to make them : Photoshop and Illustrator. You might recognize the headshot of Errol used in the designs…it’s a rather “well-known” side profile shot of Errol (it’s the same one used on the cover of Robert Matzen’s new E&O book), and one that I particularly like, so I decided to incorporate it. I used a flag because I thought it would make a good “backdrop” and because flags are often seen flying on the masts of boats, yachts, and ships. So I created “Flynn flag” logos, complete with Errol’s image, his famous signature (which is beautifully scriptive, in two different styles), and Errol’s square-ish question mark symbols (which of course he created for himself, to symbolize his own life). I kept the image of Errol in grayscale, and used only 3 other colors in the logos: black, blue, and green. Why those 3 colors? Well, black is reminiscent of a pirate flag, blue is for the water/ocean/sea which Errol loved, and green is for the lush jungles/trees/vegetation Errol encountered in his travels (New Guinea, Jamaica) and was often surrounded by. Not to mention it’s also Robin Hood’s signature color as well. So that describes Errol Flynn logo designs 1 and 2.
The third logo design resembles the previous two, except that this one has Errol’s initials in place of his profile. Otherwise, same flag, same question mark symbols and same 3 colors used. And the fourth logo design has the same 3 colors, same EF initials, same question mark symbols, but this time I used a shield instead of a flag. A shield to symbolize Errol as the warrior/soldier/hero, with a “bulls-eye” pattern of circles in the center of the shield (to symbolize an archery target; Errol as archer).
So these are my four logo designs…I hope you like them. I may create others, I don’t know yet. I was actually thinking about creating a logo design (or two) for Errol and Olivia, together — an Errolivia logo.
— Rachel
Hi!
Again maybe I've picked up on something that is not new and may have already been discussed but have people noticed that in “Captain Blood” when Errol is dictating his agreement with his band of men on the ship after escaping from the island the date he quotes as the day of the agreement is his birthday -20th June and then in one of the early scenes the Captain that arrests him is Captain Hobart! I've been meaning to see if there are any more references but maybe other people have picked up on a few in other movies?
kind regards Diana
— meredd31
Hi you all,
Recently I wrote a small blog on the section “Books on Flynn” regarding mre selling the above mentioned “must have” book. Anybody worth their salt being categorized as a ferocious Errol fan or collector should have this on their shelf and treasure, right?
Also, I decided to sell some of the personally owned items I possess from our hereo all with certificate, anyone keen?? We are talking about cufflinks here from the great man himself, naturally with accompanying CoA to show they are genuine and from a very reliable source.
Jan
Spain
— Don Jan
This link will connect to a review of the new EF DVD set in the 8-1-10 edition of the Boston Sunday Globe. A favorable and thoughtful review!
— Rick
According to my monthly TCM guide:
New release from Turner Classic Movies and Warner Home Video:
Errol Flynn (Adventures)
All 5 Films Stunningly Restored!
Desperate Journey,Edge of Darkness, Northern Pursuit, Uncertain Glory, and Objective, Burma!
tcm.com… or 1-888-4-Movies
Also there's a 24 hour summer under the stars tribute to Errol Flynn, August 7/10.
Just thought I would share this. :)
— Elayna
