The Errol Flynn Blog

Dear fellow Flynn fans,

here is what Vienna authorities and libraries have to offer on Dr. med. Hermann Friedrich Karl Theodor Erben aka. Dr.Gerrit H. Koets, Errol Flynn`s travel companion on his wicked, wicked ways.

Born on November 15th of 1897 in Vienna to Dr. jur. Hermann Erben Sr., General Manager of one of the largest steele factories in the K & K monarchy and Jeanine Reichel, daughter of a rich cotton manifacturer in Prag. His mother was of Jewish descent, she had her son circumcized, otherwise the whole family was baptized into the evangelical faith. His sister Grete(l), was 10 years his minor.

He served in WWI as lieutenant along the Italian frontline. Soon after the war was lost, his father was let go from his post in the once weapon producing factory. Erben Sr. died from tuberculosis in 1919 leaving his family national state bonds 400.000 Kronen, the equivalent of four loaves of bread.

Like his uncle Fritz he joined a duelling student fraternity- the Corps Symposion, “earning” himself a gash wound on his left cheek he would parade proudly for the rest of his life.

Erben was one of the first members in Austria of the DNSAP- the German worker`s Party and pre- NSDAP, the political wing of the Nationalsocialists. Back in 1922 the agenda was to reunite Austria with Germany for the better good of both countries.

In June of 1920 he married his first wife, Klara, who was from Leipzig in Germany. Four days later she gave birth to their son, Kurt.

He tricked himself into a passage to Brazil in 1921, securing a construction worker`s job in Rio de Janeiro (where the World Fair of the year thereafter was prepared) even though he knew nothing about any hand craft.

This trip triggered his travel bug, a neurosis as he later claimed himself. Since he couldn`t back up on his working claim, he was forced to return a stowaway. The stage was set for more impostering to come.

Upon his return, he learned that Klara had given birth to another son. He consulted his diary in which Brazilian city he had been on the day of his second son`s birth and announced that his name therefore should be “Santos”. The marriage ended in a divorce on grounds of “incompatibilty”. To spare alimony payments, he let Klara and the boys live on in his apartment while away on his trips. Whenever he was home he consumed their in court dissolved marriage, washing, cooking and else, as if nothing had happened.

He claimed to have been an extra (then again who had not, given the monumental mass scenes) like many other Viennese University students on the Michael Kertesz film “Sodom and Gomorrah”.

See: www.theerrolflynnblog.com…

In 1923 he worked at a medical facility, studying on diabetes, in the United States. His announcement, that he was off to “Jew York” got him the laughs of his Corps Bros. He instantly applied for American citizenship, but managed only to get a sailor`s ID, while befriending dock workers.

His promotion to medical doctor at the Vienna University was on the 23rd of July in 1926. The original certificate shows his name in latin: Arminium Erben.

Two years prior there were first hints of substance abuse. When questioned by police, then and later he will always claim that the amount of morphium in his possession was for medical purposes only and strictly within the official limits. This is like being stopped for exceeding city limit speed restrictions, but pleading innocence for having stayed within the tachometer.

He went back to the US almost immediately after his promotion, fibbing he had a job lined up for him, but managed only to get a 20 day visa. He was advised to respect this timelimit, otherwise he would be warranted and deported. He stayed for two years, taking the Medical Board exam in Tulane and Seattle and passing twice with impressing results (>90%). He was employed at various hospitals, for example the Medical Lake Hospital in Spokane, Washington. He was fired once for misbehavin´ with a nurse on duty, other times he just wandered on.

After illegally alienating everybody, he requested an application form for reentry to the United States. He stated to the Office of Immigration and Naturalization that he intended to go on a one year world trip. He produced the passport he had shown when coming to the US the first time and not his second one where the short term visa would have had him ousted immediately. Reentry after a longer absence was granted. A pattern had been established. Erben-Koets had beaten the system and was off to Hongkong, Shanghai, the Philippines and Australia. His scientific achievements as a missionary doc were featured also in American newspapers. This may have contributed to reaching his primary goal: to settle in the US of A.

When he reentered North America in San Francisco, he at last got his first American passport (No. 9486) on grounds that a local medical doctor, Dr. Emil Otto Jelinek, originally from Austria and a friend of his father vouched for him. Erben claimed to have left the United States only twice in the last five years, both times to visit his ill mother. He would lose the American Citizenship after being blacklisted for drug distribution and when his lies about his residental periods in the US backfired on him.

In the years to come, he would work as a ship doctor, encounter, infatuate and influence Errol Flynn. In Shanghai though the circle of exiled Germans regarded him as oddball and instigator. Pastor Prof. Dr. Fritz Maass will remember him coming uninvited to bible rounds and clearing the buffet. “Wherever he went he caused a commotion. With Communists he bashed Nazis, and with Nationalsocialists he blasted the Reds.” That way in official hearings later on he could always claim that back in the days he was regarded anti- this AND anti- that.

He provided himself with an additional income for documenting naval activites everywhere he went for the German Abwehr (the defence ministry). He may, just may have worked for Stalin too, keeping a photo lense on Trotzky, while in Mexico at the time of the assassination of the Comrade of the first hour.

He stood trial for treason after war was over, awaiting a sentence on death row, thrived on matching minds with the prosecution, got pardoned for naming Nazi names, reunited and rebonded with these names in a US detention camp in Ludwigsburg. Somehow this charismatic, highly intellectual and multicoloured turncoat managed to return to his hometown of Vienna and opened a doctor`s office.

He received the golden merit award by the Austrian Republic in 1974 for his 40 plus years of international scientific research. A year later he would stand accused for the death of a patient due to negligence on his behalf. Nothing could be proven and nothing came of it. Koets me if you can, gentlemen… He would practice medicine for ten more years.

On January 16th of 1985, Dr. Hermann F. Erben was found dead on the kitchen floor of his unheated apartment. No port, no partner, no prison had managed to hold this uninhibited free and fraudulent spirit for long. Cardiac arrest had finally put him to rest.

Enjoy,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

in connection to last week’ s (puzzle) piece on the”White Rajah” I summon you to chip in on Errol’s announced, but never realized film projects.

I know of the following, either via newspaper or self promotion of our Hollywood hero himself:

“Goya” after an idea, rather a vision of Salvatore Dali

“Michael Strogoff”, the Jules Verne classic, who saw the movie light later starring Curt Juergens

“Lord Valiant”, a historic fencing flic side by side with Robert Wagner and Joan Collins

“Singapore East” a junk boat pirate spectacle situated in Japan  with Italian singer-actor Alberto Rabagliati

And the mother of all sequels “The new adventures of Robin Hood”, which I especially am curious about. Maybe one of our elder statesmanly scolars knows if it ever was really officially announced by Warner Bros. ?

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

I went on a cruise on the beautiful blue Danube River from Vienna up to Dürnstein, where King Richard unwillingly had to spend his winter holiday of 1193.

Here is the prelude to “The adventures of Robin Hood”: en.wikipedia.org…

All I can say is that there are worse places to be stuck and  I wonder if that high ransom  indeed was a hefty unpaid wine bill.

Enjoy,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

though Stewart Granger and Errol Flynn never crossed swords on the screen, they more often than once were wandering on parallel paths. It was Errol`s decision to star in Kipling`s “Kim” instead of donning khakis in “King Solomon`s Mines” that initiated Granger`s Hollywood career. “Kim” showed Flynn redbearded with a shaven head in an India advertisement/Holy man`s quest/child prodigy buddy movie with anticlimactic ending. At a crucial time this film failed Flynn in his claim of the swashbuckler`s throne. Meanwhile Granger looked ravashingly dashing as African adventurer Allan Quatermain wearing that safari hat with leopard band which made his a household name. The gentlemanly Englishman followed up with eternal movie gems like “Scaramouche” and “The prisoner of Zenda”, entrusted with lead roles that only a few years prior would have instantly gone to Flynn. When Granger went up to Flynn at a party to thank him for his ill advised “Kim” career choice, a smiling Flynn stopped him in his tracks saying: “Don`t rub it in.” From that moment on Errol referred to Granger as “The One”. He had set his sight on Europe`s movie market as an independant producer and literally passed the torch to Granger. Ironically Hollywood had placed its cloak and dagger in the hands of a man equally troubled with health problems. Granger had been released from military service in WWII because of intestinal afflictions. And he too tried make up for that personal letdown, embracing the rather risky lifestyle of a big game hunter.

Granger remembered seeing Flynn for the very first time at the film festival in Cannes in 1948:

“The word was out that Flynn`s boat, the famous black shooner “Zaca” was arriving in port . The crowd was hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Me included. I was a British star, but we didn`t mean the same as a “Hollywood star”. I was fighting to get a good look at my hero (I had seen “Captain Blood” four times at first release and 20 times later on in life) when he came off the boat. He was immaculate in white with a lady on either arm. A white Cadillac was drawn up waiting for him as he stepped onto the dock. The crowds cheered-held back by the gendarmes- Flynn smiled, waved and the car drove off. I will never forget that moment. That was my idea of a movie star!”

Incidentally their grassroots went even further back to the Malvern Theater Festival of 1934, where Granger`s first wife Elspeth March (they met a year later) was playing the lead role and Errol appeared as spear carrier (!). He had his mind made up by then and told her: “I promise you that within a year I shall be in Hollywood and marry a film star. ” When Granger investigated how far their friendship had evolved, Elspeth told that she only had been taught to play poker by the aspiring actor- groom.

During his assignment to Africa, Granger offered his London apartment complete with Hungarian house maid and wine cellar to his friend, Commander Kehoe. He couldn`t possibly have known that Kenoe would invite a certain Freddy McEvoy for dinner and that Errol would tag along. After a whole week of fun and games the maid was gone. She was shocked by the coming and going of a parade of very young girls. Needless to say that the wine was gone too. Errol made good later on and invited Granger and his second wife Jean Simmons to his house on Mullhollland Drive complete with two way mirror tour de luxe..

Stewart Granger cherished Errol`s wicked sense of humor. When teasing him on his fencing abilties, the following verbal exchange ensued.

“You know I`m a better swordsman than you.”

Reply Errol:

“I know, but I have better hips…”

Enjoy,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

here is all the Austrian National Library has to offer about director deluxe Michael Curtiz in his pre Hollywood days.

He was born Michaly Mano Kertesz Kaminer in Budapest on the 24th of december in 1888.

He came from an upper middle class jewish family.  His mother Aranka Vatz was an opera singer and his father Ignaz Kaminer an architect. He had two brothers, Gabriel and David. He was educated at the Royal Academy of Theatre and Art and attended the Markoszy University.

He started out as a child singer in 1899 and later became an actor in 1912 in the film “Today and tomorrow”. Then and there he confided to a friend that he intended to switch sides and was more interested in directing than acting.

He allegedly was part of the Hungarian fencing team at the Olympics in Stockholm of the same year.

In 1913 he took part in a monumental film called “Atlantis” made in Denmark, and claimed to be inspired by the very innovative way of film making there ever since.

In 1914/15 he served in the Infantry of the Austro- Hungarian Army along the Russian front and was wounded. He finished the war as newsreel camera man (one of the first of ist kind) making propaganda films.

In 1915 he married Ilona Kovacs Perenyi, a silent film actress also known as Lucy Doraine. Their daughter Katharine was born in 1916. His first marriage lasted until 1923.

In 1917 he became managing director of the newly founded Phoenix film production Company in Hungary.

By 1918 he had finished at least 38 films (some sources say 50), all lost or reduced to fragments.

When Bela Kun established the first communist regime in Hungary in March of the same year, Kertesz was busy filming “Liliom”, originally a play of Ferenc Molnar about a trigger temper carnival barker, who after serving time in purgatory for comitting suicide gets a second chance to do good on his daughter Julie. The 1945 broadway show “Carousel” is based on this story. It is the one and only of his 165 films Kertesz couldn´t finish. He fled the country with his family in turbulent times after Bela Kun was overthrown after a 120 day reign. Other prominent emigrants were Sandor (later: Alexander) Korda and Bela Lugosi.

During that period he is said to have made a film titled “Odette” in Sweden starring a 14 year old Greta Grabo.

From 1919 on Sascha Film Productions owner Count Alexander Kolowrat employed Kertesz in Vienna. Until 1926 timeless classics like “Sodom und Gomorrha” and “Die Sklavenkönigin” were made there with huge budgets and produced standard setting innovations. The  film known in the US as “The Moon of Israel” went head to head with Cecil B. De Mille`s “Ten Commandments” covering the exact topic of the exodus of the Israelits. Not to be outdone Kertesz contrived new ways for the scene of the parting of the Red Sea in order to match the superior Hollywood effects machinery. It was this pioneer spirit and the capability to direct up to 5000 extras that landed him a 28 year long lasting job with Warner Bros.

He made 3 films in Berlin with Count Kolowrat`s diva darling of the day Lili Damita (see EF blog: “The thrill of being Tiger Lil`”), before she became Mrs. Errol Flynn.

In 1929 he married Helen Lucas, a screen writer and actress also known under the stage name of Bess Meredyth.

In 1931 a certain Helen Lucy Doraine Rietmüller (rather: Reitmüller) can be found on the passengers list of the SS Bremen entering the port of NY. She claimed her residence to be in Hollywood 5680 Hilloak Drive. Despite their seperation Kertesz may have seen for his first wife to come to America.

In 1935 at age 19 his only legitimate child Katharina arrived at Los Angeles following her parents on February 23rd, again via the SS Bremen. Kertesz was a no show at the port probably working on the lot. “Kitty” becomes a scholar at the New York Art College. Four years later she tried to commit suicide and gives a sense of abbandonement as reason to the press.

But she was not the only Kertesz sibling to be left behind on the old continent. A son called Michael had been born to a bank accountant in 1920. Alimony was paid for him by Warners. His second daughter Sonja was born in 1923 to aspiring actress Miss Dalla Bona from the Sodom & Gomorrah set. In 1925 his second son was born to another actress from the S&G set, Miss Vondrak . Michael II. briefly worked for his dad as gaffer at the studios and is now  a painter in Seattle. Last but not least the daughter of actress Jill Gerard was acknowleged by a parental court to be Curtiz`child. She was born in 1956 when Casablanca`s favourite son was a mere 70 years old.

Back to 1935 and the filming of a flick called “The case of the curious bride”. It was there when a scene required of an unknown Australian actor  to mime a beautiful corpse covered with a blanket. When the cameras were rolling the silence suddenly was broken by a hearty sneeze from down under the blanket. Whereupon the temperamental dictator-director Curtiz supposedly snapped: “You-no-good-bum-of-a-sum-of-a-bitch, don´t you know, nose of dead man is dead also !?

The rest is Errol Flynn history.

Enjoy,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

here is what I dug up from the ancient archives of the Austrian National Library concerning the sexy sensual sparkplug we know as Mrs. Errol Flynn I.

Born Liliane Marie Madeleine Carré in Blaye near Bordeux on July 10th of either 1901 or rather 1904, she appeared in dancing revues in the Grand Nation`s capitol as early as age 15.

Of purported Iberian ancestry she started her career with the stage name of Damita del Rojo. Later she changed it to Lily Seslys under which she got credited with favorable performances during the silent film era.

As soon as film producer Count Alexander “Sascha” Kolowrat had laid his ladyloving eyes on her, he left no jewel unturned to lure the little dame from Paris to Vienna. This movie mogul went to great lenghts and used his personal riches to put big pictures onto the screen such as the then costliest movie up to date “Sodom and Gomorrah”.

Not only a bonvivant he was also a connaisseur of young talent and for example introduced Marlene Dietrich to the art of filmmaking.

But Lili was not to be seduced easily. She was determined to become a star and not end up a starlet. When arriving at the central train station of Vienna she was accompanied by an older woman (who may or may not have been her mother) as bodyguard. It was only when Count Kolowrat gave her top billing in his next three films partly made in Berlin: “Fiacre (stagecoach) Nr. 13”, “The Golden Butterfly” and “Plaything of Paris” that she agreed to terms and the chaperone was sent home. Director of all three flicks was a certain Michaly Kertesz, who soon was to embark on a shiptrip to Hollywood with no return ticket on a contract by Warner Bros.

Here is a comment of the “Neues Wiener Tagblatt” on the upraising star from the 4th of may 1929:

A fairytale out of real life

How Lili Damita found her way to film would make a fine story for a movie full of romance and sentimentalities so well liked these days, that has audiences streaming tears down their cheeks. Dancing in Boulevard venues at age 15 she was discovered and brought here by the late Count Alexander Kolowrat of Sascha Film Factory. Instand success came via “Das Spielzeug von Paris” under the guidance of one Michaly Kertesz providing a never before seen array of technical effects and scenic splendor. Standing out nonetheless was the appearance of this juvenile diva with her slender and flexible figure and that fine Parisian facial features. A new star had emerged.

A household name by now Lili Damita engaged in a torrid affair with the Prussian Prince Louis Ferdinand von Hohenzollern much to the delight of the European newspaper media. The 20 year young crown prince was madly in love with the temperamental French actress and vowed to marry her. His royal family naturally didn`t approve of the impossible liaison and urged L. Ferdinand to keep things “physical”. Rumours that Lili held his cousin, the Duke of Kent in equally intimate esteem may have contributed that Ferdinand ultimately married Princess Kira Romanowa. But not before following Damita to the United States and even accepting a worldly job at the Henry Ford automobile plant in Michigan. Lili by then had already set her sight on another royalty- the Baron of Mullholland.

Enjoy,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

You may or may well know, that Maureen O´Hara shared some episodes about our Hollywood hero in her autobiography “Tis Herself”. She and Errol met for the first time promoting war bonds at a get- together with  money donors. Both were supposed to give speeches and were seated next to each other. They introduced themselves exchanging the usual pleasantries. While awaiting their turn, Maureen noticed that Errol was hiding something under the table. She glanced down and saw he was holding a Whiskey bottle between his knees. With each new speaker he secretly unscrewed the cap of the bottle filling his teacup under the table. He didn`t mind Maureen looking on one bit. At a certain point, still posing as the ultimate gentleman for onlookers, he began to whisper lovely obscenities to her out of the corner of his mouth.

“I moved my chair away from him slightly, but he pressed on anyway, one dirty and lascivious suggestion on top of another. This was crude stuff and not the slightest bit erotic, which I would have expected from this legendary Casanova. They mounted in their vulgarity, yet Flynn never lost his elegant poise and arrogant smirk on his face. I was fuming and would have loved to knock him on his ass, but I knew I couldn´t make that kind of a scene. So I finally whispered under the guise of a smile: Listen Errol, you better get the hell out of here or I am going up to that microphone and tell everybody what you`ve got in that teacup plus I`ll repeat everything you`ve been saying to me- word for word.”

Then and there Errol opted for retreat, not in a swashbuckling way, but still highly innovative- he slid out of his chair crawling on all fours under the long table for the exit. People down the lenght were jumping slightly as he startled them from beneath. When he finally had reached the end of the long line he stood up, looked back and – smirk still intact- waved good- bye playfully. Irish pride O´Hara saluted with a closed fist and returned his smile.

Now everybody here knows this incident culminated in their starring in the pirate movie “Against all flags” almost a decade later. Suffice it to say his teasing and testing somehow broke the ice and they worked up a great chemistry between them. Maureen was full of praise of Errol`s work ethic, saying he came to work prepared and practiced his fencing scenes meticulously with Fred Craven. Yet this was before lunch time, in the afternoon (due to too many juiced oranges) very little was achieved on film with the main male lead. Everything good they got was shot early in the day. Many romantic close ups happened between O`Hara and a X marked on a black flag that was supposed to be Errol Flynn. Needless to say she found her delivery very difficult when flirting with Jolly Rogers.

Maureen O`Hara regretted that she didn`t manage to catch up with Flynn in Cuba later while filming there “Our Man in Havana”. Soon thereafter he had died.

“He had been such an naughty scoundrel the night of our first encounter. But near the end of wrapping up “Against all flags” he had won me over. I respected him professionally and was quite fond of him personally. Deep within this devilish rogue I found a kind and fragile soul. He was the undisputed king of swashbucklers, still is to this day, and I was their queen.”

I hope you like this piece as much as I do. And if so, I will gladly share other Flynnanigans in future with you,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

Errol got immortalized in a book called “More tales from the travellers” published in Oxford 2005. This collection of tales by members of the Travellers Club London features a short story done by Mr. Robin Hanbury- Tenison, who recalls his encounter with our Hollywood hero in Havana 6 months prior his death. Thanks to my Irish friend from Galway, Dr. Alexander O`Hara, who provided me with the book, I can post this tall tale here now.

Invited by Baron Joseph de Biskei Dobronyi, a former WWII Pilot born in Hungaria, this Englishman and his first wife Marika, came to Cuba at turbulent times . “I am afraid there`s been a spot of bother this week, well a revolution actually, but that`s normal in these parts and I promise it won´t affect the fun we are going to have.” Those were the words that the two travellers were greeted with by their Hungarian host, who was known to all islanders as “Sepy”. As it turned out they were the only foreign guests at the Hilton apart from another couple, who was friendly with Sepy. Most of the rooms had been occupied by Castro`s fighters of both sexes wearing their green fatigues draped with weapons. “They had long hair and charming manners, didn`t sleep in beds, but used the floors and according to the bemused staff, left everything immaculate.”

One night they went to Sepy`s suite for cocktails and met the other couple of American descent. “An extemely attractive, suave, older man started making a big play for Marika, while I talked to his beautiful and much younger girlfriend. My wife clearly had no idea who he was, although I had recognised him immediately from the movies. It was Errol Flynn.”

At that time as we know Errol was the sole prominent Westener to identify himself with Casto`s cause supporting it actively. “He claimed to have fought with “El maximo lider” and threatened to show us his wound…” Associated with Errol, Sepy`s gang could do no wrong. Appointed guardians and playmates for his much loved girlfriend Woodsie, they visited the sights, such as Hemingway`s house and the bar he patronized. At night they drank and danced at the legendary Tropicana Nightclub, still functioning with all its gorgeous girls and singers playing to an empty house.

Meanwhile Errol was observing the downside of revolution at close range. “As international figure he was useful to the regime, lending some legitimacy to the nastier things they felt had to be done to secure their hold on the country. Quick trials and kangaroo courts followed by executions took place every evening- Errol was expected to attend.” When he joined the others at the club in the small hours, he was grey with strain of the horrors he had seen, but in his inimitable way ready for party soon thereafter. “I am down to two bottles of vodka a day” he would claim.

“One dawn, as we staggered out on the streets where daylight was just breaking, we saw a sight which stopped the film star at his tracks. A car with two huge wooden barrels filled with milk was trundling past. Between the shafts were six white mules.” “This  is my scene!” shouted Errol waving an imaginary sword and leaping onto the cart beside the startled driver. A wad of Dollars dispatched the latter and, as we all climbed aboard, our swashbuckling hero cracked the whip over the astonished mules. Reluctent they broke into a gallop and we careered through the streets of sleeping Havana, milk slopping out of the barrels onto the pavements. El Flynn y sus amigos were doing their thing and reliving a hundred of his film roles.”

I hope you enjoyed this time tavel as much as I did,

— shangheinz