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Gone Fishin’ – On the Sirocco – With Bow & Arrow

27 Feb

February 28, 1939

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

It was a hectic weekend the old Pacific dealt out to Hollywood sailors.

Errol Flynn’s yacht, the Sirocco, with Howard Hill, the archer, and two camermen among those aboard, limped into port at Mazatlan with sails and mast torn away by a gal encountered 300 miles at sea.

Flynn’s boat, according to reports reaching Hollywood, was badly crippled and will be in dry dock for some time. The Sirocco has been in Mexican waters for Archer Hill to film a short subject about fishing with bow and arrow. Flynn was not with the party but is expected to join them at Mazatlan.

…

Howard Hill’s Hunting the Hard Way: Marlin Fishing with Errol, Bow, and Arrow

youtu.be/0bcV9sa5lZA…

— Tim

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco

The Life Story of Errol Flynn – According to Flynn: 1936

26 Feb

February 26, 1936

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

The Errol Flynns (Lili Damita) are back from Palm Springs, where he completed the final version of his life story.

— Tim

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Posted in Author Errol Flynn, Beam Ends, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Tasmania, Travels, Wives

Ahoy All Boys

21 Feb

February 21, 1938

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

Here’s a vacation offer to fit any boy’s dream.

Errol Flynn has decided to give two youngsters, between the ages of 15 and 18, a chance to accompany him on his Carribean cruise.

The star originally invited the Mauch twins, but they are going into a western picture at Warners and won’t be able to make the trip.

So Flynn is going to extend the opportunity to two other boys.

Anybody has a chance, but certain qualifications are necessary.

First of all, the consent of the parents. No boy who runs away from home will be given consideration.

Secondly, the star wants boys who have had an elementary training in seamanship and who possess some knowledge of the mathematics of navigation.

The cruise is to be made in the star’s yacht, Sirocco, and the sailing date is about the middle of March. Flynn plans to be gone six weeks. With him on the boat will be the captain, the two lucky boys and a couple of the actor’s men’s friends.

Don’t write this reporter for more information. Address all communications to Flynn at the Warners Brothers studio, in Burbank, California.

— Tim

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Main Page, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco

Captain Morgan ⛵🐕🌴 The Wizard of Dogs

19 Feb

February 17, 1939

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

The Frank Morgan yacht is being equipped with a dog house for his five dachshunds. Errol Flynn’s gesture is tops, though. When the Irish star took his dog, Arno, on a cruise last summer, he installed potted palms on a deck of the boat.

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Frank had the perfect name for a dachshund devotee, Moreover, the man behind the curtain loved all kinds of canines. Indeed, The Wiz earned an Oscar nomination for his poignant love of mutts as “Pirate” in Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat.

On top of all that, he was a skilled Hollywood yachtsman. Here he is doing a happy hula following his winning of the 1947 TransPac on his beloved Dolphin II.

Bellamy, Morgan & Flynn (The actors, not the law firm)

Not to rub Frank’s nose in it, but … despite all that, Captain Morgan had nothin’ on Captain Blood, who pampered his pup with parties and potted palms. Errol may have been in a dog house a time or two, but never Arno.

….

BTW – Speaking of dachshunds – Toto was not Dorothy’s first dog in TWOO. Otto, a doxie, was, owned by Wicked Margaret Hamilton, no less! …Here’s Otto, hanging out with Judy in Kansas. …He wasn’t in Kansas anymore, nor Oz, though, after MGM big wigs decided they did not want a perceived German breed while war was brewing in Europe.

yourdachshund.blogspot.com…

— Tim

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco, Travels

Mauch Adeux About Sailing

03 Feb

February 2, 1938

Harrison Carroll
LA Evening Herald Express

A trip such as any small boy might dream of looms for the Mauch Twins if parental and studio consent can be obtained. They have been invited by Errol Flynn to go on a six weeks’ cruise of the Caribbean. It would be the boys first vacation away from their mother and there would be no women on the boat. Mrs. Mauch is torn by misgivings, but may yield.

…

Here are the Prince and the Pauper with their mother, Mrs. Mauch, Sir Miles Hendon, and William Keighly:

Here, a bit later, are Billy and Bobby (or is it Bobby and Billy) with a big wheel at Warners:

— Tim

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco, Travels

“Between Pictures”

28 Jan

January 29, 1938

Jimmy Starr
LA Evening Herald Express

STARS FLEE BRIGHT LIGHTS FOR LONELY REST SPOTS

Hollywood is fast becoming fed up with the glitter and the glamour, the hustle and the bustle of the more prominent “between pictures” holiday spots. The trend is definitely toward smaller, more isolated hideaways. Like other people, the stars occasionally tire of the brights lights, the night clubs, the theaters, the traffic, crowded sidewalks, hotels with super-service and the necessity of properly creased trousers and correct coiffures.

Errol Flynn has found the perfect method of “losing himself” between films, on weekends or other days of leisure. The popular Warner star ducks down to Santa Monica, boards his yacht and sails away.

— Tim

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco, Travels

Sirocco

27 Jan

January 27, 1938

Harrison Carroll
LA Evening Herald Express

Purchase of a 75′ ketch in Boston makes Errol Flynn the No. 1 boat owner in Hollywood.

The Warner star, who planed in yesterday from a shopping tour of eastern shipyards, reveals that he now has a collection of seven boats with still another under construction.

The prize exhibit is the ketch Avenir*, which Flynn just purchased in Boston and which he will later sail through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific Coast.

Besides the Avenir, Flynn still owns a 50-foot yacht, a yawl named the Cheerio, a 25-foot speedboat, an outboard fishing smack and two 20-foot yacht tenders.

Then, in a western shipyard, he is having a lifeboat made over into another tender for his latest acquisition.

When and if he gets a vacation, the star plans a long voyage to the South Seas.

…

* Errol subsequently named the yacht “Sirocco” after the yacht he owned and captained in Australia and New Guinea before he achieved world fame.

— Tim

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Newspaper & Headlines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco, Travels

Zacapulco – Welles Done

25 Jan

Adapted from American Cinematographer, August 1948

For the boating scenes in tropical Mexico, Columbia Studios chartered Errol Flynn’s luxurious yacht, The Zaca, and Flynn himself served aboard as skipper. Scenes were filmed above and below decks, at anchorages in Acapulco Harbor, at Fort San Diego in Acapulco Bay,

In order to shoot the location sequences for Lady From Shanghai, a company of 50 Hollywood actors and technicians flew to Acapulco, along with 60 Mexican extra players and technicians from Mexico City. More than 15 tons of equipment were shipped from Hollywood, one order of six tons comprising the largest single air express shipment ever undertaken by a movie location company.

Shooting aboard the yacht was, from the space standpoint very difficult, and these scenes, as they appear in the picture, are necessarily cramped in composition — but this actually works in favor of the overall effect because it produces an authentic atmosphere of crowded life aboard a small yacht. During filming aboard The Zaca, a long line of native dugout canoes anchored astern formed a bridge from the barge holding the generator so that electrical cables could be stretched for the camera and sound equipment.

In filming sequences at sea, the camera crew discovered that they could not depend upon their usual light meter readings. Reflections from the surface of the water kicked up more intensity than the meter recorded, causing over-exposure of the scene. This effect was noted in the screening of the first rushes, and a series of experimental tests was made to arrive at some sort of rule-of-thumb that could be used to compensate for the additional amount of light

(Left) On location in Mexico, Welles briefs his crew prior to filming a sequence. At his side is Charles Lawton, ASC, whose outstanding photography adds greatly to the impact of the film. (Center) Errol Flynn’s yacht The Zaca is anchored in Acapulco Harbor. Astern are a line of barges over which electrical cable was stretched between the yacht and the generator boat. (Right) For a scene shot in the jungle streams of Mexico, the camera is mounted on a dugout canoe alongside the boat in which the principle players ride.

ascmag.com…