— Tim
Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category
For His Own Good
26
Apr
Not Just Any Port — “Dodge City of the Caribbean”
24
Apr
April 12, 1938
Jimmy Starr
Evening Herald Express
In the year of 1692 the quiet little village of Port Royal, Jamaica, was startled by a loud rumble, followed by a violent earthquake that slid the entire town into the ocean. On days when the water is clear, sightseerers hire a small boat to visit the site of the tragedy and to view the remains of a city underwater.
There are superstitious natives in that region who claim they can still hear the bells ringing in the sunken church. Intriqued by the fame of the bells, adventure-some Errol Flynn, Warner star, who is cruising with his new yacht in that section, informs me that he is going to make a deep-sea dive in an effort to recover the bells. If successful, the ancient chimes will be brought to Hollywood for exhibition.
***
Captain Blood’s Port Royal, Warner Bros. Publicity Still 1935
— Tim
Dozens of Dirty Rumors
23
Apr
April 23, 1938
Louella O. Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner
Dozens of dizzy rumors floating about Warners efforts to get Errol back in town in a hurry for Because of a Man. One yarn is that Errol is quite ill and unable to return and another is that Warners are unable to contact him because his boat has no wireless. However, the studio says he is expected to put in at Bahamas tomorrow where Warners will have a telephone line held open to tell him to fly home. The studio has shot around him just as long as they can and there’s still another rumor that if he isn’t reached, they’ll start casting about for another hero.
***
Would it be Warners’ own Dick Powell?
Or perhaps MGM’s Melvyn Douglas?
Or would they pick someone whose name sounded more like Errol Flynn’s?
— Tim
Olivia in Ireland
22
Apr
April 22, 1938
Harrison Carroll
From Belfast, Olivia de Havilland writes that her trip has been taken up partly by commissions for her Hollywood friends. In the village of Shanonbridge, she looked up George Brent’s old nurse who, at 79, is still earning her living as a dress-maker. The star’s visit almost caused a riot in the community.
In Belfast, Olivia spent a day with Errol Flynn’s parents. His father, a professor of biology at Queen’s university, still isn’t sold on Flynn’s acting career.
He told Olivia he wishes that Errol would give up the cinema, return to Ireland, and take up a more serious vocation.
Warners would be satisfied if he’d even get off his yacht and return to Hollywood.
***
Following the filming of The Adventures of Robin Hood, before its release on May 14, 1938:
Meanwhile, back across the pond, with Warners in hot pursuit:
— Tim
In Like Flynn in the U. S. A.
19
Jan
Kudos to King Karl for keeping us current on all the King of Swashbuckler news fit to print!
— Tim
Hi-Tailing It to Texas
30
Dec
Fleeing Hollywood for the Mexican border
December 29, 1939
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Jimmie Fidler
Errol Flynn will vacation on Big Boy Williams’ paternal ranch near Del Rio, Texas.
“Del Rio – The Friendliest Little Border Town in Texas – An Oasis in the Desert”
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“Travelers have long been drawn to this oasis on the Rio Grande. The American Indians who inhabited the area more than 4,000 years ago left detailed pictographs on cave walls, now a sort of primitive history book etched in stone. Spanish missionaries planted a church here in 1635 and christened the spot San Felipe del Rio. It was named not for the Rio Grande but in honor of San Felipe Springs, which still offers up to 90 million gallons of spring water every minute.”
“Queen City of the Rio Grande”
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“The heyday of Del Rio, the “Queen City of the Rio Grande,” as year-round tourist destination, along with nearby Villa Acuña, Coahuila, appears to have been in the 1930s.
During that era, the two sister cities straddling the Texas-Mexico border enchanted businessmen and the leisure class with mix of oasis relaxation and unregulated foreign intrigue.”
— Tim
Friday the 13th, December 1935
14
Dec
BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
FLYNN. WIFE TO N. Y. HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 13 (A. P.)— Errol Flynn and his wife, Lily Damlta, French film star, were en route to New York today to attend the the premiere of his new starring picture, “Captain Blood.”
“Captain Blood had its premiere on December 26, 1935 at the Mark Strand Theatre in New York City[18] and was released in the United States on December 28, 1935.”
— Tim
North to Unalaska
04
Dec
Pauper for a Princely Sum
03
Dec
Reported December 3, 1936
HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN NEWS
by ELIZABETH YEAMAN
The highly publicized reunion of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita and their departure for a “second honeymoon” in Europe may all be called off. That is to say, the trip to Europe may be canceled. Warner’s will decide today if they shall summon Flynn back to take the adult male lead in The Prince and the Pauper</em. This picture is growing daily in budget and production plans. Some enormous sets have been built, and the studio expects the film to be one of its most ambitious efforts. Now Bobby and Billy Mauch, the twin child stars, have the leads, but the are little known to the public and can't be regarded as a box office lure. Errol Flynn is well established with the fans, and while the role for him is of far less scope and importance than any he has been given in the past, it could be built up a little and his presence would insure a certain fan following. The point is, a picture which costs a lot of money needs some star with fan appeal to insure return on the money invested.
Ian Hunter was mentioned frequently for the role now pending for Flynn.
Reported December 14, 1936
by SHEILA GRAHAM
Errol Flynn demanded— and received— a $20,000 bonus for cutting short his European reconciliation trip with wife Lili Damita, returning instead to Hollywood for the leading role in the kiddie story, The Prince and the Pauper*
* A “kiddie story” beloved by adults around the globe.
—
BTW, I wonder if Errol ever read this advice from Mark Twain? I’d bet he did.
— Tim
