Thanks to Kristen Barbabella …
— David DeWitt
Actin’ Like Flynn – Part 9 – As You Wish, A Strong Flynnish
21
Feb
As Elwes, An Actin’ Like Flynn Finish by Cary.
Magnificent Duel Choreography by Flynnman Bob Anderson
And Wonderful Rotational Ambigrammic Title Typography, As Well!
— Tim
Mail Bag! Beverly Aadland Sings “Slowly”!
20
Feb
Jan Vandevliet sends this of Beverly Aadland singing “Slowly” found on YouTube …
Thanks, Jan!
— David DeWitt
Actin’ Like Flynn – Part 8 – “The Legend Had It Coming”
20
Feb
More Fun with Mel and Errol
Carying On with Some Very Merry Men
Very Glamorous, But Perhaps Too Overamorous (For Mature Immature Audiences Only)
— Tim
Mail Bag! Errol Reichow, on Mr. Errol Flynn, his namesake!
18
Feb
The Mail Bag brought a real treat today, and there was more in store as I opened the subsequent emails from Mr. Errol Reichow. Here is his first email to me:
Salutations Mr. DeWitt,
If you would be so kind as to post this picture to the Errol Flynn blog along with anything else you see fit it would be appreciated. I send my favorite picture to you of my namesake because it is by the pool where I grew up and the house I still have which is my own Shangri la. Please share the post if you decide to toss it up for those who may find interest.
My father (Otto Reichow) always used to tell me why he named me Errol. Zo mit his sic german acsunt I vould hear ” If you have half the life Flynn has had then you will have had a good life”. Errol set the bar high and left behind a blueprint as ones did before him so we follow, walk along, and continue ahead down the path we all must travel but chose to in so many different ways which make our lives truly unique. Yes, my heroes gowning up were Errol Flynn (namesake), John Wayne, Bruce Lee, and countless other icons that added a spring to my step and kept a sparkle in my eye because that’s what inspiration does.
One could easily go on for pages about the stories but we all have caught bits and pieces in the wind that fill our sails and take us down memory lane and then with the next tack we are faced with present day reality yet look unto the horizon for a better tomorrow and try to keep a true course. It is said that some people should never die and others should never be born but that just isn’t the way life is so keep the best alive in memories and forget the rest for that is the natural progression and key to perseverance. From what I have heard Errol liked to live on his terms and why not it was his life and better to live it your way than somebody else’s interpretation.
There will only be one Errol Flynn and this picture, by my father’s pool, captures it in the twilight of a supernova. Errol has his Vodka and cigarette in hand as he waves with a smile maybe thinking thanks for a great journey and happy to have done it my way sport. With all the pain one can suffer in life and endure the hardships it is good to know that a smile can always be found just around the corner. This was one of the last pictures of Errol in the land that made him and tried to break him known as Hollywood. My father took Beverly and Errol to the airport to catch a flight to Vancouver and that was the last my father and the world ever saw of Flynn, but the spirit lives on for those who wish to remember and we remember because we want to not because we have to – that is how Errol and we all should live our lives.
So long Sport and thank you for a great name.
Errol Reichow
But there was more! In the next email …
Again, the attached picture is better resolution and this card is from the final memorial service held for Errol Flynn at Forest Lawn Glendale October 19, 1959. I am sure you can crop and enlarge the quarters. If you feel it is worthy of a post please do so.
And finally these wonderful images!
Mr. DeWitt,
The attached picture is better resolution. I saw some old images of Flynn on your blog inquiring where these photos where taken, I believe the response was some hotel but I assure you it was from the home of my father Otto Reichow. The house is currently empty and is located at 1599 Sunset Plaza Dr in the Hills above West Hollywood. There are newspaper shots and various photos floating about from this location as a photographer had contacted my father and asked permission to come by and take some snaps. I have various shots my father saved and then others I see from time to time but felt compelled to clarify the location and mysterious gentleman to the right, my father.
Otto was also a pall bearer at Flynn’s funeral.
Errol, we can’t thank you enough for kindly sharing these extraordinary photos with us! It is such a rare and wonderful thing when somebody comes forward with images like this, and we all appreciate it so much! Your namesake looks like he is full of mischief, and has the expression on his face of someone looking about for the next source of a bit of fun …
Thanks again, Errol!
— David DeWitt
What Famous Actress?
18
Feb
What famous actress was reportedly first offered but turned down the role of Libbie Custer?
— Tim
Love Stories at Chaumet
17
Feb
Featuring Errol & Lili, Josephine & Napolean, inter alia
See Errol & Lili in the fascinating article and video below:
Lilliane in Pre-Flynnian Pearls from Chaumet
— Tim
Posters of Gold
17
Feb
An Outstanding AFI Article on Movie Poster Maestro, Bill Gold, Who Worked On “Escape Me Never” and “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, and Many Other Classic Cinema Posters, from Errol to Eastwood.
— Tim
Errol’s Adventures of Robin Hood Voted One of Top Films for Children
15
Feb
“From The Kid to Toy Story, cinema has given us thousands of indelible ways to entertain and stimulate children, and subdue the difficult ones. We all grew up with classics that have stuck with us: for some it was Pixar; others were weaned on the classics of Disney animation or Studio Ghibli’s fantasical otherworlds. But what should you be treating your kids to first? Glad you asked because we’ve done weighing up this very question. Tears were shed and hair was pulled but eventually we came up with 50 of the finest kids films in cinema. And, hey, we’re all friends again now.
Look in the dictionary for “swashbuckling” and you will find Errol Flynn’s broad-as-it-is-long smile grinning back at you. His effortlessly charismatic turn as the heroic outlaw is surely definitive screen version (sorry, Kevin), in a crowd-pleasing technicolour adventure that transcends its eight-decade age. Lavish production values, classical Hollywood starriness, and a cast of thousands – even cynical 21st-century children will be hooked.”
— Tim
