RSS
 

Search results for ‘Pirate’

(Out of Africa) A Star is Born

26 Aug

August 25, 1935

Los Angeles Times

By Muriel Babcock

Adventure again is holding the stage. The cutthroats and brigands and brave seamen of Raphael Sabatini’s swashbuckling tale of the Seventeenth Century, Captain Blood, are coming to life on the Warner Brothers set in Burbank, California, in this year, 1935.

One of the most interesting sets I have seen in visits to many studios, is the great, sprawling layout if a Jamaican slave plantation of the Captain BloodCaptain Blood, as you know, is the story which gives Errol Flynn, the Irish adventurer, his big chance in pictures. Chatting with him idly between scenes, I discovered that while his adventures in Captain Blood are thrilling, he has had almost as exciting ones in his own life before he came to America. He has a terrific scar on his left leg from an arrow shot at him by African natives.

LIFE’S BIGGEST SCARE

He was lost in the African jungles, and for two days, while hunted by the incessant tom-tom of drums, he hid from the natives and tried to make his way to safety. “Never in my life have I been so frightened” he told me.

But more about these interesting sets of Captain Blood. On still another stage are two huge replicas of galleons of that day, on of the Arabella, a Spanish ship, the other the Diligent, a French pirates’ boat. They are a beautiful sight to come upon, and it takes you a moment to realize they are only half ships that move back and forth on pulleys across the stage against the painted canvas sea background, instead of sailing the Caribbean as they did in Captain Blood. I climbed up on one, and I assure you it gives you a thrilling feeling.
…

The Jamaican Plantation*

*Imagery from the superb “Blonde at the Film” review of “Captain Blood 1935”

— Tim

 
No Comments

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Captain Blood Brotherhood, Films, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines

 

A Field Day for Flynn

06 Aug

August 6, 1953

H.H.T.
New York Times
Master of Ballantrae at the Paramount

With plenty of good, old-fashioned muscularity crowding a highly pictorial Technicolor frame, at least three-fourths of “The Master of Ballantrae” makes a rousing, spectacular outlet for a pair of estimable adventurers, Errol Flynn and the master himself, Robert Louis Stevenson. In the new Warner Brothers arrival at the Paramount yesterday, Mr. Flynn is leading a fine, predominantly British cast through one of the liveliest, handsomest and most absurd screen free-for alls ever to leave the Victorian talespinner’s pen. If the excessive length and staggeringly heroic exploits can be pinned on Warners and Mr. Stevenson, respectively, no one, assuredly, should question the lavish elasticity of the proceedings. It is played well by the entire cast, and seasoned throughout with some brazen drollery. The film was gleamingly authenticized in such locales as Scotland, England and Sicily. Herb Meadow’s adaptation fittingly charts a cluttered, tumultuous odyssey for the indefatigable protagonist, leader of the fiery Durisdeer clan and fugitive champion of the Stuart Restoration, as he engineers a magnificent career in high-seas piracy and returns home, a wiser, if no less boisterous, rebel. The direction of William Keighley is equally alert and scenic, whether scouring the craggy, heather-strewn battlegrounds of the clansmen or capturing the lusty barbarism of the pirates’ island sanctuary. And since the dialogue is more often pungent than standard, the motivations and characterizations retain a surprising air of conviction, for all the flying kilts, sabers and sails. Mr. Flynn is, in turn, bold, roguish and forgiveably self-satisfied in his best swashbuckler since “The Sea Hawk,” thirteen long years ago. The featured players, a spanking round-up, are crisp, restrained and forceful, one and all, particularly Roger Livesey and and Anthony Steel, and the ladies in the case, Beatrice Campbell and Yvonne Furneaux. Last but not least, the truly stunning color photography of that British ace, Jack Cardiff, provides a canvas that stands as a model of its kind and fully rates the classic archive reserved for Mr. Stevenson, long, perhaps, after Mr. Flynn and company are forgotten. Meanwhile, Mr. Flynn is having himself, as well he might, a field day.

THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE, screen play by Herb Meadow, based upon the Robert Louis Stevenson story directed by William Keighley and presented by Warner Brothers. Jamie Durisdeer . . . . . Errol Flynn, Col. Francis Burke . . . . . Roger Livesey, Henry Durisdeer . . . . . Anthony Steel, Lady Alison . . . . . Beatrice Campbell, Jessie Brown . . . . . Yvonne Furneaux, Lord Durisdeer . . . . . Felix Aylmer, MacKellar . . . . . Mervyn Johns, Arnaud . . . . . Jack Berthier, Mendoza . . . . . Charles Goldner, Maj. Clarendon . . . . . Ralph Truman
…


…

— Tim

 
No Comments

Posted in Film Anniversaries, Film Reviews, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines

 

Against All Flags — Blu-Ray On the Way

22 Jul

Could Be Today, July 22, 2020.

“In 1700, the pirates of Madagascar menace the India trade; British officer Brian Hawke has himself cashiered, flogged, and set adrift to infiltrate the pirate “republic.” There, Hawke meets lovely Spitfire Stevens, a pirate captain in her own right, and the sparks begin to fly; but wooing a pirate poses unique problems. Especially after he rescues adoring young Princess Patma from a captured ship. Meanwhile, Hawke’s secret mission proceeds to an action-packed climax.”

— Tim

 
No Comments

Posted in Film Reviews, Film Trailers, Gentleman Tim, Movie Trailers, New Articles

 

Captain Blood Honeymoon — June, 1935

23 Jun

June 20, 1935

Yuma Nuptials
Los Angeles Examiner

To Judge Earl A. Freeman, the marrying judge of Yuma, Ariz., it was just another wedding yesterday when he married Lili Damita, vivacious French actress, and Errol Flynn, Irish actor.

But to the eloping, excited young couple it was the thrilling finale of a romantic trail started six months ago when they met and fell in love on a New York bound ocean liner.

…

June 21, 1935

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

Honeymooners Lily Damita and Errol Flynn showed up at the Trocadero only a few hours after their marriage in Yuma and got a royal reception from the stay-up-laters.

…

June 22, 1935

Louella O. Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner

Lili Damita and Errol Flynn entertaining twelve of their intimates at a wedding dinner.

…

June 23, 1935

Flim Flam with Sidney Skolsky
Hollywood Citizen News

Lily Damita has told intimates that the reason she got married is that she wants a baby.

…

June 24, 1935

Reine Davies
Hollywood Parade

Lily Damita and Errol Flynn’s honeymoon house atop Lookout Mountain was the “location” for high revelry last Thursday night, when the entertained at a formal dinner, not only to celebrate their marriage the previous day, but Errol’s birthday as well.

The vivacious Lili had the attractive home bounding with valley lilies, white roses and gardenias, and the party was high-spotted when the butler, with befitting fanfare, brought on a huge wedding cake, followed by another for Errol.

Those who wished the Frenchy Lili and her Irish husband great happiness were Dolores Del Rio and Cedric Gibbons, the Countess de Maigret, Peggy Fears, George Cukor, Al Kaufman, Lloyd Pantages, Rene Hubert, and those hospitable romancers, Lyda Roberti and Bud Ernst.

To carry on the celebrating, Al Kaufman later took the entire party to the Miramar Hotel, where they greeted “Colonel” Gus Arnheim, and danced to his very danceable music.

…

June 25, 1935

Louella O. Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner

Lili Damita and her bridegroom, Errol Flynn, who have been much entertained since their trip to Yuma, are being given a dinner by Dolores Del Rio Wednesday.

…

June 26, 1935

Louella O. Parsons
Los Angeles Examiner

Keep your eye on Errol Flynn,the publicity he received when he married Lili Damita didn’t do him any harm and Warners are now getting ready to give him a break.

…

June 27, 1935

Hollywood Citizen News

Tests for Captain Blood will be no make-shift. So anxious is director Michael Curtiz to have everything right for the selection of the cast, that he has persuaded the studio to construct realistic sets for various scenes in the script from which tests can be made. One of the sets constructed for testing purposes only is a South Seas island locale. Robert Barratt is being tested for the important role of the French pirate. And Errol Flynn is again being given more elaborate tests for the title role.

…

June 28, 1935

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

Lili Damita’s new groom, Errol Flynn, is versatile to no end. In addition to acting for Warner pictures (he has a good chance for the lead in Captain Blood) the young Irishman is writing a book about his experiences in the interior of New Guinea.

And he’s an ace at tennis, too, which is Hollywood’s favorite game.

…

June 29, 1935

Warner Bros. Begin Intricate Tests for Captain Blood, Raphael Sabatini’s swashbuckling novel of adventure on the Spanish Main. The film will enter actual production a month hence as one of Warner Brothers most tremendous screen undertakings.

Scores of actors have passed before the all-seeing eye of the testing cameras.

Errol Flynn is receiving the most careful consideration for the romantic role of Captain Peter Blood.

…

June 30, 1935

Bridal Toasts Delay Dinner for Newlyweds

So hearty and sincere was the toasting to wish enduring happiness for the newkyweds, Lili Damita and Errol Flynn, that it was 10 o’clock before the party went into dinner last Wednesday night, when Dolores Del Rio and Cedric Gibbons entertained for the couple at a formal dinner party.

Lili wore a printed evening gown of corn yellow. And with her exquisite ruby ring as her only adornment, Dolores’ dark beauty was strikingly effective in a white crepe gown of Grecian lines.

— Tim

 
1 Comment

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines, Special Events, Wives

 

A Very Gracious Olivia — June 3, 2009

03 Jun

Answering by a letter she dated June 3, 2009, questions from Nick Thomas of Tinseltown Talks:

[How many films did you and Errol Flynn appear in together?]

I worked with Errol in eight movies from 1935 to 1941. We appeared quite separately, however, in a ninth film, ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars,’ in which we had no connection whatsoever. This film’s shooting dates extended from October 1942 to early January, 1943. Our first film together, “Captain Blood,” began August 5, 1935 and ended in October, 1935.

[Your final film together was “They Died with Their Boots On.” Did you ever see Errol again?]

After ‘Boots’ was completed in September, 1941, I saw Errol only three times during all the years that followed:

1. At Harvey’s Restaurant in Washington, D.C., in the spring or early summer of 1942 when, perceiving John Huston and me dining there, Errol crossed the room, sat down at our table, and conversed for a while.

2. Very briefly at a soirée in Los Angeles in the spring of 1943.

3. In the fall of 1957 at the Beverly Hilton’s Costumers Ball. Quite unexpectedly, while I was talking to friends during the cocktail hour, Errol left his own group and asked if he could take me to dinner. He seated me on his immediate right and, soon joined by others, took on the role of gracious host with everyone on his left – all the ladies – while I did my best to entertain the gentleman on my right.

[Over the years, Errol has been sensationalized by the press and authors. Has he been mischaracterized?]

His roguish reputation was very well deserved, as he more than candidly revealed in his remarkable autobiography, ‘My Wicked, Wicked Ways.’ However, through this very same book we also know that he was a reflective person – sensitive, idealistic, vulnerable, and questing. But I think he has been incompletely represented by the press: it vulgarized his adventures with the opposite sex and seldom, if ever, touched upon or emphasized the other facets of his life.

[Errol had 4 children, a son and 3 daughters. What were his feelings about parenthood?]

I know that, as a very young man, Errol very much wanted children. Children were, in fact, an issue between Errol and Lili (his first wife) in the early years of their marriage as Lili, influenced by a common belief in those times, was afraid that carrying a child would threaten the perfect figure with which she had been blessed. Later, when the marriage was disintegrating, Lili changed her mind and Sean Flynn, that beautiful child, was born. It may well be that the only steadfast loves of Errol’s life were his love of the sea, his love of his house, and his love of his children.

[Flynn was never recognized for his acting with even an Oscar nomination. Was that an oversight?]

Unfortunately, at the time when Errol enjoyed his greatest success, the adventure film, as a genre, was not sufficiently appreciated and therefore his appearances therein were not as highly regarded as they might. ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ is perhaps an exception: it was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Picture in 1938. The film was based on an historical legend, and this gave it a certain prestige. As to which of Errol’s performances should have merited an Academy Award, I would have to run all of Flynn’s films to give a proper reply!

However, I do feel he played his roles with unmatchable verve, conviction, and style. In doing so, he inherited the mantle of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who was my favorite film star at the age of 9 and whose ‘The Black Pirate’ made an indelible impression on me. No one since Errol has worn that mantle; it is buried with him.

[Olivia concluded her letter with the following post script.}

On June 20th (Flynn’s birthday), I will raise a glass of champagne to Errol, as I always do.

— Tim

 
1 Comment

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Dates & Girlfriends, Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines

 

Insouciant Like Flynn

18 Apr

April 18, 1938

Sidney Skolsky Presents

Hollywood Citizen News

Errol Flynn and Warner Brothers are feuding, with Mr. Flynn having told the studio that he will return from his vacation when he feels like it.

_______

April 18, 2005

IN LIKE FLYNN

No film star ever bettered Errol Flynn in tights, but he was the soul of insouciance even when he wore a cavalry uniform or bluejeans. That’s the revelation of “Errol Flynn: The Signature Collection” (Warner Home Video), which features the athletic, rakish star not just as an inspired Sir Francis Drake take-off in the vivid “The Sea Hawk” (1940) and as an uncharacteristically stiff Earl of Essex in “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” (1939) but also as a gallant General George A. Custer in “They Died with Their Boots On” (1941) and as a gritty frontier sheriff in the colorful Western potboiler “Dodge City” (1939). The set includes a surprisingly frank biographical portrait, “The Adventures of Errol Flynn.”

But the key film in the set is the sweeping, ebullient swashbuckler “Captain Blood” (1935). Three years before he became the most dashing Robin Hood yet (in “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” available on a separate Warner DVD), the young Australian actor, in his Hollywood breakthrough, proved his panache at righting wrongs. In this film, based on Rafael Sabatini’s 1922 novel about seventeenth-century pirates of the Caribbean and directed by Michael Curtiz, Flynn is Peter Blood, a peaceful doctor who makes the mistake of treating a rebel during the tumultuous reign of King James II and ends up a slave in Jamaica. The ravishing Olivia de Havilland (Flynn’s frequent co-star) plays the feisty, sympathetic niece of the tyrannical British slave owner; Blood and a barracks full of enslaved rebels (good men all) make their escape by stealing a Spanish ship and becoming buccaneers.

Flynn combined aristocratic dash with rebel flair—in “Captain Blood,” he defies the ruling order with absolute confidence. At one point, de Havilland says, “I believe you’re talking treason.” Flynn replies, “I hope I’m not obscure.” (This exchange has a close echo in “Robin Hood,” when de Havilland exclaims, “You speak treason!” and Flynn responds, “Fluently.”) In his autobiography, “My Wicked, Wicked Ways,” Flynn wrote that “youthful and virile roles” like cowboys and swordsmen “require gusto and genuine interest—such as I had felt at the time I was making ‘Captain Blood’ and ‘Robin Hood.’ ” He’s right: in these movies, his exuberance irradiates the screen.

Published in April 18, 2005, print edition of The New Yorker.

— Tim

 
3 Comments

Posted in Film Reviews, Gentleman Tim, Newspapers & Magazines

 

Morning After

05 Mar

March 4, 1939

Erskine Johnson
Behind the Makeup
Los Angeles Examiner

Morning after the Academy Awards banquet, Donald Crisp sent a telegram to Errol Flynn, vacationing in the South. “Dear Errol,” it read. “Last night the Academy Awards banquet was held. Your name was not mentioned.”

…

Deplorable that Flynn was not even nominated for his immortal portrayal of Robin Hood.

The nominees were:

Spencer Tracy, for Boys Town

Charles Boyer, for Algiers

James Cagney, for Angels with Dirty Faces

Robert Donat, for The Citadel

Leslie Howard, for Pygmalion

And the winner was:

Spencer Tracy, for Boys Town

www.oscars.org…

Proper Evaluations of Flynn’s Greatness

The model of an action hero in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, the dashing star made the swordplay and wooing look so effortless that it’s easy to ignore the craft behind his derring-do. – Entertainment Weekly

 

He was the Tom Cruise of the 1930s, a global superstar whose natural charisma and box-office power put him at the tippytop of Hollywood — and he never won an Oscar. Unlike Cruise, Flynn was never even nominated, not for “Captain Blood,” “The Charge of the Light Brigade” or 1938’s still-dazzling “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” – Boston Herald

 

Unfortunately, at the time when Errol enjoyed his greatest success, the adventure film, as a genre, was not sufficiently appreciated and therefore [Errol’s] appearances therein were not as highly regarded as they [are now.] … [He] played his roles with unmatchable verve, conviction, and style. In doing so, he inherited the mantle of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who was my favorite film star at the age of 9 and whose ‘The Black Pirate’ left an indelible impression on me. No one since Errol has worn that mantle; it is buried with him. – Lady Marian Fitzwater

 

— Tim

 
1 Comment

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines, Special Events

 

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.

…

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

 
No Comments

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

 

The Errol Flynn Blog Theme Change is coming!

23 Dec

I have tried to avoid this for several years … but we are going to have to change our theme because the current one has not been updated in far too long, and our PHP is out of date for running on WordPress … attempts to find something similar have been fruitless but we are going to have to make some kind of change or the site will just not function, anymore …

Will keep looking for something suitable but the search has been frustrating! There is just nothing out there that looks appropriate to me …

— David DeWitt

 
No Comments

Posted in Main Page

 

Kid Like Flynn?

02 Dec

“The pirate may have met his match in the young boy, who jumped around in swashbuckling moves inspired by movie star Errol Flynn.”

newspress.com…

— Tim

 
No Comments

Posted in Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Newspaper & Headlines

 
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »