Just started a Twibe. Visit twibes.com… to join.
— David DeWitt
Errol Flynn on Twitter!
25
Apr
Film-maker Cardiff dies aged 94
22
Apr
Thanks to Bob Peckinpaugh for notifying us…
Cinematographer and director Jack Cardiff, who actress Marilyn Monroe once described as “the best in the world”, has died aged 94.
He was best known for his work on movies such as The African Queen and Sons and Lovers, and was awarded an Oscar for Black Narcissus in 1948.
The filmmaker was also presented with an Honorary Oscar in 2001.
Born to two music hall artists, he grew up in the theatre, resulting in a showbusiness career spanning 90 years.
He moved into film as a runner on the 1928 drama The Informer, then progressed to work as a camera operator and, eventually, cinematographer.
In an article for The National Gallery in 2007, Cardiff described his early film set experiences.
“I suppose I was much less than an apprentice when I first went behind the camera,” he wrote.
“I was a runner, whose main job was to supply the German director with Vichy water because he had a problem with flatulence.”.
He also described how, as a child, he used to watch art directors work in theatres, painting the backdrops and setting up the lights.
“I was fascinated by two men up in the wings, one on each side of the stage, following the actors with a spotlight,” he wrote.
“I spent a lot of time with them and a stirring was born in me which I later recognised as an urge to create. Light and colour became my world.”
In 1937 he shot Wings of the Morning, the first film in Britain to be shot in Technicolor.
He also worked with cinema greats Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe in the 1957 movie The Prince and the Showgirl.
He was made an OBE in 2000.
Inspiration
In 2001, he took part in an interview with readers of the BBC news website, in which he revealed he would have been a painter if he had not worked in film.
In fact much of his work was inspired by impressionist painters – he said the lighting and colour palette of Black Narcissus “was inspired by Vermeer”.
Cardiff was admired by many in the film industry, including Martin Scorsese.
The director once described the 18-minute dance sequence in 1948's The Red Shoes as “a moving painting”.
Scorsese added the cinematographer could “paint with the camera”.
When asked which films he was most proud of, Cardiff said the “successful” ones had really made their mark.
“Naturally, I am proud of successful films that I have enjoyed working on like The Red Shoes and the Black Narcissus and I have had a certain satisfaction from that.
“But the films that I am most proud of – the film for instance that I made under great difficulty, Sons and Lovers, I wanted to make it into a good film because the book is marvelous and I didn't want to let the author down.”
— David DeWitt
It's no secret!
22
Apr
I like to plug what our Authors on the Errol Flynn Blog are doing!
 |
|
From Lulu.com…
— David DeWitt
We are pleased to Welcome New Author Lee Thielker!
21
Apr
Welcome Lee! We are happy to have you aboard and look forward to your comments and thoughts…
— David DeWitt
Robert Florczak has posted a new Then And Now Photo!
20
Apr
Robert Florczak has an uncanny eye for creating Then and Now photos of locations where Flynn films were made or the man himself appeared in life: check out his gallery…
Robert Florczak's Then and Now Gallery
Robert's latest video on Utube: Gothic
— David DeWitt
Flynn Book Signing Event Success at DeMille Barn in LA
19
Apr
A multi-Flynn book signing event was held in LA recently at the DeMille Barn (Where in 1913 DeMille shot Squaw Man) says Steve Hayes, author of Googies – Coffee Shop to the Stars, which featured Mike Mazzone and Robert Matzen authors of Errol Flynn Slept Here…
Jack Marino and Robert Florczak also spoke after a slide show put on by the DeMille Barn folks. In the audience was Rory Flynn…
— David DeWitt
Stephen Youngkin Interview at Imdb for The Lost One…
19
Apr
Our friend and fellow Flynnatic Stephen Youngkin has a wonderful interview on Imbd about his excellent bio of Peter Lorre, The Lost One… done for Cinema Retro by Herbert Shadrak.
Peter Lorre The Lost One is Found
Visit the official The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre website at www.peterlorrebook.com…
— David DeWitt
Early Zaca Logbook on the block
18
Apr
With excitement brewing over the Cother book, I went a searching and came up with a rather intersting item that is/was for sale:
FLYNN, ERROL & YACHT ZACA
Log Book of Errol Flynns Luxury Yacht 'Zaca from October 12, 1945 – December 5, 1946. Including the Ships Ledger Listing Payments Made to the Crew and Itemized Payments Toward General Supplies and Services Through March 15, 1947
1945 – 1947 – Standard ledger, 7 1/2″ x 12 1/8″, with 'ZACA in pencil on the front board for Errol Flynns yacht, 'Zaca with a carbon typescript of the ships crew list taped to the inside of the front board, hand signed by Errol Flynn in ink, indicating the name, place of birth, nationality, race, marital status, age, and station on board for fifteen men, with Flynns name at the top of the list as 'Master, married (at the time to Nora Eddington), age 37. Laid in is a counter check from the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, CA, made out by Errol Flynn in his hand and signed by him (twice – once on the front and, again endorsed on the verso), dated Oct. 27, 1945, in the amount of $100, with “S.F. re Zaca – Amazon” written by him in the memo field, and made payable to the California Bank in Los Angeles, with their endorsement stamps on the verso. Coincidentally, the St. Francis Hotel was built by the Crocker family, the descendent of which, Templeton Crocker, was the man who commissioned the building of Zaca. The log / ledger itself includes information spanning approximately a year and a half, from October 12, 1945 – March 15, 1947 indicating various details related to a relatively extensive refitting in San Francisco, crew activities, and repairs made to Zaca. The next to last log entry reads: “Wednesday, Dec. 5, 1945. Moored as before. 0.800 Bloody madhouse aboard. No further remarks.” Followed by: “? Dec. 5 / 1946. From Cocos Island to Gulf of Panama.” From there the entries are of related to the ships accounts – listing supplies, and payments made to the crew, ending on Mar. 15, 1947. The book is in very good condition with a few indications of use to the covers. The lovely Zaca was designed by naval architect Garland Rotch, inspired by the fastest fishing schooner ever built named the Bluenose. Rotch was hired in 1929 by San Francisco railroad heir Templeton Crocker, and took its maiden voyage in 1930, carrying Mr. Crocker and a few friends for a year long voyage around the world. Crocker went on to use Zaca as a scientific research vessel for trips to the Galapagos Island, the Solomon Islands, etc. Errol Flynn purchased Zaca, his 'dream ship, in 1945 after the war, during which time she had been requisitioned in by the U.S. Navy and renamed 'IX73 for patrolling duty off the California coast. Flynn had Zaca completely refurbished (as indicated in the log) and, as soon as she was sea worthy, took off with a group of Hollywood friends and a documentary film crew bound for Acapulco. Unfortunately, the crew jumped ship once they arrived, whereupon Flynn hired a new crew and rented Zaca to Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth to use in the filming of 'The Lady from Shanghai and the Zaca is well-featured in this film classic. In 1947, Flynn made his home aboard Zaca, in Port Antonio, Jamaica, sailing her to the Mediterranean in 1950, winding up at the Club Nautico in Palma de Mallorca, where he and his third wife, Patrice Wymore, lived on board. After Flynns death in 1959, Zaca remained berthed at Club Nautico in Jamaica, but eventually the estate negotiations broke down and Zaca was leased to English millionaire and playboy Freddie Tinsley who stripped her of anything valuable and abandoned her in the boatyard of Bernard Voisin in Villefranche. From there, the story goes that Zaca became a ghost ship, and was given an exorcism in 1979, which, apparently put an end to all ghostly phenomena. Zaca is currently owned by Roberto Memmo, who rescued her from serious deterioration and spent millions to rebuild and refit her. Her present home base is in Port de Fontvieille, Monte Carlo where she is dilligently maintained and made available for charter. With a DVD of the documentary by Luther Greene 'In the Wake [Attributes: Signed Copy]
[Bookseller: James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., ABAA]
— Karl
We Welcome New Author Rick Stinehour to the Errol Flynn Blog!
17
Apr
Welcome Rick! The Errol Flynn Blog is pleased to have you aboard! We look forward to your thoughts and contributions, and are happy to have you among us…
— David DeWitt
