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Outback in the Open Air

03 Sep

September 3, 1937

Longreach was established by the Thomson River in the late 1800s. The town got its name from the river’s ‘long reach’. The famous flying Father Flynn – “Flynn of the Inland” and face on the Australian 20 dollar note – flew the world’s first aerial ambulances through here. Then, on September 3, 1937, that other Flynn, Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn, “showed”, in the Mark Twain classic Prince and the Pauper at the (open air) Palace Theater.

This (2020) is the Centenary Year of Qantas – Australia’s most famous corporation, being celebrated at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach. Adding another illustrious name to the mix, Qantas flew all de Havilland aircraft in its earliest days – aircraft created by aviation design pioneer, Geoffrey de Havilland, Olivia’s cousin.

Celebrate the Qantas Centenary in Longreach

Top Ten Things to Do in Longreach

— Tim

 

Sean Injured in Da Nang

01 Sep

September 2, 1968

Errol Flynn’s Son Wounded On Assignment In Vietnam

Da Nang, Vietnam (AP) -Sean Flynn, working as a cameraman for the Columbia Broadcasting System, was wounded slightly by grenade fragments Saturday during a counterattack by U.S. Special Forces on an enemy squad 85 miles south of Da Nang. Flynn, 27, son of the late actor Errol Flynn, and Associated Press photographer Dana Stone were with the Special Forces as they retook a small outpost overrun by the enemy Friday near the special forces camp of Ka Thanh. Flynn was hit in the chest but did not require hospital care, and returned to the Da Nang press center. Flynn calls Paris, France, his home. He was wounded slightly in February 1966, while covering U.S. troops in South Vietnam.

Sean under fire during the 1968 “Mini-Tet”. Photo by Tim Page.

— Tim

 

Four’s a Crowd Draws a Crowd

01 Sep

September 1, 1938 – 12:30 Matinee

“The cream and black tiles glistened and the neon sign spelled out its welcome. The new Lafayette Theater, with its modern Art Deco design, was opening! The line stretched down the block as people waited to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in “Fours A Crowd.”



Here’s the Original Trailer

— Tim

 

Zacapulco 1946

31 Aug

Late on the evening of August 31, 1946, Zaca arrived in Acapulco. Though Carl Hubbs diligently pressed on with his scientific explorations, he did so predominantly on his own. The scientific purpose and portion of the Cruise of the Zaca was almost entirely abandoned for the sun and fun of Acapulco.

Here’s what Acapulco looked like in 1946:


Compare this Lady from Shanghai shot of the Zaca to the patio images in the above video, ~ 0:39 – 1:20

— Tim

 

Mutiny on the ?

30 Aug

In the last week of August many years ago. there was a mutiny on a ship that has a very strong connection to the history of Errol Flynn.

What ship was it, where was it, and who led the mutiny???

— Tim

 

Arriving in Barcelona to film King’s Rhapsody!

28 Aug

— David DeWitt

 
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Posted in Candids

 

Family Photo

28 Aug

August 28, 1959 at the Airport

— Tim

 

(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

 

Errol Flynn Portraits!

26 Aug

— David DeWitt

 
 

Errol Flynn in Mallorca …

26 Aug

Errol Flynn in Mallorca

Errol Flynn’s house in Mallorca named El Moli …

— David DeWitt