— Tim
Errol’s Malaria – Part 3 – Reports of Recurrences
13
May
Ensuing his first year in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Errol suffered frequent recurrences of malaria throughout his life, to the very week of his death.
He appears to have contracted malaria for the first time in 1928, months after he first moved to Papua New Guinea in October of 1927.
Malaria plagued him during 1929, which factored into his decision to return to Sydney, after 25 months in PNG.
On June 18, 1930, the Rockingham Morning Bulletin states that “Captain Flynn” was suffering from a “touch of malaria”.
In 1931 and 1932 Errol had multiple malarial attacks, , including on the “black-birding” trip during which he was ambushed and injured. He reported that during that excursion he was “freezing and sweating at the same time” from malaria.
In March of 1933, newspapers reviewing In the Wake of the Bounty reported of Errol’s malaria in PNG.
In May of 1933, While in China, Errol reports having suffered a bout of malaria, “shaking and shivering” after his brief affair with Ting Ling O’Connor in Macoa.
In 1935, Errol suffered a malarial attack during filming of Captain Blood.
In 1937, Errol publishes Beam Ends, regarding which the Sydney Daily Telegraph reports that Errol was hospitalized in Townsville with malaria.
In September of 1938, Errol was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital prior to opening of The Sisters because of “malarial fever” and respiratory infection.
Circa late September 1940, Errol had a bout with malaria in Mexico City.
In September of 1941, Errol collapsed in an elevator in part due to malaria.
In 1942, Errol was documented to be suffering from recurring bouts of malaria, which contributed to his not being accepted by the Armed Forces for service in WW II. Coupled with heart murmurs and tuberculosis, he was told by doctors he would not survive the decade.
In Vancouver, shortly before his death in October of 1959, Errol had a bout of malaria.
— Tim
Errol’s Malaria — Part 2 — Bitten in New Britain? … Or was it New Ireland? Or was it New Hanover? Or ….
13
May
Errol arrived at Raoul, Papua New Guinea (PNG), on October 1, 1927, at the age of 18. He came in search of gold and adventure. It’s not clear how many ounces of gold he found, but he certainly did find tons of adventure. For his first two years in PNG, Errol worked at a series of many different jobs and endeavors, at many different locations, for many different employers. He regularly changed jobs and residences, quitting and getting fired frequently.
It’s difficult if not impossible to identify all of Errol’s work and travels during this time period. Likewise, it’s difficult if not impossible to identify exactly when and where he first contracted malaria. However, timing and evidence indicate that he first met “Ann” (the Anopheles mosquito) on New Ireland (while employed at the Kenabot Plantation) or at New Britain (while at the Kokopo Plantation) or at New Hanover, or perhaps on one of the small surrounding islands, such as on Umboi (at the Gizarum Plantation), on Lemus, or on New Hanover (at the Matanalaua Plantation.) And not just the remote jungles and plantations were perilous, all the lowland cities, villages, and settlements, he traveled to and through were malarial hotspots, also – Aitape, Bulalo, Kavieng, Lai, Laloki, Madang, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Salamaua, Wau – all of them. Only the highlands of PNG were safe (from malaria, that is, not from headhunters and other nuisances.)
Errol’s time on these Ann-infested islands included very high malarial risk work as a government cadet patrol officer, as a plantation overseer, and as a recruiter of native PNG workers for plantations, et al. It was in one of these activities that, in 1928, he most likely first became a casualty of malaria. Moreover, Errol was very likely bitten more than once, at the same locations and possibly also on subsequent trips to malaria danger zones on mainland New Guinea, including possibly during his adventures up the infamous Sepik (“aka Septic”) River.
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This map shows the locations where Errol likely first became stricken with malaria.
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The following two maps show how extremely malarial it still is in the locations where Errol worked. As bad as it is now, it was far, far worse when Errol was there.
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Though it has receded elsewhere in the world, malaria is still extremely prevalent and dangerous in PNG.
Note from this map, also, that it is not likely Errol would have contracted malaria in mainland Australia or Tasmania.
www.theerrolflynnblog.com…See, also: Errol’s Malaria – Part 1 – Blood-Thirsty Annwww.theerrolflynnblog.com…
— Tim
Warner Bros. West Coast Premiers of The Adventures of Robin Hood
12
May
The Adventures of Robin Hood opened almost simultaneously at both Warner Bros. Downtown (Seventh and Hill) and Warner Bros. Hollywood (on Hollywood Boulevard at Wilcox.) Here is an ad for the openings that ran on May 12 in the Los Angeles Daily Mirror.
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The Adventures of Robin Hood at the Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre
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The Adventures of Robin Hood at Warner Bros. Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard
— Tim
World Premier of The Adventures of Robin Hood — At Radio City Music Hall, May 12, 1938
12
May
On Thursday, May 12, 1938, at 11:45 AM, Radio City Music hall – The Showplace of the Nation – hosted the world premier of The Adventures of Robin Hood
This is the Opening Day 12 x 6 inch advertisement that was published in the New York Times on May 12, 1938.
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Live on Stage were the following performances…
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These are the 1938 Rockettes… Waiting in line to meet Errol perhaps?…
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Music lovers got a real treat. Not only were they to hear for the first time Erich Korngold’s magnificent Academy Award-winning score, they also witnessed a live performance of Ottorino Resphigi’s Pines of Rome, one of the most spectacular symphonic compositions of all time. Here is a version from seven years ago by a tremendous young orchestra:
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Not to be outdone by Resphigi, here is Maestro Korngold:
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Here can be seen the full New York Times ad and associated info.
— Tim
Errol’s Malaria — Part 1 — Blood-Thirsty Ann
10
May
The lowlands of Papua New Guinea’s north coast have been a flashpoint in the shattering contest of mosquito versus human throughout history. Here people don’t so much die from malaria as endure it, morbidity outstripping mortality. Debilitating sickness reverberates through genetics, culture, prosperity and aspiration.
Malaria is particularly and powerfully entrenched in the communities here on PNG’s north coast and through the surrounding lowlands, where it has afflicted and shaped generations throughout history, a story written into their DNA.
There are four main types of human malaria. By far the most notorious and deadliest is Plasmodium falciparum, the biggest killer globally. By contrast, PNG has the world’s highest prevalence of P. vivax, which is difficult to control because it lingers in the body and relapses.
This type of malaria (P. vivax) inflicts relapsing illness on their carriers. This is the malaria tale familiar to so many travelers and soldiers who returned from the tropics to find themselves mysteriously floored by bouts of illness for years afterwards.
The location where Errol is believed to have first been stricken with malaria in or near New Britain – and the lifelong recurrent nature of his malaria, is evidence that he obtained it from “Ann” the female Anopheles mosquito, as did soldiers stationed in those same exact locations during World War II.
Conditions in the South Pacific Theater during World War II were harsh — thick jungle, high temperatures, heavy rainfall, swamps, excessive mud, and mountainous terrain made life difficult enough for Soldiers. But the environment was perfect for mosquitos. Disease, especially malaria, was rampant among the troops. Although dysentery and beriberi took their toll, malaria was by far the most devastating disease, causing more casualties than the enemy. In many cases throughout the campaigns malaria played a significant role in determining the outcome of battle.
The primary carrier of malaria was the species Anopheles minimus flavirostris, sometimes nicknamed “Ann” by the Soldiers. This type of mosquito thrived in the Pacific island regions, doing best in regions with swiftly-flowing, clear, shaded water.
— Tim
Errol Robbed in China – May 1933
10
May
MAY 1933 – “Can’t an honest man make port without being stolen from!”
After being conned in Macao by Ting Ling O’Connor, Errol was robbed of his secret stash of diamonds. It was a big affair back in Hong Kong.
— Tim
Ting Ling the Bell-Ringer … and Heart-Breaker
09
May
On the packet from Hong Kong to Macao, in May of 1933, Errol fell head over heels for a stunning Eurasian beauty named Ting Ling O’Connor.
The young women with Errol in the photo below may be Ting Ling, or his inspiration for the Ting Ling story. It certainly appears Flynn is tingling. Ting Ling, too.
Errol and Ting Ling headed straight for the notorious “Street of Happiness” – Rua de Felicidade – then the city’s main red light district. Since the mid-1800s, during the late Qing Dynasty, the area was packed with hundreds of brothels and opium dens, in addition to fan-tan parlors. Ting Ling seemed to know her way around the Street of Happiness quite well. It was the wickedest street in “the wickedest city in the Orient.”
Errol thought he had found “the love of [his] life”, … until he woke up the next morning and found that Ting Ling had snuck out of town. Worse, he learned she was a prostitute who played suckers for their money, apparently in cahoots with various casinos and gangsters. In fact, her name wasn’t Ting Ling O’Connor at all, he also learned. She used a series of aliases, her last before Flynn being Yok An Lee.
Errol was badly hurt (emotionally and financially) by Ting Ling’s betrayal, calling it “one of the worst heart drops that had ever happened to [him]”.
So it was back to Hong Kong for Erben and Flynn.
— Tim
From Mexico to Calexico — May 9, 1936
09
May
Errol files his Declaration of Intention to become an American Citizen
“A Declaration of Intention is the act of an alien, who goes before a court of record, and in a forma manner declares that it is, bona fide, his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, whereof he may at the time be a citizen or subject. Act of Congress of April 14, 18O2, s. 1.”
Errol became a naturalized American citizen on August 14, 1942.
— Tim
A Common Quiz about Uncommon People
09
May
What did Errol have in Common with these Uncommon People?
Alexander the Great
Christopher Columbus
Hernán Cortés
Davy Crockett
Genghis Khan
Andrew Jackson
Lord Nelson
General John Pershing
Teddy Roosevelt
George Washington
— Tim
