Errol Flynn

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moira finnie
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Errol Flynn

Post by moira finnie »

I thought that I'd post this reminder, strange as it may be, that as of Saturday, June 20th, the 100th anniversary of Errol Flynn's arrival passed, largely unnoticed.
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Happy Birthday, Mr. Flynn

I hope that you'll add your thoughts about this unlikely day.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: The Errol Flynn Centennial

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Thanks for starting this Moira. I don't think there was anyone else quite like Errol both on the screen and in real life. I read his memoirs years ago, they are extremely entertaining, perhaps it's best to take them with a pinch of salt but I like to think they give some measure of the man. I can't imagine anyone disliking him, he sounds like all his misdemeanours could be forgiven because he was the perpetual naughty boy who wasn't sorry that he'd been naughty but was very sorry he'd been caught.

I think the trial for statutory rape made him feel a laughing stock and after that I don't think he enjoyed Hollywood anymore. It's easy to think of Flynn as the roisterer but I came across a lovely interview by one of his children by Nora Eddington, he was a bigger part of his children's life than I ever expected him to be, he loved them dearly and they him. His daughter spoke of an intelligent and thoughtful man but with demons. He tried very hard to tackle the demons that plagued him, I think ultimately he didn't know how to overcome them.

The most handsome man in tights and perhaps the most handsome man ever to grace the silver screen.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Re: The Errol Flynn Centennial

Post by Garbomaniac »

Wow! Very nice tribute, Moira. He is in my top 5! Crazy 'bout Errol. My favorite movies were his costume features: Captain Blood, Robin Hood, The Prince and the Pauper, Don Juan, but I also liked him in comedy, something he didn't get to do much of. Two light movies he did, which I liked a lot, were The Perfect Speciman and Four's a Crowd. The public, I read, didn't like them. They wanted to keep him locked in those costume roles.
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ERROL FLYNN

Post by moira finnie »

I thought I'd revive this thread to mention that The Sisters (1938-Anatole Litvak) is being broadcast on TCM tomorrow, May 10th at 8 AM EDT.
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This flawed but interesting movie piqued my interest because Litvak drew uncharacteristic performances from the two leads, a subdued but likable Bette Davis and a thoughtful, restless Errol Flynn. All the action of the film takes place between Election Day of 1904 and 1908, beginning in the town of Broken Bow, Montana where Beulah Bondi and Henry Travers are raising their three daughters, Bette, Anita Louise and Jane Bryan. Each finds someone to love with mixed results. Banker Dick Foran (yeah, I didn't know Foran knew how to count either) pairs with the lovely Bryan (who would walk away from movies a little over a year later).

Anita Louise marries my favorite blowhard, Alan Hale, whose main appeal is his money, appreciation for a beautiful trophy wife, and his early death, freeing the stylish Louise to make a fool of herself over someone less blustery, (yes, perhaps Hale was prepping for his memorable role in They Drive By Night as almost the same character).

Lastly, Davis and newspaperman Flynn marry, despite the fact that Bette is the stronger individual, but she sees something in Flynn's wanderlust and longing for experience that appeals to something in her pragmatic personality. Perhaps he is weaker, but he is also a sensitive man capable of bringing a spark of creativity into her world, even though the marriage soon becomes fraught with tension. As written in the script he is doomed to failure, but the way that Flynn brings him to life, he is also someone whose lack of self-esteem is masked for everyone but Davis. The chronic upheaval in their relationship is mirrored in the physical world as well, since the San Francisco Earthquake takes place at a crucial moment in their alliance. (I believe that Warners wanted to compete with MGM's disaster flick, San Francisco (1936) with this entry, though they used footage from a 1920s depiction of the event from another movie). In any case, this movie was not overly popular with critics or audiences, but I like the subtlety that Flynn demonstrated in a part that barely called for any derring-do. He did a good job creating a fallible human being instead.

Flynn and Davis did not get along terribly well on this movie, since Flynn said he "was afraid to make a pass at her" and Bette Davis, who was feeling her oats, regarded him as a poor excuse for an actor. It only took 33 years for the actress to confess to Dick Cavett in public that she may have been mistaken. Despite these problems, the two went on to appear together in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex in '39. I think that they had chemistry together.

Btw, Davis was reportedly involved with Litvak on this movie. Since Miriam Hopkins was married to Litvak, this liaison may have contributed to some of the problems that Bette later had with Hopkins in the movies they made together, The Old Maid (1939) and Old Acquaintance (1943).
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by movieman1957 »

I read or heard somewhere that they still didn't like each other on "Elizabeth and Essex." It was mentioned that the slap Davis gave Flynn in the State Room scene was thought to be a little too real. Flynn certainly looked taken aback. (Maybe it was a TCM filler.)
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by moira finnie »

movieman1957 wrote:I read or heard somewhere that they still didn't like each other on "Elizabeth and Essex." It was mentioned that the slap Davis gave Flynn in the State Room scene was thought to be a little too real. Flynn certainly looked taken aback. (Maybe it was a TCM filler.)
I bet!

I don't know if there weren't a few lighter moments between them. Check out 1:55 on this blooper reel for evidence:
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by JackFavell »

Gad, that's priceless! Those are some of the best bloopers I've seen.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by Rita Hayworth »

When I think of Errol Flynn ... naturally everyone thinks of Robin Hood. But, to me ...
It's his 1936 Classic
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" ... starring his long time co-star Olivia DeHavilland
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This is my favorite Errol Flynn movie ... its has a great collection of stars ...

Patrick Knowles
Nigel Bruce
Donald Crisp
David Niven
Spring Byington
Henry Stephenson
J. Carrol Naish

I will write up a review of why I like this movie in a day or two.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by moira finnie »

kingme wrote:I will write up a review of why I like this movie in a day or two.
That would be neat, Kingme. I look forward to it.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I don't think that Errol was too keen on Bette either but he would have admired her talent. I love that blooper, they can't have been that frosty towards one another for Bette to be so spontaneous.

I watched The Sisters years ago, I remember being surprised by how good Errol was with Bette, he got some pretty awful scripts from time to time which he was meant to carry with his personality and loveliness, with The Sisters he got chance to get his teeth stuck into a more complex part. Bette was right to be jealous, all those women fans wouldn't be looking at her when Errol was on the screen. I'm a big fan of Elizabeth and Essex too, they were good together.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Has anyone read Rory's book about her father, advertised here on Amazon



he might have been a carouser but there was something else there too, some thing that comes across only from people who were close to him, like Nora Eddington and Shelley Winters. I've always thought Errol was saveable (is that a word?) but unlike Bogie, he didn't meet the person who would give him that important peace of mind and validation. I think he would have been a great character actor in his later years. I'd love to see the film he made about John Barrymore.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by JackFavell »

I just recorded The Sisters - thanks for putting a reminder here.

I must be crazy, but I absolutely adore Elizabeth and Essex. To me this is Bette Davis at her Bette-best, her mannerisms flourish, she's all mannerisms in fact, but this actually makes me love her even more at the last moment of the movie. I think the tension (if there really was any) between Flynn and Bette adds to the picture, and Flynn's discomfort and eventual anger at being the subordinate partner really rings true. It's by far my favorite telling of the story, even when other good actors and actresses have played the roles. If someone mentions Elizabeth or Essex, these are the faces I picture.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by JackFavell »

Alison, sorry I didn't see your last post before I wrote about E and E.

I think he would have made a terrific character actor. Have you seen That Forsyte Woman? He's very good as Soames.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by intothenitrate »

JackFavell wrote:I must be crazy, but I absolutely adore Elizabeth and Essex. To me this is Bette Davis at her Bette-best, her mannerisms flourish, she's all mannerisms in fact, but this actually makes me love her even more at the last moment of the movie.
She's like a perpetual motion machine in that one. If she isn't fiddling with something, she idles like a powerful automobile.
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Re: Errol Flynn

Post by JackFavell »

She's like a perpetual motion machine in that one. If she isn't fiddling with something, she idles like a powerful automobile.
If you can put up with the fidgeting, it's so worth it in that final scene. I am quite sure some viewers just hate it, perhaps justifiably so, but to me it's pure genius. She really pulls off a tour de force.
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