The Errol Flynn Blog

Dear Flynnstones,

here is a local coverage of Errol‘s State visit to the Myrtle Bank Hotel (jamaicahotelhistory.com…) from January 3, 1947.

Film fans mob Errol Flynn at the Myrtle Bank Hotel

Errol Flynn came ashore from his yacht at the Myrtle Bank Hotel at noon yesterday and nearly created a riot.  As the handsome, dashing screen star entered the lobby, a waiting ‘army’ of female hotel fans, who had impatiently been awaiting his coming ashore, mobbed him in traditional style.

Since news of his arrival spread throughout Kingston and St Andrew yesterday, local cinematics have been concentrating on the Myrtle Bank Hotel in an effort to secure autographs snapshots, or just look at the daring he-man lover of the screen in the flesh.

Gathering yesterday morning, a battery of woman fans filled the lobby and from the verandahs of the hotel.  ‘Bobby-soxers’ were a lot of grownups, too.  Impatiently, they looked out across the hotel lawn to the pier, and beyond it, where the Zaea rode at anchor on the quiet Caribbean Sea.  Came at 12 o’clock and still no sign of the tall hero of Captain Blood, Elizabeth and Essex and other screen successes which have thrilled local audiences.  The now-retired movie actor, who arrived here on Wednesday, stayed aboard his yacht all forenoon, along with party members.

THE WORD GOES UP

Suddenly, there was a sensation.  The word went up that he was coming.  Large as life, as handsome as he appears on the screen, Errol Flynn walked into the lobby.  Something like a cross between a scream and a sigh issued from a hundred lips.  The actor smiled at the demonstration.

When they crowded around him, however, he decided that it was too much of a good thing.  Quickly getting into a waiting motorcar, he left the hotel and did not return until the evening.  The fans, torn between partial satisfaction and partial disappointment, went away.

The presence of the popular actor, whose exploits on and off the screen have won him wide mention, has made the Myrtle Bank Hotel the focus of local attention. The busiest switchboard in town is the PBX at Myrtle Bank Hotel, where the telephone operator spent half the day yesterday saying, “Yes, he is here.  No, he hasn’t come ashore yet”

CLERKS KEPT BUSY

No less busy has been the desk where the clerks have been equally engaged in answering queries as to the whereabouts of Flynn.  Autograph books and baby cameras have been greatly in evidence, while the staff have been kept on their toes coping with the extra demand on their time and attention as a result of the increased number of visitors to the hotel.

So far, Flynn’s plans are to remain in town for a week and then go out in the country, perhaps to Montego Bay.  His yacht is due to go on drydock for overhauling while he stays ashore and identifies himself more closely with local social life.

Last night, Flynn and his party were guests at a private cocktail party in St Andrew. They later went to the Colony Club where he was entertained with a specially prepared native floor show, featuring leading local entertainers.

Enjoy,

— shangheinz