I got the idea for this post from Tina and Brian’s dispute about Errol being a cinematic God in Europe. I have been interested in the topic for a while, too, so I had a look at when which of his films were released in Europe. I wish I could find some statistics, but apparently, there are no records of the time before 1960. So all I can do here is point out some particularities that struck me when comparing release dates, titles etc. It might be interesting for US-Americans and Britons to see how the film titles were translated into German, too. So let’s go.
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Interestingly, Austria was somewhat ahead of Germany before the war. When I saw the dates on imdb, I was at first dubious, but then I got a confirmation that indeed some of Errol’s films were released quite shortly after they were released in the USA. These were Captain Blood (1936), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1937) and The Prince and the Pauper (1938). They were shown undubbed, which I found remarkable for the time.
Then – a long time nothing, I think you can imagine why. It started again in the late 1940s, this time both in Germany and in Austria. By the way, we’re speaking of West Germany here only, and from now on, the films were dubbed and the titles were translated. The Sea Hawk was released in both countries in 1947, then Austria was going ahead again by releasing Dive Bomber, Boots and San Antonio in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />1949. In Germany, the “boom” did not start until 1950: six of Errol’s most well-known films were released – Dodge City (March), Captain Blood (May), Virginia City, Robin Hood (both in September), San Antonio and Light Brigade (both in October). This was even topped in 1951 with seven other well-known films: Don Juan (January), Montana (March, just a little over a year after the US release), Prince and Pauper (April), Rocky Mountain (September), Silver River (October), Essex and That Forsyte Woman (both in November).
From then on, the releases became less frequent – only 4 films in 1952, two more recent ones (Kim and Captain Fabian) and two older ones (Objective Burma! and Boots). Two very recent ones, Against All Flags and The Master of Ballantrae, were released in 1953. Afterwards, the current films Errol made were released relatively soon, after having been dubbed, of course, and only two more older ones, Uncertain Glory in 1954 and Santa Fe Trail in July 1959, were shown in German cinemas. In Austria, the releases during the 1950s were a little less, mainly because some films had been shown earlier in Austrian cinemas than in German ones.
After the advent of television, a few films premiered in the new medium: The Sisters and Footsteps… in 1963 and 1964, Edge of Darkness, Northern Pursuit, Desperate Journey and Four’s A Crowd in 1977 (for whatever reason…), The Perfect Specimen in 1989 and Cry Wolf in as late as 1995! But many of those have not been shown on TV as long as I can think (which is at least for 10 or 15 years).
This leaves us with a long list of films which have not been dubbed and never been shown on German television! Green Light, Another Dawn, The Dawn Patrol, Escape Me Never, Lilacs in the Spring, King’s Rhapsody, Dive Bomber… no dubbed version existent! There is one of The Big Boodle, and of Too Much, Too Soon, but I could not find the release dates. Interesting here is Never Say Goodbye. I was convinced that there IS a German version because I had seen the specifically produced German lobby cards with a German title (cf. below, they're beautiful and really big (larger than A4)). But I found out that eventually, it was NOT dubbed and never shown, neither in cinemas nor on TV – which is a real shame, as this is one of my favourites and I was always looking forward to showing the German version to my family – once it would be broadcast again. But… no chance, apparently! Maybe I should dub it myself…
However, I believe that the fact that so many of Errol's films were released in the early 1950s shows enough about his huge popularity in Austria and Germany.
Another interesting point is the change of titles that took place quite often. Some German movie titles of Errol’s films are equal or rather similar to the English title, for example Montana, Against All Flags, Istanbul, The Roots of Heaven, The Charge of the Light Brigade (though this one is sometimes also known as The Treason of Surat Khan), and The Love Adventures of Don Juan. But others have been changed considerably. Here is a list of the most interesting back translations:
Edge of Darkness – Rebellion in Trollness
Northern Pursuit - Bloody Snow
Never Say Goodbye - Master of the Situation
The Big Boodle - Chase through Havanna
Too Much, Too Soon - Her Life was a Scandal
Footsteps in the Dark - Mr X gone astray
The Perfect Specimen - A Guy to fall in Love with
Cry Wolf - Curse of Madness
Captain Blood - Flying the Jolly Roger
San Antonio - A Man of Action
The Prince and the Pauper - With an Iron Fist (!)
Elizabeth and Essex - Favourite of a Queen
Boots - His Last Charge
Master of Ballantrae - The Buccaneer
Uncertain Glory - Cross My Heart
The Sun Also Rises - Between Madrid and Paris
As you can see, the “new” titles reflect the contents of the films. Supposedly, nobody in Germany would have had any relation to Master of Ballantrae, Captain Blood or Elizabeth and Essex, as they are not part of popular German (literary) culture. However, I have no idea why Prince and Pauper is sometimes named With an Iron Fist.
Interesting is also that five of Errol’s film have the word “Herr”, i.e. “Master”, in the German title where there is no “master” in the original title: Master of the Situation (Never Say Goodbye), Master of the Seven Seas (Sea Hawk), Master of the Wild West (Dodge City), Master of the Rough Mountains (Rocky Mountain), The Master of the Silver Mines (Silver River)… I think this reflects Errol’s image very well – the hero who would ultimately win the lady’s hand – at least in four of five cases.
Hope you enjoyed this one a little, and if there is anything to correct, Tina, please feel free to do so.
— Inga
Anonymous
April 13, 2011 at 6:23 pm
Dear Inga;
I am impressed you sure made a great research! Funny that you should say that you wished to find some statistics, but apparently, there are no records of the time before 1960. I told you that I doubted they kept good records in those days.
Your article is really great!
What I did write to Brian was just out of memory, of the top of my head so to say, there is a lot more in my memories, but so what – not important what was there and what was here.
One thing is for sure he captured the Austrians and Germans by storm, he lifted them up and carried them away into the land of love, romance, adventure etc. Imagination had the greatest time ever, people could dream again!
With his naturalness in his acting and his added charisma he swept them of their feet. From all the Hollywood big male stars he was in the lead. They adopted him – he was their Baby and they nicknamed him – haha – hint hint!
Don't forget we Austrians have motto: “Wine, woman and song!”
In general they are every romantic, they are in love with love, they are quite soft in nature, they sing and dance and love to have a good time. Just about anybody plays an instrument in particular every Village has more than one band.
People identified with him as he gave them the impression he is one of them. He was theirs “OUR” Errol that what was written about him! Anyway all history!
Fine work!
Tina
Anonymous
April 13, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Thanks, Tina. However, I think that you should write down all your stories. It'd be a pity for future generations if they were lost. If you don't want to do it here on the blog, do it at home, but please find a way to preserve them. There will be less and people left who can speak of their pesonal experiences from that time. Btw, I left another comment concerning nurmunger, it got lost in the course of comments. What a shame it's late over here and I must go to bed now…
Anonymous
April 13, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Hi Inga,
What a great post, that is a keeper for sure. As you say we do need statistics, I know they will be available here in the UK but I need to find the time to look into this a little more.
I have never doubted that Errol was popular in Europe to a certain degree but I did find the term 'cinematic god' very hard to believe. It's quite easy to get carried away with our enthusiasm of Flynn – I've been guilty of it myself in my younger years but bold statements have to be backed up with facts. My overall feeling about Errol's career was that he was very much under-appreciated both by the press and the public – that's where I stand on this one. Flynn, a cinematic god… I'd be amazed if the statistics backed that one up.
best wishes,
Brian.
Anonymous
April 13, 2011 at 11:46 pm
Found your article most iinteresting! Being Hispanic, I am always interested in how American titles are translated into Spanish and also into other languages. For ex. an older friend of mine who is Cuban always mentioned a movie of Gregory Peck's which she loved and saw as a child. The title as she remembered it translated as “Master of the Sea”. It turns out that the movie she was refering to was “Captain Horatio Hornblower”! As to why “The Prince and the Pauper”would be “With Iron Fist” well maybe it has something to do with a title I've seen used for a later version of Mark Twain's story, which is “Crossed Swords” or maybe it has to do with the ruling of a king! As in “he rules with an iron fist”! Anyway thank you for your article! One question wouldn't the Warner Archives have the data you are seeking as to sales of Flynn's movies in Europe?–A.R.
Anonymous
April 13, 2011 at 11:46 pm
Wow, Inga — great article! Thanks for sharing this with us! Very interesting!
And you know, I think I like the German version of the title of “Boots” better…”His Last Charge”, to me, sounds better than “They Died With Their Boots On”.
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 5:49 am
Thanks, A.R., for the additional information, your suggestion about Prince and Pauper is something to think about! I have no idea if the Warner Archives kept any such records – maybe about the money that came in, this would well be possible and worth a try. Thanks for the suggestion!
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 5:49 am
Thanks a lot, Brian. It'd be great if the British had kept better records – the Germans haven't, that's for sure. I contacted several people, but so far, was not able to get any help. I agree with your view that Errol was very much under-appreciated, but I also got the impression that in the 1950s, he was more popular in Europe than in the US.
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 5:53 am
Thank you, Rachel. Yes, I also found that some of the German titles capture the spirit of the movies quite well. When I was an absolute newbie and did not have internet access, it was quite difficult for me to figure out which film this actually was I had recorded late at night…
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 9:48 am
Hi Tina,
I have no doubt that Errol was more popular in Europe in the 50s than in the US, especially with the influx of his better films hitting certain parts of Europe for the first time.
I would assume that from 53-55 he was pretty much a forgotten man in the US. It's hard to imagine that any of his work through that period would do good business.
I do have a series ofUS articles on Errol from the 1950s. I'll take a look through those and see what they show.
best wishes,
Brian.
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Hi Brian;
I would say that Errol had a rebirth in the 50's in Europe of his success of his first 10 years in Hollywood.
If you have read all the books written about Errol than you should know that it was stated that in those early years he was referred to as a cinematic god in America. So, why should it be different in Europe when he finally was introduced to the Europeans. When I have some time I will look for it, in the meantime my best wishes to you,
Tina
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 5:41 pm
The translated titles are pricelss! “Rebellion in Trollness” sounds like a Charlie Sheen webcast.
-Maria
Anonymous
April 14, 2011 at 5:55 pm
*lol* Did you read his statements where he compared himself to Errol?
Anonymous
April 15, 2011 at 7:29 pm
A very impressive research bein done here. I shall tip me hat here.