Errol Flynn and Marlene Dietrich tooled around Hollywood in limited-production Auburn Speedsters, the most flamboyant of the boattail breed.
— Gentleman Tim
Archive for the ‘Flynn-related’ Category
Supreme Failure
08
Jan
The Supreme Court cowardly rewards the greed-driven deceit of Ryan Murphy, FX, and all in the film industry who selfishly perpetuate such conduct.
Bravo, Olivia, for standing up against and exposing these self-serving frauds.
In the words of Olivia’s superb attorney, Suzelle Smith.
“We and Miss de Havilland are very disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court passed on this opportunity to confirm that the 1st Amendment does not protect the publication of intentional lies in any medium, including so called docudramas,”
“The California Court of Appeal has turned the 1st Amendment upside down, and without doubt more harm to individuals and public deception will result. One day someone else who is wronged for the sake of Hollywood profits will have the courage to stand on the shoulders of Miss De Havilland and fight for the right to defend their good name and legacy against intentional, unconsented exploitation and falsehoods. Miss De Havilland hopes she will live to see the day when such justice is done.”
— Gentleman Tim
Mail Bag! A kid named after Errol Flynn …
05
Dec
I got this message from Jack Marino today, as I was about to go to bed but I wanted to put this on the blog because it is important …
Jack writes:
Years ago, I did some work for Rider Mcdowell and Victoria Knight McDowell. They are the founders of Air-Borne and Pine Bros cough drops. Rider is also a filmmaker and a big Errol Flynn aficionado, so much so that he named his first born son ERROL McDowell.
“Today, I found out that their son Errol passed away last June at the age of 18 of cancer from a brain tumor. Before Errol left this earth he raised over a million dollars for cancer research and his parents are continuing to this very day. Their goal is to raise 325 million for a cure for cancer by raising one dollar per American or anything you feel like giving towards this goal.
“Go to canceragogo.com… and read about this incredibly talented young man and what he went through. I asked all my friends on Facebook, to share this link, and those of you that have lost loved ones to cancer here is an opportunity to help out.
“You won’t find a more determined couple in Rider and Victoria McDowell that can pull this Herculean feat off to raise this money to end cancer once and for all. Let’s all get on an donate not only for Errol but all these young children and adults that have cancer …”
There is a video on the page that is all about how young Errol was (and is, even after his passing) helping others. At the time, he had been cured of his cancer and was full of promise. He wanted to spend a day with YoutTube star Casey Neistat and had that day. Watch the video!
You can help, too, to save others.
— David DeWitt
“Errol Flynn with Breasts”
02
Dec
A First Lady of the Vegas Strip*
“Her time with Grant was recalled by Deirdre Flynn, Errol Flynn’s daughter, whom Medford had met in Los Angeles.
“I used to see Cary when he came to pick her up,” said Flynn, who now lives in Las Vegas. “She mentioned that he did want her to have his child, but that wasn’t for Lisa. Even to this day, she’s still full of the devil, still feisty.”
* “Medford , 74, shows a real $100 chip from the Riviera Hotel on the Las Vegas strip paying tribute to Kim Krantz (from left), the first dancer signed to a contract at the Riviera; Ruth Gillis, the first showgirl ever signed at the Riviera; and herself, the first semi-nude showgirl ever signed at the Riviera.”
— Gentleman Tim
Mail Bag! Flynn, Mulholland Farm and Ghosts!
01
Dec
The morning Mail Bag brings this from Audie, who says this may not be new, but take a look!
Thanks, Audie …
— David DeWitt
Not Errol’s Nottingham
21
Nov
EMPIRE
To be fair, when you’re dealing with something as culturally ingrained and cliché-ridden as Robin Hood you might as well go for something fresh, and go for broke. But for all its stylistic ambition, and its efforts to reference modern concerns (the Sheriff of Nottingham’s anti-Islamic invective), Robin Hood misfires thanks to a crucial absence of internal logic. This world just doesn’t work.”
NEW YORK TIMES
“The plot is twisty in a perfunctory way, the action predictably explosive, the sought-after exhilaration nonexistent.”
THE GUARDIAN
“This bloated, featureless, CGI-heavy movie is not so much stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, as stealing from Guy Ritchie, Batman, Two-Face and a few others – and not giving back all that much to the audience.”
LITTLE WHITE LIES
It’s a love story devoid of romance, an action flick severely lacking in spark and spectacle, a historical epic filled with flagrant inaccuracies and wrongheaded revisionism. There is nothing particularly fresh or inventive about the film, and, setting aside the wildly incongruous accents, jarringly modern, machine-stitched costumes and ugly CG render of a vaguely medieval setting, it is a simple fact that no one has ever looked cool shooting a bow and arrow while pirouetting backwards off a ledge.”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“The action here is too phony and mechanically cranked up to believe that anything is on the line. Mendelsohn’s villain is boringly one-note, Eve Hewson’s Marion uses an incongruous Yank accent and always looks as though she’s just stepped out of the makeup trailer, F. Murray Abraham swans around in fancy cardinal’s vestments looking sinister and Foxx seems pissed off that he’s not somewhere, perhaps anywhere, else. As for Egerton, he’s a boy doing a man’s job.”
Ouch.
However, it’s not all terrible news as there are some positive reviews out there, such as in Variety who state it “shouldn’t work, but it’s more honest fun than the Kevin Costner or Russell Crowe versions”.
So there’s that, at least.
All reviews above are quoted in the Digital Spy link below:
— Gentleman Tim
The Hurricane
15
Nov
While it’s still hurricane season here in the U.S. …
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER – NOVEMBER 16, 1936
by LOUELLA O. PARSONS
Bargaining, I hear from a reliable authority, is going on between the Warner Brothers Studio and Samuel Goldwyn. Sam wants Errol Flynn for the lead in Hurricane and offers in exchange William Wyler, the director, and any other bit of property loose on the Goldwyn lot. First time I ever heard of a star being swapped for a director or vice versa. But Wyler is an ace director and is as valuable in his way as Flynn.
Not only has Sam set his heart on Flynn, but John Ford, who will direct for Goldwyn, also has the same idea. And talking about goofy trades, Ford agreed to direct Hurricane on condition that Sam buy him a boat and equipment to film exteriors in the South Seas where he is now vacationing. Margo, who is superb in Winterset, will probably get the lead opposite Flynn, with Basil Rathbone set for an important role.
—
COULD THIS HAVE BEEN A GREAT ONE OF FLYNN? I believe so. With Wyler directing and the film earning three Academy Awards, but ultimately hampered by the casting of Jon Hall. Errol, IMO, could have lifted this to a Hollywood classic.
—
Plus, there could have been some very good amour between Flynn and Lamour!
“The Hurricane is a 1937 film set in the South Seas, directed by John Ford and produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions, about a Polynesian who is unjustly imprisoned. The climax features a special effects hurricane. It stars Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall, with Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith, Thomas Mitchell, Raymond Massey, John Carradine, and Jerome Cowan. James Norman Hall, Jon Hall’s uncle, co-wrote the novel of the same name on which The Hurricane is based.”
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning in the category for Best Sound.
Best Sound Recording – Thomas T. Moulton
Best Supporting Actor (nomination) – Thomas Mitchell
Best Music, Score (nomination) – Alfred Newman
New York Times critic Frank S. Nugent praised the climactic special effect created by James Basevi, stating, “It is a hurricane to blast you from the orchestra pit to the first mezzanine. It is a hurricane to film your eyes with spin-drift, to beat at your ears with its thunder, to clutch at your heart and send your diaphragm vaulting over your floating rib into the region just south of your tonsils.”
He complimented the performances of all of the principal actors with the exception of Hall, whose Terangi was described as “a competent Tarzan”. He also faulted the uneven pacing, but in the end, characterized the film as “one of the most thrilling spectacles the screen has provided this year.”
— Gentleman Tim
