Errol Flynn Day 2015 — Featuring Rory

September 23. 2015

THE NEWS LEADER

THEATER

BRIDGEWATER— Bridgewater College presents Errol Flynn Day in a two-part discussion and film screening program at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25. During the day at 3:30 p.m., Chad Trevitte shares his “Swashbuckling on Screen” discussion with the audience, followed by a screening of the film, “The Sea Hawk.” Starting at 7:30 p.m., Errol Flynn’s daughter, Rory Flynn, will be the evening’s guest speaker and share her program, “Stories of My Father,” followed by a screening of “Captain Blood.”

Charles Culbertson, director of media relations, and Stanley Galloway, professor of English and director of the film retrospective program, got together to bat around ideas for interesting guests. “Since I knew Rory Flynn,” says Culbertson, “I said, ‘Hey, how about Errol Flynn’s daughter and it kind of took off from there. I met her on- line several years ago. I was selling something on eBay related to her father and she bought it, and I emailed her to ask if she was Errol Flynn’s daughter and when she said yes, I said, ‘I’m not going to sell this to you. You can have it,’ and from that correspondence we just kept up via email. This will be the first time I will actually physically meet her so its exciting to meet the daughter of one of my childhood heroes.”

Rory Flynn prepared the program, “Memories of My Father” to keep her father’s memory alive. “The public Errol Flynn is very well known, but the public doesn’t know very much of him as a father — away from the cameras and the press,” says Culbertson. “He was famous not only as a movie star but as an adventurer, a ladies’ man. His exploits rivaled anything he did on the screen. What he’s not so much famous for is what he was like away from those movie cameras, away from the press, and those are some of things Rory will touch upon when she gives her presentation.” “From what I have read, he was highly intelligent and well read. He could talk on a huge variety of topics. And this was a man who was kicked out of every school he attended as a boy. He taught himself. He was charming and urbane, and he had that ability to charm the birds out of trees. At the same time, he was a man’s man — an adventurer, loved danger, loved sailing the world in his yacht; he sought adventure and experiences he never had — a true adventurer.”

According to Culbertson, this is what the real Errol Flynn was like and that is part of what her daughter will share during the film retrospective. “Flynn himself was such a fascinating character that I thought the human connection with him would be interesting to those people who do remember him, and also it would be a good introduction to our students about a man and an era of filmmaking,” Culbertson says.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of “Captain Blood” which made Errol Flynn a star.

What:: Errol Flynn Day at Bridgewater College, Flynn’s daughter to be keynote speaker.

What: Errol Flynn Day

When; 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25 3:30 p.m. Chad Trevitte’s “ Swashbuckling on Screen,” followed by “The Sea Hawk” 7:30 p.m. Rory Flynn’s “Stories of My Father,” followed by “Captain Blood”

Where: Cole Hall, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater Cost

Both events are free and open to the public.

More info www.bridgewater.edu…

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLES CULBERTSON. Errol Flynn (right) duels to the death with Basil Rathbone in the 1938 classic “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”

— Tim