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Errol and Deanna?

18 Oct

What film did Errol and Deanna Durben appear in together?

– They were in the same scene

– They were both well known stars at the time

– Deanna was circa this age:

– Errol was circa this age:

— Tim

 
16 Comments

Posted in Flynn and..., Gentleman Tim, QUIZ PAGE

 
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barb
4 years ago

I’m going from memory on this, but is the movie That’s Entertainment (the first one)? In the segment toward the end about Judy Garland, they show a brief clip of Errol and Lili sitting at a table, and then there’s a mention afterwards of Deanna Durbin and a shot of her. I’m missing context, as I don’t recall why Errol and Lili would be in the segment about Judy Garland or where the Durbin shot was from.

The clip of Errol and Lili is from an MGM short called Pirate Party on Catalina Isle, from 1935: www.youtube.com…. They appear around 4:27. The description I found is that this was a pirate-themed variety show that stars attended.

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Author
Gentleman Tim
4 years ago
Reply to  barb

Excellent, barb, but not to my knowledge. I don’t know regarding the Judy Garland film.. Maybe there are two answers to the quiz!! Pirate Party is a favorite of mine, but I don’t recall seeing Deanna Durben in it. I wasn’t looking for her, however, and could have missed her. Maybe there are three answers to the quiz!!!

The film I am referring to in this difficult quiz had other big stars, as well. Much bigger stars than Deanna. Several of them were the best in the world at their particular specialties. Indeed, to this day no one has topped them at what they did. Another unquestionably brought power to all his films and was akin to Flynn when swashbucklin’, but not of course as great as the King of Swashbucklers, our man Flynn.

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Gentleman Tim
4 years ago
Reply to  barb

Btw:

1. The star immediately following Errol and Lili in Pirate Party is also in the quiz film.

2ِ. The film was a short. Variety said it was not short enough :)

3. Hearst papers praised the film.

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barb
4 years ago
Reply to  Gentleman Tim

No idea about your additional clues, but I did check with a friend of mine who loves movie musicals, and sure enough, she has the DVD of That’s Entertainment. Looks like MGM did some creative editing. Errol, Lili, and Deanna Durbin do appear in the Judy Garland segment of That’s Entertainment, but they’re not connected. First there’s a clip in color of Judy Garland and her two sisters (then known as the Gumm sisters, as that was Judy’s real last name) singing La Cucaracha. You then see the clip from Pirate Party of Errol and Lili smiling. It looks like they’re smiling at the Gumm sisters’ singing, but according to Internet Movie Database, the sisters aren’t in Pirate Party, so I’ve no idea why those clips appear as they do. After those clips, the narrator (Liza Minnelli, in fact) says that Judy’s name was changed to Judy Garland, and she next appeared in a black-and-white musical short with … Dianna Durbin. So, close but no cigar.

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Author
Gentleman Tim
4 years ago
Reply to  barb

You have a great memory, barb! I did not recall that Deanna was in the same segment of That’s Entertainment as Errol & Lili. You definitely deserve a prize for that, a cigar if you wish!

Our quiz flick however had Errol & Lili & Deanna in an original, never-before-seen scene, not a compilation of clips from earlier unrelated movies.

These two dancing below were in with Flynn in our mystery film! No topping these two!!

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Gentleman Tim
4 years ago

Oh… and preceding playing of the film with Errol and Deanna, theater goers would hear a live band and a chorus of female newsboys perform a Stephen Foster classic, one of America’s all time most popular songs, with humorous altered lyrics saluting the lead “actress” in the film.

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Gentleman Tim
4 years ago

Speaking of Judy G., Mickey R. was there, too, with Errol, Deanna, E.P., F.E. (and T.P.) in our mystery short

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Gentleman Tim
4 years ago

It premiered at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco.

comment image

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robjack
4 years ago
Reply to  Gentleman Tim

Is it the short subject – Showbusiness at War in 1943??

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Author
Gentleman Tim
4 years ago
Reply to  robjack

Fantastic answer, robjack. That short is a gem, but ours is pre-Pearl, in 1939, over two years before America was officially in the war. Showbusiness at War does have Deanna Durben and Olivia, dancing with lucky GIs, from about 11:30 to 12:15.

Additionally, at about 1:30, Tyrone Power can be seen. He, too, is in the mystery scene with Errol and Deanna!

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Author
Gentleman Tim
4 years ago

Immediately preceding the film with Errol, Deanna, Eleanor, Astaire, Rooney and Power, a live orchestra struck up ‘Oh Susanna’ with a women’s chorus all dressed as newsboys singing:

“Oh ______, won’t you mention me
For a movie star in Hollywood, that’s what I want to be”

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Gentleman Tim
4 years ago

One of the distinguished Hollywood heavyweights standing with Errol in this Stork Club snapshot was the star of the show:

www.joancrawfordbest.com…

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barb
4 years ago

The star of the show was Louella Parsons? All I could find is a paragraph in a biography of Parsons that matches most of your clues. The text mentions audiences watching a short film of Louella being sent off by her Hollywood “friends,” including Durbin, Flynn, Power, Powell, Astaire, and Rooney, who thanked her for all the nice things she said about him and wished her well on her tour. But I’m missing what comes before this, which presumably is whatever this show is about.

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Author
Gentleman Tim
4 years ago
Reply to  barb

That’s it, barb! Very, very impressive of you to find a film which, to my knowledge, no one around (that I’m aware of, at least) has ever seen/nor maybe even heard of! – a record of which has such extremely scant internet presence, until now that is.

Has anyone in Flynnland ever seen this film?! Does a copy of it still exist? What a treasure/pleasure it would be.

Thank you, barb, and thanks to all who played this extremely perplexing quiz!

The First Lady of Hollywood – Page 214
[Search book for “Golden Gate Theater”]
www.google.com…

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Author
Gentleman Tim
4 years ago

barb, you have earned a 2020 Fearless Flynn-Quiz Wiz Prize for your always-courageous participation in these EFB quizzes! Like Flynn-Deanna films, they are rarely seen, and very few and far between!

[imgcomment image?20200901013119[/img]

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barb
4 years ago

Thank you, Tim, but you’re too generous … your clues get the credit! I did recognize Louella Parsons in that last photo, and when I googled louella parsons errol flynn deanna durbin variety movie short, I came up with exactly what you did, that paragraph in the Parsons biography via Google books. I haven’t been able to find anything more, and nothing showed up on youtube either. But how you even found that in the first place is amazing.

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