Dear Flynnstones,
here is our man Flynn with jet set reporter Benno Graziani, one of the of the all time great photographers. www.vogue.co.uk/article/benno-graziani-interview…
His motto went a little like this: “Make em laugh, then shoot them“.
And it applied very well to their encounter in Deauville.
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
Dear Flynnstones,
in reference to Errol Flynn’s Relatives in Sligo, Ireland? « The Errol Flynn Blog , Ireland`s poet laureate, William Butler Yeats, immortalized a certain Flynn in his volume of essays “The Celtic Twilight”.
“Many of the tales in this book were told me by one Paddy Flynn, a little bright-eyed old man, who lived in a leaky and one-roomed cabin in the village of Ballisodare, which is, he was wont to say, ’the most gentle’—whereby he meant faery—‘place in the whole County of Sligo.’”
Yeats spend many of his childhood holidays in Sligo, actually Sligeach (meaning: place of the shells).
“Flynn, with a few verbal alterations, from a note-book which I almost filled with his tales and sayings, shortly after seeing him. I look now at the note-book regretfully, for the blank pages at the end will never be filled up. Paddy Flynn is dead; a friend of mine gave him a large bottle of whiskey, and though a sober man at most times, the sight of so much liquor filled him with a great enthusiasm, and he lived upon it for some days and then died.”
If Errol didn`t read this already, that kind of literture seems very much to his liking. Compare it to: The errolist of books « The Errol Flynn Blog
And being the perennial Robin Hood, he would have felt right at home in Sleuth Wood, which is situated along the shores of Loch Gill. also in the County of Sligo.
“Sleuth Wood away at the south looked as though cut out of green beryl, and the waters that mirrored them shone like pale opal.” (from the short story “The Heart of Spring”).
Sláinte,
— shangheinz
Dear Flynnstones,
when Errol renounced the role of Oberon, in Hollywood`s 1935 screen adaptation of “A Midsummer Night`s Dream”, not wanting to be known as “the king of the fairies”, he impacted many careers. Including his own. Instead of being Hamlet-bound, he, as we know, became the perennial pirate. Only a year later the movie world would see an aging Leslie Howard as a very mature Romeo alongside Norma Shearer`s Juliet. Not to be it was for our Hollywood hero.
Austrian theatre impressario Max Reinhardt came to California with high hopes to find a new audience for his craft. He had been successfully staging plays from Vienna to Berlin at various venues. Up to this day his “Jedermann” (Everyman), the parable of a rich man reflecting his antics on the eve of his existence, is a fixture in Sound-of-Music Salzburg`s summer calender of its so called Festspiele festival.
Despite and because his jewish ancestry Reinhardt, propaganda minister Goebbels, the goat of Babelsberg (where the Third Reich`s movie industry was located) pestered him to become an honoray aryan. Such was his value to Nazi Germany. But he decided to take his act elsewhere. Therefore later on his works were banned and his castle, Schloss Landskron, was dispossessed. With a three film contract by Warner Bros., he boarded an ocean liner and came to the USA with actress Helen Thimig, soon to become his second wife. Courtesy of Theatermuseum Vienna: Jack Warner`s wishing well card for a safe passage. Pre-war the Reinhardts travelled back and forth.
To his credit he brought Erich Wolfgang Korngold with him. First for a few weeks to arrange the “Midsummer”-musical score by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Weeks turned into months, years even and eventually earned Korngold two Academy Awards. Welcome to Sherhollywood, my lord!
Max Reinhardt had staged the Shakespearean fever dream farce already in 1905, 1921, 1925, 1927 and 1930. In 1934 the Hollywood Bowl was chosen as site for the theatrical staging as a prelude to the film, filling its seats with 100.000 spectators watching some 400 artists performing on eight nights. 30.000 electric lights mimicking fireflies needed an seperate generator to produce the amount of the additional energy needed. The LA symphony orchester swelled up to the size of a big band. Call it raising to the occasion.
Two known flynnmates of the theatre ensemble of this event would go on to appear in the movie version. 18 year old Olivia DeHavilland who had been discovered by Professor Reinhardt while actually playing Hermia at Mills College. Mickey Rooney was engaged for the mischievous role of Robin Goodfellow for stage AND film at age 14. Puckish in life as on camera he broke a leg in a skiing accident, when filming already was on the way. Jack Warner was furious, he said he couldn`t decide whether to mend the injured leg or break the other one.
Initially M. Reinhardt fantasized an all star cast of the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Cary Cooper, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Joan Crawford, W.C. Fields and Wallace Beery. He had to settle for James Cagney, Joe E. Brown (unforgettable for his famous last words “Nobody is perfect!” in Billy Wilder`s “Some like it hot”, arguably the best finishing line ever, not counting Stanley Kubrick`s “Eyes Wide Shut”), Ian Hunter, Dick Powell, Ross Alexander and Jane Muir.
Lady Livvie`s stellar performance eventually cost Muir the female lead in “Captain Blood”. DeHavilland in turn profited from Gloria Stuart`s “falling ill” (she was pregnant at the time). Stuart originally cast as Hermia made good many decades later in the role of Rose in James Cameron`s “Titanic”. She also starred in “My Favorite Year”, where Peter O`Toole followed in Flynn`s tights. Speaking of ousting Errol- Victor Joy was praised highly for his poise and posture as the King of Fairies. EF`s Green Light co-star Anita Louise is very beautiful to look at as Oberon`s wife Titania.
The play itself is one of the most liked and most used in theatre history. Shakespeare went far out, over the top and all in. Five plots are intertwined in five acts. The quadruple couple quagmire comes to a happy end, until then it is all fun and games in a twilight setting between dreaming and waking. Never mind there are undertones of a Tijuana donkey show, when Titania falls in love with Bottom, who was magically transformed overnight into a jackass.
Here you see a cast-against-his-character-Cagney, who at that time was in the front runner for the lead in “The Adventures of Robin Hood”. Not the first man who made a complete ass of himself to achieve the affection of a fair female.
The film premiered simultanously in London, New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 9th 1935 and was attended by the you know whos of Hollywood. The anouncements of the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Mae West etc. took longer as the movie`s original running time of 132 minutes. It was trimmed to 117 minutes for general release. Catch a glimpse of the Flamitas, one of Tiger Lil and Errol`s earliest entries into the echelons of movie stardom in this featurette:
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
The “backslap” case against Duncan McMartin that took place in the Bahamas in mid-March, 1952
To set the scene, we will begin about mid-February while Errol is in Los Angeles recuperating from a fractured bone in his foot. He was injured during the filming of AGAINST ALL FLAGS on Feb. 1st. The foot was placed in a cast and Errol was given a cane to get around.
The cast was to remain for about 6 weeks, so production was halted.
But … as usual, Errol does not slow down. We pick it from there.
— Topper
Including a blow-up of ‘piggy-back’ Flynn on the “rag” cover of On the QT.
Re-enacting Robin Hood riding the shoulders of “Frier Tuck”!
— Topper
Errol Flynn, in a busy March 1956, will appear in two courts on the same day. In addition, on February 20th, filming begins on Errol’s picture Istanbul at Universal International Studios in Universal City, Cal.
— Topper
Here is a little excerpt from mid-March,1944 to mid-May. Lots of stuff going on in his life, as usual, with movies, parties, incidents, etc.
Enjoy
— Topper
On September 20th, 1941, Errol Flynn and columnist Jimmie Fidler got into a scuffle at the Mocambo night spot. The incident made some small headlines the next day along with a lot of gossip and speculation. Perhaps one of the best coverages of the story appeared on this page of the Movie-Radio Guide of the 27th.
There were more events following the dustup.
Enjoy!
— Topper
The Mail Bag brings a rare photo of Peggy Satterlee from Debby Phielix …
Thanks, Debby!
— David DeWitt
As many know Rory Flynn’s son Sean Flynn (Rio) starred as a teen in the hit show ZOEY 101 with an ensemble cast. Now he an adult and stars in the new update version of the show with the original cast that will begin streaming July 27. Here is a promo that appeared against the side of a building in NYC sent to us by Rory Flynn.
Thanks, Rory!
— David DeWitt
