A novel account of famous footwear.
“The Duke of Windsor got his shoes there. Errol Flynn and Charlie Chaplin got their shoes there. It was the very pinnacle of cobbling.”
— Tim
Archive for the ‘Flynn and…’ Category
If Not for Joe Kennedy?
26
May
Questions are raised by the extract below from “Gloria Swanson: Ready for Her Closeup” regarding a possible affair between Lili and the Marquis Henri de la Felaise (James Henry Le Bailly de La Falaise, Marquis de La Coudraye) Gloria Swanson’s husband:
Reports are that the Marquis was homesick for France and may have been looking for a French speaking mistress and wife. Perhaps that’s why he was interested in Lili. After a few years, he did divorce Gloria and immediately marry (his mistress) Constance Bennett, who, having lived in Paris many years, was fluent in French and all things French. He was quite famous in France, a WWI hero and heir to the Hennessey Brandy fortune.
Photo of Kennedy with the Marquis at Biarritz, France:
www.alamy.com…
So, was it Joe Kennedy who induced Lili to work in Hollywood?
If so, should Joe Kennedy receive any credit for paving the way for Errol to become a Hollywood star, albeit indirectly and unwittingly?
Adding to the intrigue is that Joe Kennedy may have employed Lili in Palm Beach (she lived a very short walking distance from the Kennedy Compound) to care for Lt. JFK after he was injured on PT 109. It would not be a bit surprising to me if Joe tried to get a touch or two of nursing himself from Lili. (I’d be surprised if he had not. Lili was quite a money-hunter, schemer and temptress, and JP could brag that he had Errol Flynn’s girl working under him.
Here’s a photo of WWII Nurse-in-Training Damita, with Myrna Loy:
— Tim
The Irish at Last Stand Hill
18
May
They died with their boots on.
“Most of them had fled famine-ravaged Ireland in the 1840s and found, in the US Army, a secure meal-ticket and adventure, first in the Civil War – where the Irish fought on both sides – and later in the Indian Wars, as America spread westward across the Great Plains.”
“Errol Flynn played the swashbuckling Custer in the buckskin jacket, a jacket that in real life, we now know, had been made for him by 35-year-old Sergeant Jeremiah Finley from Co Tipperary, one of the Seventh Cavalry’s regimental tailors. Finley died on Last Stand Hill.”
How Irish was Flynn?
— Tim
Who is She? Who is She?
11
May
She was the leading lady in one of Errol’s major films.
She sailed on the Pacific to California in early ’35
She settled in LA, performing from an early age.
Her parents were singing and dancing vaudevillians.
Her mother was originally from Australia.
Following her film with Flynn, she played an exotically attractive woman in a role inspired by a legendary number one song – a song regarded by many as one of the all-time greats of its genre.
ʻO waiʻo ia? Quem é ela?
— Tim
Fox Like Flynn
10
May
“The Robin Hood archetype is a classic of both literature and cinema, with Errol Flynn’s depiction being one of the golden age of Hollywood’s most iconic heroes. The concept is simple: a roguish hero who’s an expert with the bow and arrow steals from the rich to give to the poor. Who could resist a handsome archer who’s ardently dedicated to the woman he loves and the concept of redistribution of wealth?”
“…Not only is he charming, but he’s impeccably chivalrous, a great supporter of the beleaguered underdog, an enemy of undemocratic power, and a hopeless romantic. … [t]he most potent embodiment of that heroic archetype you’ve ever seen …”
Anthropomorphically speaking, that is.
www-syfy-com.cdn.ampproject.org…
— Tim
Hot Dog Diplomacy
30
Apr
“The Picnic That Won the War”
On Sunday, June 11, 1939, FDR & Eleanor hosted a picnic for the King and Queen of England at his summer “cottage” in Hyde Park. This was the legendary “Hot Dog Summit”, which is often credited with having very significantly increased America’s early support of England in World War II. As described by David Niven in the YouTube audio recording linked below, Errol was part of a “British Colony” radio program performed live in conjunction with the picnic.
“When Franklin Roosevelt invited Great Britain’s King George VI for a visit to the United States, the significance of the invitation did not go unnoticed. No reigning British Monarch had ever set foot on American soil, not even in colonial times. Ever since the Revolutionary War the United States and Great Britain oftentimes experienced tense relations, but Roosevelt’s invitation to the King carried great significance in the history of Anglo-American relations because it signified the dawn of a new era in American and British cooperation.”
“After two days in Washington, the tone of the royal couple’s visit transformed from formal to informal as they accompanied the Roosevelts to their home in Hyde Park, New York. The King and Queen’s stay in Hyde Park illustrated to the American people that although they were Royalty, they also enjoyed the simpler things in life. In contrast to the formal State Dinner at the White House, dinner at the Roosevelt’s Home “Springwood” was described to the press as a casual dinner between the two families; their evening entertainment was simple conversation, unfettered by formalities.”
“Even more relaxing and informal was the following day’s event – a picnic. FDR brought the couple to his new hilltop retreat, Top Cottage, on the eastern portion of his estate for an old-fashioned, American-style picnic. Much to the horror of FDR’s mother Sara Roosevelt, the King and Queen of England were served hot dogs on the front porch of the cottage. Although the press made a great deal about the hot dogs. (The picnic made the front page of the New York Times)”
“THE PICNIC THAT WON THE WAR”
David Niven describes the Hollywood British Colony radio show at 1:36:33 in this audio recording:
— Tim
Are You Going to Scarborough?
28
Apr
The Tunny are Back!
“Strange but true: in the 1930s Atlantic bluefin tuna (also known as tunny) started to follow the herring shoals into the North Sea, and Yorkshire became the hub of an American-style big-game fishery. Professional hunter Lorenzo Mitchell-Henry set the record for a rod-caught fish in British waters when he landed a 386kg monster in 1933, and Scarborough was soon home to the Tunny Club of Great Britain. Visiting millionaires and movie stars – including John Wayne, Errol Flynn and David Niven – chartered local boats and vied with each other to smash the record.”
Video history of Scarborough Tunny Fishing
[Beginning at 7:14, where Errol is prominently mentioned.]
— Tim
Hearst’s Hacienda
27
Apr
Aka “Hearst’s Hunting Lodge”, though W.R. did not personally permit any hunting. “A day’s ride on horseback” from “La Cuesta Encantada” (Hearst’s Castle in San Simeon), to what since 1940 has been Army property on “Fort Hunter Liggett”.
Hearst took only select guests to The Hacienda, usually only top-strata Hollywood, newspaper and political figures. Errol was one of them. These special guests could either fly or ride on horseback from San Simeon – for rodeos, barbecues and dances, et al – often staying overnight in the Hacienda’s “Tower Rooms”. These same Tower Rooms are now available to the public at very reasonable prices, as are more spartan “Garden Rooms” and “Cowboy Rooms” at even lower prices.
— Tim
The Amazing Curtiz
15
Apr
Mano Kaminer > Mihaly Kertesz > Michael Courtese > Michael Curtiz
The Most Underated Director in the History of Hollywood?
“Curtiz was already a well-known director in Europe when Warner Bros. invited him to Hollywood in 1926, when he was 39 years of age. He had already directed 64 films in Europe, and soon helped Warner Bros. become the fastest-growing movie studio. He directed 102 films during his Hollywood career, mostly at Warners, where he directed ten actors to Oscar nominations. James Cagney and Joan Crawford won their only Academy Awards under Curtiz’s direction. He put Doris Day and John Garfield on screen for the first time, and he made stars of Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Bette Davis. He himself was nominated five times and won twice, once for Best Short Subject for Sons of Liberty and once as Best Director for Casablanca.”
“Curtiz introduced to Hollywood a unique visual style using artistic lighting, extensive and fluid camera movement, high crane shots, and unusual camera angles. He was versatile and could handle any kind of picture: melodrama, comedy, love story, film noir, musical, war story, Western, or historical epic. He always paid attention to the human-interest aspect of every story, stating that the “human and fundamental problems of real people” were the basis of all good drama.”
What was his Greatest Film? Who were his Greatest Stars?
— Tim
