By Machine Gun Bullets on the Guadalajara Front
New York Daily News: April 5, 1937
* Rumors of his death may have been exaggerated. Initial report of Errol’s death was disseminated by “eye-witness” Hermann Erben.
— Tim
Errol’s Spanish War Diary — It’s What’s Up Front That Counts
05
Apr
After visiting the International Brigades’ military headquarters in Albacete, Errol and Erben were driven to Madrid, arriving on April 2 at the Hotel Gran Via, across from the famous Edificio Telefonica, then the tallest building in Europe. Every morning at precisely 9:45 am, the Telefonica was bombarded by the Rebels.
From Madrid, on April 3, they visited the Guadalajara Front:
Then to the University City Front:
— Tim
Errol’s Spanish War Diary: The International Brigades
04
Apr
After traveling by train from Paris to Barcelona, Errol was driven to Albacete via Valencia. Albacete was headquarters for the International Brigades, which fought for the government of Spain, the “Republicans”, against Francisco Franco’s Nationalist Fascist, the “Rebels”.
The International Brigades came from over 50 countries across the world to help the beleaguered Spanish republic, many of them with bitter experiences of fighting against fascism and with personal scores to settle. Over 35 000 men and women left their homes to volunteer for the Republican forces, the majority of whom served in the International Brigades and international medical services.
All the peoples of the world are in the International Brigades side by side with the Spanish people. The largest single contingents came from France, Germany, Poland and Italy, though many also came from other European countries, including Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Other volunteers endured long journeys from as far away as the USA (including a number of African-Americans), Canada, Mexico, Cuba, South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Jewish volunteers comprised a significant minority.
The International Brigades were recruited and organised by the Communist International (the Comintern), which was quick to respond to the influx of foreign volunteers for the Republic. For Stalin, who was concerned at the extent of German and Italian help for the rebels and its potential severely to weaken France, the International Brigades offered an opportunity to support the Spanish Republican Army without intervening directly, and thus reducing the risk of further alienating Britain and France who had established an international non-intervention agreement to limit foreign involvement in the war.
The recruitment of the International Brigades was coordinated by the Communist Party in Paris. The usual route for volunteers was to be smuggled in groups over the Pyrenees. From the border they would be taken the International Brigade headquarters at Albacete, where volunteers would be processed and divided up by nationality, into the different battalions comprising the Spanish Republican Army’s International Brigades.
— Tim
The Warner Bros. Dodge City World Premier Special ==== “A Hollywood Parade on Wheels”
01
Apr
STARS GET WELCOMED FOR FILM PREVIEW
Evening Herald Express
By Jimmy Starr
Dodge City, Kan. April 1 (1939)
For years they have been saying that Hollywood is colossal, but it took the Warner Brothers’ 14-car special train which arrived in Dodge City this morning to prove that moviedom was never colossal until today.
With no strings on a bank account, the party, which includes 35 stellar names, 72 newspapermen and magazine correspondents and cameramen and dozens of studio technicians departed Thursday night from Santa Fe station in Los Angeles and arrived in Dodge City this morning.
A typical Hollywood gathering of several thousand persons were at the station to greet the stars. Radios and loud speakers blared gala tunes. Dozens of luminaries were ushered through wildly gesticulating crowds.
The baggage car of the special train was transformed into a replica of the famous “Gay Lady Saloon” of Dodge City’s wildest and wooliest days, and it was visited by thousands of Dodge City fans.
OLD WEST ATMOSPHERE
The Warner studio had given it an Old West atmosphere with sawdust on the floor, typical signs warning customers against crooked faro dealers and advice to check shooting irons with the bartender. All it needed to complete the picture was a dirty old villain to shoot it up and a tree to hang him on.
Then there was a palace car, but it was not for for the human stars of Hollywood. Instead it housed 16 equine stars to be used in an especially staged rodeo in Dodge City this afternoon as a warm-up for the triple preview of the 2-million dollar Technicolor picture Dodge City tonight. In order to accommodate the terrific influx of visitors from four states it was necessary to engage three theaters, which will run all night, to show the production to the tremendously swollen population.
150,000 THERE
Dodge City, which has a normal population of 13,000 persons, is today entertaining a swarming multitude of 150,000 yelling, restless, staring, snoopy, autograph-hunting, curious, hungry, thirsty, dusty, foot-weary and movie-mad spectators. As a tribute to Jack Warner and the picture, Dodge City citizens took it upon themselves to emulate the founders of their rough and ready village by growing enough bushy beards that not only would frighten Boris Karloff, but also would supply a thousand baseball teams for the House of David. It was indeed a sight to turn a mattress factory green with envy.
ODDITIES BETWEEN WHISTLESTOPS
Olivia de Havilland, heroine of the picture, was the heartbroken ingenue of the train when she was rudely and without warning snatched from the special at Pasadena.
It seems that Mr. Selznick, who stalled for two years before making Gone with the Wind, is now in a big hurry. It also happens that Miss de Havilland is playing Melanie in Mr. Selznick’s picture and there was rumor that her presence would be needed. Olivia jumped up and down, stamped her feet, yelled and carried on. But she isn’t on the train anymore. Poor Melanie.
SCHOOLS LET OUT
Unusual fascination for such a stellar caravan caused city officials of three cities to declare a school holiday so that Young America could see and hear some of its celluloid heroes and heroines. Fifteen-minute stops were made in Flagstaff, Ariz.; Gallup, N.M.; and Albuquerque, N.M. Indians, Mexicans, hermits, prospectors and ranchers with their families came afoot, on horseback, in rickety buggies and chugging jalopies to join the townsfolk in their amazing display of admiration for Hollywood’s parade on wheels.
— Tim
‘Flynn Flying Through the Air’ – Errol’s Empty Horse
01
Apr
March 31, 1936
Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express
Since Saturday, Warners is beseeching Errol Flynn to stay off horses except when the cameras are actually turning for The Charge of the Light Brigade. The Irish actor, not so long out of the hospital for an appendicitis operation, got the idea of practicing jumps for the picture. He went to a riding academy in the valley and was doing very nicely until the horse balked at a four-foot barrier and sent Flynn flying through the air. Landing, he missed a large rock by about an inch. The studio, which had 250 men ready to start to Lone Pine on location the next day, practically did a nipup when the news got around.
— Tim
Dodgin’ Like Flynn
31
Mar
March 31, 1939
Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express
Lili Damita let Errol Flynn go on to the Dodge City preview trip alone. She and Dolores Del Rio are spending time at Palm Springs.
— Tim
The Mostly True Story and “Adventuring Career” of Errol Flynn
29
Mar
March 30, 1938
Sidney Skolsky
TINTYPES
Hollywood Citizen News
(All Photos Added)
Errol Flynn is an actor who always tries to act his role, that of a handsome man dashing around in search of adventure. He was that kind of actor before he ever looked at a camera, and he would be that kind of an actor had he never got into the movies.
He is a skilled boxer. He was England’s representative in the 1928 Olympic Games at Amsterdam.
He has an ugly scar on his ankle, the result of being hit by a poisoned arrow by natives in the bush country of New Guinea.
He went to Spain to take a look at the fighting and he wrote an adventure book, “Beam Ends,” which was banned in Germany because it contained too much levity.
The movies aided him with his “adventuring career.” An English film company produced Mutiny on the Bounty, and cast him as Fletcher Christian. The company went to Tahiti for the location shots, and after the picture was finished, he stayed on. He bought a boat and hired a crew and went into the pearl fishing business.
Then he got restless and went prospecting for gold in New Guinea. With the money he made, he bought a schooner and went into the inter-island freight service. Then he just kept on adventuring around. Why, he just kept on, sounding like a scenario.
He even had an adventure while on the boat on his way to Hollywood. He met Lili Damita.
He danced with her, thought she was lovely, enjoyed himself, and didn’t think about it until after they kept seeing each other in Hollywood. Then, in his customary dashing style, he boarded a plane with Lili, flew to Yuma, and married her.
He calls her Damita. She calls him Flynn.
He was born June 20, 1909, in the north of Ireland. He went to school at the Lycee Louis Grand, in Paris, and at St. Paul’s in London. He claims he is a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, who led the mutiny on the Bounty.
He is 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 180 pounds, has brown hair, and is an excellent cook.
On the set he wanders about and seem to behaving a good time. He appears to enjoy his work, as if it were another adventure for him. He reads his script over at home, and then tries to learn a scene the night before he is to play it. He will often rehearse a love scene on the set, reading over the dialogue with the script girl.
He often takes his dog, Arno, on the set with him. He’ll park the dog in his portable dressing room, and the dog knows enough about picture making not to bark. It is the only dog allowed to enter the Warner commissary.
His pet aversion is to be hurried by people. He also hates alarm clocks. A valet wakes him every morning.
Recently, his valet quit him to become a picture actor. He didn’t see the valet again until one day on the set of Four’s a Crowd. He was playing the role of Flynn’s valet.
He likes to write. Besides several books he has written a play, “White Rajah,” which the Warners are supposed to make into a movie. He also wrote articles for a fan magazine. He reads newspaper editorials earnestly, and then writes “letters to the editor,” giving his views on various subjects. He sings to himself as he writes.
He resides in a modest house in Beverly Hills. There is one room in the house, his den, which even his wife can’t enter without his permission.
His favorite outdoor diversion is sailing. He is now getting ready to cruise on his new yacht, Sirocco. He also swims, rides, and plays tennis. He is considered one of the best tennis players in the movie colony.
Sleep annoys him. He doesen’t believe in more than six hours sleep, and likes to get up while he’s still tired. He believes that sleep should be taken sparingly and that indulging in it is like indulging in any other vice, such as drinking or smoking. When he sleeps a great deal he feels sluggardly all day. He resents the idea of devoting too much time to sleep.
When he does sleep, he sleeps with the windows open, and without a pillow, which he believes ruins one’s posture. He sleeps in an old-fashioned, four-poster bed. He always sleeps alone. Damita sleeps in another room.
He doesn’t own a pair of pajamas or a nightgown. He sleeps in the raw. Occasionally, he dreams. And the dream is usually about some thrilling, bold adventure, modeled after a scenario.
— Tim
A Plea of Urgency
29
Mar
March 30, 1937
Elizabeth Yeaman
Hollywood Citizen News
The Warner Brothers are sincerely worried over their failure to locate Errol Flynn, who was hastily summoned back to Hollywood when it was learned he was planning to penetrate war-torn Spain. Errol was in Paris, and last week he told his wife, Lili Damita, he was leaving for Spain. He left, while Lili remained in Paris. He didn’t tell her where he was going in Spain, and apparently Lili didn’t bother to inquire. Robert Schless, head of Warner Paris office, has not been able to locate him.
Errol, when he left, was determined to do some war corresponding in Spain. He started to make arrangements with the United States for some special articles, but the studio jumped in and soured the deal. Errol threatened that he would make arrangements with an English syndicate.This he may have done.
Warners cabled him to be back by April 15, to start The Perfect Specimen. I doubt if they actually had a picture ready for him, but hoped to get him back on a plea of urgency. Miriam Hopkins has been announced for the co-starring spot in The Perfect Specimen, but that announcement is quite premature, for she has not been signed for the role.
— Tim
