Dear fellow Flynn fans,
although absent in this picture of the Who’s Who of Hollywood on the lawn of the US presidential palace, Errol did attend often. Even after his untimely death. How? Both presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronnie Reagan loved to show movies to a selected collection of guests. And Flynn was there in spirit as well as on the screen. Drumroll please, once you scroll down the lists and see their choice of favourite films here: www.slashfilm.com…
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
Reminded recently by Jack Marino of his friend, Tony Thomas’s, preeminent contributions to the history of Flynn here is a recollection of his great work:
THE FILMS OF ERROL FLYNN
“This book is a complete record of Errol Flynn’s career from his first starring role in Captain Blood until his untimely death at fifty. All of his 58 films are here, with synopses, casts & credits, reviews of the more important vehicles, and hundreds of photos.”
ERROL FLYNN:THE SPY WHO NEVER WAS
Author of 30 books about movies and movie stars, Thomas here defends Flynn (1909-1959) against the charge made by Charles Higham in Errol Flynn: The Untold Story (1979) that the Hollywood swashbuckler, who played Captain Blood, Robin Hood, the Earl of Essex and Don Juan, was a Nazi spy. Thomas’s detailed examination of Higham’s evidence (including interviews with many original sources) convincingly shows that Higham quoted documents selectively, twisted witnesses’ words and made a flawed case based on guilt by association.
— Tim
Dear fellow Flynn fans,
this is another possible missing masterpiece in Errol’s filmography due to a one punch (rather a rum punch) tussle with Canadian millionaire Duncan McMartin at the Windsor Hotel on the Bahamas. Our Hollywood hero would forever claim that his old back injury backfired on him and therefore he had to renounce the role of Albion Hamlin, a farmer-laywer, who handles the estate of title giving Lydia Bailey during the Haitian revolution.
The bahama court drama of was settled with a 14.000.- fine for the former flynntimo Duncun, who said the he could not remember but a pad on his old friend’s shoulder. A far cry of the initial quest of $230.000.- for the pain gained and the picture lost.
Tyrone Power also did turn down the Lydia lead, which went to Dale Robertson instead. The 180lb former prizefighter and WWII hero had been approached before for the movie “Golden boy”, but at that time DR saw his future in training polo ponies and indirectly launched the career of William Holden.
Director Jean Negulesco also had Flynn ties, since he was the second unit director of “Captain Blood”. Watch his work here: www.dailymotion.com…
and form your own opinion on number fourteen of bygone opportunities.
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
The fellows in these fine photos were reported to have endorsed a letter together in the Forties which gained a great deal of national attention.
What was the content, purpose, and possible postal controversy of that letter?
— Tim
That’s if you believe YouTube. I have not done it before but films are made available on the black market before they are released for real and not in very good quality. If this is for real and it could be, there is very little info about this film. I would think that if there is at least a rough cut of it there should be more about it on the net but no. I advise Luke and company to check this out just in case.
— twinarchers
Received a nice email from “Schooner4” (award winning artist Dan Gilmore) about his painting of the Zaca with some fisherman nearby available right now for bids on eBay. Wow! It is beautiful work …
Thanks, Dan!
— David DeWitt
A timely tribute to The Great Flynn – for his world record winter sport performance in Switzerland, circa 1950.
“The Cresta is effectively an ice slide carved into the snow, 1,200 metres long, it winds its way from above the ‘Leaning Tower’ in St. Moritz down a steep gully through ten testing corners, past the tiny hamlet of Cresta, to the village of Celerina. Unlike bobsledding, members ride on single sleds, head first, hurtling down the slopes at speeds reaching up to 130 kilometres per hour, steering and breaking only with their feet.”
“There is only one way for a man to keep from zinging down Cresta out of control; by the simple but strenuous method of pressing his toe rakes ever harder against the ice. If a man has enormously strong legs, he can press hard enough to bring the wagon to a full halt on the course.”
“Errol Flynn, it turned out, had precisely such strong legs.”
Reports vary, but it is said Flynn came to a full stop midway down the course, lit a cigarette, met a beautiful beautiful woman, swigged some champagne, and finished his run with the world record slowest time ever recorded – 180 seconds. … Then left in a Rolls, never to return.
— Tim
Great story, but did Errol ever really visit Port Adelaide, as he says he did in Beams End?
Or was he Fibbin’ Like Flynn?
How it looked in the Twenties:
— Tim
