I wasn’t quite sure where to post this as it is not specifically about ERROL .
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) will be presenting Christopher Plummer’s 1 man show of “Barrymore” on Saturday September 6th. I believe this is a filmed version of the highly acclaimed stage production depicting Barrymore at the end of his life.
Christopher Plummer is famous for his performances of Shakespeare -but is likely better known for his portrayal of Captain Von Trapp in the Sound of Music -Eleanor Parker was also in that one – he has also performed at the Errol Flynn Playhouse. For anyone into Star Trek he played General Chang in Star Trek VI.
I found him reciting Hamlet (or was it Macbeth?) on an old Cosby episode- he shines! I wish my English teacher had looked like that.
Now in his 80’s he has an Oscar to boot – and retains his Canadian Citizenship.
His autobiography (In Spite of Myself) is a fun and fascinating read. Imagine hanging around with the likes of Peter O’Toole – and surviving that. Of course there is a small mention (very small) of Errol. I have read this book and found some of the writing style similar to Errol’s in MWWW- never taking himself too seriously. I have seen him interviewed on TV- lots of humor there too and great stories of the stage actors of the time performing on TV in the 1950’s.
Like I said -not a direct link to EF I just thought it might be interesting to watch knowing how much Barrymore influenced Errol.
— Maria
In 1955, Errol Flynn made his final swashbuckler, “The Dark Avenger”. That same year, Danny Kaye made “The Court Jester”, a film that appeared to be a tribute/spoof of the swashbuckler films of Errol Flynn, complete with Basil Rathbone as the villain, Mildred Natwick (of “Against All Flags”) in a pseudo Una O’Connor-like role, as well as a Robin Hood-like character that seemed written specifically for Errol: The Black Fox. Was Errol offered the role? Probably. Instead, the heroic role was played by Edward Ashley, who received 12th billing. Of course, if Errol had played the role, his name would have been much, much higher in the credits. The film is still very entertaining.(and highly recommended for fans of Flynn) But if it had co-starred Errol Flynn, it would be much more famous.
