The Errol Flynn Blog

Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity & great pleasure to attend the Florida Symphony’s fantastic performance of Erich Korngold’s exquisitely beautiful Violin Concerto in D Major.

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— Tim

Back in 1961 when Sean Leslie Flynn embarked on his cinematic career, he joked that after he did “The Son of Captain Blood” he would do the “son of Zorro”. Not quite, but the producer of “TSOCB”, Harry Joe Brown  did sign Sean up to do “Il Segno di Zorro” (translation: “The Sign of Zorro”). In this film (which had its initial European release in 1963) Sean got to display his athletic skills and prowess at fencing and horsemanship and he did a better acting job here than in his freshman outing. In my article, “The Forgotten Films of Sean Flynn” I stated (at least in my opinion) that Sean seemed to be channeling Errol and his performance was enjoyable to watch. As a matter of fact some of his dueling scenes could rival similar scenes in Errol’s “The Prince and the Pauper”.   The film was popular throughout Europe and was released in most countries as a Zorro film. But because of copyright issues (Disney had released a film titled, “The Sign of Zorro” in the US in 1960), any reference to Zorro was excised from the English language print. (There weren’t many, as the film only used the Zorro motif as a symbol (using “the sign of Zorro”)  and the character isn’t even called Zorro throughout its run.) Thus the film under the title, “Duel at the Rio Grande” was released in 1964 in Great Britain on a double bill with a remake of Maria Montez’s film “The Siren of Atlantis”. (This time under the title of “The Lost Kingdom”).  The film received little (if any) theatrical release in the US due to the copyright issue and was sold to television syndication in 1968 where it played in some markets as time filler in the afternoon and late nights before disappearing. When the video boom of the eighties took off, the film was released on home video in Finland, where it was released with Finnish subtitles. As edited, “Duel at the Rio Grande” is almost a completely different film from “Il Segno di Zorro”. “Duel at the Rio Grande” like most of Sean’s films is not available in the US on legitimate home video. (Il Segno di Zorro” has been released in German, French and Spanish.) You can catch it on YouTube as “The Sign of Zorro” and judge for yourself.–A. R.

[Sean’s costume in the movie remarkably resembles the cover illustration from the 1958 paperback edition of the “Mark of Zorro”. (see below)

— ILIKEFLYNN

The March Issue of Rock-itt Magazine is now available:

The Rock-itt Magazine

Robert Florczak’s fascinating Movie Locations Then & Now, and the other continuing series Hobart to Hollywood are ready for your reading pleasure!

— David DeWitt

In the 1980s I was privileged to have lived on John Barrymore’s estate, Bella Vista. When Flynn came to Hollywood he searched out Barrymore. When I came to Hollywood I searched out Flynn–or his footsteps, to be precise–and, in a strange, circular coincidence ended up in Barrymore’s home. Here is a photo collection of the house from my days there (and one more recently). It was a magical time….

1) The Bella Vista sign, now long gone, having been cut down. But by whom?

2) The road up to Bella Vista

3) The former aviary, seen from the road

4) Around the bend to my house, passing Ryan O’Neal’s place, also part of the original Barrymore estate

5) My house, high up on the property

6) A closer view, with the bedroom balcony at the top and the veranda below it

7) The stairs to the house–a long climb! (recent photo with the large Eucalyptus cut down)

8) The first flight up

9) The view from the veranda over Beverly Hills. Many a wonderful afternoon and evening were spent on that veranda, which was especially lovely at night with all the twinkling lights below. I was living there on the occasion of Barrymore’s centennial and raised a drink to him that evening on that veranda–sadly, he didn’t deign to grace me with a spiritual visitation! This view is now obscured by large Eucalyptus trees

10) The view across the road from me to the comedian Shelley Berman’s home, formerly the home of Edgar Bergen (Candice grew up there)

11) The door with Barrymore’s initials and serpent coat of arms

12) The coat of arms

13) Outside my bedroom, a view also obscured today by the overgrown foliage

14) The courtyard behind my house

15) The courtyard, a beautiful place to wander and dream of days long gone

16) Part of the main house seen above the courtyard

17) A path up to the main house

18) I loved it there, long ago when those days were closer to the days of Barrymore himself.

Enjoy!

— Robert

….with my Mrs. standing in for Errol!

— Robert

Some extras from my photo session at Three Arch Bay in 2008….

— Robert

More than fifty years after Castro put the kibosh on (Mafia) mob operations in Cuba, the sun is now rising on The Capri and Salon Rojo, two of Errol’s old Habana haunts.

dailym.ai/1mPvQ0…

— Tim

Over the years the Gretna Green Wedding Chapel has moved locations around Yuma, Arizona, with at least one disappearing altogether. The actual chapel where Errol and Lili were married on June 19, 1935 still exists and is now a simple, unassuming private home. Because of the growth of foliage in the convening years, it was difficult to line up a single shot to correspond with the vintage photo, so two were required to offer an opportunity to make Then & Now comparisons. Both buildings in the early photo can be seen in current photos on either side of it.

It is apparent that the two buildings have changed very little, but what I find most fascinating is that it appears that the small young palm tree to the left of the chapel entrance in the vintage photo is now a fully grown palm seen in the same position in the current photo on the left. If so, it outlived not only the chapel but many of the marriages conducted at this very location–including that of Flynn and Damita.

Robert

— Robert

— Robert