The Errol Flynn Blog

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

You may or may well know, that Maureen O´Hara shared some episodes about our Hollywood hero in her autobiography “Tis Herself”. She and Errol met for the first time promoting war bonds at a get- together with  money donors. Both were supposed to give speeches and were seated next to each other. They introduced themselves exchanging the usual pleasantries. While awaiting their turn, Maureen noticed that Errol was hiding something under the table. She glanced down and saw he was holding a Whiskey bottle between his knees. With each new speaker he secretly unscrewed the cap of the bottle filling his teacup under the table. He didn`t mind Maureen looking on one bit. At a certain point, still posing as the ultimate gentleman for onlookers, he began to whisper lovely obscenities to her out of the corner of his mouth.

“I moved my chair away from him slightly, but he pressed on anyway, one dirty and lascivious suggestion on top of another. This was crude stuff and not the slightest bit erotic, which I would have expected from this legendary Casanova. They mounted in their vulgarity, yet Flynn never lost his elegant poise and arrogant smirk on his face. I was fuming and would have loved to knock him on his ass, but I knew I couldn´t make that kind of a scene. So I finally whispered under the guise of a smile: Listen Errol, you better get the hell out of here or I am going up to that microphone and tell everybody what you`ve got in that teacup plus I`ll repeat everything you`ve been saying to me- word for word.”

Then and there Errol opted for retreat, not in a swashbuckling way, but still highly innovative- he slid out of his chair crawling on all fours under the long table for the exit. People down the lenght were jumping slightly as he startled them from beneath. When he finally had reached the end of the long line he stood up, looked back and – smirk still intact- waved good- bye playfully. Irish pride O´Hara saluted with a closed fist and returned his smile.

Now everybody here knows this incident culminated in their starring in the pirate movie “Against all flags” almost a decade later. Suffice it to say his teasing and testing somehow broke the ice and they worked up a great chemistry between them. Maureen was full of praise of Errol`s work ethic, saying he came to work prepared and practiced his fencing scenes meticulously with Fred Craven. Yet this was before lunch time, in the afternoon (due to too many juiced oranges) very little was achieved on film with the main male lead. Everything good they got was shot early in the day. Many romantic close ups happened between O`Hara and a X marked on a black flag that was supposed to be Errol Flynn. Needless to say she found her delivery very difficult when flirting with Jolly Rogers.

Maureen O`Hara regretted that she didn`t manage to catch up with Flynn in Cuba later while filming there “Our Man in Havana”. Soon thereafter he had died.

“He had been such an naughty scoundrel the night of our first encounter. But near the end of wrapping up “Against all flags” he had won me over. I respected him professionally and was quite fond of him personally. Deep within this devilish rogue I found a kind and fragile soul. He was the undisputed king of swashbucklers, still is to this day, and I was their queen.”

I hope you like this piece as much as I do. And if so, I will gladly share other Flynnanigans in future with you,

— shangheinz

My dear fellow Flynn fans,

Errol got immortalized in a book called “More tales from the travellers” published in Oxford 2005. This collection of tales by members of the Travellers Club London features a short story done by Mr. Robin Hanbury- Tenison, who recalls his encounter with our Hollywood hero in Havana 6 months prior his death. Thanks to my Irish friend from Galway, Dr. Alexander O`Hara, who provided me with the book, I can post this tall tale here now.

Invited by Baron Joseph de Biskei Dobronyi, a former WWII Pilot born in Hungaria, this Englishman and his first wife Marika, came to Cuba at turbulent times . “I am afraid there`s been a spot of bother this week, well a revolution actually, but that`s normal in these parts and I promise it won´t affect the fun we are going to have.” Those were the words that the two travellers were greeted with by their Hungarian host, who was known to all islanders as “Sepy”. As it turned out they were the only foreign guests at the Hilton apart from another couple, who was friendly with Sepy. Most of the rooms had been occupied by Castro`s fighters of both sexes wearing their green fatigues draped with weapons. “They had long hair and charming manners, didn`t sleep in beds, but used the floors and according to the bemused staff, left everything immaculate.”

One night they went to Sepy`s suite for cocktails and met the other couple of American descent. “An extemely attractive, suave, older man started making a big play for Marika, while I talked to his beautiful and much younger girlfriend. My wife clearly had no idea who he was, although I had recognised him immediately from the movies. It was Errol Flynn.”

At that time as we know Errol was the sole prominent Westener to identify himself with Casto`s cause supporting it actively. “He claimed to have fought with “El maximo lider” and threatened to show us his wound…” Associated with Errol, Sepy`s gang could do no wrong. Appointed guardians and playmates for his much loved girlfriend Woodsie, they visited the sights, such as Hemingway`s house and the bar he patronized. At night they drank and danced at the legendary Tropicana Nightclub, still functioning with all its gorgeous girls and singers playing to an empty house.

Meanwhile Errol was observing the downside of revolution at close range. “As international figure he was useful to the regime, lending some legitimacy to the nastier things they felt had to be done to secure their hold on the country. Quick trials and kangaroo courts followed by executions took place every evening- Errol was expected to attend.” When he joined the others at the club in the small hours, he was grey with strain of the horrors he had seen, but in his inimitable way ready for party soon thereafter. “I am down to two bottles of vodka a day” he would claim.

“One dawn, as we staggered out on the streets where daylight was just breaking, we saw a sight which stopped the film star at his tracks. A car with two huge wooden barrels filled with milk was trundling past. Between the shafts were six white mules.” “This  is my scene!” shouted Errol waving an imaginary sword and leaping onto the cart beside the startled driver. A wad of Dollars dispatched the latter and, as we all climbed aboard, our swashbuckling hero cracked the whip over the astonished mules. Reluctent they broke into a gallop and we careered through the streets of sleeping Havana, milk slopping out of the barrels onto the pavements. El Flynn y sus amigos were doing their thing and reliving a hundred of his film roles.”

I hope you enjoyed this time tavel as much as I did,

— shangheinz