The Errol Flynn Blog

Right this moment at his very own Filmhouse – “Errol Rides Again” – with wonderful accounts of growing up a Flynn from Rory herself!  Thank you, Rory!!

www.errolflynnfilmhouse.com…

— Tim

Dear Rock-itt Readers:

The August edition of The Rock-itt is now online for your enjoyment. Just click on the link to go straight there.

The Rock-itt Magazine

Cheers
Pete

Featuring: Hobart to Hollywood (about the Life and Times of Errol Flynn) and Movie Locations: Then & Now, by Robert Florczak!

— David DeWitt

I am glad to be invited as a new author to this blog. I apologize my not so good English language writing, but I have studied it only three years at school for forty years ago. During some ten years I have read quite many books in English and corresponded with quite many people. This helps me a little. – – In this first blog writing I want to tell something about how it started in my case – this interest in Errol Flynn and becoming a fan of his.

 I am Finnish and born in 1954 in Lappeenranta, a town in South Eastern part of Finland. Our family got the first TV in 1963. It meant that we started to watch many kind of programs. Among them were many serials and movies. I hadn´t heard about Errol Flynn before I first time saw some of his legendary films. This happened in 1971 when I was sixteen years old. Those films were The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood and Gentleman Jim. After these films Errol Flynn was one of the absolute top actors on my ranking list. The thing that especially made me a fan of his was his ability to use the sword. In two of these films were some remarkable sword duels and I admired the skills of Errol Flynn in using his sword. The most exciting was the one against Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood. In this film acted also the most charming young actress that I hadn´t seen ever before – Olivia de Havilland. She became my favourite, too.

 One thing that also mattered in my becoming an Errol Flynn fan must have been the fact that I first saw those two sea adventures among his many films. Sea was the element that I loved then and even more now. Well, I had never seen the sea in my entire life, but loved it anyway. It must have come from books that I had read in my childhood – books by Enid Blyton. The Famous Five had many adventures on or near the sea. They made a big impression on me. Those sea adventure films are still the greatest favourites of mine among all Errol Flynn films.

 During the seventies I only saw one more film of Errol Flynn and it was Dodge City. I became a believer in 1976 and lost all my interest in TV and movies. It lasted for a long time – almost 25 years. I bought my first satellite TV in 2000 and thus I could see TCM channel. And there I saw those favourite films of my youth. Among them were those wonderful Errol Flynn classics and many more. After those decades they aroused nostalgic feelings in me.

— Juhani

Errol used to sometimes stay in Coronado – an island immediately west of Downtown San Diego.  Most often, he stayed at the magnificent  Hotel Del Coronado, including while he was filming “Dive Bomber” in 1941, much of it at the North Island Naval Air Station, walking distance down the beach.  When he sailed to Coronado, he would dock at the Coronado Boathouse/Yacht Club, on the bayside of  “The Del'”.  In addition to being a prominent and highly regarded sailor in the area, Errol was also a very highly regarded player at the resort’s famous tennis courts.

“Dive Bomber” was filmed before the attack on Pearl, but San Diego was already booming with military activity, not only with defense manufacturing for FDR’s Lend Lease programs, but also (very correctly) in expectation of a major naval war in the Pacific.  This, combined with the movie’s superb first-of-its-kind color aviation filming – not to mention mega-star Errol Flynn, of course! – made the movie a big success.  Here’s a clip from one of the great, pioneering aviation scenes from the movie – with Errol’s plane flying by “The Del”.   In the upper right is Glorietta Bay, location of the Coronado Boathouse/Yacht Club, where Errol ofttimes docked the Sirocco & Zaca when he sailed to San Diego.

And here’s a recent evening shot of the Coronado Boathouse, not unlike it would have looked in the days of Flynn:

Another, this one somewhat similar perhaps to how the Sirocco would have looked sailing out of Glorietta Bay:

Researching Errol’s history in San Diego, I found this very rarely seen (and, I believe, never before published) autographed image of the dapper young Errol – signed for a female admirer from Coronad0 in 1941.  With the original photo (in opposite orientation, as pointed out by Robert) and the cover of the May 38, 1938 Life Magazine I believe it was published in (without autograph, of course.)  I believe a copy of this Life Magazine is buried in a time capsule below the site of the 1938 World’s Fair, with the intent of being opened in 2938.

 

        

And you know who, filming on the beach at The Del:

Coronado’s La Avenida Cafe, much as it looked in Errol’s day.  A favorite place to dine for both Errol and Marilyn, with the magnificent “El Dia del Mercado” mural by Ramos Martinez.

As it looks today, as the “Bistro of Asia”:

— Tim

From Russel Ries blog The Only New Thing: a recent correspondence results in an interesting post about Errol and Martha O’Driscoll on a USO Tour and Olivia de Havilland, too! You knew a lot of people must have taken photos of them during these tours but how many have you seen? Thanks to Russel Ries for a nice article and discovery of some rare photos …

— David DeWitt

— Tim

— Tim

The Famous Caesar’s Restaurant – Where Errol Dined and Caesar’s Salad was Invented.  A great restaurant; still there at the same location!

— Tim

Going Basque with Errol, Ava & Rita – and many say Hemingway:

www.sandiegoreader.com…

— Tim