The Errol Flynn Blog

Dear Fellow Flynn Fans,

the picture above was taken on location while Errol Flynn and Waltraut Haas went through a text passage of the ill fated William Tell film. As I wrote before Mrs. Haas was cast for the role of Mary, a young swiss landlady secretly in love with the hero, ending up being raped and murdered by Austrian villain Jost, the henchman of the occupying army played by Bruce Cabot. Asked if there were any tensions to be felt between Flynn and Cabot during the filming, Mrs. Haas denied and stated that she was present at a formidable film fighting scene between the two. Pat, wife of Dave Crowley, assisted Mrs. Haas with her English pronounciation and they became friendly during their stay in Courmayeur. Then more real life drama occured. When filming was already at a halt due to labour unions oders from Rome, a young italian girl was murdered in the woods nearby! A curfew was suggested to the cast and crew. The culprit was arrested by the Italian police a week later, when they found the victims watch in his possession. He claimed to have been without a job and on his way to the French legion. Errol was enjoying himself going fishing, playing with his dog Coldnose and eating sardines out of cans. On the set of his own production no more (Vodka-) juiced oranges were necessary, he according to Mrs. Haas sipped rum and Coca Cola. Unrelated to “The story of William Tell” , but quite related to Errols lives and times, Mrs. Haas told me that she met Tyrone Power in Vienna when present at the film premiere of “Witness for the prosecution” directed by Austrian filmmaker Billy Wilder. Power was quite interested in the arts and so Mrs. Haas showed him the sights such as the Sobieski chapel overseeing the Austrian capital. He took a liking in Egon Schiele and bought one of his paintings, a two meter high canvas of a female nude. Parallels of Errols love for collecting paintings come to mind. I am determined to uncover more on “The greatest film never seen- Errol Flynn`s swashbuckling swansong William Tell” next year in Rome.

Until then all the best to all you good sports,

Heinz

— shangheinz