From the Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis – September 21, 1946
…
— Tim
The Fidler-Flynn Fiasco of ’41
20
Sep
HOLLYWOOD –
On September 20, 1941, Errol engaged in one of the most notorious nightclub fights in Hollywood history when he slapped gossip columnist Jimmie Fidler, whose wife then stabbed Errol in his ear with a fork. Below are excerpts and summaries from various accounts of :
“All the blood came from the veins of Flynn. He charged that Fidler’s wife, Bobbie, stabbed him in the ear with a fork. Movie celebrities at surrounding tables in the Club Mocambo verified his story of Mrs. Fidler’s use of her fork as a fencing foil. The Fidlers were sitting with Samuel Zagon, Hollywood attorney, and his wife, when Flynn and Bruce Cabot walked into the celebrity-jammed room. Flynn spied Fidler, called him names, and started to poke him. Tables were overturned. Fidler’s coffee was decorating his shirt front. His wife was screaming. Blood was squirting from Flynn’s ear lobe and a dozen men were grappling with the fighters. The scene resembled the riot of stunt men in the night club sequence of many a Flynn movie. The manager was about to cell the cops when Phil Ohman’s band struck up “the Star Spangled Banner” and all hands stood at attention, dribbling blood, sweat, and rose buds from the overturned vases of one of Hollywood’s most expensive drinkeries. The gladiators retired to pose for photographs and issue statements.”
…
“I put my left fist up against his chin and gave him a slap with my right hand on the side of the head. I said ‘You’re not worth a fist.’” But then “his wife became angered and I tried to hold her to one side, still gripping Fidler, but finally she jabbed at me with a fork, which would have stuck me in the eye had I not turned my head. Instead it pierced my ear. I must say that I admire Mrs. Fidler, God bless her. She has the courage to try to defend her husband — much more courage than he himself has.”
…
“I slapped him. In Ireland that’s tantamount to the worst insult a man can give another man … I want to add, however, that [Mrs. Fidler] showed bad etiquette and used the wrong fork — she should have used the entree fork.”
…
“Fidler claimed Flynn had come over to the table, ran his mouth, tried to punch him, lost his diamond cuff links in the process, accused Fidler of stealing said cufflinks, gone back to drinking, taken a lady to the dance floor, passed his seat on the way there, and up and tried to punch him again.”
“And when things were just about to get real, the band leader started into “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“Like the Cafe Trocadero and Ciro’s, the Mocambo was a world-famous nightclub on the Sunset Strip catering to celebrities. Located at 8588 Sunset Blvd. [map], it opened on January 3, 1941, featuring Mexican-themed decor said to have cost over $100,000 (about $1.6 million today) and dominated by glass-walled aviaries that housed live macaws, cockatoos, parrots and other birds.
During its 17-year run, the Mocambo was the scene of a number of celebrity brawls. In 1941, a movie agent named William Burnside cold-cocked restaurateur Michael Romanoff there, for reasons now forgotten. “I wish they had let me go just for a minute and I would have annihilated him,” Romanoff said later. In October that year, Errol Flynn punched Los Angeles Times columnist Jimmy Fidler at Mocambo in retaliation for purported derogatory comments Fidler had made in his column.
…
Phil Olman was a premier pianist, first in New York performing and recording with George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Paul Whiteman, et al. Then he left for the left coast, where he specialized in teaching actors and pianists how to play piano in Hollywood films, in addition to recording and playing the top celebrity nightclubs. He is known for songs like “I Love a Parade”, “Penthouse Serenade”, “Funny Face”, “Each Time You Say Goodbye [I Die a Little]”, and many, many more. Unfortunately, I could not find any recordings of him playing the Star-Spangled Banner!
— Tim
A Hamilton Quiz
19
Sep
What movie starring Errol includes a scene from a play about Alexander Hamilton?
Added Saturday, September 19 @ 11AM:
Glimpses of the the following Hollywood hotspots were also shown in this major black-and-white feature film.
Added Saturday, September 19 @ 7:30 PM:
A scene was filmed here:
— Tim
Robin in Oregon
17
Sep
This Weekend, Friday and Saturday, 6PM, September 18 and 19, 2020.
It’s yesteryear once more out in Oregon! See Errol swashbuckle his way to victory over the Sheriff of Nottingham at the historic Granada Theater in The Dalles, 84 miles east of Portland. The theater is showing old movies in a new way: as dinner theater with food matching the themes of the movies. It’s a cinematic and dining time machine!
www.granadatheatrethedalles.com…
— Tim
At the TTFF Today
15
Sep
September 15, 2020
Errol Flynn’s Ghost: Hollywood in Havana, in Trinidad + Tabago
— Tim
He Collapsed with His Shoes On
12
Sep
…
Very notably, this incident occurred nearly three months prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, serving to support, along with other medical ailments and injuries, the U.S. Armed Forces’ rejections of Errol’s applications for active duty during WW II.
P.S. Errol appears to me as though he may be ill, possibly anemic, in the Boots publicity photo above. What do you think?
— Tim
Goldie Gets Along on TCM today
11
Sep
I know it’s late notice, but Lili Damita is on Turner Classic Movies in Goldie Gets Along today (Friday, Sept. 11) at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. I have never actually seen one of her films so am looking forward to it.
— Paula
The Freedom Bonds Act of 2001
11
Sep
In September of 1942, as a reward for the town of Libertyville, Illinois’ record-breaking war bond sales in 1942, the town’s Liberty Theater was chosen to be the location of the world premiere of Errol’s first of five World War II films, “Desperate Journey”, which, much more notably now than then also starred Ronald Reagan. Far more notably at the time was the fact that Jimmy Cagney hosted the event.
This historic event of September 1942 was cited in the Freedom Bonds Act Hearings of 2001 U.S. Congressional Hearings of 2001, as follows:
From the Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 14][Pages 20376-20379]
FREEDOM BONDS ACT OF 2001
Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2899) to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to issue War Bonds in support of recovery and response efforts relating to the September 11, 2001 hijackings and attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2899
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Freedom Bonds Act of 2001”.
SEC. 2. ISSUANCE OF FREEDOM BONDS.
Section 3105 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“Freedom Bonds.–The Secretary may designate one or more series of bonds or certificates (or any portion thereof) issued under this section as `Freedom Bonds’ in response to the acts of terrorism perpetrated against the United States on September 11, 2001.”
…
Mr. KIRK of Illinois:
Mr. Speaker, I want to rise in strong support of H.R. 2899, the Freedom Bonds Act of 2001. This legislation draws upon the heritage of our greatest generation. During World War II, war bonds were one important way that every American could help make sure that our men and women in uniform had what they needed for victory. My own district is home to Libertyville, Illinois. Libertyville sold more war bonds per capita than any other city in America. Libertyville oversubscribed every bond quota assigned, and this achievement led to a unique honor.
In the fall of 1942, a young sailor reported for duty at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Like the 3 million Americans who entered the Navy there, James Cagney trained for war. On September 10, 1942, he was able to leave the base and paid a unique honor to Libertyville’s war bond drive by opening a major Hollywood movie there, Desperate Journey. Desperate Journey was a war thriller starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan and it opened at the Libertyville Theater. Tickets went for a $25 war bond, and the evening was a smashing success, raising $110,000 for the war effort.
Mr. Speaker, in these tough times after September 11, we return to our values in tested ways to support our country and the cause of freedom. This legislation recalls that spirit of Libertyville to enlist the help of every American in our cause against terrorism. I would hope that this legislation receives quick action and that Libertyville can help launch our State’s freedom bond effort.
— Tim
