Anybody for...Errol Flynn Adventures?

[Phillyrich]

The collection of Errol Flynn's WWII adventures is now being heavily discounted at some amazon vendors. I just purchased it for about $24, which includes shipping.
Other than "Objective Burma," a near classic, I'm not too familiar with Errol's other WWII films in this set: "Northern Pursuit, Desperate Journey, Edge of Darkness, and Uncertain Glory." But all have the full WB night at the movies treatment. Web reviews have been mixed on the other films.

What do people think? Is the set a winner?

[dr.giraud]

I like NORTHERN PURSUIT and UNCERTAIN GLORY. The former is a cat-and-mouse Flynn vs. Nazi saboteurs in Canada actioner; the latter is an odd mix of action and character-driven drama set in occupied France.

[bobfells]

A number of Flynn films are sorely in need of re-evaluation, especially since the reliable book, THE FILMS OF ERROL FLYNN, was published over 40 years ago. The book has lots of great photos, cast and credits, and even filming locations. But Tony Thomas and his co-authors dismiss a high number of films that fall outside the revered few: CAPTAIN BLOOD, ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, and THE SEA HAWK. The rest are given rather cranky reviews that are ironic given that quite a few have risen in stature in recent decades.

I'm sure every Flynn fan has his own favorite "dissed" film - mine is DODGE CITY that the authors denigrate as simplistic. The story has more complexity than is at first apparent and there's a wonderful symmetry to the plot. The film starts out on a train and ends on a train; the old sheriff is ridden out of town by the bad guys in a hearse; at the end the bad guy is spirited out of town in the same hearse to avoid a lynch mob; the murder of Matt Cole early in the film seems unrelated to the story but turns out to be the catalyst for the climax. DODGE CITY is a cleverly plotted film but you'd never guess that from reading the FILMS book. Now don't get me started on SANTA FE TRAIL!

[Native Baltimoron]

My favorite is "Gentleman Jim" (1942), directed by Walsh starring Flynn. Great fun, great energy, great cast, and great story. Alan Hale as Flynn's father, and Ward Bond as "Himself, John L. Sullivan." Alexis Smith, at her best, playing the cool beauty who finally warms to Flynn's loud, comical advances. Historically, I don't know how accurate it is, but it's great entertainment. Always on the move from start to finish. Great character parts from Jack Carson, William Frawley, and Minor Watson. Side note: this was made when Flynn was on trial for statutory rape, and literally pushed the war news off the front page. There's a line in the film when I believe Alexis Smith says Flynn's character, Jim Corbett, isn't a gentleman. In testimony at one of his trials, an accuser stated he treated her like a gentleman. This line supposedly always got an unplanned laugh in the movie. Hence the phrase, "In Like Flynn."

[bobfells]

Flynn was filming EDGE OF DARKNESS during the statutory rape trial. GENTLEMAN JIM was in theaters by that time and one joke making the rounds was that Warners should retitle the film as just JIM. The trial was reported as a sideshow to the grim war news that, in 1942, was almost all bad news for the Allies until the end of the year when Montgomery broke Rommel's hold on North Africa. When the trial ended and Flynn was acquited, the judge thanked the jurors by noting, "I'm sure we all had a good time." An odd comment since Flynn was facing 20 years in prison if convicted.

[dr.giraud]

A number of Flynn films are sorely in need of re-evaluation, especially since the reliable book, THE FILMS OF ERROL FLYNN, was published over 40 years ago. The book has lots of great photos, cast and credits, and even filming locations. But Tony Thomas and his co-authors dismiss a high number of films that fall outside the revered few: CAPTAIN BLOOD, ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, and THE SEA HAWK. The rest are given rather cranky reviews that are ironic given that quite a few have risen in stature in recent decades.

I'm sure every Flynn fan has his own favorite "dissed" film - mine is DODGE CITY that the authors denigrate as simplistic. The story has more complexity than is at first apparent and there's a wonderful symmetry to the plot. The film starts out on a train and ends on a train; the old sheriff is ridden out of town by the bad guys in a hearse; at the end the bad guy is spirited out of town in the same hearse to avoid a lynch mob; the murder of Matt Cole early in the film seems unrelated to the story but turns out to be the catalyst for the climax. DODGE CITY is a cleverly plotted film but you'd never guess that from reading the FILMS book. Now don't get me started on SANTA FE TRAIL!

Flynn's now represented by 4 box sets from Warner, plus a bunch of lesser-known titles released through Warner Archive.

That's enduring popularity.

[Ray Faiola]

DODGE CITY is one of my top ten favorite films of all time. As much for Max Steiner's great score as for the outstanding cast and signature Curtiz touch.

As for SANTA FE TRAIL, when I finally got a print (a rare AAP original) I found myself liking it much more than I thought I would. Mainly because of the truly outstanding action sequences. Yeah, it's a flawed film that straddles the slavery line, but IMHO it's not the dawg that many make it out to be.

Flynn was always very underrated as an actor. And the Warner company was a perfect fit for him. Watching him and Alan Hale "elbow for the mike" is one of the joys of movie watching.

BTW, here's the DODGE CITY Main Title from my Soundtrack CD:

http://chelsearialtostudios.com/projects/dodge.mp3

[bobfells]

Let's not forget Flynn's second western, VIRGINIA CITY (1940), that came between DODGE CITY and SANTA FE TRAIL (which has to be about the only film where the people who want to free the slaves are the BAD guys!). Another "dissed" film in the FILMS book, VIRGINIA CITY has enough plot for three westerns, and an incredibly large cast that could populate three different westerns. This film was influenced by STAGECOACH and indeed the first third of the film (after the prologue where Flynn and buddies Alan Hale and Big Boy Williams are digging their way out of a Confederate prison) is very much of a STAGECOACH Warners-style with some of the same locations used in the Ford film.

Here is a letter I came across "written" by Flynn on location in Arizona during filming. Flynn was a skilled writer and certainly could have written this letter (sent conveniently to a newspaperman) but the contents has all the earmarks of the Warners Publicity Dept. Still, assuming much of it is accurate, it gives us an interesting view of life on location making VIRGINIA CITY:

[Mike Gebert]

I love Gentleman Jim. High spirits, manly sentiment, and for my money Flynn's best performance overall. As far as I'm concerned, it ought to be as beloved as an example of Hollywood craftsmanship at its ebullient best as, say, Casablance. Walsh in the late 30s/early 40s at WB could do no wrong.

[radiotelefonia]

I prefer UNCERTAIN GLORY than its previous version, BULLETS OR BALLOTS, and the later Warnercolor version, SPRINGFIELD RIFLE.

The first time I saw OBJECTIVE BURMA was in its colorized version, dubbed, and I felt totally unremarkable. But when I was able to see it in it black and white glory, and subtitles, it was a competely different experience. James Wong Howe camerawork did not need any color to be added.

DESPERATE JOURNEY is a favorite, I love the title used in Argentina and Latin America (FUGITIVOS DEL INFIERNO) more than the lousy one from Spain imposed in Spanish language publications (JORNADA DESESPERADA). It feels like a swashbuckling fantasy transplated to WWII... However, contemporary movies and their lousiness have made the Raoul Walsh film to feel less than a fantasy and it seems more believable right now.

MONTANA is a mediocre B picture, despite Technicolor, and the climax is extremely stupid.

[Jim Roots]

Here is a letter I came across "written" by Flynn on location in Arizona during filming. Flynn was a skilled writer and certainly could have written this letter (sent conveniently to a newspaperman) but the contents has all the earmarks of the Warners Publicity Dept.

Not a single typo or crossed-out word in a three-page letter. Yep, that's the Warners Publicity Dept. at work. Doubt Flynn himself was that perfect a typist!

Jim

[bobfells]

Well, Flynn could have dictated the letter to a typist who would have made corrections before he signed it. Had the letter been written in '37 instead of '39 Flynn might very well have authored it. But by '39 his writing career was on hiatus until the mid-40s and the only documents he was signing his name to were checks. Rudy Behlmer's book, MEMO FROM WARNER BROS., shows that as early as 1940 Flynn was showing up late and owed back taxes to IRS.

[gjohnson]

I see no reason to believe that Flynn could not of dictated that tome but it's obvious it was at the behest of his bosses that he publicize the location shoot with a thorough mention of his entire cast and crew of the film.

[bobfells]

It's a clever way to create a buzz for a film so I wonder how common this was. There's nothing to indicate that Flynn knows the recipient either. Tony Thomas published a terrific book of Flynn's writings suggesting that he intended to fall back on writing if his film career tanked. The book is titled FROM A LIFE OF ADVENTURE and contains Flynn's short stories and his first novel (or at least excerpts) BEAM ENDS, which is hard to find and pricey if you do.

[Little Caesar]

Add me to the choruses of praise for Gentleman Jim. IMO, it's one of the most entertaining movies of the 1940s.
I haven't seen this opinion mentioned yet, but I think Errol Flynn also excelled in light comedy. Most of his swashbuckling epics had moments where Flynn showed a flair for humor. His few comedy films - The Perfect Specimen, Four's a Crowd, Footsteps in the Dark (a Thin Man ripoff), and Never Say Goodbye - are also quite good too. It's a shame that The Perfect Specimen seems to be wrapped up in legal issues. It's a great comedy that also features good performances from Joan Blondell, Edward Everett Horton, Hugh Herbert, and a few others.
To add to some of the previous comments, I also believe that Virginia City is quite good. IMO, the only problem with the film is the miscasting of Miriam Hopkins. I think that Olivia de Haviland or Ann Sheridan would have been a better fit for the film.
For the record, the only Flynn clunker I've seen (granted, I haven't seen Cuban Rebel Girls) is Rocky Mountain. Either Flynn was deliberately underplaying in that movie or he was seriously bored (as I was with the movie)!

[bobfells]

I agree with the praise for GENTLEMAN JIM - it also has the distinction of being one of the very few comical historical biopics ever made - another is THE MIGHTY BARNUM (1934) - but to return to my original point here, read the analysis of GENTLEMAN JIM in the FILMS OF book and you'll be surprised with the grudging compliments combined with some complaints. That's why I said it's time for a reappraisal.

[Phillyrich]

Interesting that Flynn remains so popular, and yet someone like Clark Gable seems less so. Who would have thought that, 40 years ago?

I think the WB style and directors like Raoul Walsh had something to do with it. The grit and pace of the WB classic period still seems timely to me.

There's a new book out: "Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood's Legendary Director,," by Marilyn Moss. Its getting good reviews at amazon. Has anyone read Walsh's own autobiography?

[gjohnson]

Yeah, it's vastly entertaining, filled with stories told in the Howard Hawks vein - but minus the rampant egoism and just maybe a touch of truth telling.

Since we are praising various Flynn films my nominee for his most poignant movie would have to be ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (1948). It not only marked the coming of the end to his Warner's contract, but it would be his last truly big budget swashbuckler. The film is filled with self-reverential references to not only the character Don Juan but the actor himself as a swashbuckling romantic roue. There is a sadness seen in Flynn's eyes throughout that belie the comic light tone of this rousing, entertaining movie.

He would have another decade of filmmaking left in him but it's almost as if Flynn knows that this will be his last hurrah.

[bobfells]

Warners was encouraged to make DON JUAN because post-WWII reissues of Flynn's 30s swashbuckers did really well. But the film ran badly over budget due to Flynn's lack of professionalism - showing up late if at all, unprepared in his lines. Several scenes were pieced together from a series of incomplete takes - check out his final scene with Lindsford when she suddenly turns around and faces him, You can all but hear the director yell, "Cut!"

This film became a turning point in Flynn's relationship with Warners. For the first time they started loaning him out to any studio that wanted him, and cut the budgets on his remaining films. Just compare Flynn's early 50s WB westerns with Gary Cooper's WB westerns made at the same time. His looks may have also been a factor - he had just turned 40 in 1950 but looked older and dissipated. His last WB films had potential but the scripts needed more polish and the production values were keyed to a smaller budget. MARA MARU is a good example - Flynn played a Robt Mitchum type of role but obvious corner cutting such as that indoor studio tank for outdoor diving scenes was pretty lame.

By the late 40s Flynn seemed to have a sense of entitlement that he would always be a big star and that was his downfall. Look at all his 30s colleagues like Gable, Cooper, Stewart and they all continued to star in big budget films throughout the 50s - except for Mr. Flynn.

[gjohnson]

All of those behind the scenes wranglings that you mentioned Bob is what I feel gives the movie an extra dose of gravitas to what is otherwise all of the usual Saturday matinee heroic sword play. The filmmakers were also very sage to give Flynn, at this stage of his career, his one unrequited love on screen - a regal Queen who cannot abandon her people. His scenes with Viveca Lindfors - despite the problems during filming - are very touching.

He did seem to age overnight with this film. You can see him looking older in OBJECTIVE, BURMA - (1945) but the look fit his role as a sober-minded commando. In DON JUAN the bags under his eyes carry the weight of years of regret, but once again the look fills the role of a man who spent his life burning the candle at both ends.

I don't buy the notion that Flynn thought his stardom was entitled to him at this moment in his career. He certainly was feeling his oats during the late 30's and had no qualms in acting the part of the petulant star but the rape trial during the war took a lot out of him. He came out of it a nation-wide laughingstock and he began looking at his own celebrity with bitterness. When he came to make DON JUAN it had been 8 years since he had starred in a swashbuckler - the very genre that he had made his name in - and I think he was perceptive enough to see that the writing was on the wall.

[bobfells]

I don't disagree with you, Gary, after all who can know what was in Flynn's mind. There seems to be no question that Warners seriously downgraded the Flynn vehicles as a direct result of his behavior on DON JUAN. I can't help thinking that had he just shown up on time and knew his lines, his subsequent films would have been better. Director Vincent Sherman later said that Flynn was fine during the first two weeks of filming (I'd like to know which scenes were filmed during those two weeks) but one day Sherman found Flynn dejected because he had gotten bad reviews from a newly released film. Sherman gave him a pep talk ("nobody can make these types of films like you do") but he said Flynn was a mess for the rest of filming.

BTW, some more "inside" stuff - to save money, Warners used Robin Hood's escape from Nottingham Castle for Don Juan's escape at the film's opening. Juan's majestic entrance into Madrid as a mistaken Duke was lifted from Essex's entrance into London from ELIZABETH AND ESSEX. If you look closely you can spot a younger Flynn as Essex riding along and intercut with an older Flynn riding along as Don Juan. The young lady in the coach at the end was Flynn's current wife, Nora Eddington.

[gjohnson]

BTW, some more "inside" stuff - to save money, Warners used Robin Hood's escape from Nottingham Castle for Don Juan's escape at the film's opening. Juan's majestic entrance into Madrid as a mistaken Duke was lifted from Essex's entrance into London from ELIZABETH AND ESSEX. If you look closely you can spot a younger Flynn as Essex riding along and intercut with an older Flynn riding along as Don Juan. The young lady in the coach at the end was Flynn's current wife, Nora Eddington.

Funny!
No major studio could cut corners quite like Warner's could.........well, except maybe Columbia.........and Universal..........and definitely RKO once Hughes got his hands on it....AND.....

Oh, never mind.

[sepiatone]

I don't know, I kind of fell out of favor for Errol Flynn after reading that as a child he enjoyed gluing kittens eyes shut. Give me a break!

[daveboz]

I don't know, I kind of fell out of favor for Errol Flynn after reading that as a child he enjoyed gluing kittens eyes shut. Give me a break!

==========

I've read all the major Flynn books, and a lot more that aren't so major, and I've never heard that before. I think it's BS. Flynn was well-known as an animal lover. He had tons of different animals on his Mulholland Farm in the late '40s.

[bobfells]

There are enough real stories about Flynn that it's unnecessary to invent ones. Flynn himself was known to tell some whoppers in his later days (i.e., the one about John Barrymore's dead body being placed in his living room as a joke). My favorite Flynnism (so to speak) is when he was talking about his finances and said, "I'm having difficulty reconciling my net income to my gross habits."

I don't collect Flynn photos as such but I came across this one that reminded my of my own Schnauzer Petey. I'd colorize this photo but Schnauzers look the same whether in color or b/w:

[sepiatone]

There are enough real stories about Flynn that it's unnecessary to invent ones. Flynn himself was known to tell some whoppers in his later days (i.e., the one about John Barrymore's dead body being placed in his living room as a joke). My favorite Flynnism (so to speak) is when he was talking about his finances and said, "I'm having difficulty reconciling my net income to my gross habits."

I don't collect Flynn photos as such but I came across this one that reminded my of my own Schnauzer Petey:

I've heard two versions of the story of Barrymore's body, one with Flynn arranging the body, the other that Raoul Walsh was the arbiter of a necrophilia toast to JB. Walsh had been a Barrymore family friend since he was a child in New York, so it doesnt make sense he'd mock a sensitive situation like a friend dying. Will Fowler, Gene's son, said that he and his father guarded the body and that the Walsh/Flynn stories are bull.

[sepiatone]

I don't know, I kind of fell out of favor for Errol Flynn after reading that as a child he enjoyed gluing kittens eyes shut. Give me a break!

==========

I've read all the major Flynn books, and a lot more that aren't so major, and I've never heard that before. I think it's BS. Flynn was well-known as an animal lover. He had tons of different animals on his Mulholland Farm in the late '40s.

If I had known years ago that we'd be participating in a great online source like Nitrateville, I would have noted many of the things I've read or glanced past as references to pass on to ones who are interested. Sometimes a googlebook search can pull something up from an out of print source. Sometimes googlebooks can pull up NEW information you're not looking for but is nevertheless intriguing.

[gjohnson]

And I had always heard accounts that it was Gene Fowler himself, along with Barrymore drinking cronies WC Fields and John Decker, who all participated in the theft of the body.

This is a great tale and should never be sullied with facts. Blake Edwards based the entire ending of SOB - (1981) on that incident.

PRINT THE LEGEND!! PRINT THE LEGEND!!!

[Brooksie]

When as great a teller of tall tales as David Niven doubts the veracity of the story, I'm willing to listen. But true, it's a great yarn.