Swashbuckler Supreme

Today, 20 June, 2009, is the 100th birthday of the greatest of all screen Swashbucklers, Errol Flynn. Born in Hobart, Tasmania Flynn's early life was filled with all sorts of adventures. He was chosen to play Fletcher Christian in the 1933 Australian film In The Wake of the Bounty. The film was dreadful but Flynn showed charisma as Christian (an ancestor) and he got bitten by the acting bug. He made his way to England and eventually to Hollywood. A few small parts gained him notice and he wound up replacing Robert Donat in the Warner Bros production of Captain Blood (1935). This was his first teaming with the lovely Olivia de Havilland and the chemistry was perfect. More roles followed and in 1938 Flynn and de Havilland starred in the best (in my not-so-humble opinion) Swashbuckler to ever reach the theater screens. Seventy-one years later it still has not been topped, nor equalled. The Technicolor film captured Medieval England (transplanted to California) and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Oscar-winning score helped move things along. Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone were wonderful villains, Prince John and Sir Guy of Gisbourne, aided by the inept Sheriff of Nottingham, ably played by Melville Cooper. On the right side Flynn was aided by the Merry Men including Alan Hale, Sr., (Little John), Patric Knowles (Will Scarlett), Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette, Herbert Mundin (Much the Miller) and Una O'Connor (Bess, Lady Marian's maid). Ian Hunter appears as King Richard.

Flynn portrayed historical characters such as George Custer, J. E. B. Stuart, Edward the Black Prince and William Tell. Films included They Died With Their Boots On, The Sea Hawks, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Another Dawn, Objective Burma (an excellent World War II drama), The Adventures of Don Juan and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (with Bette Davis, a match made in Hell). He got to sing a song in Thank Your Lucky Stars, Warner's all-star patriotic review of 1943.

Flynn continued to star in films between his adventures, such as reporting on the Spanish Civil War. His real life escapades attracted headlines and his hard living adversely affected his health. By the late 1940's he began to look ten years older than he was. Recurrences of malaria took their toll. He started free-lancing when his Warner Bros contract ended. He made The Adventures of Captain Fabian (poor) for Republic and Against All Flags (pretty good) for Universal. He ventured into television, filmed a musical in England and on his own made Cuban Rebel Girls in 1959. The last film supported Castro's revolution before he was revealed as a Marxist dictator.

He died quietly of a heart attack 14 October, 1959, in Vancouver, BC. He had gone there to sell his beloved yacht in order to ease his financial situation. Like many other actors he relied on the wrong people to manage his finances and had troubles with the IRS. Especially sad, at the time of his death he was finally gaining the long-sought recognition as a serious actor through roles in The Sun Also Rises (1957), The Roots of Heaven and Too Much, Too Soon (both 1958).

Errol Flynn has left a legacy behind of entertaining films and the best Swashbucklers ever made. So take a little time and watch The Adventures of Robin Hood or The Sea Hawk. You will be happy you did.