The Adventures of Errol Flynn

In addition, some very interesting comments by Richard Dreyfuss, whobecame a Flynn fan at the age of eight and gives what seem likespontaneous, off the cuff comments that seem unrehearsed and genuine.Daughter Diedre expresses the wish that others knew more about thequieter, family man side of Flynn that is obscured by all the tales ofhis womanizing. It seems that his real interest lay in writing, butalthough he wrote two novels (neither a great literary success), helacked the discipline to achieve his literary ambitions.

Not easy to understand why anyone asked Joanne Woodward and BurtReynolds to make contributions. Neither of them was a close confidanteof the actor nor ever worked with him. Seems strange to hear themtalking about him and contributing little to our knowledge of himwithout any first hand experience.

The film clips, revealing Flynn in all his charismatic glory(especially during the height of his career) are generous and alwaysstimulating, reminding us how great his screen presence was–acombination of athletic grace and classic good looks along with actingability that was often underrated.

Any fan of the actor will appreciate this documentary. It has style andcontent and the kind of assurance about its subject that will endear itto Flynn’s fans. If nothing else, it serves to remind us that he wasone of the most dashing actors of the silver screen and, when teamedwith Olivia de Havilland in those great adventure-romance classics, hehad no peer.

While it does deal with some of his unsavory exploits (such as the rapetrial), it does not exploit them and instead shows us another, moresensitive side of Flynn that has been missing in most biographies ofthe actor.

2) Errol Flynn has always been grist for story mills – his off-screen lifewas as outrageous as his on-screen antics, so it's no surprise that adocumentary about him appears from time to time on Turner ClassicMovies, which owns the Warner Brothers Library.

What made this Flynn story particularly interesting was the input fromthe family, ex-wives Patrice Wymore and Nora Eddington, and daughterRory. They described him as a robe and slippers man who loved his home.That may come as a surprise to some people, but you can't booze andwomanize 24/7, and it's clear from photographs that he loved his threechildren. The documentary fails to mention the death of Sean Flynn,probably because it happened after his father's death.

The other element that puts this biography one step above is theinterview with Olivia de Havilland, who speaks quite frankly about theattraction she and Flynn had for one another and how the romance wasnever to be. de Havilland's affection for Flynn, spoken of soemotionally when she was in the U.S. to receive an award at the time ofher 90th birthday, is an indication that there was more to Flynn thanyoung girls, drugs, and liquor. The classy de Havilland obviously sawsomething special in him, beyond the physical.

The film clips from Robin Hood, Captain Blood and Flynn's other filmsare fun to watch. He was unique in that while other actors didmusicals, dramas, comedies and adventure films, Flynn primarily didadventure films throughout his career. He was a tremendous naturalathlete with great flair and charm, born to play the Robin Hoods andCaptain Bloods. He could have been excellent in comedy, but his attemptdidn't catch on. The problem for Flynn was that while others at Warnerscould act the big roles and play comedy as well as Flynn, no one atWarners was as adept at playing swashbucklers. This frustrated him, asa similar situation frustrated Tyrone Power at Fox, though Power hadmany more opportunities to do different types of films than did Flynn.

The wonderful thing about this documentary is it debunks CharlesHigham's Nazi premise (which had already been debunked) and, as oneposter mentioned already, the homosexuality/bisexuality assertion isridiculous. Flynn's big problem was underage girls. It's certainlypossible that he experimented with the opposite sex under the influence- probably everybody did! Why this is considered noteworthy isanybody's guess.

Flynn was embarking on a career as a character actor at his death, andagain, like Tyrone Power, he would have been happy with the meatierroles that supporting roles offer. Neither man lived to fulfill thatpotential. Flynn had a particular heartbreak in a film version ofWilliam Tell that was never finished and IRS problems. The end of hislife was a sad one for someone with so much charm, beauty and humor.

3) An amusing clip from "The Steve Allen Show" opens this documentary.Spoofing "What's My Line," three mustachioed gentlemen identifythemselves as Errol Flynn: Louis Nye, Don Knotts(!) and Errol himself.This humorous and charming tone continues through the entire show, withrich footage of some of Flynn's best performances.

Interestingly–and refreshingly–the producers include material notonly from Errol's hits–"Captain Blood," "Robin Hood," "The DawnPatrol," "Gentleman Jim"–but some of his very best acting as seen in:

…"Uncertain Glory," where he played a French gentleman thief named"Jean Picard," no doubt a distant ancestor of a familiar starshipcommander…

…"Thank Your Lucky Stars," one of only two films which allowed Errolto do song-and-dance (the other being "Let's Make Up")…

…and "Too Much Too Soon," the dreary story of Diana Barrymore'sspiral into oblivion, but a film redeemed by Errol's haunting andtouching performance as John Barrymore.

About the interviews: some (David Niven, Vincent Sherman) are takenfrom earlier documentaries (by Tony Thomas, if memory serves). In thenew interviews, critics have questioned the appearance of RichardDreyfuss, Joanne Woodward and Burt Reynolds, none of whom, to myknowledge, worked with or even knew Flynn. Yet they bring a uniqueperspective as both fans (especially Dreyfuss) and accomplished actorsin their own right, colleagues who have appropriate credentials torender evaluations of his work.

And finally, it is fascinating to see how the three who knew Errol besthave aged. Widow Patrice Wymore has acquired a silver-hairedstateliness very much like that of Lauren Bacall. Daughter Deirdre, whoof course is older than her father ever lived to be, now looks verymuch like him–sort of the way Michael Douglas only started to resemblehis father Kirk after hitting middle age. And although she looks quitematronly (but about twenty years younger than her actual age), Oliviade Havilland still shows flashes of her delightful younger self. Highpoint: Olivia tells of deciding to get some of her own back by"torturing" Flynn during the making of "Robin Hood," flubbing takeafter take of their love scenes and prolonging their physical contactuntil Errol had "trouble with his tights." Delightful!

The best recommendation for this documentary is simply: it is NOTsuperficial. Viewers unfamiliar with Flynn and his "adventures" willget a full recitation of his virtues AND vices, including thealcoholism and drug abuse that eventually destroyed him, and the rapetrial that, many believe, triggered (or at least exacerbated) both.

Interestingly, the allegations of Nazi involvement on Flynn's part,which originated around 198O, are given the short shrift they deserve,since they were largely based on guilt by association (with HermannErben, who was a Flynn friend years before he, Erben, became aNazi)–and this is done without mentioning the name of the name of theshameless author who published those charges! (I won't mention himeither.)

Curiously, charges made by the same writer that Flynn was a homosexualaren't mentioned in this program at all, probably because his verypublic involvement with women renders such an idea preposterous. Notpreposterous is the idea that Errol was bi-sexual–and if he was, whatof it? This was a man who wanted to experience EVERYTHING, and he gaveit the old college try–entertaining a lot of people along the way,too.