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94-561: The Jolly Boys grew out of a group called the Navy Island Swamp Boys that formed on 11 April 1945, and often played at Errol Flynn 's parties. This group included Moses Deans on banjo and guitar, Noel Lynch on Guitar and "Papa" Brown on rumba box . After this group split in 1955, Deans and Brown formed The Jolly Boys (a name Errol Flynn is said to have coined) with Derrick "Johnny" Henry on maracas and drum, Martell Brown on guitar, and David "Sonny" Martin on guitar. One of

188-740: A naturalised American citizen on 14 August 1942. With the United States fully involved in the Second World War, he attempted to enlist in the armed services but failed the physical exam due to recurrent malaria (contracted in New Guinea ), a heart murmur, various venereal diseases and latent pulmonary tuberculosis. Flynn was mocked by reporters and critics as a "draft dodger" because the studio refused to admit that their star, promoted for his physical beauty and athleticism, had been disqualified due to health problems. Flynn started

282-513: A pre-code 1930 drama of the same title about Royal Flying Corps fighter pilots in World War I and the devastating burden carried by officers who must send men out to die every morning. Flynn and co-stars Basil Rathbone and David Niven led a cast that was all male and predominantly British. Director Edmund Goulding 's biographer Matthew Kennedy wrote: "Everyone remembered a set filled with fraternal good cheer.... The filming of Dawn Patrol

376-477: A "modern" mento style with in-house studio engineer Dale Dizzle Virgo . In November 2009, ethnomusicologist Daniel Neely was brought to play banjo and act as the project's music director. The album, called Great Expectation was released in late 2010, and yielded an international tour representing a new stage in Jolly Boys history. Although its core group has remained fairly stable over the past sixty years,

470-546: A 15-year contract with Warner Bros. for $ 225,000 per film. His income totalled $ 214,000 that year, and $ 200,000 in 1948. After a cameo in Warner Bros.' Technicolor musical comedy It's a Great Feeling (1949), Flynn was borrowed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to appear in That Forsyte Woman (1949), which made $ 1.855 million in the U.S. and $ 1.842 million abroad which was the eleventh-biggest hit of

564-605: A copy was discovered in the basement of the surrogate court of New York City. Two of seven cans of the movie had deteriorated beyond hope, but five survived and were sent to the George Eastman House film archive for restoration. Flynn wrote and co-produced his next film, the low-budget Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951), directed by Marshall and shot in France. (Flynn wrote articles, novels and scripts but never had

658-699: A different kind of role, and so when ill health made Leslie Howard drop out of the screen adaptation of Lloyd C. Douglas' inspirational novel, Flynn got the lead role in Green Light (1937), playing a doctor searching for a cure for Rocky Mountain spotted fever . The studio then put him back into another swashbuckler, replacing Patric Knowles as Miles Hendon in The Prince and the Pauper (1937). He appeared opposite Kay Francis in Another Dawn (1937),

752-536: A full list of the Jolly Boys members would include a large number of official but transient members. Today, the "original" group consists of Albert Minott (lead vocals), Derrick "Johnny" Henry (rumba box), Allan Swymmer (percussion), and Egbert Watson (banjo). The current touring band mixes three of the original members (Minott, Bennett and Henry) with three younger members ( Dale Dizzle Virgo on drums & percussions; and Harold Dawkins "Jah T" on guitar). Long time member Joseph "Powda" Bennett died on 20 August 2014 after

846-550: A guest bedroom for surreptitious viewing. Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood toured the house as a prospective buyer in the 1970s and reported, "Errol had two-way mirrors... speaker systems in the ladies' room. Not for security. Just that he was an A-1 voyeur." In March 1955, the popular Hollywood gossip magazine Confidential ran a salacious article titled "The Greatest Show in Town... Errol Flynn and His Two-Way Mirror!" In her 1966 biography, actress Hedy Lamarr wrote, "Many of

940-614: A job as a junior clerk with a Sydney shipping company for pilfering petty cash, he went to Papua New Guinea at the age of eighteen, seeking his fortune in tobacco planting and gold mining in the Morobe Goldfield . He spent the next five years oscillating between living in New Guinea and Sydney. In January 1931, Flynn became engaged to Naomi Campbell-Dibbs, the youngest daughter of Robert and Emily Hamlyn (Brown) Campbell-Dibbs of Temora and Bowral , New South Wales . They did not marry. Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel

1034-534: A joint venture with Richard Branson and V2 Records , signing RZA to an exclusive solo recording deal in 1997. V2 bought 80% of Gee Street and marketed it through BMG . Baker sold his remaining 20% share of Gee Street to Richard Branson in 2000. In 2002, he moved to Jamaica , became a Jamaican citizen. That year, he also produced the album Adelante , featuring Ky-Mani Marley and Alberto D'Ascola (aka Alborosie ) In 2004, Baker produced Two Culture Clash in collaboration with producer Mark Jones in

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1128-531: A light-hearted mystery, Footsteps in the Dark (1941). Los Angeles Times ' Edwin Schallert wrote: "Errol Flynn becomes a modern for a change in a whodunit film and the excursion proves eminently worth-while... an exceptionally clever and amusing exhibit ..." The film was not a big success; far more popular was the military drama Dive Bomber (1941), his last film with Curtiz. In later years, Footsteps in

1222-465: A long life?' Errol was his usually apparently unconcerned self: 'I'm only interested in this half,' he told her. 'I don't care for the future. ' " Flynn collapsed on set on 15 July 1942, while filming a boxing scene with Ward Bond. Filming was shut down while he recovered; he returned a week later. In his autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways , Flynn describes the episode as a mild heart attack. In September 1942, Warners announced that Flynn had signed

1316-422: A melodrama set in a mythical British desert colony. Warners then gave Flynn his first starring role in a modern comedy, The Perfect Specimen (1937), with Joan Blondell , under the direction of Curtiz. Meanwhile, Flynn published his first book, Beam Ends (1937), an autobiographical account of his experiences sailing around Australia as a youth. He also travelled to Spain, in 1937, as a war correspondent during

1410-452: A more formal partnership and agreed to develop Geejam into a luxury private hotel. To this point, Baker had devoted a great deal of his energy to make Geejam an exclusive residential recording studio . The studio's resources had earned a strong reputation among industry insiders and attracted several top artists including Gorillaz , No Doubt , India Arie , Dru Hill , Gondwana , Les Nubians , Wyclef Jean , and Björk . Geejam opened to

1504-478: A new contract with the studio for four films a year, one of which he would also produce. In Edge of Darkness (1943), set in Nazi-occupied Norway, Flynn played a Norwegian resistance fighter, a role originally intended for Edward G. Robinson . Director Lewis Milestone later recalled, "Flynn kept underrating himself. If you wanted to embarrass him, all you had to do was to tell him how great he

1598-530: A new long-term relationship with a director when he teamed with Raoul Walsh in They Died with Their Boots On (1942), a biopic of George Armstrong Custer . De Havilland was his co-star in this, the last of eight films they made together. The movie grossed $ 2.55 million in the U.S. alone, making it Warner Bros.' second-biggest hit of 1942. Flynn's first World War II film was Desperate Journey (1942), directed by Walsh, in which he played an Australian for

1692-473: A performer and his contempt for studio operation". Despite the troubles behind the scenes, the film was a huge success, making a profit of just under $ 1 million. Flynn's next film had been planned since 1936: another swashbuckler taken from a Sabatini novel, The Sea Hawk (1940), but only the title was used. A reviewer observed in Time 19 August 1940, " The Sea Hawk (Warner) is 1940's lustiest assault on

1786-474: A private boarding school in Barnes , London. In 1926, he returned to Australia to attend Sydney Church of England Grammar School (known as "Shore"), where he was the classmate of a future Australian prime minister, John Gorton . His formal education ended with his expulsion from Shore for theft, although he later claimed it was for a sexual encounter with the school's laundress. After being dismissed from

1880-586: A private screening of Elizabeth and Essex , an astounded Davis had exclaimed, "Damn it! The man could act!" Warners put Flynn in another Western, Virginia City (1940), set near the end of the Civil War. Flynn played Union officer Kerry Bradford. In an article for TCM, Jeremy Arnold wrote: "Ironically, the Randolph Scott role [as Captain Vance Irby, commandant of the prison camp where Bradford

1974-637: A professional actor for seven months. He performed at the 1934 Malvern Festival and in Glasgow , and briefly in London's West End. In 1934, Flynn was dismissed from Northampton Rep. after he threw a female stage manager down a stairwell. He returned to London. Asher cast him as the lead in Murder at Monte Carlo , a " quota quickie " made by Warner Brothers at their Teddington Studios in Middlesex. The movie

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2068-728: A punk T-shirt store called Blooze in Kensington Market in 1978. In 1979, operations grew and Blooze was relocated to the Great Gear Market, Kings Road, London and renamed Axiom. In 1980 Baker moved to New York and in 1981 staged a combined Axiom fashion show and concert in support of Spandau Ballet’s performance at The Underground, Broadway’s disco club. In 1982, Baker launched UK fashion label Demob in New York. Baker then based himself in New York where he met club promoter and manager Ruza Blue who introduced him to

2162-458: A quick learner". The success of The Adventures of Robin Hood did little to convince the studio that their prize swashbuckler should be allowed to do other things, but Warners allowed Flynn to try a screwball comedy , Four's a Crowd (1938). Despite the presence of de Havilland and the direction of Curtiz, it was not a success. The Sisters (1938), a drama showing the lives of three sisters in

2256-564: A residential recording studio–to entertain the artists working there. (Over the years, this list has included No Doubt , the Gorillaz , Drake and Amy Winehouse .) The rift between the two bands lasted until 2006 or 2007. When GeeJam opened as a hotel in 2008, the again-reunited Jolly Boys became its house band. The quality of their performances–and particularly the strength and charisma of lead singer Albert Minott–led GeeJam's co-owner Jon Baker to co-produce an album of rock covers done in

2350-710: A respiratory illness, aged 76. Albert Minott, lead singer of the band from 2009, died on 30 June 2017. He died peacefully sitting on his veranda in Port Antonio. Minott, who was born on 14 September 1938, was 78 years old. He had suffered from respiratory problems for some time. Derrick "Jonny" Henry (Rumba Box) died on March 13, 2019. Henry, who was born on 5 July 1939, was 79 years old. He died quietly at his home in Port Antonio. Banjo player Lenford "Brutus" Richards passed away suddenly in May 2023. Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959)

2444-689: A role in Lolita , but nothing came of it. Flynn went to Cuba in late 1958 to film the self-produced B film Cuban Rebel Girls , where he met Fidel Castro and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Cuban Revolution . He wrote a series of newspaper and magazine articles for the New York Journal American and other publications documenting his time in Cuba with Castro. Flynn was the only journalist who happened to be with Castro

2538-475: A swashbuckler in Italy, Crossed Swords (1954). This inspired him to produce a similar movie in that country, The Story of William Tell (1953), directed by Jack Cardiff with himself in the title role. The movie fell apart during production, was never finished, and ruined Flynn financially. Desperate for money, he accepted an offer from Herbert Wilcox to support Anna Neagle in a British musical, Lilacs in

2632-411: A time in the 1940s, narcotics abuse. He was addicted to alcohol, tobacco, drugs and sex. He was linked romantically with Lupe Vélez , Marlene Dietrich and Dolores del Río , among many others. Carole Lombard is said to have resisted his advances but invited him to her extravagant parties. He was a regular attendee of William Randolph Hearst 's equally lavish affairs at Hearst Castle , though he

2726-567: A war film set during the Burma Campaign . Although popular, it was withdrawn in Britain after protests that the role played by British troops was not given sufficient credit. A Western, San Antonio (1945), was also very popular, grossing $ 3.553 million in the U.S. and was Warner Bros.' third-biggest hit of the year. Flynn tried comedy again with Never Say Goodbye (1946), a comedy of remarriage opposite Eleanor Parker , but it

2820-724: A worldwide joint venture with the focus on North American markets in 1991. Baker was appointed President of Island Jamaica for North America (the Jamaican music division of Island Records). The first release under the joint venture, PM Dawn’s “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” released in 1991, providing the funding for Bakers investments in Jamaica and with this he brought property in San San, Port Antonio. The joint venture agreement between Island Polygram Records and Baker faltered and came to an end in 1996. Later that year, Baker established

2914-593: A younger sister Nora Rosemary Flynn (1919-1981). Flynn described his mother's family as "seafaring folk" and this appears to be where his lifelong interest in boats and the sea originated. Both of his parents were Australian-born of Irish, English and Scottish descent. Despite Flynn's claims, the evidence indicates that he was not descended from any of the Bounty mutineers . Flynn received his early schooling in Hobart. Future World Correspondence Chess Champion Cecil Purdy

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3008-464: Is a classic, echoing the battle on the beach in Captain Blood where Flynn also kills Rathbone's character after a long demonstration of fine swordplay, in that case choreographed by Ralph Faulkner . According to Faulkner's student, Tex Allen, "Faulkner had good material to work with. Veteran Basil Rathbone was a good fencer already, and Flynn, though new to the school of fence, was athletic and

3102-551: Is a music industry executive. He has worked as a fashion designer, promoter, and is currently co-owner of Geejam, a luxury resort and recording studio located in San San , near Port Antonio, Jamaica . Baker was born in 1960 in London. His mother, Maureen Baker , was a fashion designer and his father, Roy Baker, sold classic cars. Baker attended the Chelsea College of Art . After leaving school in 1977, Baker opened

3196-579: Is that he was discovered by cast member John Warwick . The film was not a strong success at the box office, but Flynn was the lead role, leading him to travel to Britain in late 1933 to pursue a career in acting. Flynn got work as an extra in a film, I Adore You (1933), produced by Irving Asher for Warner Bros. He soon secured a job with the Northampton Repertory Company at the town's Royal Theatre (now part of Royal & Derngate ), where he worked and received his training as

3290-718: The 18th-greatest hero in American film history , the lead role in Captain Blood (1935), Major Geoffrey Vickers in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and the hero in a number of Westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail , Virginia City (both 1940) and San Antonio (1945). Flynn was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion pictures and television industry in 1960. Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn

3384-601: The Round Hill Hotel in Montego Bay. However, in 1969 Allan Swymmer moved to St. Ann's Bay and formed a second, concurrent "Jolly Boys" group composed of musicians local to that area. This group mainly performed in the parish, but they recorded two albums ( Roots of Reggae: Music From Jamaica [1977] and Jolly Boys at Club Caribbean [1979]) and several 45s. Although the St. Ann's-based Jolly Boys existed only during

3478-555: The Spanish Civil War , in which he sympathised with the Republicans . Flynn followed this with his most famous movie, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), playing the title role, opposite de Havilland's Marian . This movie was a global success. It was the 6th-top movie grosser of 1938. It was also the studio's first large-budget colour film using the three-strip Technicolor process. The budget for Robin Hood

3572-637: The Stereo MCs and together they began to produce and distribute white label records to London dance shops. He also met his future wife Ziggi Golding, an agent who ran the progressive "Z" modeling agency. Baker alongside Britain’s pirate radio Kiss FM hip-hop jock DJ Richie Rich in 1986 and the Stereo MCs , opened a recording studio called Gee Street Records. Among the artists Gee Street signed and/or promoted were Jon King /King Butcher, Funtopia, Gail Ann Dorsey , Queen Latifah , Jungle Brothers ,

3666-616: The UK . In 2004 and again in 2005, he became a consultant for New Reality TV's Digicel Rising Stars talent competition on Jamaica's TVJ television station in 2004. In 2006, Baker worked with Steve Beaver of the Hong Kong -based Beaver Music on the Singerz Collection album series through Universal Music Japan ; it featured contemporary songs interpreted in a reggae style. Later that year, however, Baker and Beaver went into

3760-441: The 1970s, its seeming lack of relationship to the group led by Moses Deans created considerable confusion about whether the two groups were related. The two did co-exist, neither, it seems, to the detriment of the other. Because several of the Jolly Boys' original members had died by the end of the 1970s, the group foundered for a short period. However, around 1980 Swymmer moved back to Port Antonio and, together with Deans, reformed

3854-568: The Dark co-star Ralph Bellamy recalled Flynn at this time as "a darling. Couldn't or wouldn't take himself seriously. And he drank like there was no tomorrow. Had a bum ticker from the malaria he'd picked up in Australia. Also, a spot of TB. Tried to enlist but flunked his medical, so he drank some more. Knew he wouldn't live into old age. He really had a ball in Footsteps in the Dark . He was so glad to be out of swashbucklers". Flynn became

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3948-477: The Jolly Boys with Joseph "Powda" Bennett on the rumba box. During the 1983 filming of the film Zombie Island Massacre , The Jolly Boys were filmed performing the song Sarah. They can be seen performing in orange shirts with "The Jolly Boys" written across the front. While they were not credited, both the song and the band appear. The group found quick work at all the major hotels and was in great demand locally. When singer-songwriter and producer Jules Shear saw

4042-722: The London stage". His first appearance was a small role in The Case of the Curious Bride (1935). Flynn had two scenes, one as a corpse and one in flashback. His next part was slightly bigger, in Don't Bet on Blondes (1935), a B-picture screwball comedy . Warner Bros. was preparing a big-budget swashbuckler, Captain Blood (1935), based on the 1922 novel by Rafael Sabatini and directed by Michael Curtiz . The studio originally intended to cast Robert Donat , but he turned down

4136-757: The Spring (1954). Also shot in Britain was The Dark Avenger (1955), for Allied Artists, in which Flynn played Edward, the Black Prince . Wilcox used him with Neagle again in King's Rhapsody (1955), but it was not a success, ending plans for further Wilcox-Flynn collaborations. In 1956 he presented and sometimes performed in the British-filmed television anthology series The Errol Flynn Theatre . Flynn received an offer to make his first Hollywood film in five years: Istanbul (1957), for Universal, which

4230-586: The Stereo MCs, and P.M. Dawn . Gee Street's first significant success was the release of Straight out the Jungle by Jungle Brothers ; their single "I'll House You" reached the top 5 in the UK national charts. Then, in 1988, he signed the Stereo MCs to a licensing deal with Island Records . In 1990, Polygram Records’ Chris Blackwell signed P.M. Dawn , and proposed a joint venture with Island / PolyGram that secured Gee Street 's roster for Island. Baker agreed on

4324-468: The U.S. plus $ 2.452 million abroad, on a budget of $ 2.056 million) while making it MGM's fifth-biggest movie of the year by box office and eleventh biggest overall for Hollywood. It was shot partly in India. On his way home, he shot some scenes for a film he produced, Hello God (1951), directed by William Marshall; it was never released. For many years, this was considered a lost film, but in 2013,

4418-440: The U.S., making it Warner Brothers' second-biggest hit of 1940. At the zenith of his career, Flynn was voted the fourteenth most popular star in the U.S. and the seventh most popular in Britain according to Motion Picture Daily . According to Variety , he was the fourth-biggest star in the U.S. and the fourth-biggest box-office attraction overseas as well. Flynn consistently ranked among Warner Bros.'s top stars. In 1937, he

4512-612: The accusation. One such group, the American Boys' Club for the Defense of Errol Flynn—ABCDEF—accumulated a substantial membership that included William F. Buckley Jr. The trial took place in late January and early February 1943. Flynn's attorney, Jerry Giesler , impugned the accusers' character and morals and accused them of numerous indiscretions, including affairs with married men and, in Satterlee's case, an abortion (which

4606-529: The band during a visit to the Trident Hotel in 1989, he decided to produce an album of the group's music. This was the first of four albums the group released between 1989 and 1997. (Many of these albums have been subsequently reissued.) These recordings led to several world tours, an appearance in the film The Mighty Quinn with Denzel Washington , and a level of international recognition few mento groups ever experience. After Moses Deans died in 1998,

4700-466: The bathrooms have peepholes or ceilings with squares of opaque glass through which you can't see out but someone can see in." He had a Schnauzer dog named Arno, which was specially trained to protect him. They went together to premieres, parties, restaurants and clubs until the dog's death in 1941. On 15 June 1938, during filming, Arno bit Bette Davis on the ankle in a scene where she struck Flynn. Jon Baker (Producer) Jon Baker (born 1960)

4794-599: The best swashbuckling role he has had since Captain Blood. For Hungarian Director Michael Curtiz, who took Flynn from bit-player ranks to make Captain Blood and has made nine pictures with him since, it should prove a high point in their profitable relationship." It was not, but The Sea Hawk made a profit of $ 977,000 on that budget of $ 1.7 million. Another financial success was the Western Santa Fe Trail (1940), with de Havilland and Ronald Reagan and directed by Curtiz, which grossed $ 2,147,663 in

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4888-520: The discipline to turn it into a full-time career. ) Flynn wound up suing Marshall over both movies. For Warners, he appeared in an adventure tale set in the Philippines, Mara Maru (1952). That studio released a documentary of a 1946 voyage he had taken on his yacht, Cruise of the Zaca (1952). In August 1951, he signed a one-picture deal to make a movie for Universal in exchange for a percentage of

4982-480: The double feature. It cost $ 1,700,000 and exhibits Errol Flynn and 3,000 other cinema actors performing every imaginable feat of spectacular derring-do, and lasts two hours and seven minutes... Produced by Warner's Hal Wallis with a splendour that would set parsimonious Queen Bess's teeth on edge, constructed of the most tried-and-true cinema materials available, The Sea Hawk is a handsome, shipshape picture. To Irish [ sic ] Cinemactor Errol Flynn, it gives

5076-556: The film embodies the type of imaginative family adventure tailor-made for the silver screen". In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry . Years later, in a 2005 interview, de Havilland described how, during the filming, she decided to tease Flynn, whose wife

5170-527: The first time. It was another big hit. The role of Gentleman Jim Corbett in Walsh's Gentleman Jim (1942) was one of Flynn's favourites. Warner Bros. purchased the rights to make a film of Corbett's life from his widow, Vera, specifically for their handsome, athletic and charming leading man. The movie bears little resemblance to the boxer's life, but the story was a crowd-pleaser. Despite—or perhaps because of—its departure from reality, Gentleman Jim packed

5264-553: The general public in 2008 and is part of the Island Outpost brand. Since 2008, Geejam has been rated Jamaica's number-one hotel by travel review website TripAdvisor.com in March 2010. Over this time, Drake , Santigold , Major Lazer , and Amy Winehouse have all worked on recording projects there. The Geejam Group's most recent project involved the Jamaican mento band The Jolly Boys . Their album Great Expectation

5358-468: The group carried on, playing mainly in Port Antonio. In the early 2000s, a rift developed between band members and the group again split into two different "Jolly Boys" bands, one led by Swymmer (which was sometimes called "Allan Swymmer's Mento Band), and the other led by Bennett. It was during this time that the Jolly Boys–both groups, depending on availability–were first hired to play at GeeJam –then

5452-425: The group's regular substitutes in this period was percussionist Allan Swymmer, who joined the group as a full member in the 1960s. This group was very popular throughout Port Antonio and earned the reputation of being the finest mento band in the parish. In the early 1960s, the Jolly Boys' reputation grew substantially. It performed at hotels and for private parties, often alongside a floorshow/dance troupe. (One of

5546-695: The hip-hop scene in the Bronx. Baker then began working at The Roxy club. Baker produced fashion shows for various designers and events in New York, such as the Danceteria and the Peppermint Lounge. In 1983, Baker designed and promoted a club on Union Square called Fresh 14, before it closed after a short while and in 1984 Baker returned to the UK. In 1985, having returned to the UK, Baker organized Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's first UK tour. That year, he met Rob Birch and Nick Hallam of

5640-529: The night Batista fled the country, and Castro learned of his victory in the revolution. Many of these pieces were lost until 2009 when they were rediscovered in a collection at the University of Texas at Austin 's Dolph Briscoe Center for American History . He appeared in a short titled Cuban Story: The Truth About Fidel Castro Revolution (1959), his last-known work. Flynn developed a reputation for his womanising , hard-drinking, chain smoking and, for

5734-410: The part, afraid that his chronic asthma would make it impossible for him to perform the strenuous role. Warners considered a number of other actors, including Leslie Howard and James Cagney , and also conducted screen tests of those they had under contract, like Flynn. The tests were impressive, and Warners finally cast Flynn in the lead, opposite 19-year-old Olivia de Havilland . The resulting film

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5828-412: The profits: this was Against All Flags (1952), a popular swashbuckler. In 1952, he was seriously ill with hepatitis , resulting in liver damage. In England, he made another swashbuckler for Warners, The Master of Ballantrae (1953). After that, Warners ended their contract with him and their association that had lasted for 18 years and 35 films. Flynn relocated his career to Europe, starting with

5922-543: The proprietor of the Blue Angel Supper Club in Chicago (a venue famous for showcasing West Indian music) in 1964. Although it is unclear whether the Jolly Boys passed Farduli's audition, they did travel to New Hampshire in 1966 for what was the first of several six-month engagements. In the 1970s, the Jolly Boys continued to perform in Port Antonio, but also took work elsewhere in Jamaica, most notably at

6016-552: The theatres. According to Variety , it was the third Errol Flynn movie to gross at least $ 2 million for Warner Bros. in 1942. Flynn eagerly undertook extensive boxing training for this film, working with Buster Wiles and Mushy Callahan . Callahan's remembrances were documented in Charles Higham's Errol Flynn: The Untold Story . "Errol tended to use his right fist. I had to teach him to use his left and to move very fast on his feet...Luckily, he had excellent footwork, he

6110-401: The troupes they typically performed with was led by Albert Minott, at that time an occasional Jolly Boys member and now its current lead singer.) In 1962, the group competed and was a finalist in a national mento band competition held at the Ward Theater in Kingston. The national renown that followed probably also led to international attention. For example, the group auditioned for Jean Farduli,

6204-455: The war in "That's What You Jolly Well Get", the only musical number that was ever performed by Flynn on screen. In late 1942, two 17-year-old girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee, separately accused Flynn of statutory rape at the Bel Air home of Flynn's friend Frederick McEvoy , and on board Flynn's yacht Sirocco , respectively. The scandal received immense press attention. Many of Flynn's fans founded organisations to publicly protest

6298-491: The year for MGM. He went on a three-month holiday then made two medium-budget Westerns for Warners, Montana (1950), which made $ 2.1 million and was Warner Bros.' fifth-biggest movie of the year, and Rocky Mountain (1950), which made $ 1.7 million in the U.S. and was Warner Bros.' ninth-biggest movie of the year. He returned to MGM for Kim (1950), one of Flynn's most popular and profitable movies from this period, grossing $ 5.348 million ($ 2.896 million in

6392-404: The years from 1904 to 1908, including a dramatic rendering of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was more popular. Flynn played alcoholic sports reporter Frank Medlin, who sweeps Louise Elliott ( Bette Davis ) off her feet on a visit to Silver Bow, Montana. Their married life in San Francisco is difficult, and Frank sails to Singapore just hours before the catastrophe. The original ending of the film

6486-399: Was a Western with Walsh and Ann Sheridan , Silver River (1948). This was a hit, although its high cost meant it was not very profitable. Flynn drank so heavily on the set that he was effectively disabled after noon-hour, and a disgusted Walsh terminated their business relationship. Warners tried returning Flynn to swashbucklers and the result was Adventures of Don Juan (1948). The film

6580-442: Was a magnificent success for the studio and gave birth to two new Hollywood stars and an on-screen partnership that would encompass eight films over six years. The budget for Captain Blood was $ 1.242 million, and it made $ 1.357 million in the U.S. and $ 1.733 million overseas, meaning a huge profit for Warner Bros. Flynn had been selected to support Fredric March in Anthony Adverse (1936), but public response to Captain Blood

6674-503: Was a prisoner of war] was originally conceived for Flynn.... In fact, Virginia City was plagued with script, production and personnel problems all along. Shooting began without a finished script, angering Flynn, who complained unsuccessfully to the studio about it. Flynn disliked the temperamental Curtiz and tried to have him removed from the film. Curtiz didn't like Flynn (or co-star Miriam Hopkins) either. Humphrey Bogart apparently didn't care for Flynn or Randolph Scott. Making matters worse

6768-624: Was a war film set in Canada. He then made a film for his own production company, Thomson Productions, where he had a say in the choice of vehicle, director and cast, plus a portion of the profits. Uncertain Glory (1944), a war-time drama set in France with Flynn as a criminal who redeems himself, was not a success, earning only a modest gross of $ 1.5 million. Thomson Productions made no more movies. Still, Flynn earned $ 175,000 in 1943. With Walsh he made Objective, Burma! in 1944, released in 1945,

6862-607: Was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood . He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia de Havilland , and reputation for his womanising and hedonistic personal life. His most notable roles include Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which was later named by the American Film Institute as

6956-457: Was an unusual experience for everyone connected with it, and dissipated for all time the legend that Britishers are lacking in a sense of humor.... The picture was made to the accompaniment of more ribbing than Hollywood has ever witnessed. The setting for all this horseplay was the beautiful English manners of the cutterups. The expressions of polite and pained shock on the faces of Niven, Flynn, Rathbone et al., when (women) visitors were embarrassed

7050-736: Was born on 20 June 1909 at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Battery Point, Tasmania . His father, Theodore Thomson Flynn , was a lecturer (1909) and later professor (1911) of marine biology and zoology at the University of Tasmania and Queen's University of Belfast where he served as the Chair of Zoology. His father was the first biology professor in Tasmania . His mother was born Lily Mary Young, but shortly after marrying Theodore at St John's Church of England, Birchgrove , Sydney , on 23 January 1909, she changed her first name to Marelle. Flynn had

7144-445: Was dodgy, [and] he could duck faster than anybody I saw. And by the time I was through with him, he'd jab, jab, jab with his left like a veteran". Flynn took the role seriously and was rarely doubled during the boxing sequences. In The Two Lives of Errol Flynn by Michael Freedland , Alexis Smith told of taking the star aside: "'It's so silly, working all day and then playing all night and dissipating yourself. Don't you want to live

7238-554: Was illegal at the time). He noted that the two girls, who said they did not know each other, filed their complaints within days of each other, although the episodes allegedly took place more than a year apart. He implied that the girls had cooperated with prosecutors in hopes of avoiding prosecution themselves. Flynn was acquitted, but the trial's widespread coverage and lurid overtones permanently damaged his carefully cultivated screen image as an idealised romantic leading player. Northern Pursuit (1943), also with Walsh as director,

7332-515: Was in a scene he'd just finished playing: He'd blush like a young girl and muttering 'I'm no actor' would go away somewhere and sit down". With a box office gross of $ 2.3 million in the U.S., it was Warner Bros.'s eighth-biggest movie of the year. In Warners' all-star musical comedy fund-raiser for the Stage Door Canteen , Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), Flynn sings and dances as a cockney seaman boasting to his pub mates of how he's won

7426-506: Was later to become famous throughout the civilised world". She further noted: "Unfortunately, Errol, at the age of nine, did not yet possess that magic for extracting money from the public which so distinguished his career as an actor. Our cause gained no apparent advantage from his presence in my entourage; we gained only third place in a field of seven." From 1923 to 1925, Flynn attended the South West London College,

7520-604: Was making a film about the mutiny on the Bounty , In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), a combination of dramatic re-enactments of the mutiny and a documentary on present-day Pitcairn Island . Chauvel was looking for someone to play the role of Fletcher Christian . There are different stories about the way Flynn was cast. According to one, Chauvel saw his picture in an article about a yacht wreck involving Flynn. The most popular account

7614-454: Was not a success, grossing $ 1.77 million in the U.S. In 1946, Flynn published an adventure novel, Showdown , and earned a reported $ 184,000 (equivalent to $ 2,870,000 in 2023). Cry Wolf (1947) was a thriller with Flynn in a seemingly more villainous role. It was a moderate success at the box office. He was in a melodrama, Escape Me Never (1947), filmed in early 1946 but not released until late 1947, which lost money. More popular

7708-709: Was not well received. He made a thriller shot in Cuba, The Big Boodle (1957), then had his best role in a long time in the blockbuster Ernest Hemingway adaptation The Sun Also Rises (1957) for producer Darryl F. Zanuck , which made $ 3 million in the U.S. Flynn's performance in the latter was well received and led to a series of roles where he played to type, assaying drunks. Warner Bros. cast him as John Barrymore in Too Much, Too Soon (1958), and Zanuck used him again in The Roots of Heaven which made $ 3 million (1958). He met with Stanley Kubrick to discuss

7802-580: Was not widely seen (it is a lost film ), but Asher was enthusiastic about Flynn's performance and cabled Warner Bros in Hollywood, recommending him for a contract. Executives agreed, and Flynn was sent to Los Angeles. On the ship from London, Flynn met (and eventually married) Lili Damita , an actress five years his senior whose contacts proved invaluable when Flynn arrived in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. publicity described him as an "Irish leading man of

7896-438: Was on the set and watching closely. De Havilland said, "And so we had one kissing scene, which I looked forward to with great delight. I remember I blew every take, at least six in a row, maybe seven, maybe eight, and we had to kiss all over again. And Errol Flynn got really rather uncomfortable, and he had, if I may say so, a little trouble with his tights." The final duel between Robin and Sir Guy of Gisbourne ( Basil Rathbone )

7990-526: Was once asked to leave after becoming excessively intoxicated. The expression " in like Flynn " is said to have been coined to refer to the supreme ease with which he reputedly seduced women, but its origin is disputed. Flynn was reportedly fond of the expression and later claimed that he wanted to call his memoir In Like Me . The publisher insisted on a more lurid title, My Wicked, Wicked Ways . ) Flynn had various mirrors and hiding places constructed inside his mansion, including an overhead trapdoor above

8084-479: Was one of his classmates. He attended The Hutchins School , Hobart College , The Friends School and Albuera Street Primary School and was expelled from each one. He made one of his first appearances as a performer in 1918, aged nine when he served as a page boy to Enid Lyons in a queen carnival . In her memoirs, Lyons recalled Flynn as "a dashing figure—a handsome boy of nine with a fearless, somewhat haughty expression, already showing that sang-froid for which he

8178-521: Was quarrelsome; Davis allegedly slapped him across the face far harder than necessary during one scene. Flynn attributed her anger to unrequited romantic interest, but according to others, Davis resented sharing equal billing with a man she considered incapable of playing any role beyond a dashing adventurer. "He himself openly said, 'I don't know really anything about acting, ' " she told an interviewer, "and I admire his honesty because he's absolutely right." Years later, however, de Havilland said that during

8272-520: Was so enthusiastic that Warners instead reunited him with de Havilland and Curtiz in another adventure tale, this time set during the Crimean War , The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936). The film was given a slightly larger budget than Captain Blood , at $ 1.33 million, and it had a much higher box-office gross, earning $ 1.454 million in the U.S. and $ 1.928 million overseas, making it Warner Bros.' No. 1 hit of 1936. Flynn asked for

8366-696: Was the best part of the nonsense." In 1939, Flynn and de Havilland teamed up with Curtiz for Dodge City (1939), the first Western for both of them, set after the U.S. Civil War . Flynn was worried that audiences would not accept him in Westerns, but the film was Warner's most popular film of 1939, and he went on to make a number of movies in that genre. Flynn was reunited with Davis, Curtiz and de Havilland in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), playing Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex . Flynn's relationship with Davis during filming

8460-424: Was the highest ever for a Warner Bros. production up to that point—$ 2.47 million—but it more than made back its costs and turned a huge profit as it grossed $ 2.343 million in the U.S. and $ 2.495 million overseas. It also received lavish praise from critics and became a world favourite; in 2019, Rotten Tomatoes summarised the critical consensus: "Errol Flynn thrills as the legendary title character, and

8554-473: Was the same as the book: Louise married a character named William Benson, but preview audiences disliked the ending, and a new one was filmed in which Frank comes to Silver Bow to find her, and they reconcile. Apparently, audiences wanted Errol Flynn to "get the girl" or vice versa. (Bette Davis preferred the original ending.) Flynn had a powerful dramatic role in The Dawn Patrol (1938), a remake of

8648-438: Was the steady rain that fell for two of the three weeks of location shooting near Flagstaff, Arizona. Flynn detested rain and was physically unwell for quite some time because of it. As Peter Valenti has written, "Errol's frustration at the role can be easily understood: he changed from antagonist to protagonist, from Southern to Northern officer, almost as the film was being shot. [This] intensified Errol's feelings of inadequacy as

8742-429: Was the studio's No. 1 star, ahead of Paul Muni and Bette Davis . In 1938, he was No. 3, just behind Davis and Muni. In 1939, he was No. 3 again, this time behind Davis and James Cagney . In 1940 and 1941, he was Warner Bros.'s No. 1 top box-office draw. In 1942, he was No. 2, behind Cagney. In 1943, he was No. 2, behind Humphrey Bogart . Warners allowed Flynn a change of pace from a long string of period pieces in

8836-525: Was very successful, becoming Warner Bros.' 4th-biggest hit of the year. As with some other Flynn films, it was more popular in Europe than the States, grossing $ 3.1 million there and $ 2.1 million in the U.S., with total earnings of $ 4.7 million on an approximate budget of $ 3.25 million. However, from this point on, Warner Bros. reduced the budgets of Flynn's films. In November 1947, Flynn signed

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