While initially greenlit as a war preparedness film, the United States was already at war when Captains of the Clouds was released in 1942. Captains of the Clouds made history during its initial production in 1941. It would mark the first time that a Hollywood film would be produced in its entirety in Canada. Warner Bros. was all about greenlighting any films that would help prepare the US for war. This time around, the studio…
"Captains of the Clouds: A Patriotic Canadian Film"Tag: Alan Hale
Dodge City was one of the highest grossing films of 1939 and the fifth of eight feature films to team up Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. There is the Western genre before Stagecoach and then there is everything that came afterwards. Prior to Stagecoach, the genre was seen as a B movie. In addition to Stagecoach and Dodge City, other big Westerns of 1939 included Union Pacific and Jesse James. When studios realized what…
"Dodge City: Errol Flynn Goes West"
It Happened One Night is one of three films to win the Big Five at the Academy Awards and put Columbia Pictures on the map. Originally titled Night Bus, the film is based on the short story, “Night Bus,” by Samuel Hopkins Adams in Hearst’s International-Cosmopolitan (August 1933). Until the film swept every nominated category at the Oscars, Columbia Pictures had been a Poverty Row studio. Everything would change in light of the Oscar wins. The…
"It Happened One Night Put Columbia on the Map"
In watching Santa Fe Trail, one starts wondering if this Western was the consolation prize for Warner Bros. after losing Gone with the Wind. In the first moments after pressing play, my first question was just what the hell was Warner Bros. thinking? It’s not just the studio. Michael Curtiz is a filmmaker that is better than this pro-Confederate propaganda. Leave it to him to read into the history of the Santa Fe trail but…
"Santa Fe Trail: What Was Warner Bros. Thinking?"
The Sea Hawk reunites director Michael Curtiz and swashbuckling star Errol Flynn, resulting in one of their best collaborations together. This film might be a period adventure film but it was an allegorical film about Hitler and the need to fight back during WWII. King Philip II of Spain basically stands in for Hitler in the 1940 swashbuckler. While the film takes place in the late 1500s, one can definitely see how they use the…
"The Sea Hawk is One of Errol Flynn’s Best Performances"
Adventures of Don Juan marks Errol Flynn’s return to the swashbuckler genre after a nine-year absence and it was a hit with audiences. Well, it depends on the continent. The film did better with European audiences than it did domestically. Flynn was still a popular actor but the studio would lower budget on his films. This was his first film under a new contract with the studio for $225K per film through 1961. But because…
"Adventures of Don Juan: Errol Flynn’s Swashbuckler Return"