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"Tag: Errol Flynn
Objective, Burma! is based on the six-month raid by Merrill’s Marauders, albeit loosely, as a part of the Southeast Asian theatre in WW2. In short, Captain Nelson (Errol Flynn) leads a group of U.S. Army paratroopers into Burma. Their objective is to take out a Japanese radar station because of it’s strategic location. Unfortunately, they miss their rendezvous because the Japanese are waiting at the airstrip. Captain Nelson makes the call and the 36-men team–after splitting…
"Objective, Burma! Is A Solid-But-Flawed War Film"
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"
Errol Flynn was only a small contract player for Warner Bros. going into Captain Blood but the swashbuckler propelled him to stardom. The film takes us to England 1685 where Irish doctor Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) is just performing his duties as a doctor. Next thing you know, he is being arrested for treason against King James II (Vernon Steele). But rather than follow through with the death sentence from Judge Jeffreys (Leonard Muddie), the…
"Captain Blood Made Errol Flynn A Star"