THE GOLDEN SHANTY (1959) with Errol Flynn

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Richard M Roberts
Godfather
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THE GOLDEN SHANTY (1959) with Errol Flynn

Postby Richard M Roberts » Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:43 am

Here's Errol Flynn's last dramatic performance on the GOODYEAR THEATER, THE GOLDEN SHANTY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SQlLqq6FH8


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Gary Johnson
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Re: THE GOLDEN SHANTY (1959) with Errol Flynn

Postby Gary Johnson » Mon Mar 09, 2015 2:50 am

I can't seem to get past watching any performance of Flynn from his last decade without detecting a hint of sadness in his eyes.
I always see it, even in a lightweight piece of fluff like this program. I tend to become melancholy over Flynn.
So to change the mood I watched THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR episode where A & C welcomed Flynn as one of their guests
(along with Rhonda Fleming and Bruce Cabot). This had all the makings of MY FAVORITE YEAR when Flynn froze trying to remember
all of the intricate storytelling to "The Susquehanna Hat Company" routine and it was Costello, of all people, who had to act like
Abbott and get Flynn back on track. Fleming didn't fare much better trying to recite "The Farm Chores" routine with Lou but he got
the giggles half way through so she was allowed to laugh her way through it.

Richard M Roberts
Godfather
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Re: THE GOLDEN SHANTY (1959) with Errol Flynn

Postby Richard M Roberts » Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:50 am

Gary Johnson wrote:I can't seem to get past watching any performance of Flynn from his last decade without detecting a hint of sadness in his eyes.
I always see it, even in a lightweight piece of fluff like this program. I tend to become melancholy over Flynn.



I don't know sad, and I don't think the whole last decade, but in the late 50's, there is definitely a tired weariness to the man, but one must realize, here was a guy that knew he wasn't going to live to a ripe old age (Flynn had tuberculosis and a heart condition for several decades). While he was shooting THE GOLDEN SHANTY, he knew he had very little time left (he had returned to Los Angeles to draw up his will and make sure his Family was definitely taken care of). Director Arthur Hiller's memories of Flynn on the shoot was of a very ill actor trying desperately to remember his lines and get through scenes, but Hiller and the Crew felt such sympathy and affection for Flynn that they got him through it, and made it as easy for him as possible.


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Re: THE GOLDEN SHANTY (1959) with Errol Flynn

Postby Gary Johnson » Mon Mar 16, 2015 5:49 pm

I recall that Flynn came to Hollywood already suffering from the effects of malaria, but tuberculosis must had slipped by my remaining memory cell. But I wasn't really referring to his declining physical health as much as his declining spirit. Watching him in THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (37) his eyes shine with boundless energy and a zest for life. By the time of his last great Warner's swashbuckler, ADV. of DON JUAN (48), that world-weariness that Richard notices a decade later is very evident to me throughout this film. In fact, it permeates the film and helps create the mood for the 'love-that-cannot-be' plotline with the Queen (a rarity for a Flynn film).

His 1942 rape trial changed his life. Even though he was eventually exonerated, he was secretly humiliated by his new-found notoriety. He despised the phrase 'In like Flynn' (hard to believe he once considered that for the title of his memoirs) and hated being a punch line on the radio (Hope rarely did a monologue throughout the '40's without a Flynn reference). The aftermath of the trial seemed to give his personality a harder edge....a more cynical slant, which the actor used to good advantage in his wartime films (EDGE OF DARKNESS, OBJECTIVE BURMA) and postwar films like SILVER RIVER and THAT FORSYTHE WOMAN.
On the surface he continued living his life his way -- drinking, carousing, brawling...as he bottled up his disappointments. But as he aged (quite quickly, I must say) I saw his sense of ennui began showing on his face, and especially in his eyes, in almost all of his cinematic endeavors to come.


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