"Captain Blood" (MGM, 1935)
Errol Flynn's first starring role on the Hollywood screen was a smashing success in every regard. Although it starts out a little on the talky side, this swashbuckling pirate movie has it all: clean, crisp, innovative B&W cinematography, a thrill-packed plot, a nice mix of minature sets and on-location action, and -- of course -- two of Hollywood's most babilicious stars, the surf-dude-y Flynn and the ever-dishy Olivia De Havilland. Fine set of supporting characters, as well, and fine direction by Michael Curtiz (later of Casablanca fame) Plus, the big climactic battle scene is a real humdinger. Recommended!
"The Dawn Patrol" (Warner Brothers, 1938)
An outstanding -- and rather bleak -- war movie, featuring Errol Flynn and David Niven as two dashing but harrowed, hard-drinking WWI fighter pilots, whose front-line unit is a constant revolving door of fresh-faced "replacements," new cadets who lack the basic skills to keep them alive for even a day or two, against the seasoned German pilots based only miles away. Basil Rathbone plays the British base's high-strung commanding officer, who feels every death as a personal blow -- following heartless orders, he sends boy after boy to an inevitable death. The tables turn when his promotion comes in, elevating the hotheaded and resentful Flynn to his position as commander, and Flynn's grief takes on an added dimension, as he becomes the one responsible for issuing the orders that transform eager young men into mere cannon fodder. The film is a typical interwar mix of pacifist-tinged pessimism and old-world chivalry: the men are gallant and brave, but resentful of the higher-ups who created and orchestrate the wars they have to fight in. The script is fascinating, with the action of the first half taking place entirely on the base. Rather than see the aerial combat, we see the psychological after-effects of the heavy personnel losses. When we do see combat, it is deflationary, either a framework for tragedy or a curse disguised as a giddy triumph. It's also well presented: the feel of the ungainly, canvas-clad prop planes that men went to war in is made palpable, as the ricketty machines bounce along the runway and sputter to life in the skies. A very good film, definitely worth watching.
"Virginia City" (Warner Brothers, 1940)
An awkward Civil War western with an all-star cast... Errol Flynn faces off with Randolph Scott, as rival captains of the Union and Confederate armies, who struggle to outfox and outmanuever one another over possession of a load of Western gold that Scott hopes can finance a last-ditch effort by the Confederacy. Ultimately, though, these men of honor have to confront a common foe: the creaky plot. Oh, wait. I meant to say, Humphrey Bogart, slumming here, on his way to Casablanca fame, as a vaguely Mexican bandito leader who is unconcerned with the moral issues surrounding the war between the states: he just wants the loot the two heroes are struggling over. Director Michael Curtiz struggles with the material as well, but is also hampered by the film's leading lady, the uniquely unappealing, uncharismatic Miriam Hopkins. Overall, this is an okay oater, but with this much talent onhand, it seems like it should have been much better.
"Footsteps In The Dark" (Warner Brothers, 1941)
An awkward parody of the Thin Man movies, with Errol Flynn trying out screwball comedy for a change... The set-up is that Flynn is a rich playboy who, unbeknownst to family and friends, moonlights as a writer of detective fiction. This, of course, necessitates his staying out late to do research into crime, and telling all kinds of lame fibs to his wife and shrewish mother-in-law, in order to cover his tracks. Misunderstandings and wackiness ensue. William Frawley plays the dumb cop Flynn loves to torment; Ralph Bellamy and other great character actors pop up as well. Mysteriously, the actress playing "the other woman" is completely unattractive: couldn't they have gotten a real starlet for the part? Guess not. Anyway, this is a pretty weak film, and doesn't really even work as a curio.
"Desperate Journey" (Warner, 1942)
An amiable WWII propaganda fantasy starring Errol Flynn as the leader of a small group of Allied bomber pilots downed behind German lines, who are trying to get home, but can't help making monkeys of the Nazis and wreaking endless sabotage havoc before they do. Ronald Reagan, who I'll reluctantly admit was pretty charismatic, is Flynn's sidekick; also stars Colonel Klink, uh, I mean Raymond Massey, as the blustering SS officer who pursues them across the countryside after they escape his evil clutches. The film is notable for the extensive use of real German throughout, as well as the hopeful fiction of an anti-Nazi German underground which helps the men escape. Reagan gets to mow down dozens of German soldiers in the climactic final battle; I think this may have been one of those Hollywood films he mistook for reality in some speech he gave as President, talking about what he "did" during World War II. Anyway, this film is fast moving and enjoyable, even if hastily produced and improbably plotted. A goofy wartime action-fest.
"Dive Bomber" (Warner Brothers, 1943)
The dashing Errol Flynn returns to the sky in this earnest wartime medical drama about the American effort to overcome pilot fatigue and the persistent problem of blackouts caused during high-altitude dives. The script was written by aviator-cum-screenwriter Frank Wead (himself later the subject of a John Ford movie ) and endeavors to dramatize the unglamorous world of military medicine. Director Michael Curtiz's decision to have Flynn play the lead was a stroke of genius: it's hard to imaging someone less cute commanding our attention for the full hour and a half, and he is quite charming. Ralph Bellamy plays the gruff older researcher who Flynn collaborates with; Fred Macmurray plays a seasoned pilot who can't stand the sight of the pencil-pushing doctors, but learns to respect their methods when they start o get results. (Macmurray's performance is pretty funny, especially in restaurant scenes, etc., with lots of people for him to navigate through -- he's all bustle and self-conciousness, visibly Acting all the time, and amusingly unrelaxed... quite a contrast to the easygoing Flynn!) This flick might not be for everyone; back in WWII the home crowd apparently were eager for anything that showed the war being won. The shots of the massive American naval air force are pretty impressive (and historically fascinating: they still had prop engines and even bi-planes at the time!), but the medical drama is kind of abstract. I enjoyed it, though my wife kept falling asleep.
"Objective Burma" (Warner Brothers, 1945)
Raoul Walsh directed this gruelling, gritty, compelling war story, produced during World War Two, as the fight in the Pacific was still in full swing. Errol Flynn, in one of his least glamorous roles, stars as a hard-bitten Captain in charge of an American paratrooper unit that gets sent on a commando mission into Japanese-occupied Burma. They easily achieve their goal of destroying a strategic radar post, but are decimated while trying to return from enemy territory. The film is remorselessly well paced, tense, and manages to transcend the conventions of Hollywood's WWII combat melodramas: it is propagandistic and uses certain formulas, but it is also earthy and anxiety-provoking in a way that the grade-B war films of the era were not. The predicament of the soldiers -- stranded behind enemy lines and cut off from their support -- is made visceral in a way which few movies manage to convey, making this film a clear precursor to Platoon and Black Hawk Down. It's bleak tone and realistic portrayal of the foot soldiers, with their dark humor and fatalistic resolve, all rings true. Highly recommended.
"San Antonio" (Warner Brothers, 1946)
Errol Flynn was never more debonaire than in this briskly paced, totally enjoyable, two-fisted Western romance. Flynn plays Clay Hardin, a rancher who's been chased out of town by a syndicate of corrupt rustlers, but is back in town with the proof that will vindicate him... and with a hankering to meet actress Alexis Smith. She's a high-tone New York gal who finds herself charmed by the dapper, self-assured machismo of Flynn's good-natured rustic roughneck. You'll be charmed, too: it's hard to imagine anyone else being so suave and polite when they're kicking butt on the bad guys. Filmed in brightly saturated Technicolor, with the ruins of the Alamo eerily lit by the Texas moon. This film is a goodie! [Cast note: anyone who was charmed by S. K. Sakall's famous comedic cameo as a German emigre in Casablanca ("What watch mama?") will get a kick out of his extensive supporting role in this film... More cutesy ethnic schtick than you can shake a schntizel at!]
