The Last of Errol Flynn, As Seen on TV

The release of actor Kevin Kline's new biographical movie about the aging Errol Flynn (1909 - 1959) entitled The Last of Robin Hood brings to mind the charismatic matinee idol's long and entertaining career. He was heartbreakingly handsome as well as immensely talented despite a breezy exterior that may have made it seem as if he didn't take his gift seriously.  He certainly didn't take himself very seriously, living life with a gusto and perpetual wanderlust that made his off-screen antics surely as memorable as anything he played in the movies.

Those antics belied the other side of Flynn, the side that loved the sea, science, politics and lots of other things besides drink and romance.  He was a fascinating guy, a man's man and also a lover of the ladies, lots of them, right down to his final romance depicted in The Last of Robin Hood.

Here's the trailer to the new film.  Honestly, Kline is a bit too old for the role even considering Flynn's rambunctious lifestyle and slight dissipation; Flynn still looked pretty darn good even though he looked older than his actual age.  And one thing that no actor can match is the twinkle in Flynn's eyes, but Kline tries::




Towards the end of his career TV came along and provided him with a few more chances to perform, though he had surely spent the best years of his life already and looked older than he should have.  But the Flynn charm never left him and the audience goodwill he had accumulated over the past twenty years of film stardom kept his name alive, that and the scandalous aura that remained from his rape trial in the early forties.

In 1952 Flynn -- hard to believe he's only 43 years old here -- guest-starred on an episode of The Colgate Comedy Hour:




In 1956 Errol lent his name to and served as host on the dramatic anthology series The Errol Flynn Theatre which ran for 26 half-hour episodes.  (He also starred in two of the episodes):






In June of 1947 he appeared with former co-star Ann Sheridan -- they had starred together on the big screen in Dodge City, Edge of Darkness and Silver River -- John Ireland and Julie London in a Playhouse 90 western entitled "Without Incident":




In early 1957 he made a couple of appearances on variety series The Steve Allen Show, including this comedy sketch spoofing contemporary game shows:



In March 1957 he was one of the panelists on the popular game show What's My Line?:




In December 1957 he was the Mystery Guest on What's My Line?:




Errol Flynn became involved in the Cuban Revolution.  In January of 1959 he was a guest on Canada's Front Page Challenge where he was interviewed about his experiences with Fidel Castro (if the video doesn't show up please click on this link):




The plot of the new movie The Last of Robin Hood deals with this period in Flynn's life, when he took up with much younger actress -- jailbait, in fact -- Beverly Aadland and they appeared together in Flynn's last movie Cuban Rebel Girls and on TV on The Red Skelton Show (no clip available, alas!):




He also lent his presence to a documentary Cuban Story: Truth about Fidel Castro Revolution which disappeared after its Moscow premiere in 1959 and finally resurfaced in 2001,  It was his last screen appearance:




As for Flynn's very last personal appearance anywhere, here's a weird little story from Canadian TV:




I highly recommend reading about Flynn and watching his classic films -- he's magic, unlike any other movie star and simply the best of the best.

Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock!

Yes, he was the Master of Suspense. But on 113th anniversary of his birth today, I prefer to focus not on his films, but on the man himself--particularly, his intelligence and indubitably dry wit. These aspects of his personality--coupled with his love of the macabre and the unending power of his films and TV work, of course--were what made him into a superstar. I believe that when informed people think of the word or the profession "director," they think of Alfred Hitchcock. As an explanation to why this is so, here are ten clips that I also offer as tribute, and as a mini late career bio, to this unique artist who truly changed how we see the world:

Here he is, in 1954, as the mystery guest on the TV game show What's My Line? As he signs in, we get to see Hitchcock compose the famous, impossibly elegant 9-line caricature this one-time storyboard artist wryly concocted for himself (here, it's an 8-line drawing--he omits that slight hairline on the show's blackboard). I love his references to Grace Kelly at the end of the clip--"What did you do about it?" This tells us so much about the man.


I imagine TV execs really got a hungry sense of Alfred Hitchcock's surprising on-screen dynamism while watching him on What's My Line. The following year, in 1955, he began hosting his own anthology series, suitably called Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His appearances on the show--in which this devotee of cinema often derided the necessary trappings of TV (particularly its need for commercials)--are what I think made him an even more stellar household name than he already laid claim to being. This intro, from 1955's episode titled "The Other Sister," is a fine example of his unforgettable hosting style.


Mr. Hitchcock was a pioneer, too, in the construction of film trailers, even though no director--even Steven Spielberg--has ever attempted to do what he did with them. This development in his on-screen personality become more intense after his TV show became a long-running hit. As a result, his home studio Universal allowed him to indulge in unusually long trailers for his films. The Psycho preview is justifiably famous. But so should be this advanced look at his 1963 effort The Birds, in which not even one actual shot from the film is shown (even the glimpse of lead actress Tippi Hedren was filmed specifically for the trailer).


Hitchcock wisely dissects what frightens people here in 1964, on the BBC interview show Monitor. I love how Hitch's handsome facial profile is captured here.


The film-specific crafts of editing and scoring are smartly used in this 1965 segment shot for French television, in which Hitchcock pointedly discusses the dynamics of arguably his most famous film Psycho and then deftly practices his impeccable French on the interviewer.


On the director's 1970 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show (in one of the best episodes of that series, available on Cavett's Hollywood Greats DVD collection), Hitchcock comments correctly on the effects of sex on the Hollywood elite, and then defiantly admits to one of his favorite forms of repartee, in a statement with which I wholeheartedly agree.


Another Hitchcock trailer, this time for his 1972 tale of murder called Frenzy (his late-career return to British filmmaking and still his most personal film, if you ask me). The initial sight of Hitch floating on the Thames is highly amusing. "How do you like my tie?"


Part one of Tom Snyder's very revealing 1973 interview with Hitch on the Tomorrow show; Snyder starts by asking Hitch what scares him. The other five parts are on You Tube.


One year before his death in 1980, Alfred Hitchcock was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Surrounded by a truly astounding collection of moviemaking royalty, he is, as usual, hilarious and articulate. But here he is also unexpectedly touching, as he pays tribute to his wife and collaborator of 53 years, Alma Reville Hitchcock who, dutifully sitting by his side, is visably moved throughout.


And, finally, no tribute would be complete without noting the director's famed cameos in his own films. This You Tube post from royvanderzwann collects all but eight of them, and deftly points out each of Hitchcock's sometimes imperceptible on-screen appearances, backed with French composer Charles-François Gounod's "Funeral March for a Marionette," which of course forever became Hitch's instantly recognizable theme song.


Happy birthday, Mr. Hitchcock, wherever you are. And thank you, for everything.

(John Candy as Hitchcock on SCTV--to fully view the segment, click here.)

Goodbye to Bozo the Clown: Larry Harmon (1925-2008)

It's difficult to follow the appreciation of HBO's surely amazing portrayal of Founding Father John Adams. But here we go anyway to a polar opposite of sorts. However, we at The Nose now recognize someone who is still, post-mortem, a true American icon.


Who though that Bozo could ever die? Well, maybe he won't really EVER die, which is the lasting contribution of the Bozo character's most important inhabitant, Larry Harmon, who left us on July 3, 2008--nearly like Jefferson and Adams themseves: a true American. I won't wax philosopical about this passing of a childhood staple, except to say that I bow to Mr. Harmon for his contributions to my upbringing. He was a bright spirit, a loving TV presence, and a reminant of a regrettably long-past connection between children and their television companions (Pee-Wee, where are you?).

Here's an AP news report on the complicated life of Larry Harmon's Bozo the Clown, who became the world's leading mirthmaker for children based on Harmon's own belief in the character's appeal; his efforts led to scads of actors across America playing Bozo for their local audiences.

Clowns these days are seen as scary characters--witness the films Killer Klowns from Outer Space or Bobcat Golthwaite's Shakes the Clown. Sometimes I'm stringently with those who find white-faced clowns creepy and unpleasent (is Batman's The Joker a reaction to this?). But who could really be afraid of the zingy, joyous Bozo, with his upturned red hair and his honking red nose? When we think of clowns, because of Harmon, we think of Bozo. Hell, "Bozo" has even entered into the American lexicon as a term for a wacky, unfortunately often unwanted and unpredictable personality. But don't you dare lead that to hating on Bozo.

As proof of his universal worth as a character--which Harmon was instrumental in popularizing--here are two fascinating videos of a couple non-Harmon performers inhabiting Bozo's big, now sadly absent shoes. First is a clip of Bozo on the landmark TV game show What's My Line? and the second is a Chicago-made video of the "kidnapping" of Bozo. In the second one particularly, look at how everyone involved responds to seeing this unmistakable figure of American comedy.


So long, sweet clown (LOL!!), and keep on makin' people laugh!