CATCH A CLASSIC
Star of the Month: Errol Flynn
TCM, Beginning at 5 p.m.
Legendary Aussie American actor Errol Flynn lived an all-too-brief life, passing away from a heart attack in 1959 at the age of just 50. But in the quarter-century between his first leading role in a Hollywood film, in 1935’s Captain Blood, to the posthumous release of his last movie,
1959’s Cuban Rebel Girls, the actor built an impressive resume of onscreen work and established a lasting legacy as one of the greatest swashbucklers/action-movie stars of Hollywood’s golden age. You’ll see a good number of those films each Monday in April
on Turner Classic Movies, beginning today, when the network celebrates Flynn as its Star of the Month. The initial lineup continues for nearly 24 hours, encompassing a nice 11-movie mix of obvious must-see Flynn titles along with some perhaps not as well known. It fittingly starts with the aforementioned Captain Blood (pictured), director Michael Curtiz’s rousing pirate-film classic that not only established Flynn as a star but also helped co-star Olivia de Havilland gain wider fame; it was the first of eight memorable onscreen pairings between Flynn and de Havilland within just a six-year span. Another of their collaborations came in tonight’s next movie, the equally iconic The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). That film was co-directed by Curtiz, who also helmed the following title, The Sea Hawk, a 1940 pirate adventure. The remainder of this initial Star of the Month celebration of Flynn then features Against All Flags (1952); Adventures of Don Juan (1948); Dive Bomber (1941), the last of Flynn’s 12 collaborations with Curtiz; Mara Maru (1952); Rocky Mountain (1950), Flynn’s final Western; Montana (1950);
Pursuit (1943); and Kim (1950).
Pfeiffer