Errol Flynn: The Illustrated Life Chronology

As above this chronology is very thorough and corrects some (minor) errors in Flynn's autobiography "My wicked wicked ways". If you want to know every little detail of Flynn's life you won't be disappointed in this book, it is very detailed and contains everything that you want to know about Flynn. I know that he passed away in 1959 before I was even born but his story fascinates me.

"He was one of the wild characters of the world, but he also had a strange, quiet side. He camouflaged himself completely. In all the years I knew him, I never knew what really lay underneath and I doubt if many people did." -Ann Sheridan"He was a charming and magnetic man, but tormented. I don't know about what, but tormented. I had a crush on him, and later I found out he did for me...there are no words available to express my feelings for Errol Flynn."- Olivia de HavillandRobert Florczak's "Errol Flynn the Illustrated Life Chronology" jumps to the top of the list on books about the actor. It is a stunning work of art! Everything is here, diaries, letters, interoffice memos (Warner's demanded that everybody WRITE everything down about their current movies in production), pictures, litigation missives, travel itineraries, etc. that give the reader a feel for a man who was the enigma of enigmas. I have seen no book on a figure from the "Golden Age of Hollywood" this detailed and excitingly readable. The most comprehensive writing on Flynn is McNulty's biography and the most sensitive are the Tony Thomas books and Chapter Six of David Niven's "Bring on the Empty Horses." (They both knew Flynn). And, of course, " My Wicked, Wicked Ways", (to be taken with a liberal grain of salt) But there is nothing like this!Flynn is presented as a living, breathing human being, faults and all. Niven's quote,". he was not a kind man." and Thomas's quote.," he was an incredible man, but not an admirable one." are more than apparent in the interoffice observations within the Warner Brothers studio communications. And honest words. Errol Flynn was a very difficult man to work with and treated his movie stardom simply as the vehicle to earn the money needed to live the lifestyle he wanted to live. He made no bones about his philosophy of life-the mission was explore life in all its offerings and aspects and modes and he did! There within lie the mass of contradictions. Flynn was capable of gestures of generosity and tenderness, but could turn around and be selfish, tactless, and self-destructive in the next breath. How could a man who was cultured and erudite, who wrote numerous magazine articles and two novels as well as dictating his autobiography to a ghost writer, an art collector and lover of classical music and living proof of his love for sailing and the open seas allow himself to be destroyed by alcohol and narcotics? Robert Florczak does an unmatched job of presenting Flynn's life.It all came too easy for Flynn-an international movie star after 10 minutes of screen time and with Captain Blood-BOOM!. Warner's gave him great directors like Michael Curtiz and Raoul Walsh, such brilliant film musical scoring composed by the likes of Eric Wolfgang Korngold and Max Steiner, Technicolor and everything a studio could give a "star" and Flynn made the studio millions of dollars when the price of a ticket was 10-25 cents. If only Flynn could have had the professionalism of a Wayne, a Cooper, an Astaire; but his fatal flaw was his lack of discipline. He never could never step up to their level as life was more fun having fun than working for him . ( Warners kept giving him raises and signing new contracts with Flynn. Why? It is amazing that they didn't dump Flynn after the rape trial just on the morals clause in every actor's contract, let alone the uncooperative, diva-like attitude and the constantly debilitating illnesses on the part of Flynn.)The 1942-43 rape trial sent Flynn on the slide down the tubes and destroyed him emotionally. His highly visible indiscretions and disdain for conformity came back to roost with a vengeance. The drinking increased and narcotics usage destroyed his ability to act as well as function in life. He spent the last ten years of his life escaping alimony and taxes by being "a floating bum" on his yacht, and yet he still worked in the movies. At heart, Flynn was an insecure man who could not live up to the heroic image he portrayed on screen-what movie star didn't have the same predicament? Tony Thomas repeated a quote about Flynn responding to why he became an actor," I don't know. I suppose most of us act all our lives. We have a facade, a front. We imagine ourselves to be what we're not, don't we?' Robert Florczak captures all this in a stunning tour de force of scholarship and writing. Flynn deserved the negative vibes he earned by his lack of professionalism towards his occupation and his treatment of the people who loved him-"I wish I could hate him, but I can't. He could charm the birds out of the trees".-Patrice Wymore, Flynn's third wife.Yet, at the end of the day, no actor could touch Errol Flynn at what he excelled at. He was the most beautiful man to ever appear on a movie screen and the excitement and sheer joy he generated in real life just jumps off the screen to a viewer of his films. He was so much fun and so exciting and so poetic at what he did in the movies in his prime. Jack Warner (who gave the eulogy at Flynn's funeral) sums Flynn up in an eloquent manner-".. in fact, he was a mediocre actor. But he showered an audience with sparks when he laughed, when he fought, and when he loved." Robert Florczak has created an beautiful work of art! This book must in the library of every Flynn fan and students of his work.

Fantastic book

A must for Flynn fans. A day by day biography. The most precise and complete book about him. Many letters, memos, cables reproduced. All his trials and deseases detailed.

This book is a monumental achievement that must have taken the author years of painstakingly detailed research and work. It's 300 pages of what could be described as a biography in the form of a diary. It chronicles almost every day of Flynn's life by date. Here is a typical entry: March 25, 1938 "Flies to Miami, stopping over in Atlanta along the way; meets up with Lili in Miami and the two are guests later at a dinner dance at Southwood, the Palm Beach villa of Jell-O heiress, Mrs. Woodward Vietor." How in the world did the author gather all of this data? But apparently this has been verified by film historians and even Flynn's own daughter, who recommends the book.It's filled with photos and memorabilia and movie posters. The author even included photos of the way a filming location or Flynn's residences look today. Anyone who is a fan of 20th century screen idols will have to have this unique book.