PROFESSOR'S GRADE: A
At long last, here is the book many have been awaiting for the past thirty
years.
No other film star of the twentieth century has been more ill-served by biographers
than has Errol Flynn. Now Thomas McNulty has attempted to set the record straight.
Has he delivered the goods? Absolutely. Errol Flynn: The Life and Career is the best
single book on Errol Flynn yet to be written.
McNulty, an author living in Crystal Lake, Illinois, has provided a straight-from-the-shoulder
account of the man best remembered as the Bandit of Sherwood Forest. After his arrival
in Hollywood in early 1935 and his overnight success in such adventure epics as'Captain
Blood' and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', Flynn quickly became the man most women
wanted to make love to, and the man most men wanted to be. Certainly it is true that
he bedded more women in his lifetime than an average man can possibly imagine in
his wildest fantasies. But he was often more preyed upon than preying. And few of
the women he dallied with ever claimed later that they regretted it. After all, what
woman wouldnít have changed places with Olivia de Havilland, as she and Robin
disappear behind the oak doors of Nottingham castle at the conclusion of The Adventures
of Robin Hood? And yet, as McNulty takes pains to show, Errol Flynn's life did not
have a happy ending. He died prematurely in 1959, aged 50, his body bloated by illness
and ravaged by substance abuse.
Twenty years after Flynn's death the sadness continued when in 1980 a scurrilous
and highly inaccurate biography (Charles Higham's Errol Flynn: The Untold Story)
depicted Flynn as a cold, heartless monster given over to selfishness and perversity,
a man lacking all human decency and scruples. As a result Flynn's reputation was
left in tatters. Nearly a quarter of a century later McNulty provides us with a long,
thoughtful and satisfying book that goes a great distance toward correcting the injustice.
Along the way he also provides a window into three of the most crucial decades of
the twentieth century.
McNulty constructs his book around what he sees as the five epochs of Flynn's life:
'From Tasmania to Hollywood, 1909-1935', 'Hollywood, 1935-1940' 'The War Years, 1941-1945',
'Don Juan, 1946-1949', and 'The Wanderer, 1950-1959'.
The research that went into the making of this book is impressive, to say the least.
To an extent McNulty was handicapped by the fact that those who were closest to Flynn
(two of his wives, Nora Eddington Flynn and Patrice Wymore Flynn, his daughters Deirdre
and Rory, and his 'young companion' Beverly Aadland) would not consent to be interviewed
for the book. But McNulty more than made for it. The lengthy preface makes mention
of many others who cooperated with him, including Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, Sheb Wooley,
Jack Elam, Robert Vaughn, Paul Picerni, Vincent Sherman, Arthur Hiller, Janet Leigh,
and Olivia de Havilland.
How did he locate all these people? It was a remarkable feat, by any measure. Two
of the more interesting interviews come from Wallace Berry (who was, by the way,
not the son of the famous actor - note the different spelling) and Richard Dodd,
a Flynn collector of many years standing.
The back portion of the book is as useful to a study of the subject as what comes
before. This includes two appendices. The first, entitled Remembrances, records insights
from a wide variety of people, including David Niven, Patric Knowles, John Huston,
Kirk Douglas, Veronica Lake, Robert Stack, and Sheldon Leonard. Many of these are
fascinating and funny as they focus on Flynn's charm, peccadilloes and hidden talent,
not to mention the wild parties he often threw at his Mulholland Drive estate. (Frankly,
I could have done without the remarks of Sheldon Leonard.) The second appendix is
an extensive filmography which takes into account all of Flynn's film, stage, and
television work. The exhaustive bibliography rivals that of Peter Valenti (Errol
Flynn: A Bio-Bibliography). This includes all the sources that went into the making
of McNulty's book, including a catalogue of Flynn's unpublished letters (on this
see further below). The documentation of the book is supported by hundreds of footnotes.
A long and comprehensive index likewise increases the value of the book enormously.
The book's approximately eighty photos are excellent, although they undoubtedly pushed
up the price. While a number have been seen elsewhere, the selection is wise, capturing
Flynn at the most representative moments of his career. The stills from his films
highlight Flynn's best roles, while a number of the unpublished candids are real
stunners. Among my personal favorites are a close-up of Flynn looking exhausted while
filming a boxing scene for Gentleman Jim,î a glimpse of him (with blood still
visible in his ear) with Bruce Cabot following the infamous Jimmy Fiddler brawl,
and a shot of Flynn shaking hands with a judge (after the same incident) in which
he looks remarkably like George Armstrong Custer, whom he had just portrayed in 'The
Died With Their Boots On.'
The timing of this book could not be better. It comes shortly before Warner Home
Video's release (in 2005) of a boxed dvd set of six of Flynn's best early films ('Captain
Blood,' 'Dodge City,' 'The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex,' 'The Sea Hawk,'
'Dive Bomber,' 'They Died With Their Boots On'). This will include a new documentary
on Flynn's life, along with many other extras, including extended discussions of
the making of the films.
Among the book's most impressive qualities is its accuracy. McNulty's fidelity in
dealing with minute details has resulted in a book that is virtually free of error.
In fact, the only mistake I discovered in two readings - and perhaps it is too slight
to mention - comes near the end. There McNulty describes Flynn's appearance as a
'gentleman hobo' on'The Red Skelton Show' weeks before his death. Holding up a tattered
stovetop ringer, Flynn is asked ]What's that?' by Skelton, playing another hobo.
Flynn replies, 'That, dear boy, is a port hole.' 'A port hole?' Skelton asks, laughing.
Flynn then adds, 'Ah yes . . . memories, memories.' This, of course, is a veiled
allusion to Flynn's 1943 statutory rape trial, in which the location of the porthole
on Flynn's yacht the Sirocco turned out to be a key piece of evidence that resulted
in his acquittal. (It is especially ironic that such a reference would be made, considering
that appearing on the program with Flynn was Beverly Aadland, who was then just 17.)
In McNulty's version, Flynn says 'portholes, portholes.' But that is the only misstep
- the exception that proves the rule in a virtually error-free book of nearly four
hundred pages.
It is especially encouraging to note the recent trend in Hollywood biographies to
adopt a more scholarly approach rather than the older tabloid style. (See, for instance,
Arthur Lennig's Stroheim, Richard Schickel's D. W. Griffith and Clint Eastwood: A
Biography, or Gary Giddins' Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams). Books about great
film personalities are suddenly looking more like David McCullough's John Adams than
Kitty Kelly's His Way. McNulty's book is additional evidence of this trend. The text
is meticulously written and just as meticulously documented. The style throughout
is a joy to read. It is true that, here and there, on very rare occasions, the eagerness
of the poet might overcome the sounder instincts of the prose writer with such purplish-sounding
lines as 'Errol Flynn entered the glittering neon jungle of Los Angeles'; '. . .
as he grew he would explore the winds and tides of the seven seas on the sails of
his imagination'; or 'His picaresque life as a sailor on the seas of fate. . . .
'Those who make a living dissecting the literary efforts of others might find such
metaphorical ornamentation a bit 'lavish.' But, if true, that would be a pettifogging
quibble - more a matter of individual taste than of substantial criticism. Any such
rhetorical flourishes are hardly frequent enough to compromise the integrity of McNulty's
overall effort, and are more than outweighed by the sustained brilliance of the writing
throughout. Who could possibly improve on the following: 'He radiated the confidence
of a man who knows he cannot lose. There was a sense of defiance about him. He conveyed
these things with a faint smile, by the confidant way he stood, the expressively
cocked eyebrow, or the knowing glint in his eye.' Or, 'Errol Flynn's rise to fame
coincided with many of the twentieth century's historical highpoints: rising to stardom
during the Great Depression, he personified the image of a movie star and captured
the imagination of an America desperately in need of heroes; his erotic escapades
diverted an increasingly cynical media during the cold, long years of World War II;
and his hedonistic, vagabond lifestyle became a blueprint for the counterculture
of hipster poets who flourished after the bitter years of McCarthyism.' That is literary
elegance. That is biographical writing at its best.
And yet, again, on very rare occasions, the undeniably superior prose sits oddly
with a colloquialism such as 'Flynn installed potted palms on the yacht so that Arno
could take a leak in style.' Or again regarding Arno: 'A moment before Flynn reached
the cat the feline leaped from the pole onto the power line and burned to a crisp
before his eyes. Errol, they say, was sickened by the sight. 'Arno made no comment
to the press.' The latter sentence, somewhat glib and arch, should have been cut
in editorial, as it does nothing to contribute to a work that wishes to be taken
seriously by the reader. Fortunately, such indulgences are the exception rather than
the rule.
However, of greater potential trouble is the possibility that here and there too
much attention is given to those who were at best on the periphery of Flynn's life.
One reviewer has found this distracting (in his words, the book is 'at times eloquent
but loaded to the top with trivia and enough background information to drive some
readers over the edge'). I personally did not have this reaction. After all, a book
is much like today's dvd's - if you find a certain bit distracting or boring, your
can just turn the page or flash forward to the next section or chapter. But others
might disagree.
The loving way in which McNulty writes of Flynn reflects the 'Hamlet principle' -
that if certain figures are sufficiently adored by the public, their foibles will
be forgiven accordingly. Flynn's faults are somehow woven into McNulty's overall
portrait without fatally detracting from the positive legacy Flynn left, and this
ability is clearly born of years of deep study and understanding on McNulty's part.
To write so astutely about a past figure an author must to a large extent 'get under
the skin' of that person. With Flynn that is of course a daunting (some would say
impossible) task. But McNulty demonstrates that it can be done, to a large degree,
in his sensitively constructed account.
As part of the recent trend, McNulty has no patience with the trash biographies of
Higham ('pathetic') and David Bret ('the worst'), and one comes away with a slight
feeling of regret that the author didn't weigh in a bit more here. What makes the
work of these two writers so bad? To hard-core Flynn aficionados, of course, the
answer will be self-evident; but a wider readership might wish for a bit fuller explanation.
As stated, one of the bookís most valuable sections is the bibliography and
its meticulous cataloguing of sources, published and unpublished, which provides
the reader with a sense of the richness of Flynn's literary output. These include
numerous unpublished letters of Flynn to which McNulty was privy, and which he has
put to extraordinary use throughout the book. In addition, McNulty had access to
Flynn's private, unpublished diaries (known variously as 'the Majorca, Rome, Naples,
and Jamaica diaries'), and this was to him a major help. Author Jeffrey Meyers (Inherited
Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Viet Nam) also had access to these diaries,
and while there is some overlap, the reproduction of the passages is not identical.
One of the most powerful that McNulty discusses concerns Flynn's 1953 visit to the
museum at Pompeii, Italy, with its humans and animals frozen in their steps during
the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. Flynn's comments about a dog ('poor guy') as it
choked to death, still chained to its post, are especially poignant. Elsewhere in
the diaries Flynn records many thoughtful and funny passages that show him at his
best - and worst.
Another major strength of the work is the way in which McNulty focuses on Flynn's
'spiritual' side - his unfulfilled longings for a sustaining religious faith that
he was somehow never able to find. Along the way McNulty also brings to light the
wide range of Flynn's reading, including many classical writers such as Plato and
Aristotle, and discusses with insight Flynn's lifelong urge to be a professional
writer.
In terms of the tremendous work and industry that went into it, not to mention the
distinctive writing style which McNulty has honed over the years in his various magazine
articles, this is a highly original work. But is it totally original? McNulty is
too honest to portray his book as 'an Aaron's calf' - something that just came out
of the fire. This is no book accomplished in the seclusion of his study or in a vacuum.
It is to some extent a fascinating collaborative effort. Albert Einstein once acknowledged
his enormous debt to Sir Isaac Newton, remarking that if he could see further than
others, it was only because he was able to stand on the shoulders of a giant. Similarly
McNulty makes it clear that his work is indebted largely to two others: Paul M. James
and Trudy McVicker. As a young man James had seen 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'
in 1936, and he never got over it. He instantly began what was to become a lifetime
hobby - acquiring and cataloguing almost everything he could get his hands on relating
to Flynn. As McNulty explains, this eventuated in 'ten huge scrapbooks, each containing
thousands of clippings, words and images . . . with care given to documenting the
published work' McNulty adds, 'Flynn would have appreciated the fact that Paul's
magnificent collection fit snugly into several tightly packed vodka cases.' Through
an act of wondrous generosity James bequeathed the scrapbooks to McNulty shortly
before his death. 'Although I began the research that culminated in this book in
1992,' McNulty continues, 'Paul's scrapbooks provided the source material I needed
to proceed and often served as the impetus for my own investigations.'
Trudy McVicker, McNulty's old friend and by all accounts a woman of considerable
charm and integrity, had actually seen Flynn 'in the flesh' on two occasions; she
also had previously been of considerable help to writer Tony Thomas in his various
researches. Her willingness to be of assistance to McNulty in all matters Flynn is
yet another selfless act marking a long, fascinating, and richly textured life.
Returning to the book's writing style, and speaking very personally, I found it refreshing
to find an authoritative book on Flynn in which four letter words are relatively
absent. In most books on Flynn they tend to be overused, partly because Flynn, as
is well known, loved them and could often be extremely profane and vulgar. But with
a few exceptions there is little room here for that sort of thing. Is McNulty perhaps
bowdlerizing a bit - 'cleaning up' his picture of Flynn? Or is this something born
of an intuition that Flynn, when not under the influence of the alcohol and drugs
(which ultimately destroyed him), was an essentially decent man? It's an interesting
question.
One of the central sections of the book entails an extended and detailed discussion
(with the reproduction of some key memos) of Flynn's FBI files, all of which tends
to leave the reader with a rather depressed feeling. As to how much of it was true,
and how much was the result of J. Edgar Hoover's neurotic preoccupation with Flynn's
playboy sex life, will probably never be known.
In a related vein the book contains the obligatory treatment of Flynn's 1943 trial
for statutory rape in Los Angeles County. This was clearly the turning point of Flynn's
life. Before he was indicted and tried for having had 'illegal intercourse' with
two underage girls, Peggy LaRue Satterlee and Betty Hansen, Flynn was a relatively
carefree bon vivant who tended to take his celebrity and success with a pinch of
salt; afterwards he quickly became seduced into believing his own phallic myth. (This,
as McNulty points out, is surely lies at the center of Flynn's personal tragedy.)
The details of the endless trial, which in its day was as riveting to the country
as that of O.J. Simpson more recently, have been reproduced in books again and again,
to the point that almost any account will be beating a horse so dead it's been ground
into hamburger meat. But of course many of McNulty's readers will be members of a
new generation, and hence not familiar with the details, which McNulty handles with
wisdom and skill. It is also appealing, for once, to see a positive assessment of
Tedd Thomey's The Loves of Errol Flynn, a well-written little volume that had the
misfortune of having its minor virtues totally effaced by its trashy title. It was
among Tony Thomas' and Earl Conrad's favorite books about Flynn, and contains the
most complete account of the 'rape' trial in existence.
Flynn was often an infuriatingly complex man, deeply troubled throughout much of
his life. He was a labyrinth of false leads and an endless set of contradictions.
Rather than attempting to force Flynn into a neat, coherent mold that does away with
the tensions and paradoxes inherent in his character, McNulty simply allows the contradictions
to stand, preferring that the reader interpret them as he or she may. One comes away
from the book with the feeling that Flynn was as big a puzzle to himself as to everyone
else.
Some critics might complain that, here and there, the detail and incident is of a
rather exaggerated importance. In other words, McNulty has said to himself, 'Here
is someone who has never before been interviewed about Flynn'- for instance Wallace
Berry, Penny Parker or Paul Picerni; or, 'Here is something which so far has not
been included in any Flynn biography' - for instance a treatment of the 1939 'Dodge
City' premiere; thus the importance of these things to the story is exaggerated in
terms of the amount of space given to them. While not particularly bothered by this
myself, I can see how some might find it distracting. (I do, however, feel that the
account of the 'Dodge City' premiere, or the saga of Flynn's 1949 'Adventures of
Don Juan' goes on too long.) No matter - seldom in the case of a film star biography
has the adage proved truer: 'the whole is greater than the parts.' Carp about details
if you like; the final effect of McNulty's treatment is overwhelmingly positive,
and will eventually win over even the most reluctant reader. It will also be of enormous
significance to all future attempts to understand Flynn. The book is packed with
incidents from Flynn's life, much of it virtually impossible to find elsewhere. Where
else, for instance, can one learn about the white car in the background of the graduation
scene near the beginning of 'Santa Fe Trail,' or know that Flynn was probably driving
it, just to spoil the scene? (If you look carefully at the far right side of the
screen, the car flashes by, behind the bushes, as the graduates finish singing the
West Point song). Again, some might find this sort of detail an example of 'overkill'
; I, however, loved it. Because McNulty has found and faithfully reproduced so many
of these obscure, hard-to-find things - especially critical documents and remembrances
of Flynn which otherwise would have been permanently lost - future generations already
owe him an enormous debt.
Another value of Errol Flynn: The Life and Career is its inclusion of an adapted
version of McNulty's exhaustive Filmfax article on the television appearances of
Flynn. This will undoubtedly introduce the public to a whole new aspect of the Flynn
saga that is virtually unknown; for that alone the book is almost worth 'the price
of admission.'
In the end what is perhaps most compelling about McNulty's treatment is the way he
has handled his sources. There is an unimpeachable sense of probity here. No tampering
with the evidence, no devious manipulation of the primary information is to be found;
if any distortion exists, it will be more a question of selection and emphasis placed
upon various sources and incidents in Flynn's life, and this will be the result of
personal emotions and highly subjective analysis. Of course, it is axiomatic that
no such thing as 'objective biography' exists. All biographies are by nature selective,
and thus unavoidably distortive; subjectivity is part of the biographical enterprise.
But if anyone has come close to capturing 'the real Flynn,'it is McNulty.
In short, McNulty has gifted the world with an encyclopedic account that provides
the first fully documented, carefully composed, and ultimately sympathetic reflection
on Flynn's life and work - yet without ever being uncritical, mawkish, or sentimental.
The Flynn who emerges from these pages is a compelling, flesh and blood figure, warts
and all, whose tragedy was that he attempted to fly too close to the sun. He was
a much better actor than he thought he was, and a much less wicked man that he liked
to portray himself in public. Despite the sadness inherent in his life, however,
this Flynn biography is no 'downer' - as was the case two years ago when Jeffrey
Meyers' Inherited Risk tried too hard to create a father-son 'Greek tragedy.' Here
the reader comes away with a positive, balanced, and even grateful feeling toward
the subject.
Few film star biographies will be worth laying out what the publisher is asking for
it ($65); this one is an exception. The evident care and love that went into it will
more than repay the reader, who will come back to it again and again in the countless
hours of future delight that lie ahead.
Errol Flynn: The Life and Career
by Thomas McNulty
Hardcover: 381 pages
McFarland & Company. April 8, 2004
ISBN: 0786417501
Thomas McNulty
was born in Chicago in 1955 and is a graduate of Columbia College.
He is the author of the biography Errol Flynn: The Life and
Career (McFarland Publishers, ISBN: 0-7864-1750-1), a culmination of seven years
of research and three years of writing. Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition,
has said that Tom's book is "As compelling as a great novel...an affectionate
yet unflinching look at the life and films of a real-life swashbuckler."
Tom's celebrity interviews, articles, essays, book reviews and film reviews have
appeared in numerous publications including American Cowboy, The Big Reel, Classic
Images, Filmfax, Films of the Golden Age, The American Poetry Anthology, Kung-Fu
Qigong, Mystery News, and Scary Monsters among others. His interest in writing stems
from a childhood where reading was promoted by his parents. He has also published
poetry in various literary journals. His other interests include the Korean martial
art, Kyuki-Do, which he has been practicing for several years. Among his current
projects are a childrenís story and several additional non-fiction books. Tom lives
in Crystal Lake, Illinois with his wife, Jan, and daughter, Brenna.
"Author McNulty with another of his favorite swashbucklers, Jackie Chan"
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