User reviews

I echo what a number of other reviewers have said about this film, that they were pleasantly surprised by it. Most of the books about Flynn pan the film, and put it on the list with his lesser- quality pictures. It may not be in the top rank with his swashbucklers, but it really isn't a bad film at all. He gives a fine performance, and shows what a good actor he was, in just about any role he tackled. I like the fact that it isn't an action film, as we get to see what he could do in a different kind of part. I think he carries it off very well. He still gets to be the handsome rogue (with a piano instead of a sword), but also shows that his character is deeper than that, and has some real sensitivity for his lady friend and her baby. Some reviewers say that he was miscast, but I don't agree. A handsome, charming guy like Flynn is just what the part demands. A flirtatious character, but one with some deeper feelings, too. That could almost be a definition of the real Errol Flynn. Flynn succeeds with a difficult task here- making a selfish cad somewhat likable. You find yourself rooting for Sebastian in spite of yourself.

It's nice seeing Flynn work with his real-life friend, Ida Lupino. Flynn, Lupino, and director Raoul Walsh reportedly spent a lot of time together, and were very close pals. In fact, Ida and her mother Connie (who also loved Flynn) are buried right next to Flynn in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. One gets the feeling that Ida always loved Errol, and, in an alternate universe, you wonder if they might have gotten married, or had some kind of long-term relationship. Flynn was a wanderer, though, so perhaps that wouldn't have worked out so well. Anyway, they play well together, and you sense that they really liked each other.

Gig Young and Eleanor Parker are also very good in this film. Both were excellent actors, though their later roles perhaps provided them with more range than this film does. As in all Old Hollywood movies, this one is chock full of great character actors. Reginald Denny, Frank Reicher, Anthony Caruso, Albert Bassermann, Doris Lloyd, Leonard Mudie, and many others. Reicher is one of my favorites, in all kinds of films. I think he is best remembered as the captain of the ship "Venture" in King Kong. Caruso was great, too, and should have had a bigger career. He always projected sincerity and believability.

I'm guessing Flynn had some coaching on the piano for this. There is at least one shot where you can see his hands on the ivories. Most of the other scenes show him from behind. Films have always been good at faking the playing of musical instruments, as it had to look good and seem believable. Pianists might poke holes in what looks like Flynn really playing, but it looks pretty good to me.

Anyway, this film is worth a look. It shows that Flynn's talents really did go beyond playing the swashbuckler. All of us fans have always known that, but it might be an eye-opener for some people. Supposedly, the bad reviews for this film, and for his performance, upset him greatly. Many think that the criticisms of his acting, combined with the effects of his rape trial, and inability to serve in the military during the war, led to the downward spiral his life soon took. If you look at him just two or three years after he made this film, he looks ten years older. Everyone knows how it all finally played out. But here, he still seems young and full of life. And he has a perfect partner in Ida Lupino, who was always good in these kinds of dramas. It's too bad they didn't make more films together.

Ida Lupino is in love with Errol Flynn but Errol loves his brother's fiancé in "Escape Me Never," a 1947 film from Warner Brothers. Flynn and Gig Young play brother composers Sebastian and Caryl Dubrok. Lupino plays Gemma, a poor young woman with a baby she calls Piccolo. She's in love with Flynn, and tells the beautiful, well-bred Fionella (Eleanor Parker), Caryl's fiancé, that she's going to marry the composer Dubrok. Parker thinks it's Caryl and takes off. Carly, Gemma, Piccolo, and Sebastian set off to find her, singing and playing instruments for money as they go. Once they find Fionella, she falls for Flynn and vice versa.

This movie is a remake of a film starring Elizabeth Bergner, and I have no idea why Warners chose it. The performances are good, with Flynn very handsome and charming, though signs of seediness were beginning to show. He plays a self-involved playboy with no practicality very well. Young has a somewhat thankless role as the less flashy brother. Lupino gives a sympathetic portrayal, though she's slightly miscast. The character is feisty but also more of an ingénue than Lupino, whose strong appearance and voice made her a leading lady almost out of the box. Unfortunately because she was at Warners, she had to take a back seat to Bette Davis much of the time. She had more in her than this role requires. Parker is excellent as a cool but lovely socialite.

There's some great music by Wolfgang Korngold of Sebastian's opera "Primavera," and some nice dancing. All in all, it's a small film that used sets rather than location. Not a great entry but some lovely moments from the stars.

I saw this on TCM and had read in several review books that this was a bomb remake of an earlier picture with Elizabeth Bergner,but I was charmed by this film and like Ida Lupino and Errol Flynn's chemistry a lot. The other actors(especially Eleanor Parker) are also quite good and the film is quite a change of pace from the swashbucklers,war filmsand Westerns Flynn was in a lot. I enjoyed it a lot,and wished Lupino and Flynn had had another outing in a better film. This is a good instance of Flynn's natural ease on screen,and his sex appeal even when playing a cad in rags! Not many actors could do as well with this selfish playboy role as Errol did-so underrated an actor.Ida is always watchable,too.

After 1945 in which Errol Flynn appeared in typical roles for him in Operation Burma and San Antonio, he obviously must have talked to Jack Warner about getting parts that would broaden his range. He did three films over the next two year designed to do that, Never Say Goodbye, Cry Wolf, and Escape Me Never. The last is probably closest to Flynn, but all three didn't either get great critical notice or did outstanding box office. After Escape Me Never, Flynn was back in traditional action roles like Silver River and The Adventures of Don Juan, the kind of parts his fans like to see him in.

Escape Me Never is a four sided triangle story set in the years of the turn of the last century. Errol's a misunderstood genius of a composer who is living with a young widow, Ida Lupino and her baby. Ida's another Bohemian sort who broke into the villa in Venice of an English couple and their daughter. When she's confronted she mentions she's living with Errol. That sends a ripple through the house because daughter Eleanor Parker is engaged to Gig Young who is Errol's brother and they think Errol's a two timer. When she leaves Venice in a huff, Flynn, Lupino, and Young chase after her.

The problem is that the daughter may have been wrong on the particulars, but in fact Errol is a two timing cad, though a charming one.

Charm Flynn had in abundance, but I could never quite accept him as a musical genius. The best thing about the film is the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold who wrote a ballet for the film that is the highlight. Korngold scored a lot of Flynn's early swashbucklers, most notably The Adventures Of Robin Hood.

This is the second version of this story, the British cinema did one in 1935 with Elisabeth Bergner and Hugh Sinclair. I'm guessing that was a better film.

The best thing I can say about this movie is that Errol Flynn seemed to be enjoying himself. He is relaxed and natural. Same with Ida Lupino, actually. None of her usual brittle intensity.

But my gawd the story. Is it a love quadrangle? Is he a composer or a busker? Is Lupino supposed to be a woman or a teenager. Is there a world where Gig Young is a serious rival of Flynn's when it comes to women? Is Eleanor Parker's character actually alive or just a mannequin?

And the lighting and makeup is ghastly. In some scenes Lupino looks like she's wearing circus makeup. In some scenes Flynn looks, I can't believe I'm about to type this, unattractive. It takes a special kind of ''talent" to pull that off.

The whole thing is so inert, so lifeless. Seeing Flynn in those lederhosen or britches or whatever. Kinda humiliated for him.

'Escape Me Never' is a tired remake of an Elizabeth Bergner film from the '30s and they should have thought twice before filming it. As the N. Y. Times so aptly observed: "Harsh and unbelievable...the script is a frightful thing." Ida Lupino only made it because she was eager to co-star with Errol Flynn (they had a brief romantic relationship) but despite competent performances by all concerned, none of them have a chance against the poor script. Basically, it's the story of two musician brothers (Errol Flynn, Gig Young) and their involvement with two women (Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker), a romantic tearjerker with occasional flashes of humor. Ida is the poverty-stricken Gemma in love with Flynn who is unfaithful to her until his reformation at the end. One of his musical compositions is brilliantly performed by a full orchestra and here Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score soars. He was unfortunate in that some of the films he scored were considerably less worthy of his talent than they should have been. His music is the only redeeming value of this disjointed, uneven mess of a film, a short original ballet, Primavera, and a popular song that was well received, Love for Love. Production-wise, the film suffers from an obvious use of process shots and sound-stage simulations of the Alps.

My career article on Ida Lupino is due to appear in the Fall issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE.

Escape Me Never is a remake of the 1935 version that earned Elisabeth Bergner both an Oscar and Rag nomination for Best Actress. The movies are so similar, I can't really figure out why Hollywood decided to remake it at all. And even though Errol Flynn is gorgeous and has an additive screen presence, he's not particularly likable in this one.

Ida Lupino starts the movie off being a real pill, and she barely gets any better. She pretends to be a schoolgirl, sneaks into a guided tour of a wealthy family's estate, snoops around in rooms she shouldn't, and when she gets caught, she throws a temper tantrum and insists on telling her entire life story to the wealthy family all while getting a free meal, which was her main objective anyway. She creates a huge misunderstanding and breaks up Gig Young's relationship with the wealthy, classy Eleanor Parker, because Eleanor's parents think Gig has fathered Ida's baby. In truth, Gigs brother Errol Flynn is living with Ida, even though he's not the father and has no real feelings for her. Then, when the trio goes on a quest to win Eleanor back, Errol wins her heart instead. Talk about a complicated love triangle!

This isn't the worst movie, and it has a classically dramatic storyline that's usually only found in old films. If you like needlessly dramatic plot points and unlikable, implausible romances, you can give this one a shot.

In turn of the century Venice, composer brothers Sebastian (Errol Flynn) and Caryl (Gig Young) both fall for two women: low-born Gemma (Ida Lupino), a widowed single mother with a baby, and wealthy socialite Fenella (Eleanor Parker). Their various romantic entanglements lead them to the Dolemite mountains and to the United Kingdom.

This was based on a play, and had been previously filmed in England, with that film earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for Elisabeth Bergner. This version didn't seem to have much inspiration to it, or perhaps the wrong the director was at the helm, as everything seemed flat and perfunctory. That is, in between scenes of Lupino chewing up the scenery. I've liked her in many things, but not this. And her hair is just awful. Eleanor Parker, who I often don't like, came across better here and fit the setting and the role. I watched this for Flynn, and much like this same year's Cry Wolf, he seems to be trying to stretch his screen range. He still gets to be a bit of a charming rogue, but his romantic scenes feel empty and unbelievable, as did his moments with the ballet company near the end. He seemed most at home during his concertina performances in a beer garden. I didn't detest this movie as many critics seem to, but I wouldn't want to watch it again.

I think the casting of the actors is exceptionally good and Errol Flynn's nonchalant manner fits perfectly in this story. I felt it demonstrated the lesson that we don't appreciate what we have until it is too late and is taken from us. We mustn't take love for granted.

I was particularly interested to see Albert Bassermann appearing in this film and recognized his voice immediately because of his next and last acting performance which was in the famous 1948 film "The Red Shoes" in which he had a fairly significant role - not bad for an actor nearing 80 years of age!

Ida Lupino as 'Gemma' is cast adrift after a short union in marriage which produced a son, but she must fend for herself when tragedy ends the union. She links up the Sebastian (Flynn), a musician, who also happens to have a brother that is in music too.

I like the moderate display in this production of the film, nothing overblown or showy, but just plain and simple, almost like a stage production in a way and more true to the story.

It's an excellent movie and well worth seeing.

When the macLean family catches gemma (Ida Lupino) wandering around the closed rooms of their venice mansion, they learn what a scoundrel dubrok is. But there are two dubroks! Caryl (Gig Young) is the prim and proper one, while sebastian (Flynn) is the troublesome, artistic, bohmian one that gemma knows. So the macLeans rush out of town to keep their daughter from getting mixed up with any dubroks. So the brothers take gemma and her baby to go find fenella (Parker) and straighten the mess out. When they find her, sebastian and fenella talk alone. Fenella can't make up her mind which brother she likes. Life is confusing. And when people "talk" in the moonlight, sometimes it means more happened, during the film code... it's ok. Takes a long time to get where its going. And the ballet scene goes on way too long. Will fenella steal gemma's man? She flutters her eye lashes, and floats back and forth between them. This warner brothers version, and the 1935 UA film are both based on the novel and play by Margaret Kennedy.

One of the worst movies of Errol Flynn's career. A terrible soaper with Flynn as a composer who strings along a young widowed mother (a painfully miscast Ida Lupino) while romancing his brother's ex-girlfriend, wealthy Eleanor Parker. There's melodramatic "romance," tired class clichés, a couple of forgettable songs, and even a dead baby to keep things light. It's all overwrought with some of the most unlikable characters I've seen any of these actors play. The movie does have one thing going for it -- it's the last movie scored by the great Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Unfortunately that's not enough to save it from being the forgettable piece of mediocrity that it is. Escape Me Never is an adaptation of a play of the same name. It was apparently made into a film before, in 1935, but I haven't seen that nor do I have any intention to. I'm not big on soaps and I only tried this one out due to Flynn. Very disappointing.

It's not a comedy but if you don't laugh, you will be wondering why you continued to sit through this till the very end. Errol Flynn carried this film most of the way with his usual charm but even he can't perform lazarus on such a poorly written screenplay. Peter Godfrey didn't help either. Perhaps he had fallen asleep while directing this piece. Having said that, it has a great cast of actors and actresses. Lupino is a good actress but I felt she was badly miscast in this film. What a pity though because the idea was good and it had potential.

Caryl Dubrok (Gig Young) is having a romance with wealthy English heiress Fenella MacLean (Eleanor Parker). Fenella and her family mistakenly believe that Gemma Smith (Ida Lupino) is having an affair with Caryl. In reality, Caryl's big brother Sebastian (Errol Flynn) had taken in Gemma and her baby. The group sets off to explain the misunderstanding to the MacLean family who have left Venice for the Dolomite mountains.

This seems to be trying to start with comedy. While there is plenty of sitcom construction, little of this is actually funny. These romances are rather finnicky. They don't inspire much confidence. Gemma and Sebastian give me a headache. I don't see great chemistry and they have issues. I don't like this love quadrangle.

I give this movie 10-10 because it is captivating from start to finish. Errol Flynn is charming as usual and Ida Lupino has a very strong showing. It was the first time that I've watched a Ida Lupino film, but it will not be the last. She brings a sensitivity to the screen but also strong-willed and her own person. Her on-screen passion compensates for the lack of funds put into this movie. Lupino also compliments Errol Flynn as a great on-screen couple. Escape Me Never has a great feel to it and will not disappoint. The "I hate Errol Flynn" bandwagon may have been emboldened by this film, however, because Errol is flirtatious and is as womanizing as ever. But, if you watch the entire film you will find that he comes around in the end to realizing his true love and commitment. Watch this movie! It will not disappoint.

For big fans of Errol and big fans of period romance musical comedy/drama combo,this movie will deliver the goods.The story hits the spot for the genre.Very good music,very good cast and acting as well.What kpt this movie from becoming a classic though was the low budget and average directing.The cinematography was also below average.But still,Errol Flynn is so charming here as usual and for the right audience,it's still a winner.This film was unfairly under rated due to the dreaded anti-Flynn syndrome bandwagon......

Of all the reviews i've read i thought it was going to suck. It was one of errol flynn's better films after his career had started to go down. He didn't make that many more good ones after this one. He made some bad choices with adventures of don juan and istanbul .

I've been a Korngold fan for decades. Today, I saw Escape Me Never for the first time.

This may be the best example of a film that he described as an opera without words.

The ballet, composed by Errol Flynn's character, could be staged in live performance, and I'd like to read up on who choreographed it for the film.

Other Korngold-scored films contain what I understand are called "diagetic" works, actually composed by Korngold but attributed to characters in the films. They include the cello concerto from Deception, and the orchestral song/symphonic poem "Tomorrow" from The Constant Nymph.

Over and above that, the Violin Concerto and the Symphony in F# are concert works that use themes from his film scores.

In live performances, I've see the Symphony and Violin Concerto, and the opera Die Tote Stadt. Some day, I hope to see his early Sinfonietta.