The Charge Of The Light Brigade!

This movie is not as rock solid a movie and is rousing, especially the climax which I found quite exciting. The movie tells the tale of a pair of brothers (Flynn and Patrick Knowles) in love with the same woman (Olivia DeHavilland) and how they comport themselves with dignity and bravery on the rugged landscape of the Khyber Pass and the valleys of the Crimean War. There's a ruler of the mythical land of Suristan who has been cut off financially by the British and seeks an alignment with the Russians, but who bears a grudge and leads his forces to commit an atrocity at a British fort. The climatic battle at Balaclava, the infamous charge, is in this version an attempt by the British forces to get even for this heinous crime.

Errol Flynn does a bang-up job as does David Niven, who plays his sidekick. Niven is stalwart, but human too in this tale of bravery and nobility. Olivia DeHavilland has little to do frankly in this tale of manly men, but she's certainly pretty enough. Nigel Bruce (of Sherlock Holmes fame) is in this one and plays a wonderfully dotty commander who nonetheless turns out to be a man of skill and dignity.

And that's what this rousing tale seems to be most about. It's the dignity of man which is at stake, whether it is how a brother will deal with a cuckolding by his brother or answer the massacre of a bloodthirsty enemy, it's not what he does so much but how he'll face up to the inevitable.

Pretty good movie. Recommended.

And here's the famous Tennyson poem which inspired it. 


The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson


Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
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The Adventures Of Robin Hood!

The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn collection I have, is one of those sets that takes full advantage of the format to offer up a wide array of interesting, enlightening and entertaining extras. There's a whole faux-afternoon of film-going experience with a trailer, a cartoon, a newsreel, and a short film. There's background on the creation of the movie, the 1922 Robin Hood movie with Douglas Fairbanks, and a delightfully detailed commentary. There are two classic cartoons with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck both lampooning the Robin Hood story. There's a Flynn trailer library and features on the invention of Technicolor and more. 

A great tasty collection not even mentioning a colorful presentation of this classic adventure story. Errol Flynn as Robin and Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisborne might just be the finest hero-villain casting in the history of film. They are perfect in their roles and their swordfight is easily in my all-time top ten list of favorite movie moments. I've long had a still of the classic duel, which is tucked away in a box right now, but has historically been in my office.

Vic Prezio

Original Cover by Lansky and Eng

All this Robin Hood thinking got me to remembering one of the earliest Classics Illustrated volumes I ever owned featuring the adventures of the outlaw from Sherwood. It's a solid comic adventure with a lush cover image by Vic Prezio clearly inspired by Errol Flynn's definitive version from the movie. And some sturdy artwork and storytelling inside by writer Evelyn Goodman and artists Louis Zansky and Fred Eng. If you've never sampled Classic Illustrated before, this is a good one to begin with.

If ever there was an actor who brought the zeitgeist of the "superhero" to the big screen it was Flynn, a larger-than-life personality who could play the bejeezus out of any large role he was given. And Robin Hood, star of many a comic book, and the inspiration for such hardcase "superheroes" as Green Arrow and Hawkeye the Marksman is certainly a larger-than-life role. And it's hard to take your eyes of off Olivia De Haviland as she saunters through the movie in one beautiful outfit after another. Claude Rains is on hand for some prime villainy as well. Alan Hale plays Littler John a role he amazingly performed three times in three different decades on film. 

This is a must-see classic movie, if only for the orgy of colors provided by refined Technicolor of the era. 

. 

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The Sea Hawk!

The Sea Hawk is a rousing war film, a neat allegory for the tenor of the times when the Axis powers were threatening all Europe when strong backs and stiff necks were needed to stem the evil tide. Geoffrey Thorpe, the privateer played by Flynn in this one is a rascal, a hardened soldier and a patriot but not as open to feeling as Flynn's earlier pirate -- Peter Blood.

(1924 film poster)

This time there was a little complication. The Sea Hawk had been adapted before as a silent film in 1924. Perhaps to avoid comparisons to that movie, the plot of the Rafael Sabatini novel was mostly ignored and a new pro-war affair substituted. Still and all, the movie was an attempt to recapture that energy which resulted from Captain Blood and that begs comparison.

There's a high romance to Captain Blood that I find very attractive today, a greater feel of escapism. The action and the characterizations seem more natural and the fighting more exotic. The look of The Sea Hawk is much more lavish, but it nonetheless has a constricting feel to it compared to the earlier film. That said, the sea battles are intense and powered by a studio able to build full-size ships which director Michael Curtiz takes full advantage of. And as much as I like him in other roles, I find Henry Daniel as the main villain a bit weak in the face of Flynn's heroism. On the contrary while he's not on screen much Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood is amazing, both wild and memorable.

Both Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk are wonderful flicks, but I find now that the saga of Peter Blood the outsider speaks to me more than the loyal man of the state Geoffry Thorpe these days. Doubtless it says more about me than the movies.

Still and all a great movie and highly recommended. 

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Captain Blood!

(Alex Raymond)

I don't think there has ever been a movie star with the allure and romance of Errol Flynn save perhaps for his predecessor Rudolph Valentino. He was dashing, handsome, and communicated a sense of devil-may-care that illuminated any room he walked into. 

Errol Flynn might well have been the greatest "movie star" ever. Of course, part of that fame is really the infamy of his personal life which is the very stuff of Hollywood legend. This movie is also the breakout for Olvia De Haviland, and she and Flynn had crazy chemistry on the big screen. Lionel Atwill plays a baddie in this jaunt, and I love Atwill in anything. 

This story from Rafael Sabatini's 1922 novel Captain Blood is a simple but tragic one. Peter Blood is a doctor who gets swept up in the political strife of his country when he's falsely accused of being a rebel against James I of England. His punishment is to be made a slave and sent to be sold as such. He is forced to serve as a slave for some time though his skills as a doctor give him elevated status. Nevertheless, when a Spanish warship is overtaken, it creates the opportunity for Blood to become a daring and dashing pirate with intentions of revenge on those who imprisoned him. This movie also sets up a clash between Flynn's Blood and Basil Rathbone's pirate Levasseur. It would prove to be the template for more such clashes. 

Captain Blood was Flynn's debut movie as a leading man in 1935, and a magnificent one it was. The character of Peter Blood as portrayed by Flynn is at once noble and selfish. Blood is a great vehicle for the viewer into the battle for freedom. He just wants to be left alone, but he is drawn into the war because of his noble ethics and finds no one in leadership possessing any ethics. He is what we'd call today radicalized by his imprisonment and harsh treatment. In our real world, the current savage conflict in the Gaza Strip will almost certainly have created lifelong enemies for the state of Israel. Certainly, villains exist and must be dealt with, but just as doubtless men are made enemies by what they see around them. Injustice is blind to a flag -- any flag. 

This is a must-see classic. More derring-do when The Sea Hawk docks later this week.    

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The Charge Of The Light Brigade!

This is a movie I picked on a whim with a bunch of other Errol Flynn adventure flicks. I'd never seen it before viewing it a few days ago, but I was much impressed. It's not as rock solid a movie as Captain Blood nor even Sea Hawk but it is rousing, especially the climax which I found quite exciting.

The movie tells the tale of a pair of brothers (Flynn and Patrick Knowles) in love with the same woman (Olivia DeHaviland) and how they comport themselves with dignity and bravery on the rugged landscape of the Khyber Pass and the valleys of the Crimean War. There's a ruler of the mythical land of Suristan who has been cut off financially by the British and seeks an alignment with the Russians, but who bears a grudge and leads his forces to commit an atrocity at a British fort. The climatic battle at Balaclava, the infamous charge, is in this version an attempt by the British forces to get even for this heinous crime.

Errol Flynn does a bang up job as does David Niven, who plays his sidekick. Niven is stalwart, but human too in this tale of bravery and nobility. Olivia DeHaviland has little to do frankly in this tale of manly men, but she's certainly pretty enough. Nigel Bruce (of Sherlock Holmes fame) is in this one and plays a wonderfully dotty commander who nonetheless turns out to be a man of skill and dignity.

And that's what this rousing tale seems to be most about. It's the dignity of man which is at stake, whether it is how a brother will deal with a cuckolding by his brother or answer the massacre of a bloodthirsty enemy, it's not what he does so much but how he'll face up to the inevitable.

Pretty good movie. Recommended.

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The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson


Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Captains Incorrigible!

I don't think there has ever been a movie star with the allure and romance of Errol Flynn. He was dashing, handsome, and communicated a sense of devil-may-care that illuminated any room he walked into. Errol Flynn might well have been the greatest "movie star" ever. Of course part of that fame is really the infamy of his personal life which is the very stuff of Hollywood legend.

I am in a Flynn mode right now having gotten several of his flicks on dvd. I spent some time this past weekend watching both Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk. It's interesting to watch these two flicks back to back. I've always preferred the later Sea Hawk to the earlier Captain Blood but I think I've changed my mind.

Captain Blood was Flynn's debut movie, and a magnificent one it was. The character of Peter Blood as portrayed by Flynn is at once noble and selfish. Blood is a great vehicle for the viewer into the battle for freedom. He just wants to be left alone, but is drawn into the war because of his ethics and finds no one in leadership possessing any ethics. He is what we'd call today radicalized by his imprisonment and harsh treatment. I can't help but think of Guantanamo Bay and the men the U.S. might've turned into revolutionaries by careless treatment. Certainly villains exist and must be dealt with, but just as doubtless men are made enemies by what they see around them. Injustice is blind to a flag.

The Sea Hawk is a rousing war film, a neat allegory for the tenor of the times when the Axis powers were threatening all Europe and strong backs and stiff necks were needed to stem the tide. Geoffrey Thorpe, the privateer played by Flynn in this one is more of a rascal than Blood, a hardened soldier and patriotic but not as open to feeling as Flynn's earlier pirate.

There's a high romance to Captain Blood that I find very attactive today, a greater feel of escapism. The action and the characterizations seems more natural and the fighting more exotic. The look of The Sea Hawk is much more lavish, but has a constricting feel to it compared to the earlier film. And as much as I like him in other roles, I find Henry Daniel as the main villain a bit weak in the face of Flynn's heroism. On the contrary while he's not on screen much Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood is amazing, both wild and memorable.

Both of these movies are wonderful flicks, but I find now that the saga of Peter Blood the outsider speaks to me more than the loyal man of the state Geoffry Thorpe these days. Doubtless it says more about me than the movies.

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Robin Hood!

I picked up a few months back a wonderful DVD of Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood. It's one of those DVD sets that takes full advantage of the format to offer up a wide array of interesting, enlightening and entertaining extras. There's a whole faux-afternoon of film-going experience with a trailer, a cartoon, a newsreel, and a short film. There's background on the creation of the movie, the 1922Robin Hood movie with Douglas Fairbanks, and a delightfully detailed commentary. There are two classic cartoons with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck both lampooning the Robin Hood story. There's a Flynn trailer library and features on the invention of Technicolor. A great tasty collection not even mentioning a colorful presentation of this classic adventure story. Errol Flynn as Robin and Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisborne might just be the finest hero-villain casting in the history of film. They are perfect in their roles and their swordfight is in my all-time top ten list of fave movie moments. I've long had a still of the classic duel which is tucked away in a box right now, but has historically been in my office.

At the same time I picked this flick up I got hold of a Border's reproduction of Howard Pyle's classic The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. It's a pretty little book. All this Robin Hood thinking got me to remembering one of the earliest Classics Illustrated volumes I ever owned featuring the adventures of the outlaw from Sherwood. It's a solid comic adventure with a lush cover image clearly inspired by Errol Flynn's definitive version from the movie and some worthwhile artwork and storytelling inside. If you've never sampled Classic Illustrated before, this is a good one to begin with.

Now I'm hankering to see more Flynn. I've got Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk on VHS, but I'd love to see if there are quality DVD verisons with some great features out there. If ever there was an actor who brought the zeitgeist of the "superhero" to the big screen it was Flynn, a larger-than-life personality who could play the bejeezus out of any large role he was given. And Robin Hood, star of many a comic book, and the inspiration for such hardcase "superheroes" as Green Arrow and Hawkeye the Marksman is certainly a larger-than-life role.

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