back when action movies were action movies.
Journal entry of the day:
Bluejack's ruminations on the false sense of closeness and friendship you get from reading an online journal.
Running news:
4.2 miles, and not at all well done. Sigh. It's going to take some time to reacclimate.
When in doubt, get an Errol Flynn flick. This is my advice. You won't regret it.
Errol Flynn: sure, the guy was a mess. He was dead at only 50, after a lifetime of very hard living. He had most slanders directed against him during his lifetime and the rest after he was dead. He was probably guilty of most of them. He more than likely would have admitted to them all, probably with that damned grin on his face.
And what a grin--and what a face.
Errol Flynn definitely rates highly in the "Here, now, on the floor" sweepstakes. The stories told about him definitely give the impression he knew that while he was alive and made the most use of it.
The best thing about Errol Flynn, movie star, was how he gave the impression he was enjoying himself. In the Michael Curtiz costume epics he sashays through with the definite air of, "Isn't this better than a day job?" Flynn's characters had to have some weakness, so he was always tongue-tied and unsure of himself around women. (Yeah. Right. I believed everything up until that point.) Other than that, he was dashing, suave, glib, forceful, and determined. And having a really, really good time. Which is clearly infectious, because I ended up having a great time watching both movies.
I'd watched The Adventures of Robin Hood recently, which is usually regarded as the best of the Flynn/Curtiz lot. On Saturday I rented Captain Blood (1935), the movie that made Flynn a star, and on Sunday I watched The Sea Hawk (1940). They're both pirate movies, filled with swashbuckling and fights, intrigue, and romance.
They both have a distinct style--probably the work of Michael Curtiz, a phenomenal director, who uses a blend of ornate costumes and scenes and unadorned backdrops. Curtiz clearly knew that when you've got Errol Flynn on screen, who the hell cares what the walls of the palace look like?
The great thing about the action scenes is that Curtiz follows the cardinal rule: let the audience follow what's going on. If you've got the pirates on the right and the Spanish on the left, keep the pirates on the right in every shot and in every hand-to-hand combat scene. If you ever break this rule, make sure the pirate's wearing a kerchief and the Spaniard's wearing his metal vest. Let the audience follow the scene.
Most amazing of all both movies have plots. Finding one movie with a story is stunning, but two seems like ungodly coincidence. Did they all have stories back then? Mind you, the stories are simple enough--boy meets girl, boy becomes pirate, girl spurns boy, boy proves he's a decent chap underneath the grinning, charming, swordfighting exterior--but they're there.
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If you only have time for one extremely fun movie and you've already seen The Adventures of Robin Hood, check out The Sea Hawk. Captain Blood takes a long time to get going (although the scene where Olivia De Havilland buys Errol Flynn as her slave is worthwhile) and there isn't enough buckling of swashes. The Sea Hawk starts out with a rousing pirate caper and then gets into the meat of the plot.
Also, Flynn has a moustache in The Sea Hawk and he doesn't have one in Captain Blood, and Flynn is one of the rare men who I think looks better with a moustache than not.
Copyright 1998 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com