Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland—1935 to 1938
Legendary Romantic Screen Couple Make Sparks Fly in Costume Dramas
Jul 27, 2009
June 20, 2009 was the 100th birthday of Errol Flynn, king of the Warner Brothers' lot in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In his most memorable films, he was paired with Olivia de Havilland whose intelligence and energy was a match for his impudent roguishness. They were in eight movies together across a seven-year period, from 1935 to 1941, and made sparks fly whenever they were on screen. From Port Royal, Jamaica to Dodge City, from Sherwood Forest to the Crimea, from Bloody Kansas to the Little Big Horn, they romped through costume dramas, distracting movie-going audiences from the woes of the Great Depression and making movie history.
This article focuses on the first four of their films together while Errol Flynn & Olivia de Havilland—1939 to 1941 focuses on their final four films together (Dodge City, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Santa Fe Trail, and They Died With Their Boots On).
1. Captain Blood (1935)
Flynn and de Havilland’s first match-up was one of the greatest swashbuckler films ever, a film which, with Douglas Fairbanks’ The Black Pirate (1926), sets the tropes for all pirate films that follow and which serves as the real starting point for The Pirates of the Caribbean (2003). As Captain Peter Blood, Flynn plays an Irish physician transported to Jamaica and sold into slavery for tending to a wounded rebel against the English throne; de Havilland plays Arabella Bishop, the niece of the governor of Jamaica (played with gratifying nastiness by Lionel Atwill). She purchases Blood as a kindness, which he, of course, resents mightily. Reaching a position of some freedom due to his physician's skills, he facilitates an escape plan. He and his fellow slaves get away and turn to piracy in order to survive.
Basil Rathbone is the dastardly French pirate Levasseur, who captures Arabella, leading to Flynn’s first on-screen fencing duel-to-the-death in order to rescue her. An exciting battle at sea defending Port Royal from the French and a surprise twist of plot at the end help make Captain Blood a satisfying romantic adventure.
Based on Rafael Sabatini’s novel Captain Blood, the Warner Brothers' film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Score, Best Picture, Best Sound, and Best Screenplay. This was Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s first movie score and set the future direction for emotive orchestral scores in the film industry. For Flynn and de Havilland fans, this one is a must see.
2. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is cited as the source for this quasi-historical action film set during the Crimean War. It features Major Geoffrey Vickers (Flynn) and his brother, Perry (Patric Knowles), who are both in love with Elsa Campbell (de Havilland). Ultimately Geoffrey nobly sacrifices himself, leading the famous suicidal charge against the Russian artillery after insuring his brother had been called away from the field of battle. The charge itself is a bloody and intense climax to the film. It resulted in the death of so many horses that animal rights activists were finally able to push for the banning of trip wires in films. The remarkable cast includes Nigel Bruce, Donald Crisp, and a young David Niven. Max Steiner’s score was nominated for an Oscar for Original Music Score.
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
This Technicolor extravaganza was perfectly cast with Flynn as Robin Hood and de Havilland as Maid Marion. Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains are memorably evil as Sir Guy of Gisbourne and Prince John, and Alan Hale Sr. as Little John makes his first of many appearances as Flynn’s sidekick. The perfect vehicle for Flynn’s impudent wit and de Havilland’s lovely strength, Robin Hood walked away with Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, and Best Music/Original Score for Korngold’s delightful score (#11 on the American Film Institute list of best scores ever). Patric Knowles as Will Scarlett, Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck, and Una O’Connor add to the fun, making this a wonderful romp through legend. If there is one Flynn – de Havilland movie not to miss, this is the one.
4. Four's a Crowd (1938)
Four’s A Crowd is the only Flynn – de Havilland film set in the modern era. It is a screwball comedy that has lost a few screws. The ensemble cast includes Flynn, as a smarmy but charming PR man, Robert 'Bob' Lansford; de Havilland as a ditzy millionaire’s daughter, Lorri Dillingwell; Rosalind Russell as news reporter, Jean Christy; and Patric Knowles as publisher, Pat Buckley. Walter Connolly, known for his eccentric millionaire role in It Happened One Night (1934), reprises a similar role here as John Dillingwell. The plot has Jean involving Bob to try to save Pat's newpaper by influenging Lorri's rich father. Dillingwell is having none of it, so to force his hand, Bob begins to smear Dillingwell's reputation. Pat then convinces Dillingwell to hire Bob as his PR agent to counter the smear campaign. Confused yet? Who of the four is matched up with whom changes regularly, even to the point that the pairs showing up to a Justice of the Peace are not the ones who actually wed.
Four’s a Crowd attempts the high energy, overlapping dialogue of the comedy of manners perfected in Bringing Up Baby (1938) (Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant) and His Gal Friday (1940) (Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant). Unfortunately this plot is more than a little confusing and while fun, with four engaging leads, probably ranks toward the bottom of the Flynn – de Havilland films, which may also explain why it is rather hard to come by. The original trailer of Four’s A Crowd gives a taste of the zaniness of the film.
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