13 Replies to “Frankly, My Dear”

  1. She and Errol Flynn made a number of movies together, some of which I have in my personal collection. Watch for her in Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, and They Died With Their Boots On.

    Many of them were directed by Michael Curtiz, but Flynn eventually got tired of working with him. That’s one reason why the Custer movie was made with Raoul Walsh at the helm.

      1. I remember that scene from the movie.

        During Bush War II, the 7th Cavalry was one of the units that charged across the Iraqi desert towards Baghdad. I have no idea if the regiment played that song when it reached its objective.

        Returning to the movie, it took considerable liberties with historical facts. For example, Custer was by no means a foppish dandy at West Point. He came from a modest background.

  2. Sad to hear this.
    Growing up without cable, I watched a lot of old movies as a child, and she was one of my first celebrity crushes.
    The Daily Beast link above seems to indicate I had principled taste even then.

    1. she was one of my first celebrity crushes

      After seeing her in her earlier movies, such as Captain Blood, it’s easy to see why. She had a classy look and on-screen manner that many modern day actresses lack.

      For a while, there were rumours of she and Flynn were, shall we say, “involved”. That wasn’t true, but, then, Hollywood always did like a juicy scandal.

  3. RIP Olivia de Havilland.
    A favourite, Olivia de Havilland was one of the greatest actors of all time. Included below are some interesting details about her long and accomplished life:
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_de_Havilland

    Yes, she was related to that other de Havilland:
    One of her cousins, Capt. Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (1882-1965), was a British aviation pioneer, aircraft designer and owner of the de Havilland Aircraft Co. More here:
    https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000014/bio

  4. How is the dominant cancel culture doing with “Gone With the Wind”? I thought the movie was on the outs, definitely non-PC.

  5. The on-screen collaboration between Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn is legendary. They clearly worked well together and they made several movies.

    There was something special about her that just seemed to work with him. He worked with other leading ladies, such as Brenda Marshall in The Sea Hawk, Miriam Hopkins in Virginia City, and Alexis Smith in San Antonio, but the spark just didn’t seem to be there with them.

    1. To be fair, she worked with a variety of leading men in her movies. She was with Montgomery Clift in The Heiress, Alan Ladd in The Proud Rebel, and Joseph Cotten in Hush…. Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

      Again, that little bit of “extra” that made her work with Flynn so successful didn’t seem to be there with these other actors. Even so, those movies are worth watching at least once. I’ve grown particularly fond of The Sea Hawk over the years and that, together with Captain Blood, make a pleasant evening’s double header.

      1. Jack Warner claimed she had a mind like a computer. Likely, so did he. Together, they likely didn’t waste too much time flubbing their movie lines. Their onscreen chemistry was real, when they met she was 19, and he, a handsome, 26 year old.

        She loved and would’ve liked to have married Director John Huston and also, at different times, was in love with Jimmy Stewart and supposedly Howard Hughes, though she eventually married people who were not in the Business.

        I would guess, she and Flynn must have had a running jokes between them about everyone, especially the studio head, Jack Warner.

        I once read his autobiography, “My Wicked, Wicked Ways”…..he lived fast and died young.
        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errol_Flynn

  6. One day you’ll be able to tell your great great grand kids how you watched the old USA go up in flames one night.

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