A very REAL biography
Reviewer: Karl Holmberg

The Life and Career of Errol Flynn by Thomas McNulty

343 pages including an Afterward, 2 Appendices, and Notes. With 85 photos.

Here, at last, is the long awaited biography from Thomas McNulty. Rumored for years and long anticipated. And IT IS GOOD.

For those of you who don't know who Errol Flynn was, you are in for a real experience. Here is a very well written, extensively researched, and lovingly created book.

Right off the bat, one is greeted with a picture cover (sans dust jacket). And the picture is familiar, but not exacty. It is from the same photo session as the one used for the cover of David Bret’s Satan’s Angel. But that is where the similarity ends- THIS BOOK’S cover photo is of a Flynn almost bemused and whimsical, and looking slightly up- found out, so to speak ... as if to hint at what’s inside.

In the acknowledgements we see many familar names: Peter Stackpole, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Sheb Wooley, Vincent Sherman, Arthur Hiller, Janet Leigh, and Olivia de Havilland. There is also someone named Wallace Berry who gets a nod and if it sounds familiar, you are right in remembering, but also wrong in what you remember- and McNulty gives the final word.

There is also an acknowledgement of various Flynn collectors, OF ALL KINDS, who contributed mightily to this book. McNulty also gives a special nod to two special people in the Flynn world: Lincoln Hurst and Brian Twist. And finally, the dedication to Trudy McVicker, who provided editorial guidance, and Paul M. James, a person you will read about later.

The book, itself, is divided into what McNulty identifies as the 5 periods of Flynn’s life: "From Tasmania to Hollywood,1909-1935", "Hollywood, 1935-1940", "The War Years, 1941-1945", "Don Juan, 1946-1949, and "The Wanderer, 1950-1959". There is also an afterward and 2 appendices. And finally a “Notes” section, followed by an extensive bibliography, and, not to mention, AN INDEX!

The Afterword, entitled “Of Scrapbooks and Ghosts”, goes into a post death discussion. This section chronicles the biographical efforts, both good and bad, the afteraffects of the bad, his own experiences as a “known” Flynn writer, and briefly, the relatively new introduction of the internet and web sites devoted to Flynn, Flynn’s children, and an extended homage to Paul M. James.

And who is Paul M. James, you say? A collector, and THEN SOME. Back in 1936, he saw Charge of the Light Brigade, and just started collecting anything having to do with Flynn. According to McNulty: “... ten huge scrapbooks, each containing thousands of clippings, words and images ... with care given to documenting the published work.” McNulty further adds: “Flynn would have appreciated the fact that Paul’s magnificent collection fit snugly into several tightly packed vodka cases.” In crediting James, McNulty says: “Although I began the research that culminated in this book in 1992, Paul’s scrapbooks provided the source material I needed to proceed and often served as the impetus for my own investigations.”

The first appendix is entitled “Remembrances”, which includes excerpts from some of the familiar published sources: David Niven, Patric Knowles, John Huston, and Kirk Douglas, as well as the less than familiar. There are also excerpts of personal correspondance and interviews with both the famous, and not so, including one of the premier Flynn collectors, Rick Dodd.

Appendix 2 takes on the task of a complete filmography, as well as the minor films, and his dramatic television appearances. You may remember that Mr. McNulty is the author of the excellent FilmFax article “The Forgotten Television Films of Errol Flynn”.

And now for the review.

It was so uncanny to have just finished another book on Flynn, called Errol Flynn in the Thirties by G.D. Hamann (In case you are unfamiliar, it is the painstaking efforts of Mr. Hamann to go through years of newspapers on microfilm, for the 1930's and beyond, in and around the Los Angeles area, finding references to Errol Flynn and re-typing them in a chronological order ... that is the basis of the book). With The Life and Career of Errol Flynn, I found myself strangely familiar with some of the detail, as well as anticipating what would be coming next and I didn't understand why. (I later saw in the afterward, the explanation: the  James scrapbooks- and I realized that I picked my information up in bits and pieces from the book of newspaper articles I had just finished reading). McNulty is that good of a writer that he translates the dryness of facts into a wonderful flow of words, that makes disconnected information sources come alive. Where Errol Flynn in the Thirties MAYBE lacking with respect to what SURVIVED to be microfilmed (and in fairness, I have not seen the James scrapbooks, but as described, they sound formidable)- McNulty had a COMPLETE record from the various newspapers and magazines, clipped from the sources AT THE TIME they were published. It should be mentioned that James lived his entire life in the Washington, D.C. area so, no doubt, he took from many publications.

I do think this book is absolutely BRILLIANT! Move over A. Scott Berg (Goldwyn: A Biography and Kate Remembered)- you have a true brother in the field.

There is both an intimacy and feeling for Flynn and, at the same time, a professionalism with respect to the subject- and yet that's not quite right either ... it's a well-honed tapestry of richness done OVER TIME ... from a journey which began, in boyhood, through an appreciation and enjoyment of Errol Flynn films, to a more serious scholarly effort culminating in the publication of this book.

It is VERY THOROUGH yet not OVERBURDENED with detail- the notes to the chapters are detailed and yet within limits. It reads well and easily.

I learned so many new things as well as polishing off some rough edges of my own misunderstandings and vaguenesses ... and there really were many misconceptions on my part- for one, who was Koets, and who was Swartz? These were early, pivotal figures in Flynn’s life mentioned in his autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked, Ways. Are they one and the same, or ...?

I actually had a sense of the James "loose" presence, throughout the book, just as in the case of our own skeletons. You know it’s there, but you don’t. In this same sense, in the course of reading, you are provided with a WONDERFUL timeline, without it being a formal one- it reads like the fascinating story that Flynn’s life really was. This element was an added bonus to the book.

I SHARE MANY of McNulty’s sentiments with respect to things Flynn- one in particular, is his opinion of the excellent book by Michael Freedland, The Two Lives of Errol Flynn. In fact, it has been my favorite, UP UNTIL NOW. You might say, just as Earl Conrad really had to do a triptych (MWWW, Crane Eden, and A Memoir) in which to completely accomplish his task, McNulty and Freedland are complementary, almost dovetailing works ... a duet, and yet not, as they also stand alone in their individual contributions. BUT McNulty has really carried the effort of a Flynn biography further- he has raised the bar of EXCELLENCE yet again.

A unique and special touch, was the inclusion of the non-famous, and their witnessing of events. No small feat in hunting some of these people up. But he also did include the remembrances of the famous- Olivia de Havilland, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Sheldon Leonard (co-star in the Flynn film, Uncertain Glory, and later, successful television producer ), just to name a few.

One particularly maddening thing to me, was the contribution of the late Peter Stackpole (the photographer on the shoot with Peggy Satterlee, Buster Wiles, and Flynn). In his book, Life in Hollywood, 1936-1952, Stackpole NEVER SAID if he thought Flynn had intimate relations with Satterlee. Satterlee, you may recall, was one of 2 women who accused Flynn of statutory rape back in the early 40’s. Wiles, in his autobiography, My Days With Errol Flynn, was absolute in his denial. As you will see, Stackpole tells a slightly diferent story, and does he?

The film and later television career was also a part of the Flynn story. And this will be particularly satisfying to the reader. McNulty is most adept. He discusses each film and television appearance in some depth plus much behind the scenes detail.

I have not spoken yet of the photographs. That, of course was the first thing I attended to- flipping through the book and taking them all in. Let me tell you- they are VERY SPECIAL! Not only do we see behind the scenes shots, as well as some standard, though none the less CLASSIC publicity stills, but there are also many unusual candids from private collections. They are best viewed rather than described. There is one, however, worthy of a mention, and it's with his leading lady in many films, Olivia de Havilland. It is a very intimate moment but not in the sense you might think- they are holding hands, and talking, and the photo somehow captures the real friendship and caring between them- it's priceless.

And I also realized something after finishing the book and giving myself some time to digest it all. I went back and more slowly perused the photos AGAIN. And what I “saw” was this- there were none of those really sad or bad pictures showing Flynn’s ebbing life energy. In fact, the last photo is of Flynn and his daughters, on the set of his final dramatic television appearance, The Golden Shanty, and I realized that McNulty CARED deeply for the subject, much beyond the level of his role as biographer. I also realized that Errol would have appreciated that particular final touch VERY MUCH.

Thomas McNulty has artistically crafted one fascinating and elegant read. I think Errol Flynn would have been very pleased with his ENTIRE effort.

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT.