Captain Blood (Warner Bros.) (1935)

3 1 4 r J . el 1a h a) he in, er, yn, by nd 2On na ain frrol Flynn Fits Part Of ‘Captain Blood’ Perfectly \n Impertinent Portrait Of Actor Playing Title Role in Sabatini Story By CARLISLE JONES Around his: neck he wears a thin gold chain, given him ly a dying missionary 1n the tropical interior of New Guinea. it is made from the first gold ever found on that island and { was, in a way, a reward for his faithful service as nurse juring the older man's unsuccessful struggle against the rav iges of ‘‘Black Water Fever.”’ To Errol Flynn it serves as a constant reminder of his sany thrilling experiences in the ‘uth Seas. He wears the chain “Captain Blood” the Cosmopol ian production now showing at the .Theatre, with flynn in the title role. The chain its the part. In fact, everything bout Flynn seems fitted to the grt. Born three hundred years arlier, Flynn might have turned jirate as easily as he has now ‘med actor. Flynn was born in North Ireynd twenty-six years ago. He is all, uncommonly good looking, atravagant, reckless and taciturn. Two years in the “bush” of New Guinea, hunting for gold, vith only two chances to talk to ywhite man during all that time, iave left him an almost silent nan. He is writing a book, based on the experiences of himself and a friend when they sailed a small bat from Australia to New Guinea. He has written many short stories and some verse, There is an ugly scar on his shin bone, the mark of a poisoned ar tow shot at him from during one of his trips into the interior of New Guinea. Made And Lost Fortunes Flynn has made and lost two mall fortunes and he doesn’t know now how much money he tas in the bank. One fortune tame when he found a “spot” of gold. He sold it to a syndicate, taking $10,000 in cash and $40,00 in stock and went to Austra-lia for a good time. Before he mew it his cash was gone and the syndicate had failed. The ither fortune was built up from the profits of a small schooner he bought and put into coast-wise amd inter-island freight service. That struck a hidden coral reef— md there was no insurance. When he was nineteen he went % a member of the British boxing team to the Olympic games in Amsterdam. His four years below the equator followed. He believes luck plays a great part in success and that some people luckier than others. He has 0 superstitions about opals and knows a real pearl when he one. He ought to. He once ned a pearl fishing business. As “Captain Blood” Flynn med to fence expertly. If it re a fist fight he would not ve needed to train for it. He afraid of spiders and he sings himself when he works. He the only actor on the First ational lot who has written inmerable “letters to the editor.” did it, he says to keep from g crazy with loneliness. He tells “white lies” to his ends, and black ones, he says, ambush Errol Flynn in ‘Captain Blood’? : at the Strand. Mat No. 103 10¢ to anybody who will listen. He 48 seen bull fights but has never Watched a flea circus. He has N0 superstitions, except the gold chain around his neck. He has been close to gorillas and whales but he has never seen an Eskimo or Aimee Semple MacPherson. He likes to drive long distances at furious speeds. He has a good memory for telephone numbers. He keeps no scrap book, can do no eard tricks and he knows what to do with a drowning person. Flynn reads a great deal, in cluding editorials in newspapers. He likes old book stores but has never attended a furniture auction. He is the only actor in the film colony outside of John Barrymore who is interested in the Gobi dessert. He dislikes parades and speeches. He doesn’t believe in dreams or weather forecasts. He has been thrown from a horse and he is afraid of a dentist. He would like to watch a great surgeon operate. Wanderlust Still Strong He plays a good game of tennis and he keeps in training continuously. Hg wakens easily, the result of years spent sleeping in the open jungle, and he takes his shoes off first when he gets ready for bed. He hates to hear a clock tick but he likes the sound of wind and rain and thunder. He dislikes to attend weddings but he flew to his own when he married Lili Damita, famous French actress, a few weeks ago in Yuma, Arizona. He has no fun at his.own par ties, does not enjoy picnics or mountain climbing. Since going to Hollywood, he says, he has de “telephone lost, many veloped a special voice.” He has been times and for long periods. He has never turned in a fire alarm. IIe has never seen a baseball game. He speaks a little Chinese and many native dialects common in the South Seas. He is a direct Fletcher Christian, so comes nat urally by his love for adventure in far places. He knows the chief of a tribe of headhunters. He knows a great deal about pawn shops, in all parts of the world. He has unredeemed possessions in many of them. The wanderlust is still strong in Flynn and he is planning many future expeditions to the far eorners of the earth. Marriage and the chance of a lifetime in the role of “Captain Blood” may tie him indefinitely to Hollywood but he has no intention of settling there for the rest of his natural life. The competition for the role of “Blood” was as keen as any in the history of Hollywood. He won the part because it fits him as closely as his own well-tanned descendent of skin. “Captain Blood” is a mammoth production of the powerful drama and. thrilling romance of gentlemen pirates by Rafael Sabatini. There is an all star cast which ineludes besides Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, Ross Alexander, Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson, Robert Barrat and hundreds of others. Michael Curtiz directed the picture from the screen play by Casey Robinson. Ef 3h Ft FF How the artists sees ‘‘Captain Blood,’’ hero of Rafael Sabatini’s immortal story of adventure on the high seas, as portrayed by Errol Flynn in the Cosmopolitan production ‘*Captain Blood,’’ as a First National release. Theatre now showing at the Mat No. 202—20c Pirates Curse Without Swearing In Film Play Oathless Oaths Are Bandied By Bad Men In “Captain Blood” Even nicest pirates swear, according to the best histories on the subject, but in motion pictures their language must be censored according to the tastes of the time. Not the least of the trou bles encountered by Scenarist Casey Robinson, in the aulaptation of the Rafael Sabatini novel ‘Captain Blood’’ mouth filling synthetic oaths which would carry the vehemence and effect of reality without offending any member of any prospective audience. It was no easy task. ‘‘Captain Blood,’’ the Cosmopolitan picture, now playing at the Theatre, as a First National release, is full of action, a story of violent hates and desperate loves, of sea battles. Yet one can search the whole script of the picture and not find a single offensive or profane word. ‘‘Damme’’ is as near as any char acter comes to swearing. King James of England, one of the villains of the story, 1s called a ‘filthy fellow’? by Peter Blood, during his mock trial for treason before the infamous Lord Jeffreys, the ‘‘hanging judge.’’ He is sentenced to hang for that. On the Island of Jamaica, where Blood and others are eventua!ly exiled as slaves, Governor Steed, suffering from gout, raves at the island doctors who are trying to serve him. He calls them ‘“elumsy louts’’ and ‘‘thiek fingered jack asses,’’ both of which are rather soul-satisfying phrases at that. But it is after Peter Blood and his companions have escaped and turned pirates that the dialogue for the screen, was the manufacturer of writer was really put to it to find blood curdling substitutes for the doughty oaths that pirates use. Blood calls his friend thorpe, son-of-a Yorkshire steer’? as a term of affection. Speaking to the French Levasseur, who has captured him, Lord Willoughby says: ‘‘ Be cussel for a filthy pirate.’’ Hag ** you pirate, Later Blood refers to the lovely Arabella, for whose life and honor staking argument with this Levasseur, is ‘‘an attractive baggage.’? Still later he shouts, ‘‘ Ye muckrake,’’ he is everything in an at the same enemy. Hagthorpe is made to say, in another place: ‘‘We’re not yet such lily-livered scum as to be afraid of Colonel Bishop.’’ ‘*Scur vey traitors,’’ says another pirate, referring to a threatened mutiny. The pirates were a fearless group of embittered men, but their lan guage appears to have been con tinuously above reproach. The east includes Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, Ross Alexander, Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson, Robert Barrat and others. Michael Curtiz directed. fe Actors Take Big Chances To Make Picture Thrills Every player who took part in the battle scenes of the Cosmo politan pirate picture ‘‘ Captain Blood,’’ which released by First National comes to the Theatre on , understood that he took a one to three chance of being hurt. ‘‘Cuptain Blood’’ is a story of violence and death defying adven ture on the high seas and Direetor Michael Curtiz is known to be a stickler for realism. It seemed in evitable that at least a fourth of the actors involved would be in jured one way or another. them to It was necessary for risk their necks under falling spars, in hand to hand sword duels and on swinging ropes which earto anbattle. They braved the danger of flaming ried them from one ship other during a boarding bits of wreckage dropped on them from above and they stood staunchly on the furiously burning deck of the good ship Arabella, waiting for orders to ‘*abandon ship.’’ The estimate of injuries proved to be approximately correct. For tunately they were all of a minor nature and they were shared by featured players, stunt men and extras. The rate of pay was high in proportion to the chances taken. Errol received two title wounds Flynn, playing the role, small .during his sword battle with Basil Rathbone. Several men were burn ed slightly and more than a dozen of them rubbed their hauds raw on the swinging ropes. There were two sprained ankles and several minor cuts and bruises treated by the enlarged first aid staff which constantly on the sidelines of the battle scenes and there were sore muscles, black stood eyes and bloody noses galore. No one was killed or seriously or pet manently injured. ‘‘Captain Blood’’ is Rafael Sa batini’s smashing tale of the sea rovers of the seventeenth century, set in a massive and colorful back produced on a tre Sesides Flynn and Rathbone the cast includes Olivia de Hlavilland, Lionel Atwill, Ross Alexander, Kilbbee, Robert Sarrat and hundreds of others. The sereen play is by Casey Robin ground and mendous scale. Guy son. Film Lovers Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havil land, who have the leading roles in the Cosmopolitan production ‘*Captain Blood’’ now showing at the Theatre. Mat No. 112—10e Page Twenty-three : i i