Originally released as "The Truth About The Fidel Castro Revolution", this strange film was rereleased at "The Cuban Story" after being lost for a couple decades. It has a rare place in the world of film. It is perhaps the worst made documentary with some of the best made documentary footage ever made.
The history of it is, well, unique. Errol was in Cuba with Beverly Aadland, his 17 year old nymphet last love interest. Among his many friends in Cuba was Victor Pahlen, who owned a movie theater in Havana. Errol and Victor happened to find themselves in Cuba during the last days of the Batista regime - front row seats to the revolution. So Pahlen grabs a movie camera and starts filming. Errol's fame gives Victor front row seats.
Errol's involvement? He does an into sequence for the first four minutes of the film. There's about two minutes of Errol and Bev at a casino about 8 minutes into it. Errol does another minute of dialogue about 18 minutes into it, and there's a bit under two minutes in a conclusion monologue. Errol's dialogue parts are filmed in what appears to be a warehouse or hangar with a desk and map of Cuba slapped up against the wall. He's in pretty bad shape. Physically he looks like crap. He either is making his lines up on the fly or off a loose script, or just can't seem to recall what he was supposed to say. He seems, well, befuddled. Errol's only other presence are two still photos showing his meeting in Fidel Castro, which no doubt would have silenced any critics who later claimed the meeting never happened.
After Errol's few minutes on film in this 50 minute "documentary", Pahlen provides voiceover to what was silent footage. His worst sin - pretending to narrate the film as if he was Flynn, at one time talking about "my friend George Raft", despite the fact that Pahlen and Flynn didn't sound remotely like each other. It also didn't help that he sucked as a film editor, using one single laugh and applause track for every scene showing clapping or laughter, regardless of the fit.
What keeps this from being just the worst documentary in history? The raw footage of Fidel and his revolutionaries in the midst of history being made. There's footage of Castro before the famous beard, combat footage, the show trials of Batista regime officials, and even footage of a firing squad and execution of a Batista security official.
History can be sad in the rear-view mirror. Flynn and Pahlen idolized Castro - something that Flynn was very open about until the day he died (not too long after this was made). Perhaps fortunately for Errol, he didn't live long enough to see Castro "come out" as an oppressive Communist dictator and what then became of his beloved Cuba. They were so wrapped up in the revolution, they were strangely approving of the mass execution of Batista officials under the Castro regime, and at times seemed to revel in it.
This was Errol's second-to-last film effort, just before the disastrous "Cuban Rebel Girls" - he's billed in this documentary as a "reporter", not an actor. For Flynn addicts, there's the raw footage of Errol with Beverly Aadland. For historians, the footage of Castro's troops in the field, the fall of Havana, and the revolution in progress is fascinating. As for Victor Pahlen - well, lets just say the world of documentary film making is none the worse for this being his solo effort in the genre.
Oh, where to find it? Youtube. Another entry by the Errol Flynn Collective. The entire film is posted in 10 minute segments. Excellent posting quality. Free. Free. Free.
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