Flynnfest #53 - The Cruise of the Zaca

Filmed in 1946-1947, but not released until 1952, The Cruise of the Zaca is acutally two cruises Flynn took at two different times (the color of the Zaca changes from white to black). It starts with Errol catching a helicopter to The Scripps Institute of Oceanography to meet with a group of scientists, and then agreeing to sponsor a research trip to collect rare fish and other sea animals. Along the way he picks up his father, a marine biologist, and his wife Nora Eddington, who by 1952 was in the middle of divorce proceedings from him.

There is some awesome footage of grey whales and other ocean activity, and great shots of the Zaca. Most of the rest of this short film, poorly narrated by Flynn himself, is pretty forgettable.

Flynnfest #52 - Deep Sea Fishing

Errol made this short, amateurish home movie in 1952 with close friend Howard Hill while fishing of the coast of Acapulco. It's silent, with a silly voice-over narration by another Flynn friend, Bob Edge. Errol had met Hill during the making of Robin Hood, when Hill was hired as his archery instructor. They remained drinking buddies for the rest of Flynn's life. The real star of this 10-minute short, however, are shots of Flynn's yatch, the Zaca, one of the greatest yatchs of the day, and still so to this day.

As for Deep Sea Fishing. OK. I saw it. Next!

The Not Enough Time Reading List - "Aaronsohn's Maps"

"Aaronsohn's Maps: The Untold Story of the Man Who Might Have Created Peace in the Middle East" by Patricia Goldstone.

This might take a while. And a few entries.

OK - I'll cut to the chase. Aaron Aaronsohn died in a plane crash from Britain en route to the to the post-WWI Paris talks in 1919. Goldstone does a lot more than hint - in fact, she pretty much slaps you in the face - with the outrageous theory that Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann and the British Government conspired to assassinate Aaronsohn by having a airborne British military assassination team kill Aaronsohn and his British military pilot (a known hero for having recently beat the London-Paris speed record with T.E Lawrence in tow). By somehow shooting the pilot mid-flight, from another 1918-era biplane, without a machine gun (which might have attracted attention, since the whole drama played out directly over a an English coastal sea town).

Goldstone's theory apparently, is that Chaim Weizmann convinced the British government to assassinate Aaronsohn (her proof - Felix Frankfurter's comment years later that there was "blood" on Aaronsohn's death somehow). So they arranged to have Aaronsohn go up in a plane. With a well known British military hero as his pilot. And convinced other British military pilots to kill him. By shooting him not with a machine gun. No, but by somehow shooting him with a pistol or rifle shot from a second 1918s-era biplane flying at 75 MPH over the coast of England. Puuuhhhllease! Why not just kill Aaronsohn in a car crash? Or even yet, don't let him fly to Paris by saying the weather is bad or there are no pilots available. And don't even get me started on Goldstone's "cover-up" of the pilot's death. I could go on and on. And on. And on. And on.

Before I go for today. Early on, a great resource for the early history of Zionism and the nascent Israeli state. Fairly good factually, though many Jews and Israelis have pointed out that Goldstone is pretty flippant with her history and understanding of historical Judaism.

Oh, by the way. Everything in the Middle East between Israel and the Arabs could have been cured by Aaronsohn's ideas on shared water rights and river usage. That Arabs hate Jews, and Jews in the Middle East haven't historically make politics any easier for themselves - not a factor. Yeah.

OK. To be continued later. I'm all verklumppt. Talk amongst yourselves.

Flynnfest Rarity - Errol Meets Fidel

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.