The errant son of a Tasmainian biologist, Errol Flynn met his fate when he was cast as Fletcher Christian in Charles Chauvel’s early Australian talkie, In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), and his good looks and boyish charm propelled him to the London stage and, eventually, Hollywood films. With the release of Captain Blood in 1935, Flynn became a major star, stepping into the dashing adventurer roles pioneered by Douglas Fairbanks—and perhaps even surpassing him as the definitive Robin Hood with the 1938 Technicolor classic directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. An unabashed hedonist haunted by a sense of his own mortality (he would die at 50 from a heart attack), Flynn made headlines with his off-screen carousing, but his scandals only seemed to make the public love him more. This program covers the major years of his stardom, almost entirely in 35mm prints from the collections of The Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress.
Organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, Department of Film.
Film at MoMA is made possible by CHANEL.
Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by Debra and Leon D. Black, with major contributions from The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, and Karen and Gary Winnick.
