THE TWO LIVES OF ERROL FLYNN

by Michael Freedland ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 1979

The grand biography of that elemental hedonist Errol Flynn still waits to be written. Michael Freedland's is a skimpy, shoddy performance that barely suggests the drunk-womanizer-actor-writer-sailor that Flynn was. The detail that could have been brought to his drink obsession is missing; his roles pass by like baseball cards; and even his women are vastly shortchanged. ""One of his former wives"" reportedly contributed new information to the new biography; it doesn't show. For that matter, Errol is better depicted in Nora Eddington Flynn's Errol and Me, and his nymphet Beverly Aadland is delivered in all her trashy glory by her own mother. Maybe worst of all, Freedland has no ear for Flynn's mock-Barrymore gifts of persiflage, of seductive compliment--the animal shine of the man as he works his wiles. In short, Flynn is never present on the page. What we get is a flimsy run-through of his early life in Tasmania, his adventures in the wilds and at sea and selling slaves, his entry into films, fame, the rape trials and paternity suits, the wives, children, mistresses, and disasters, dope addiction and alcoholism. And for that you don't need this.

Pub Date: May 23, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION