Want to know the best Errol Flynn movies? How about the worst Errol Flynn movies? Curious about Errol Flynn’s box office grosses or which Errol Flynn movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Errol Flynn movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place.
Even though I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable movie buff, I knew very little about Errol Flynn before researching and writing this page. I basically knew two facts about Errol Flynn. One, he is the most famous Robin Hood of all-time and two, he made some pirate movies.
After a month of reading numerous books, checking out websites and watching a few documentaries on him, I am now much more familiar with the life and career of Errol Flynn. I would highly recommend checking out the Errol Flynn Blog for even more information on the life and times of Errol Flynn….just follow this link….The Errol Flynn Blog.
Errol Flynn (1909-1959) was born in Tasmania. As a child he used to play with a wooden sword that his parents told him had belonged to Fletcher Christian. Many times he would play on his grandfather’s boat…acting out Douglas Fairbanks pirate movies. This training would come in handy when he turned his attention to acting. He would appear in his first film when he was 24. By the time he was 26 he had already secured his first starring role in a big budget movie, Captain Blood. Captain Blood was a huge success and turned Flynn into a star. At 28 he turned into a superstar with his performance as Robin Hood in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood.
From 1935 to 1950 Flynn was one of the most successful actors in Hollywood. However his “playboy lifestyle” began to catch up with him. Starting around 1950 his movie career started to stall as his off screen lifestyle started to impact his health. He would regularly smoke at least a pack of cigarettes a day and drank heavily. Problems with his liver and heart eventually led to a fatal heart attack in 1959. Errol Flynn has 64 acting credits from 1933-1959. In the table below Ultimate Movie Rankings ranks 50 of his movies in 7 different sortable columns. Television roles, cameos, and shorts were not included in the rankings.
Errol Flynn Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Errol Flynn Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Errol Flynn movies by co-stars of her movies
- Sort Errol Flynn movies by adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Errol Flynn movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)… **** If the domestic totals are the same as the worldwide totals…then worldwide totals are unknown
- Sort Errol Flynn movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Errol Flynn movie received.
- Sort Errol Flynn movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
- Blue link in Co-star column takes you to that star’s UMR movie page
10 Possibly Interesting Facts About Errol Flynn
1. Errol Flynn was the first actor to play Fletcher Christian in a film that had sound. He played Christian in 1933’s The Wake of the Bounty…..later Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson would play the same part.
2. Errol Flynn and the Perry Mason connection. One of his first Hollywood movies was The Case of the Curious Bride…which was one of the first ever Perry Mason movies. Flynn got to play the corpse. Later Flynn would co-star with Raymond Burr in Mara Maru….Burr would later go on to fame playing Perry Mason on the television series.
3. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland were one of the screen’s most popular couples. They would appear in 9 movies together from 1935 to 1943. Olivia de Havilland is still very much alive as she approaches the century mark.
4. Errol Flynn was married 3 times in his life. His first marriage to Lila Damita produced a son named Sean. His second marriage to Nora Eddington produced two daughters named Deirdre and Rory. His final marriage to Patrice Wymore produced one daughter named Arnella.
5. His son Sean, followed in his dad’s footsteps and has 10 IMDB credits to his name. His most famous movie role was in The Son Of Captain Blood (1962). The Son of Captain Blood was a sequel to the movie that made Errol Flynn famous, Captain Blood(1935). Later Sean Flynn turned towards a career as a freelance photojournalist. Sadly, Sean Flynn went missing while on assignment in Cambodia in 1970.
6. The saying …”In Like Flynn” became popular when Flynn was tried for statutory rape in 1942 but was acquitted….during the very high profile case, comedians of the day started to use the saying and it caught on.
7. His drinking was legendary.…he would inject oranges with vodka and eat them during his breaks so no one would know he was drinking on the set….during a play in the late 1950s his assistant would stage alcohol throughout the set, so Flynn could drink while performing.
8. Errol Flynn and Alan Hale Sr. (one of my favorite character actors) appeared in 11 movies together. Alan Hale Sr. was the father of Alan Hale Jr….better known as The Skipper on Gilligan’s Island.
9. The movie My Favorite Year is based on Mel Brooks’ encounter with Flynn on a television show in the 1950s….in that movie Peter O’Toole played the Flynn character. Also Jude Law portrayed Errol Flynn in The Aviator.
10. Check out Errol Flynn’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve’s Epic Errol Flynn You Tube Video
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Loved him in The Adventures of Robin Hood! Another great read! Thanks!
Hey Life as a Blog……Robin Hood and Errol Flynn have been synonymous for over 74 years now….and I do not see that ending anytime in the near future….thanks for the visit and the comment.
Really enjoyed this blog brother…
Hey KryptoniteMike …thanks for the visit…it is appreciated.
Hello Cogerson. Of course I know the name Errol Flynn, but I must say, I knew little of his career. His on screen fame was earned just prior to my introduction to movies. Again here in this Hub, you have demonstarted your knowledge (or research in this instance) of Hollywood lore. You present such interesting information.
Hello Cogerson. Of course I know the name Errol Flynn, but I must say, I knew little of his career. His on screen fame was earned just prior to my introduction to movies. Again here in this Hub, you have demonstarted your knowledge (or research in this instance) of Hollywood lore. You present such interesting information
Hey mckbirdbks…thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest hub…..Flynn was well past his prime during the time frame of your series …..as he was pretty much a shell of the man he was in the 1930s and 1940s. During my research I did come to the conclusion that Errol Flynn was probably the first rock star….live hard, sex, drugs, alcohol and die young
I remember watching him in movies, especially loved the Robin Hood flick. He had charm and his mustache was a draw for lots of women back then. I didn’t realize he made so many movies. Thanks for the memories and share.
Hey teaches12345…..thanks for stopping by and commenting. His good looks opened up many many doors for him. I think his mustache is up there with the Chaplain’s Little Tramp mustache as one of the most famous in film history.
First, a correction since I can’t fix comments. I meant to say mysteries thrillers, not film noir. Oh, well.
Regarding mystery/thrillers: My favourite is Footsteps in the Dark of the ones I have seen so far. I haven’t access to all yet. But judging from this one, he should have done more.
Regarding the top ten critic-ranked films: I have seen 80%.
The only two I have not yet seen, for whatever reason, are #5-Uncertain Glory, and #10-Edge of Darkness
Besides the favourite I listed, of the top 10 I have seen 2, 3, 8, and 9 essentially every time they are on television. I lost track of the number of times I have seen them.
Hey Flora…comment 2. Footsteps in the Dark sounds like an interesting movie…and you get Ralph Bellamy as well…I will have to check that one out. I have seen 4 of the Top Ten critic/audience movies….but they are #1, #3, #4 and #7….so at least I have been picking some good Flynn movies to watch. I think the only Flynn movie I have ever watched on tv was Robin Hood and I caught that many many times. I recently watched it on Blu-Ray…which I can highly recommend….excellent quality.