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.
Errol Flynn has 32 films on your list that made 100 million. He died in 1959 and never appeared on the Oracle of Bacon Top 1000 Center of the Hollywood Universe list. These are the only people currently on the list who appeared with him in a film.
Against All Flags (1952) – 681 Anthony Quinn
Kim (1950) – 198 Dean Stockwell
The Dark Avenger (1955) – 35 Christopher Lee
The Lady from Shanghai (1948) – 912 Arthur Tovey
They Died with Their Boots on (1941) – 681 Anthony Quinn
Too Much, Too Soon – 966 Kathleen Freeman
Hey Dan…the double whammy of Freeman and Tovey. Looks like Stockwell needs to make some more movies. Speaking of Stockwell…..there is the very famous MGM 1949 Picture of Stars…..only two of those stars are still alive…Stockwell and Angela Lansbury. It is a wonderful picture….with Dean sitting on the top row. I have noticed Anthony Quinn on a lot of these pages….I am guessing that in 5 years…..he will either be off the list….or barely holding on. Thanks for this information.
These are all the actors on the 2000 list who have fallen off through the years but appeared with Errol at one time or another. Rank is 2000 rank.
Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951) – 125 Vincent Price, 518 Howard Vernon
Adventures of Don Juan (1948) – 65 Viveca Lindfors, 925 Raymond Burr
Against All Flags (1952) – 420 Maurice Marsac, 464 John Alderson, 975 Maureen O’Hara
Captain Blood (1935) – 962 Olivia De Havilland
Cry Wolf (1947) – 745 Richard Basehart, 994 Ellen Corby
Desperate Journey (1942) – 248 Arthur Kennedy, 629 Walter Brooke, 894 Philip Van Zandt
Dive Bomber (1941) – 379 Ann Doran, 507 Ralph Bellamy, 863 Alan Hale Jr.
Dodge City (1939) – 506 Douglas Fowley, 962 Olivia De Havilland, 989 Bruce Cabot
Don’t Bet on Blondes (1935) – 27 Marc Lawrence, 542 Paul Fix, 740 George Chandler
Edge of Darkness (1943) – 619 Peter Van Eyck, 824 Frank Wilcox
Escape Me Never (1947) – 915 Ivan Triesault
Footsteps in the Dark (1941) – 507 Ralph Bellamy, 783 James Flavin, 824 Frank Wilcox
Four’s a Crowd (1938) – 962 Olivia De Havilland
Gentleman Jim (1942) – 146 Mike Mazurki, 783 James Flavin
Green Light (1937) – 222 Bess Flowers, 851 Cedric Hardwicke
It’s a Great Feeling (1949) – 222 Bess Flowers, 463 Edward G. Robinson
Kim (1950) – 421 Michael Ansara, 585 Hamilton Camp, 915 Ivan Triesault, 984 Peter Mamokas
King’s Rhapsody (1955) – 712 Finlay Currie
Let’s Make Up (1954) – 795 Stephen Boyd
Mara Maru (1952) – 925 Raymond Burr
Never Say Goodbye (1946) – 982 Billy Benedict
Objective, Burma! (1945) – 345 William Prince
Rocky Mountain (1950) – 245 Slim Pickens, 431 Marianne Stone
San Antonio (1945) – 783 James Flavin
Santa Fe Trail (1940) – 824 Frank Wilcox, 962 Olivia De Havilland
Silver River (1948) – 100 Ian Wolfe, 740 George Chandler
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) – 146 Mike Mazurki, 783 James Flavin, 918 Bette Davis, 962 Olivia De Havilland, 982 Billy Benedict
That Forsyte Woman (1949) – 395 Walter Pidgeon
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) – 962 Olivia De Havilland
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) – 102 David Niven, 962 Olivia De Havilland
The Dark Avenger (1955) – 175 Michael Hordern, 752 Patrick McGoohan, 889 Robert Brown
The Dawn Patrol (1938) – 102 David Niven
The Lady from Shanghai (1948) – 9 Orson Welles, 894 Philip Van Zandt
The Prince and the Pauper (1937) – 100 Ian Wolfe
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) – 125 Vincent Price, 918 Bette Davis, 962 Olivia De Havilland
The Roots of Heaven (1958) – 9 Orson Welles, 61 Trevor Howard, 76 Eddie Albert, 98 Herbert Lom, 636 Gregoire Aslan
The Sea Hawk (1940) – 384 Gilbert Roland, 592 Whit Bissell, 824 Frank Wilcox
The Sisters (1938) – 918 Bette Davis
The Sun Also Rises (1957) – 76 Eddie Albert, 177 Marcel Dalio, 186 Ava Gardner, 251 Mel Ferrer
They Died with Their Boots on (1941) – 248 Arthur Kennedy, 629 Walter Brooke, 682 Ray Teal, 824 Frank Wilcox, 962 Olivia De Havilland, 963 Frank Ferguson
Too Much, Too Soon (1958) – 222 Bess Flowers, 483 Murray Hamilton, 562 Paul Bryar, 599 John Douchette
Uncertain Glory (1944) – 783 James Flavin, 915 Ivan Triesault
Virginia City (1940) – 542 Paul Fix, 824 Frank Wilcox
Dodge City should have been rated as one of the top Errol Flynn movies and Bruce Cabot as one of the best villains. Dan D
Hey Dan D…..well on the default setting on this table Dodge City is ranked as his 2nd best movie…only trailing Robin Hood….which I think most people would say Robin Hood is his best movie…but 2nd out of 50 is pretty stout too. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi, very interesting! I think, though, you should re-work the yearly box office rank column because it does not work when I want to rank the films according to this category. The films with a trivia remark appear as last ones, logically, and sometime 75th ranks higher than 8th – I think ranking it as 08th would already solve this problem. 🙂
Hey Inga…the text in that column messes up the sort button….so I have to either just list the rank as “4” or nothing. In the effort to get as much information as possible into the tables….I decided to put text in the column….basically if there is trivia listed in the column…then the yearly box office rank is unknown. Sorry for the confusion….but I appreciate you checking out my Flynn page.
My pleasure. I was just thinking… I am building up a German website about Flynn – would you give me permission to use your statistics there, always, of course, referencing your site with a link?
Use anything you want….glad to share the information. Let me know when you are finished and I will share a link here as well.
Thank you!! I will!
Looking forward to seeing your Flynn page.
The Sea Hawk. A great movie. The villain here is Henry Daniell. A good actor and always a villain. The musical scores for Errol Flynn’s swashbucklers were always outstanding! One of the composers was Erich Wolfgang Korngold. He wrote some great scores!
Hey Joey….recently I watched a ton of Errol Flynn movies…The Sea Hawk is one of the ones that really stood out as one of his better movies. Daniell made an excellent villain. I agree with you 100%…Korngold had some great scores….thanks for stopping by.
Hi
Your box office statistics are fascinating. He really was a superstar. Although I’m surprised San Antonio was such a big smash. But you can see by 1947, the decline had set in. Don Juan, although, costly, didn’t make the money they had hoped. But the Errol Flynn of 48 was not the one of 38 in Robin Hood. His looks were starting to fade and the drink was affecting his health. Ironically, the other matinee idols such as Tyrone Power and Robert Taylor went onto the 50s with box office successes and Flynn started to fade very quickly. I suppose his lifestyle would be to his ruin. But then this is all part of the Flynn legend. At his peak, he was fantastic.
Hey Chris…..glad you like my Errol Flynn box office grosses. I actually got the Warner Brothers. Ledgers from a guy in France….it was an international exchange ….he got all of my Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn sources and I got WB’s Top 15 hits from 1932 – 1944.
I think San Antonio benefited by being released in one of the best years ever….as 90 million people a WEEK we’re going to the movies. His lifestyle doomed him to a short life….and thus deprived movie audiences of at least 20 more years of movies. Flynn and Power appeared in a movie shortly before their deaths…The Sun Also Rises…and Flynn says a line about how life is like a firework….it is somewhat chilling….knowing that both Power and Flynn would be gone soon after making that movie. I need to find that actually movie line. Thanks for your thoughts on Flynn and my Flynn page.