Flynn (film)

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Flynn
Directed byFrank Howson
Written byFrank Howson
Alister Webb
Produced byFrank Howson
StarringGuy Pearce
Steven Berkoff
Claudia Karvan
John Savage
Music by
Production
company
Release date
  • 1996 (1996)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$4.5 million[1]

Flynn is an Australian film about the early life of Errol Flynn, focusing on his time in New Guinea starring Guy Pearce in the title role.[2]

Plot[]

A young Errol Flynn leaves Sydney and has various adventures in New Guinea. He returns to Australia and starts acting in movies.

Original Cast[]

Final Cast[]

  • Guy Pearce as Errol Flynn
  • Steven Berkoff as Klaus Reicher
  • Claudia Karvan as Penelope Watts
  • John Savage as Joe Stromberg
  • Wendy Matthews as Nightclub Singer
  • William Gluth as Professor Flynn
  • Nicki Paull as Marelle Flynn
  • Tim Hughes as James Dickson
  • Adam May as First Director

Production[]

Development[]

Frank Howson claimed he spent five years writing the script. "It was the hardest script I've ever written," he said. "He [Errol Flynn] was such an enigmatic figure."[4]

Howson gave the lead role to Guy Pearce, with whom he had previously made two films. Pearce felt he did not look anything like Errol Flynn but his hair was cut and he wore brown contact lenses. "He was a very mixed up-person," Pearce said of Flynn. "Most of the things he did were out of desperation, trying to find himself. He was more like a kid who never grew up."[5]

Original shoot[]

The movie was originally directed by Brian Kavanagh in 1989 on a budget of $3.5 million. Shooting took place in Melbourne, Cairns and New Guinea and was completed in September, despite the Cairns shoot being delayed by the 1989 Australian pilots' dispute.[6]

Re-shoot[]

At the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, marketing group J and M became interested in distributing the film but thought it needed some re-shooting and some "name" stars. They provided a further $1 million for this to happen.[7]

The film was then largely re-shot with Frank Howson stepping in as director, and some different support actors cast. Guy Pearce returned as Errol Flynn, but Rebecca Rigg, Jeff Truman and Paul Steven were replaced by Claudia Karvan, Steven Berkoff and John Savage. This caused trouble with Australia's Actors Equity because two Australian actors were replaced with foreign ones.[8][9] New scenes were shot in Melbourne and Fiji, which stood in for New Guinea.[10]

The Fijian unit was based out of Lase Lase, about 50 km from Nadi. No Fijian women would agree to go topless so a South African actress, Sandi Schultz, was imported to play the role of the chief's daughter. The Fijian men were reluctant to take their underwear off to play New Guinea natives.[11] It was estimated about 40% of the film was reshot.[12]

Release[]

The movie was screened at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival under the title My Forgotten Man, by which time Howson said he had been working on it for 30 months. He blamed the stress of making it on the breakup of his marriage and business partnership.[13] Howson:

It was like a game of Russian roulette. You actually wondered whether you would finish the film before you went broke. I now know what Coppola must have felt like on Apocalypse Now because in the end you just keep throwing money at this thing.[14]

The film was set for release by Village Roadshow but Frank Howson became embroiled in a copyright dispute with his business partner; Roadshow withdrew the film from release seven days before it was scheduled to open. The movie was subsequently released on video and DVD several years later and sold widely around the world.[15]

In 2002 Pearce described the film as the worst he had made.[16]

Awards[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1993 My Forgotten Man[17] AACTA Award
BASF Award for Best Original Music Score
Anthony Marinelli, Billy Childs 		Nominated

References[]

  1. ^ Tulich p 27
  2. ^ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford University Press, 1996 p64
  3. ^ Film listing, Cinema Papers, November 1989 p70
  4. ^ Tulich p24
  5. ^ Tulich p 25
  6. ^ 'FLYNN,' STARRING GUY PEARCE, COMPLETES PRODUCTION FOR AUSTRALIA'S BOULEVARD FILMS, PR Newswire 14 September 1989
  7. ^ Tulich p27
  8. ^ Paul Kalina, 'Father figures', The Age, September 2, 2005 accessed 17 October 2012
  9. ^ Australian Film 1978-92, Oxford University Press, 1993 p 378
  10. ^ Todd McCarthy, "My Forgotten Man" 17 June 1993 accessed 18 October 2012
  11. ^ Tulich p26
  12. ^ Kevin Sadlier, "ERROL FLYNN: 'SCANDAL' OVER US MOVIE REMAKE", Sun Herald, 9 September 1990 p12
  13. ^ Caroline Wilson, "Spy", Sunday Age, 2 May 1993 p16
  14. ^ Kevin Sadlier, "Musical Chairs Over the Piano", Sun Herald, 16 May 1993 p 111
  15. ^ Frank Howson letter to the editor, Australian Magazine, 10 March 2007, Letter feedback
  16. ^ Jane Cadzow, 'The Guy next door', The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March 2002 accessed 17 October 2012
  17. ^ "BASF Award for Best Original Music Score". AACTA Awards. 1993. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015. (as aka) My Forgotten Man
  • Tulich, Katherine, "The Making and Re-Making of Flynn", Cinema Papers, May 1991

External links[]

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