MovieChat Forums > Too Much, Too Soon (1958) Discussion > Errol Flynn gives an Oscar worthy perfor...

Errol Flynn gives an Oscar worthy performance

posted 18 years ago by twm-2
32 replies | jump to latest

Errol Flynn was always terrific in his swashbuckling roles of the 30's and 40's, and I've loved those films from Captain Blood to They Died With Their Boots On, Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, Gentleman Jim, and on and on. But his career was careening off course by the late 40's as his alcoholism took it's toll. But here, in one of his last films, he plays a serious role with which he could identify, channeling the character of another alcoholic near the end of his career, John Barrymore. He is nothing less than terrific, so much so that those who dismiss him as a shallow action hero will be astounded by his heartbreakingly nuanced portrayl of a great talent on the skids.

Any fan of Flynn--any fan of great acting--should make an effort to see this film.

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man

[–] kralrucs-1 18 years ago

I'd love to get a copy of this if you have it. I'd seen the movie many years ago and thought the performances were outstanding. If you have it, can I pay you to have it dubbed?

[–] twm-2 18 years ago

Sorry, no can do. Unfortunately, I don't own a copy, although I'd snap one up if I ever came across one. The performances ARE what makes this film a must see, especially Flynn's, though the film as a whole isn't bad.

Cheerio!

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man

[–] rachel-y-lawler 18 years ago

http://cgi.ebay.com/Errol-Flynn-Too-Much-Too-Soon-Dorothy-Malone-DVD_W0QQitemZ290014731829QQihZ019QQcategoryZ617QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

After changes upon changes/ we are more or less the same

[–] twm-2 18 years ago

As noted by Rachel-y-lawler, it's up for bid on ebay for 10 bucks on DVD. As of this moment, 13 hours and 40 minutes left. I'd bid on it, except I'm broke right now.

Cheers!

"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man

[–] sggar00 17 years ago

Not a movie you think of when you think of the over all body of work done by this man. Still, I think he acts his butt off in this movie.

[–] twm-2 17 years ago

Yes. Even though Fylnn himself is clearly on the down-slide when he made the film, given a role of substance with which he could identify, he eagerly jumped at the challenge . . . and he succeeds admirably, giving an Oscar worthy performance.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way.

[–] ducdebrabant 17 years ago

There's a scene in "Last Summer in the Hamptons" in which Viveca Lindfors, playing a fictional character, reminisces while watching her own old Hollywood films. One of them is "The Adventures of Don Juan" with Flynn. I'm sure she's expressing her own thoughts during the scene, and she says that Flynn was an excellent actor. Lindfors was no slouch in the acting department, and what she says carries a lot of weight with me. It's true that Flynn's career mostly used him in very conventional ways and as charming action heroes, but if you think about all the people who have sucked in that sort of part, you really can't say that Flynn's stardom was an accident or that it owed nothing to his acting. What he does in "The Sea Hawk" may not look so hard from a histrionic point of view, but think of some talentless, beautiful noodle trying to do it.

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***You didn't suffer as much as black people so stop acting special.***

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] conway3000 12 years ago

He also gave an oscar caliber performance as Soames Forsythe in that Forsythe Woman.

[–] flan99 12 years ago

I just saw it for the first time on TCM.

I agree. Flynn was excellent. Malone too.

[–] dmdiamond 12 years ago

Saw this for the first time on TCM also. Agreed about Flynn - this was to be one of his last performances in a role that probably hit very close to home for him personally...Should have been nominated with a best supporting oscar nomination but he was never given any credit in Hollywood as an actor in those days.

[–] conway3000 12 years ago

I just saw this film for the first time. Flynn deserved an oscar nomination. He also deserved nominations for Soames Forsythe in That Forsythe Woman and as Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood. He also would have been a great AShley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind.

[–] twm-2 12 years ago

I pretty much agree. But I think he had too much verve and charisma for the part of Wilkes.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way.

[–] Curtainsup 9 years ago

He was actually up for Rhett, having the charisma, insolence, wit, and looks for it, but Bette Davis, who was under consideration for Scarlett put the kibosh on it. She had been rejected by Flynn romantically early in both their careers at Warner's, and made it her mission to trash his acting ability for the rest of her life. Even as an ancient woman on Dick Cavett in the 1970's, she went out of her way to say he was nothing more than a pretty face, although others had said that in private she had come to realize that he matched her acting in Private Lives of Essex and Elizabeth, but vowed never to publicly admit it. That slap she gives him in that movie is real, her revenge, and his expression is real, but he continues to act through it and they get the take.
I believe a lot of the unfortunate dismissal of his abilities during the 1940's was due to Davis, also at Warner's and refusing to work with him in pictures where he could have stepped out of his typecasting and convincing Jack Warner he wasn't worth anything more than the pulp he was put in.
Every time he is allowed to stretch, he makes you sit up and notice. He could have taken on some of Cary Grant's roles, both dramatic and comedic.

[–] twm-2 9 years ago

I agree, obviously. I did not know about the friction with Davis, however. I wonder how much of Flynn's often not getting plumb roles was due to that, to studio execs wanting to keep plugging him into safe "box office" roles, and the problems of his own making, vis-a-vis his alcoholism and womanizing?

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] Curtainsup 9 years ago

There were a lot of stars who drank too much -- Spencer Tracy, John Barrymore, Robert Mitchum, for example - and others whose personal lives were turbulent - Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, for example -- yet they still got roles, however typecast.
Flynn was kept from any roles where Davis was up for the part, not just locked into the part, and at Warner Bros., that was limiting. When you look at his most frequent female costars, Olivia de Havilland and Alexis Smith, they both said lovely things about him their whole lives. Flynn was even best man at Smith's wedding.
The trial, not being taken seriously as an actor by his peers, depression, those things led to more drinking, health issues, and his interests in writing, sailing, and other activities led to his declining career.

[–] twm-2 11 years ago

Thanks for the reply! No question, he was never given sufficient credit for his acting, but particularly here where he gave his, IMO, greatest performance.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] star52-2 9 years ago

Watching it now.

He is breaking my heart...

[–] twm-2 9 years ago

I would say I'm sorry to hear your heart was broken, but I assume it was in a good way? :-)

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] star52-2 9 years ago

Thank you for your concern. 😃

Yes, in a good way. Maybe I'm reading too much into his performance, but he was paying tribute to his friend and looking at his own life. Quite poignant to me....

[–] twm-2 9 years ago

Hard to know for certain what this performance meant for him, but it's hard not to think that he identified with Barrymore. One thing that seems absolutely clear to me about this turn as a thespian, however, he was vastly underrated as an actor.

Cheers!

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] don-lockwood 9 years ago

I'm sorry to disagree, but while he convinces as an alcoholic, past-his-prime actor, I didn't buy him as John Barrymore, who had a moer dignified look and an arch way of speaking. Malone looks more like a Barrymore, though I don't think she's very good until the last half-hour.

[–] twm-2 9 years ago

You're entitled to disagree. :-) I would agree that Flynn doesn't do a very good job of imitating Barrymore in as far as mannerisms and speech patterns, but I think he was trying for something other than an imitation. He was acting, which isn't quite the same thing. I think he took the outlines of Barrymore's latter years, absorbed them, and then gave a performance at the intersection of Barrymore's life, the script, and his talent. And I think Flynn was plenty dignified, something he was quite good at, actually--at least IMO. You have to be able to project dignified big time in order to not seem silly running about in tights as he did in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and a few other films. But again, you certainly have my permission to disagree.

Cheers!

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] Curtainsup 9 years ago

I'm with you. Only Flynn could pull off the trifecta of tights-wearing swashbuckler, a cowboy, and a soldier. Think of John Wayne -- he could do the latter two, but never be the insouciant Robin Hood. Neither could Gary Cooper. Tyrone Power could wield a sword, maybe be a soldier, but never a cowboy.
There is such depth to Flynn's acting, that if you have a chance, see him in the light comedy Never Say Goodbye, the era's equivalent of a rom-com, and see how he could do just about anything IF GIVEN THE CHANCE.
He should have won an Oscar for Robin Hood, Sun Also Rises, and Too Much, Too Soon, and certainly could have been nominated for a host of others, That Forsythe Woman, as you have mentioned, Sea Hawk, Dodge City, etc. In light of what you said about his dignity pulling the script out of silliness, one only needs to watch Captain Blood and realize that there is not an actor then or now who could get away with some of that silly dialogue and make it work except Flynn.

[–] rmh_228 9 years ago

Flynn was a vastly-underrated actor. I think he had the misfortune (like Charlton Heston) of being a wonderful character actor trapped in the body and face of a leading man, which forced the both when young to deliver some of the worst lines ever written, in some pretty terrible movies ("The Ten Commandments," "Santa Fe Trail," etc.)---though I can't imagine anyone but Heston pulling off "Ben-Hur," in which he was great. Heston gave wonderful performances later in his career (the title role in "Will Penny," Cardinal Richelieu in "The Three Musketeers," and others. Flynn unfortunately died too soon to show us what he really could do as an older actor (although his performance in "The Sun Also Rises" is pretty amazing). And I'm not in any way putting down his really good younger stuff ("Robin Hood," "The Sea Hawk," etc.) which is excellent and such fun to watch.

[–] elena-28 9 years ago

Catch him and Basil Rathbone also in _The Dawn Patrol_, which I saw a long while ago on TCM: They're WWI pilots in a terrible situation strategically. Rathbone is the commanding officer who must continually send the pilots to almost-always fatal missions and Flynn is one of the pilots, whose additional mission is to ride against Rathbone's decisions. Rathbone is not the villain here, and the lessons all around are gut-wrenching. Both Flynn and Rathbone are excellent and impressive. I held my breath often for both of them.

[–] twm-2 9 years ago

I clearly agree with your enthusiasm for Flynn's abilities, although I'm not so certain I'd give him three Oscars (I'd bestow "only" one--for the film in question). But he certainly deserved some nominations!! He was absolutely superb in the three you highlight, and very good in the others you mention. Another film he was particularly good in that might have merited a nomination was "Gentleman Jim."

Alas, as everyone knows, the Oscars miss at least as much as they hit. There are plenty of great performers who have never won (think Claude Rains and Charlie Chaplin), and more than a few who never garnered so much as a nomination. I don't really understand why "Oscar" has become the preeminent award with its dodgy track record.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] Curtainsup 9 years ago

Yes, I meant nominations, although he surely should have won for Robin Hood! And a Best Supporting for Sun Also Rises or Too Much, Too Soon wouldn't have been amiss.

[–] twm-2 9 years ago

Won for The Adventures of Robin Hood? Hmm. Maybe so. He most certainly should have been nominated!! Looking over the list of nominees, I can't actually see a performance that I consider better (though I haven't seen Algiers with Charles Boyer's nominated performance). Certainly, I would consider Spencer Tracy (who won for Boy's Town) the better actor, but I can't say that that particular performance was better than Flynn's. So, perhaps you are correct. In any case, it's crazy he wasn't nominated. I'd put it in the same class as Cary Grant failing to get a nod for North by Northwest. The Academy doesn't seem to have much respect for straight-out Adventure films, no matter how good they are . . . unless, strangely, they're big, blockbuster Epics. There's no figuring the mind of Oscar, that's for sure.

Incidentally, The Sun Also Rises is an underrated gem, IMO, with three rather underrated actors giving underrated performances, i.e., Flynn, Power, and Eddie Albert. Not a perfect film by any means, but powerful nonetheless.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] 9 years ago

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