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Author
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Topic: The Sword of Villon (Errol Flynn) 1956 Blackhawk films
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted February 12, 2014 12:32 PM
I recently won this on ebay and had only seen this come up a few times. I had always been a fan of Flynn’s films and always admired them as good old swashbuckling fun.
When I heard of this very obscure TV program, I assumed, “poor Errol, slumming on TV, he couldn’t get any work”.
Well, actually, that wasn’t true. Errol kept on working until the day of his death, though, at 49, his endless lifestyle of binge drinking had certainly taken it’s toll, (and all those rumors of those underage … ummm, ladies), as Errol was a paunchy sagging mess, aged before his time.
So, I didn’t expect much of this. After all, I had watched the “Robin Hood” TV show of the 50’s and expected low production values and a well, lest be honest, an over the hill Errol.
I was pleasantly surprised.
I had seen Errol in films of the early to mid 1950’s, and Errol was looking tired and sad. It appears that he lost some weight for this role, (he would appear on the same TV show a year later but in a different role and story), and he didn’t “phone in” his performance either.
Instead, what we get is some very good swordplay (two sword fights in the film), and Errol smiling, leering, and apparantly, having a good time. The other actors also are having loads of fun and it’s all acted out rather well. To makes things better, the interiors, exteriors and costuming are all top notch.. It has the look of a Hollywood film!
Now, onto the print!
This was one of Blackhawk’s many great TV program releases, (others include a very good 30 minute Buster Keaton TV appearance, which is worth finding). It originally came on 2X400ft and runs approximately 22 or 23 minutes, (it originally ran in a 30 minute time slot and comes, minus ads and original beginning and end credits, Black-
-hawk simply has they’re generic beginning and “The End” titles.
Blackhawk could be hit or miss when it came to they’re print quality, but this is top notch, considering it’s from 1950’s TV. It was printed either from a top notch 16MM dupe or original 35MM material, as, it is quite sharp, right up there with the best of Blackhawk. Please note that reel 1 appears to have the slightest touch of being printed just a little bright, but barely noticeable. Reel 2 is spot on, and both reels are very sharp. Both reels have excellent grain and grey tones from beginning to end. The audio is of course,. mono, but being that it was originally from a mono source, the audio is very sharp and clean. A great record!
I personally believe that the best thing about this film, is that this was the very last time that Errol Flynn, the swashbuckler of swashbucklers, would do the thing that he was best known for, great sword play. Flynn would quickly go downhill physically in his last two years, and this is an excellent chance to see him in, perhaps, his very last great performance!
Kudos to Gerald Santana for making this available for sale
As always …
LONG LIVE SUPER 8!!!!
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted June 02, 2018 11:43 AM
Hey! I almost had one of my scripts off the ground, even had my movie star, (Sybll Danning) almost signed on, but the money just tanked and, well, while I'd still like to get this made, it'll have to wait until my "ship comes in". ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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