SHAKING LIKE FLYNN

And speaking of Ernest Hemingway, I found the terrific (low res) picture above of Hemingway with Errol Flynn. Flynn used to be a major obsession of mine – faded slightly now – and of course Flynn appeared in the movie of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, though this picture was taken at the El Floridita in Havana in 1959, presumably while Flynn was in Cuba filming his last movie, Cuban Rebel Girls.  

Yes, that's right, Beverly Aadland was his "protege." There are, as with Hemingway, various cocktails around with Errol Flynn’s name on them.  One is equal parts cognac and grand marnier, another is a fizz involving rum, lime juice, and egg white.  Who’s to say Flynn wouldn’t have approved? I’ve always had the impression that Flynn would drink pretty much anything that was put in front of him.  He seems to have been primarily a vodka man – Zubrowka being his favourite brand - though apparently he did have a “gin period,” and as you see below he was happy enough to shill for Heublein.  I’d lose the hat if I were you, Errol.

The story goes that when Errol Flynn was in one of his cleaner periods, or at least trying to give that impression, he used to appear on set carrying oranges – the oranges having been injected with vodka, which I can’t imagine ever fooled anybody. I don’t think that really qualifies as a cocktail, nor does the concoction he served to Peggy Salterlee, one of the victims in his statutory rape trial.  This is her, below with Jerry Giesler, Flynn’s attorney.

 When she was cross-questioned in court by Giesler, she testified that she’d been out with Flynn, and was drinking a glass of milk with her dinner. She went to the bathroom and when she returned Flynn had put a shot of rum into the milk.  She asked him why he’d done that and he replied, “Because it’s good for you before going to bed."

Which reminds me just a little of the Loved One’s grandmother who, alas, I never met.  I’m told she always used to have a beer for breakfast but she put an egg in it because she said it was important to start the day with some protein.

Anyway, there's really no doubt that Flynn had sex with Peggy Satterlee: it was statutory rape because she was 17.  In fact Beverly Aadland was even younger when she  started having sex with Flynn, 15 seems to be the best guess.  Here's a picture of them, also from 1959, at the Lido Club in London. 

 People always bang on about how terrible Flynn looked at the end of his life because of all the drink and drugs, but I don't think he looks so bad here.  It is the last year of his life, and OK, he doesn't look as good as he once did but he still looks better than most of us ever will. And whatever ever age we are, very few of us ever get to date the likes of Beverly Aadland: you may decide for yourself whether that's a good or a bad thing.

(These Flynn/Aadland images come from a wonderful website: www.nickelinthemachine.com )