utgard14
Short film starring and directed by Errol Flynn that should be a treat for his fans. Filmed in 1946 but not released for six years (!), the short basically follows Flynn on his yacht, the Zaca, as he takes his father and some scientists from the Scripps Institute out sailing, looking for specimens of marine life. It's all in color, shot on 16mm, and looks very nice despite not having been restored (at least not the version I saw on TCM). There's nice travelogue-type footage and footage of ocean wildlife, but I think the parts that are likely to appeal to most fans are the personal elements. There are some corny staged scenes, such as Flynn falling from a helicopter into the ocean trying to get a picture of a whale, but this type of stuff is harmless and even funny to me so I didn't mind. The entertainment value something like this will have today is limited to how much appeal Flynn has for you, I think. I'm a fan so I liked it. Seeing Flynn outside of a movie set, in his own element and interacting with "regular" people is interesting to me. It's not often you get to see Errol Flynn and his dad, after all.
bkoganbing
Like contemporaries Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne, Errol Flynn did have a real love of the sea. I'm sure this was a project of love for him when he did Cruise Of The Zaca the schooner that he owned and kept primarily at his Jamaica home.Although this is a compilation of film of many voyages, Flynn got to work with his father a noted marine biologist. And the work showing some of the strange marine life on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was very interesting.One thing that was really interesting was the fact that the cameras went off as the Zaca went through the Panama Canal. Reasons of national security, this was the early Fifties. I wonder if those same regulations are still in place.I'm thinking this chance to share his father's work was something Flynn could not pass up. Especially after the rape trial, Flynn's image as the eternal debaucher was fixed in the public mind. I'm sure he welcomed a chance to show a serious side to him.Incidentally the Zaca which Flynn may have loved more than anything else in the world was sold to pay Errol's many debts incurred after his debacle with the financing of his planned William Tell film that never was completed. An ironic end indeed.
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews
A documentary of a scientific team going to look at sea-life(and since I am not an expert on the subject, I can't really judge if it's realistic or not), this is on the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD of The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938. It's put together of nicely shot nature footage and reasonably photographed stuff with real natives and the like, it seems, and features constant narration from Flynn, who stars(as himself) and also directed this. I was surprised to find that this really wasn't a drama... it's not at all about story-telling and plot, rather, it's full of info. I guess celebrities were appearing in things like this even back then. Was it a publicity thing back then, too, I wonder? A little of this is evidently staged, but other than that, it may very well be real. Expressing a genuine curiosity for the culture of the South Seas primitives(including a belly dance) and the animal life there, this actually is a fine watch for those who are interested in those(sadly, I doubt anyone else will like it much, as it has a slow pace and probably isn't up to date on facts). I recommend this to... well, aforementioned group of people. 5/10
Steve-171
Type of film they'd show at a Saturday matinee between the cartoons and the first feature, to boost popcorn sales. Flynn and his yacht grab some marine biologists and stop at some islands to pick up specimens. Interesting to Flynn fans, to see his hair long prior to filming DON JUAN, but pretty dull for anybody else.
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