Public Enemies opens in the Indiana penitentiary, in 1933, convicts in shackles and rough wool suits trudging single-file up and down the yard.  The scene changes and a sheriff in plain clothes leads a prisoner across a dried-mud field to the looming dirty grey steel gates of the penitentiary.  Somehow Michael Mann’s camerawork makes this grim visa beautiful, yet chillingly cold.  The sheriff leads the prisoner into the jail. 

And all hell breaks loose. 

Public Enemies takes place in the fourth year of the Great depression and the American heartland where the worst effects of the depression are being felt.  Businesses closed, men unemployed, families starving.  Michael Mann shows us grizzled older men, tired women, real faces etched with real pain.  Already there is a veracity about Public Enemies that makes you feel you are in the era, not watching a costume drama.

 Economy in ruins, gangsters on a bank robbing spree.  Crime is a national embarrassment and a puffed-up J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup at his most self-righteous) announces a war on crime and anoints John Dillinger as public enemy No 1.  He appoints agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to take down Dillinger.

Depp and Bale

Johnny Depp as Dillinger is mesmeric, you feel compelled to watch him.  By turns charming, quirky and deadly, he gives us a man who knows what the world is and what he wants from it.  He gets his kicks from pitting himself against the law.  Very clever and more than a little vain, he fancies himself a public hero. He gladly picks up Hoover’s challenge and goes out bank robbing.  Depp has never been better than in this movie, never given us as rounded and as human a character, as Dillinger.  For all his deadliness we warm to him.   

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger

Bale plays agent Purvis with a southern drawl, a quiet, dignified and intense man who is a born hunter.  Purvis is one of nature’s noblemen and Bale plays him as brave and wise, a natural leader, and a good and fine American man.

Motion and violence

This is familiar territory for Michael Mann, two great and powerful men, one hunting the other.  Bale’s intensity is matched by Depp’s courage and cleverness.  Public Enemies wrings every once of tension out of the battle between these two men.  It is a game of cat-and-mouse ripped apart by explosions of violence. 

Dillinger - Bank Robbery

For Public Enemies is a bloody movie, as well as an emotional roller-coaster.  The shoot-outs are graphic and cruel, with no holds barred.  Mann really gets the feeling of the age and both sides shoot to kill.  The more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger attitude of modern thrillers is absent here.  These are men of their time, when life was cheaper, and they draw their guns to kill.  The stakes are very real in this movie and we feel it throughout.  Once again Michael Mann puts us in the time.    

 Mann ratchets up the tension relentlessly.  Realising that he is being outfought by the Dillinger gang Purvis prevails upon Hoover to let him use ex-Texas Rangers from the Bureau’s Dallas office.  When these men arrive in Chicago we see their faces and they look as if carved out of stone, hard-bitten lawmen to a man.  Just watching them walk through the train station to meet Purvis makes us realise that the balance of power has shifted.

 Dillinger’s life becomes more complicated when he meets Billie Frechette, a coatcheck girl.  As the half-French, half Menominee Indian girl, Marion Cotillard shows her to be totally in love with Dillinger and he with her.  Cotillard gives Depp the opportunity to show another side of Dillinger, loving, perceptive and sensitive.  But for all of this Cotillard’s Frechette is still a complication and Public Enemies’ sense of danger and foreboding increases every time they are on screen together.  Frechette humanises Dillinger but we, the audience, know there is a cost to this tenderness.     

Ending the Dillinger story

Public Enemies is remarkable for the way in which it maintains the excitement in a story we already know the end of, or think we do.  Dillinger is hunted and history tells us his end.  However even at the end, Michael Mann has something new and compelling to show us. 

Telling the story

So many things work so well in this movie.  The plotting and pacing is really tight, especially the robberies.  No one does a bank heist like Michael Mann.  All the Mann signatures are here, bags of cash being slid from one crook to another across a marble floor, men with machine guns standing on desks menacing helpless customers, Dillinger telling customers that he has come for the Bank’s money, not theirs.  The whole movie is tight, fast, economic with words and characters. 

The dialogue is sharp, terse and clever.  Here is the single best exchange in the movie, when Dillinger tells Billie Frechette that she is with him now.

Frechette:  But I don’t know anything about you!

Dillinger:  I like baseball, fast cars, good clothes, movies, whisky, and you.

So a man of good taste, for a professional bank robber…

Tension, mood and atmosphere are perfect in Public Enemies.  Michael Mann has perfected the use of his Digital night-shoot camera technology, which he first used in Miami Vice. In Public Enemies he uses this to create night scenes of fearsome intensity.  Michael Mann always fills the darkness with terrible menace.

And the cinematography gives us a world that is harsh but incredibly beautiful.  The FBI agents dress well and the camera plays on this, using their correct and handsome dress to set them apart from the people they deal with.  Some scenes are almost painterly and striking in their use of light and colour. 

Public Enemies has a stand-out cast, including actors from previous Michael Mann movies.  The ensemble playing is magnificent, and gives depth to every scene.  Depp, Cotillard and Bale are superb, but there is also wonderful acting from David Wenhem as Dillinger gang member Harry Pierpoint, Steven Lang as a hard-faced ex-Texas Ranger and a great perfomance from Jason Clarke as Dillinger pal “Red” Hamilton.  There is not a bad performance in the movie.

But it is the story of the two protagonists that make this movie so great.  There is a terrible intimacy, with the camera often only inches from their faces.  Depp in particular, opens up Dillinger in all his hopeless bravery.  These are stories of real men, caught up in their stand for what they believe in and what they are. 

 Public Enemies is more than a gangster story, it touches so many men’s lives.   How many men have felt like Purvis, tasked with a responsibility that might ask for more than he can give?  A task where, even if he succeeds, it may break his spirit. 

Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis

 And so many of us know Dillinger’s life, risking everything in tackling the world, the sense that time is running out.  Johnny Depp’s Dillinger is smart, knows the world is against him, but fights on regardless.  Winning on his terms is all that life is.

This is a big movie in so many ways; I believe it will become a classic.  Public Enemies has something to say about manhood, courage and why men choose the paths men they do.  I was moved by what it had to say.  Go see it, Public Enemies is a magnificent experience.

We wrote about Michael Mann previously, here.

The UK trailer for Public Enemies is available here

London Summer Sales 3

 Here is a round-up of sales in Covent Garden, Soho and Bond Street.   Given the economic climate in London at the moment there are some excellent bargains to had in the sale.  And, if you are feelng venturesome, you could ask for a discount on non-sale items.   Most of the menswear shops in London are dealing with the downturn as best they can and you will soon find out which shops are open to offers.  Give it a try.

Alfred Dunhill

Sale now on at of the world’s finest luxury brands.  Top bargains here have to be the own-brand chinos and knitwear.  The knitwear in particular is superb.

Alfred Dunhill, Bourdon House, Davies Street, Mayfair

Alfred Dunhill,
Bourdon House, 2 Davies Street, London, W1J 3DJ
Tel: +44 (0) 845 458 0779

Closet Case

The friendly and stylish chaps at Closet Case have a sale.  A great shop for Neal Barrett, Dirk Bikkemberg and other modern classics.

Closet Case, Sale

 Closet Case,
47 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9UF
Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 1652

Hackett

English style at reduced prices in the Hackett sale.  Some great prices on casual trousers, long-sleeve summer shirts, summer suits.  As always the Hackett sale is getting hit hard by stylish men looking for quality at good prices.  If you want a bargain go soon.

Hackett, sale, Covent Garden

 Hackett

31-32, King St, Convent Garden, London, WC2E 8JD

Tel: +44 (0) 7240 2040

 Simon Carter

Big reductions on suits at Simon Carter, who are a stylish but competitively priced British menswear brand.  My experience of this brand is that their knitwear is often very good, so you might want to check what is in the sale. 

Simon Carter, sale

 Simon Carter

29, King Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8JD

Tel: +44 (0) 844 8479296

 Massimo Dutti

Italian style at budget prices.  Some good pieces, especially knitwear and jeans, in this sale. 

Massimo Dutti Sale

Massimo Dutti,
156 Regent Street, London, W1B 5LB
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7851 1280

Emmett

Emmett have reductions on their superb shirts.  Classy, lively and colourful shirts, finely tailored. 

Emmett, sale

 Emmett

112 Jermyn Street
St. James
London
SW1Y 6LS
United Kingdom

Tel:  +44(0)20 7925 1299

Roderick Charles

English ready-to-wear classics, for the smart older man and the conservative (in the classic sense) dresser. 

Roderick Charles, sale, Jermyn Street

 Roderick Charles

90, Jermyn St, London, SW1Y 6JD

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7930 4551

Thomas Pink

English shirtmaker.  This is a good sale, dozens of fabrics, lots of choice.  

Thomas Pink, sale, Jermyn Street

Pink,
85, Jermyn St, London, SW1Y 6JD
Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 6364

New and Lingwood

I did not get a chance to visit this sale, but given that everything New and Lingwood make is a piece of modern craftsmanship, it has to be worth a visit.  Classic English style, made with skill and dedication.  

New and Lingwood, sale, Jermyn Street

 New & Lingwood,
53 Jermyn Street, St Jame’s, London, SW1Y 6LX
Tel: +44 (0) 7493 9621

Hilditch and Key

Reductions on their shirts, linen and cotton trousers.  The trousers are colourful and well-made and would be my pick in this sale, though their Sea Island cotton shirts are also a good buy. 

Hilditch and Key, sale, Jermyn Street

Hilditch and Key

73, Jermyn Street, St James’s, SW1Y 6NP
Tel: +44 (0)207 930 5336

Crockett and Jones

Crockett and Jones shoes are amongst the best benchmade ready-to-wear shoes in the world.  Definitely a sale to go for.  

Crockett and Jones, sale, Jermyn Street store

Crockett and Jones,
69 Jermyn Street, St James, London, SW1Y 6PF
Tel: +44 (0)20 7976 2684

Trickers

Like Crockett and Jones, a master English shoemaker.  Known for their heavier classic shoes, they produce what are to my mind the best English brogues. 

Trickers, sale, Jermyn Street

Trickers
67 Jermyn Street, St James,
SW1Y 6NY

Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 6395

Daks

Upscale British design, beautiful suit cut, some of the best ready-to-wear menswear in England.  The pick of this sale has to be their magnificent ready-to-wear suits. 

Daks, sale, flagship store

Daks,
10 Old Bond Street, London, W1S 4PL
+44 (0)20 7409 4000

Corneliani

The silk and wool jacket in the picture is superb.  One of the finest menswear brands in the world, producing some stunningly classy clothes.  Sale now on. 

Corneliani store, Summer 2009 Sale

Corneliani,

131-132 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2TB+44

Tel: (0)20 7493 7921 

Gant

As usual the Gant sale was full of customers when I went there (it started Thusday 25th).  Some great bargains on chinos., polos, knitwear.  Go soon because in a couple of days there will be nothing left. Gant Store, New Bond Street 

Gant,
107 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1ED
Tel: +44 (0)20 7629 3313

Gant Store, New Bond Street

John Smedley

Their sale also started on the 25^th and there are some good reductions on their finely woven shirts and t-shirts.  Go see and have a look at their newly re-designed store. 

John Smedley sale

  John Smedley,
24 Brook Street, London, W1K 5DG
Tel: +44 (0)20 7495 2222

Burberry

Lots of discounts across the menswear range.

Burberry Sale

Burberry 

21-23, New Bond St, London, W1S 2RE

Tel: +44 (0)20 7968 0000

Adolpho Dominguez

There are lots of good things in this sale, most notably a huge collection, of own brand jeans, linen trousers, chinos etc. They also have shirts and knitwear. As always with Dominguez the fabrics are of excellent quality and the discounts are up to 40.00%. If your style trends towards continental casual, echoes of beachfront clubs and late night coffee stops in Madrid this is your store. Very distinctive menswear.

Adolpho Dominguez store, Covent Garden

Adolfo Dominguez,

15 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9BJ

+44 (0) 20 7836 5013

Swank

Venerable London casualwear store Swank has been a trustworthy source of stylish denim for as long as I can remember. Brands on sale include G-Star Raw and Free Soul.

Swank store, Soho

Swank,

72 Old Compton Street, London, W1D 4UN

+44 (0)20 7437 3155

Moss

Lots on sale here, casual brands include Lacoste and Gant. Suits are own brand, Boss, Canali. Shirts are own brand and Canali. Some good bargains, especially Gant polos, Canali dress shirts and Boss suits, reductions up to 50% off. These guys always give a good sale.

Moss store, Covent Garden

Moss,

27 King Street, London, WC2E 8JD

+44 (0)20 7632 9701

Calvin Klein Underwear

Up to 50% discount on underwear (both Men and women) at the Covent Garden store.

Calvin Klein Underwear Store, Covent Garden

Calvin Klein Underwear

120 Long Acre, Covent Garden London WC2E 9PA

+44 (0) 20 7240 7582

 Chester Barrie

Deepest discounts yet seem in this round of sales, from high-end classic suitmaker Chester Barrie. Their ready-to-wear suits are discounted by up to 70%. Suit prices start at £399 in the sale. Amazingly low prices from one of the best suitmakers in London.

Chester Barrie, Savile Row

Chester Barrie,

32 Savile Row, London, W1S 3PY

+44 (0)20 7439 6079

 Jaeger

Lots in the sale from Jaeger, whose mens clothes have taken on a new lease of life. Since their makeover some five years back their style is fresher, more modern and more colourful. Think a budget version of Daks or Hackett. This sale is particularly good on suits and dress shirts. I liked their white jackets, which can be bought singly or as a suit, and look very stylish on.

Jaeger White Jacket

Jaeger,

200-206 Regent Street, London, W1B 5BN

+44 (0)20 7979 1100

 Crombie

Have a sale on at their new flagship store in Conduit Street, near Savile Row. Did not get the time to look in on this one but this is a quality brand so there should be some good bargains.

Crombie Store

Crombie,

48 Conduit Street, London, W1S 2YR

+44 (0)20 7434 2886

 Fenwicks

Fenwicks department store in Bond Street have a sale in their basement menswear department. Brands on sale include John Smedley, Mulberry, Strelson Polo Jeans, For all Mankind, Kenzo Homme, Lyle and Scott, Nicole Farhi man.  The ssle is mostly casualwear and knitwear.

Fenwick Department Store

Fenwicks

63, New Bond St, London, W1S 1RJ

+44 (0) 20 7629 9161

Selfridges Department Store

I am late on this one, the sale has been on for exactly a week, so some clothes concessions, particularly the shirts, have been picked over. Still some very good value suit bargains to be had. Brands on sale include Emmett, Thomas Pink, Ermangildo Zegna, Etro, Ralph Lauren (some very fine jackets on sale here), Canali, Boss, Aquascutum, Shoes on sale include Stemar shoes, Church, Bally, Dolce and Gabana, Oliver Sweeney, Patrick Cox. Other brands include Dior, Balanciaga, Raf Simons, Comme De Garcons, Yves St Laurent, Jil |Sander. Casual brands on sale include CP Company Armani jeans, Boss sport, John Smedley, Lacoste. Cutting edge brands in the sale include DSquared, Maison Martin Margiela, Dries Van Noten.

Selfridges

400, Oxford St, London, W1A 2LR

0800 123400

Richmond

Upmarket rockstar menswear, black jeans, white satin jackets, charcoal satin chinos, a monochrome collection, with silver-studded black leather belts and similar accessories. If you have a rock chick girlfriend (possibly even a high-maintenance rock chick girlfriend) their ladies wear is definitely for her. Sale now on.

Richmond Store, Conduit Street

Richmond

54 Conduit Street, WC1

+44 (0) 20 7287 1860

Facis

Italian menswear brand with a large collection that suits the older man. Excellent sale, now on.

 6 Conduit Street, London W1S 2XE

+44 (0) 20 7493 4666

Victorinox

Polos, long-sleeve casual shirts and knitwear are the standout items in the Victorinox sale. Their super-modern flagship store on Bond street also has their new (non-sale) casual range, which has a young attitude, and bags of colour. Thir famed watches and penknives are also available here (again non-sale).

Victorinox pink casual shirt

Victorinox,

90/96 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1DB

+44 (0) 20 764

Just a short post with a  quick roundup of some summer sales.   

Alexandre of Savile Row

Alexandre of Savile Row shop

Forgive the quality of this picture, I was crossing Savile Row and trying not to get run over while I took the shot.

This looks like a good sale.  Alexandre sell both ready-to-wear (from around 600.00) and made-to-measure suits (from around £850.00).  Discounts of 50% on ready-to-wear and 25% on made-to-measure are excellent bargains.  Alexandre sell an English slim-cut suit, with a modern thin-lapelled look, a bit Oswald boating, young stylish Englishman. 

 Details:

 Alexandre,
39 Savile Row, London, W1S 3QF
+44 (0) 20 7434 2450

Cheaney

Cheaney sale display

A sale at one of the most distinctive English shoe brands, what could be better?  Lots of classic shapes and bargains.

 Details:

 Cheaney,
163 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2UQ
+44 (0)20 7499 9449

 www.cheaney.co.uk

Belstaff

Bestaff flagship store

Fashionable biker leather shop (for men and women) now has a sale on selected items at their very cool flagship store, just off London’s Bond Street.  Besides leather, Belstaff also have ranges in waxed fabric and that densely woven impact-resistant nylon/artificial fibre that Bikies like so much.

 Details:

 Belstaff

12-13 Conduit Street

London W1S 2XQ    

+44 (0) 20 7495 5897

 www.belstaff.com

More sales coming soon.

Gieves and Hawkes summer sale

This was one of the best sales I saw this week, if not the best sale.  Gieves own-label business shirts are reduced to £59.00 which is a good buy.  However it was Gieves superb suits which were the real bargain.  I saw cuts of up to 50% on their ready-to-wear suits (prices start at around £800.00).  They also have a 20% discount on made-to-measure suits (prices start at around £1,900) while the sale lasts.  In addition to the sale there are also reductions on some of the non-sale new collection items. 

Go visit this shop simply for the experience of doing so.  Gieves and Hawkes have raised customer service to an artform, their staff are friendly, informed and courteous, in a way that few shops can ever hope to be.  Great people and great service.  

Currently I rank this sale best of all, with the Eterno sale here a close second and the Pringle sale here, a close third.

Details:

Gieves & Hawkes,
1 Savile Row, London, W1S 3JR
+44 20 7434 2001

www.gievesandhawkes.com

Pringle shop - sale window

The Pringle sale is now on.  I went along to buy some polo shirts.  I like Pringle polo shirts because they are better made than those from many other brands and the fit is better, not so baggy. 

 I bought this sky-blue shirt in the sale. 

Pringle sky-blue Polo shirt

This is from Pringle’s premium polo range. They are made in Italy, and the fit is a little tighter than that of their standard polos.  If you buy one of these I suggest you get a size larger than you normally buy.  Also the cotton is finer, the interlock weave is tighter and the weave itself has more of a contour, which makes the shirt catch the light slightly and gives it a more interesting character.  This range is really nicely tailored, with really good finishing. 

I particularly liked this range (and this shirt) because of the way the weave reverses direction on the collar.  It gives a subtle and stylish contrast between the collar and the body of the shirt.  I also like the fact that the logo is embossed in the same colour as the shirt.  I am not much of a logo man and I prefer this level of subtlety.  

By contrast, the red shirt below is one from Pringle’s standard range, and like all the shirts in this range the log is picked out in a contrasting colour.  Also the buttons are larger and the overall look is more sporty.  I have to say that Pringle do embroider their logos with a degree of reserve that is more suitable for mature men (that would be me).   I could wear the sky-blue under a suit for a casual summer look, but the red is too casual for that look.  Note. The standard range (the red shirt) is not in the sale.     

Pringle Polo shirt - soft red

I bought the sky-blue shirt for £45.00, which is a big discount (The standard retail price on Pringle premium polos is between £65.00 and £70.00, depending on the model). 

 There are some really good items in this sale and I will be going back for more.  I would put this sale at the top of your list  

Details:

Pringle of Scotland,
111-112 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1DP
+44 (0)20 7297 4580 

 www.pringlescotland.com

Eterno Shirts

Eterno are Italian shirtmakers, from Salerno.  They sell ready-to-wear and made-to-measure shirts from their shop in Conduit Street, just off London’s Bond Street.  Their Summer sale is now on and all of last season’s collection is on sale at 50% of the original price.  If you know Eterno, you will know that this is an excellent deal.  Here is the shop; 

Eterno sell strikingly beautiful men’s shirts.  Their fabrics are exceptional, Italian wools and linens, thick, cleverly woven  and luxurious.  Their shirts feel really good in the hand and on the body, heavy, silky and supple.  The colours and patterns of these shirts are original and eye-catching.  They currently have prints, stripes and solid colours in the sale.  The stripes are sophisticated designs, some with variable stripe widths in the body of the shirt or in some shirts the weave of the cotton raises the edge of the stripe slightly above the weave, givings a slight shimmer to the cloth.  The shirts radiate upscale style. 

Here is a shirt I bought, a dark navy-blue cotton button-cuff shirt, with a slightly cutaway collar.  I bought this shirt for half of its original retail price, £65.00.

Like many of Eterno’s shirts, the clever weave (in this case a tiny interlocking diamond patten) catches the light and gives the shirt a soft shimmer.  When I showed my wife this shirt the first thing she said was “That is so sexy”.  Most of Eterno’s shirts have this sophisticated glossy look to them.   As you can see from the pictures, their shirts are richly dyed, the colours are deep and vibrant.  Quite simply, they look very classy.

Here is a picture of the back, showing an interesting feature. 

Eterno shirts are semi-fitted and unlike English shirts, are not darted from the yoke.  By darting the shirt on both sides through the middle of the shirt (you can see the right-hand dart in the picture) it opens the shirt across the upper chest, making for a very flattering cut.

Here is a picture from the front. 

 Notice that the collar has a wide band and two buttons.  This means that the shirt will stand up under a suit (without a tie) without falling flat.  This makes for a much more stylish look.  Notice also the slightly off-square buttons which complement the diamond weave.  Clever styling. 

Who wears these shirts and when

Eterno shirts tend towards bigger and more showy collars, slightly larger than average Windsors and Cut-aways, also some Long-points (sometimes called a King collar).  The fabrics especially the prints, are striking, and you will be remarked upon if you wear these shirts.  

If your style is romantic, Italian clothes suit you, you have a romantic personality, there is a little of the storyteller, or poet in you, these are the shirts for you.  If you are a dramatic personality, lots of charisma, a little of the Sean Connery magnetism, then these shirts are for you.   Or if you want these characteristics, wear these shirts…      

These are shirts for night-time, parties, the best bars.  These are not office shirts, though if I were an actor or a creative looking to build a reputation for upscale cosmopolitan style, I would wear these shirts to work.  

Prices and Services

Many shirts in the collection are on-sale for around £65-70 pounds, depending on the original price.  The guys who work here are great and, if you want a shirt from the current (full-price) collection I suggest you put on your game face and ask them to do you a deal.  They will cetainly do their best to help.  

Eterno also do a very good made-to-measure shirt service.  The minimum order is one, and a shirt costs upwards from £140.00, depending on the fabric chosen.  You are measured in the shop and the shirt is cut in Salerno.  From measure to delivery takes three to four weeks, which is good swift service for an Italian made-to-measure garment.

The sale is now on, stylish men will be descending on the shop like vikings intent on plunder.  Go now while there are lots of great shirts to be had.  

Details:

Eterno

19 Conduit Street

London

W1S 2BH

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7493 5603

www.eternolondon.co.uk

“I am the epitome of Twentieth Century cosmopolitanism, but I should have an explorer in the time of Magellan”

  Errol Flynn.

Today is the birthday of Errol Flynn, one of the most handsome and manly men ever to make movies. 

Errol Flynn’s start in movies 

Errol Flynn burst onto the screen in Captain Blood, Michael Curtiz’ wonderful swashbuckler.  He almost came out of nowhere, but not quite.  After a bumpy life in which he had bought and run a tea plantation (and gone broke), run a copper mine (also went broke), he pitched up in England as an actor.  At the age of 25 he made a movie called Murder in Monte Carlo, for Warner Brothers.   This got him to Hollywood, where he had the huge good fortune to come to the attention of Jack Warner, the movie mogul and, of course, the head of Warner studios.  Jack Warner was one of the smartest men who ever lived and he saw Flynn’s virility, masculine beauty, athleticism and charisma and made this unknown the star of his movie. 

 Well, the Sea hawk was a huge success and Errol Flynn became the huge star we remember.

Errol Flynn as Captain Peter Blood

 There is no other actor like him.  Charming, sophisticated, witty and handsome, he filled the screen.  Women adored him.  But for all that, he was a man’s man and men admired him too.  Movie critic Pauline Kael once said of Cary Grant that to simply see him on screen makes us feel happy.  Errol Flynn had a similar quality.  When he appears on screen we feel our spirits lift and we know that nothing deter us, we can fight on to victory.    

For Flynn’s movie characters were what every man wants to be, venturesome, courageous, honourable, light-hearted and romantic.  The reason that he played though characters so well is that, as a man he was all of those things.  But there was something more, something special.  Errol Flynn was smart, witty, quick and knowing.  His persona was that of the worldly man who had bumped around, had his ups and downs.  What was different about him?

 He always loved life. 

 He was never cynical.  How important this is.  He has the manly quality par excellence, he imbues other men with confidence and joie de vivre.  By example he shows us that, whatever happens to us, life is a fight and a joy and a glorious journey, so keep smiling. 

Errol Flynn as Robin Hood

Flynn’s movies

 You can see it in his movies.  As Geoffrey Thorpe (a thinly disguised Sir Francis Drake) in the Sea Hawk, he is patriotic and calls on the patriotism of others, to fight tyranny.  We know in our hearts that his patriotic fervour is real.  Real men are patriots. 

 In Dawn Patrol we believe in his Captain Courtney pilot and officer, who is an honourable man, because it is transparently clear that Errol Flynn believed in honour.

 And then there is The Adventure of Robin Hood.  I was very lucky in how I saw this movie, because, for all my affection for Errol Flynn’s movies I had never seen “Adventures”. 

It was a cold winter and the occasion was a showing (at London’s National Film Theatre) of a fully restored print of The Adventures of Robin Hood. 

House lights go down and the screen lights up, Erich Korngold’s wonderful score plays and the credits scroll.  The first scene is the confrontation between Much the Miller’s son (Herbert Mundin) and the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone).  Suddenly Robin Hood rides into shot and Errol Flynn’s presence fills the screen.  To a man the audience clapped!  Some of them stood and clapped!  It was a spontaneous recognition of the sheer charisma and good feeling that Errol Flynn brought the screen.  It was a wonderful moment that had a huge impact on me and I have never forgotten it.   

Ambushing Guy of Gisbourne, from The adventures of Robin Hood

Flynn’s manliness

Errol Flynn calls out to the adventurer in all men.  The English actor David Niven was his good friend and by all accounts Errol Flynn was a loyal and generous friend.  However he was still Errol Flynn, headstrong, impatient of authority, liable to get a friend into scrapes.  Niven’s autobiographies, especially Bring On the Empty Horses, is full of wonderful Flynn  stories.  My favourite has to be the grapefruit story.  Flynn was signed up to play the lead in “The charge of the Light Brigade”.  It was a big budget movie and hugely important to Warner Brothers.  However they were worried by Flynn’s drinking.  So the studio ordered him not to drink and told him they were going to enforce a “dry” set.  So Flynn set about circumventing what, to him, was a wholly unfair restriction.  He got a large syringe and methodically injected a crate of grapefruit with vodka.  He then took these with him to the set….

 The studio heads rang the studio and asked if Flynn were drinking.  No, came the reply, and he is eating healthily, lots of fruit!

 Now that is a man!

 This is a short article but I must pay tribute to Errol Flynn as a serious actor.  His athleticism and sheer style led many people to overlook his qualities as an actor.  But one of my favourite roles is Errol Flynn as Mike Gilbert, a good man lost to drink, in The Sun Also Rises.  Here he honestly, carefully and respectfully lays bare the self-loathing and helplessness of the alcoholic.  It is a difficult performance to watch, much less to like, but it is magnificent.      

Errol Flynn was a real man.  He was not perfect and he knew it, he talked honestly about his mistakes and flaws.  However he always tried to live up to the virtues that ment so much to him.  Politically correct people often sneer at these values, the underlying argument being that manly men are a sham and that these values like courage, honour and patriotism are worthless and unreal.  The great glory of Errol Flynn is that he was a fallible man, lived out his failings in public and was unrepentant about living for adventure, and for values that real men stand for.       

Errol Flynn sailing

God bless you Mr Flynn, for a life of courage, laughter and adventure.

Further Information

Errol Flynn’s daughter Rory, runs his offocial website here.  It gives a real sense of who Errol Flynn was and the homepage introduction says it all, succinctly and sincerely

10 Flynn Movies

Here are my ten favourite Flynn movies:

 The Adventures of Robin Hood

One of the finest movies ever made and one of Errol Flynn’s best performances.  He was gentle, manly, debonair and fearless as Robin.  Add to this Michael Curtiz inspired direction, Erich Korngold’s music and the great Basil Rathbone and you have a masterpiece.     

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

 The SeaHawk

My second favourite Flynn movie.  His English privateer Geoffrey Thorpe is a masterpiece of passion and patriotism and there is the most magnificent swordfight at the movie’s end.  Also, an indirect and urgent plea for the US to join England in the war against the Nazis.

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

 Elizabeth and Essex

Flynn’s performance, slated at the time, is now considered to be a piece of craftsmanship acting.  By turning off his worldliness and making Essex a victim of his own passions, Flynn gives us a man doomed for all the wrong reasons.

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

 Dawn Patrol

First world war air combat, a brave, honourable and chivalrous pilot in a war made ruthless by new technologies.

Get it in the US here

Kim

As Mahbub Ali, the rascally trader with an eye for girls, Flynn is great.  Mahbub Ali is of course an intrepid spy for the British in India.  Interestingly, Flynn underplays his part here and becomes the quiet heart of the movie.  

Get it in the US here

 Dodge City

Just huge fun.  Cowboys, clichés and adventure, Flynn plays this with one eyebrow permanently arched and some great lines.  

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

 Captain Blood

The evolution of Peter Blood, from disgraced doctor to buccaneer.  Flynn’s blood is honourable, whilst knowing full well the perils that honour may bring.  A man with a sword against his enemies, an adventurer’s dream.

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

Adventures of Don Juan

Flynn was older now and the pace of this movie is sometimes suspect, but his ability to play heroic men of conviction is undiminished.    

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

 The charge of the Light brigade

Flynn as the man of duty and honour, whose worldly nature and sharp mind tell him that charging the guns is suicide but whose commitment to honour allows him no other choice.  Simply beautifully played.

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

 The Sun also Rises

A magnificent performance here, as rich drunk American Mike Gilbert, and the sort of part that Flynn always wanted to play.  Hemingway’s novel called for a good man fallen into desparate alcoholism, and Flynn gives a pitch-perfect performance.  Hemingway and Flynn were both manly men and their meeting in this movie was absolutely right.

Get it in the UK here and in the US here

The question of where good menswear designers come from is an interesting one.  To some extent they just seem to “appear”.  I think there is a critical point where the combined attention of their peers and the press tip them over into the public eye.  I think that it is at this point we can start to judge whether we like their clothes or not. 

This article offers you the opportunity to look a little further back in the process.  Specifically at a young design duo who recently won a Royal College of Art design competition.  Robert Hoth and Simone Sommer are first year students at the RCA, studying for a Fashion Master of Arts.  The competition was jointly sponsored and judged by the RCA and UPS, the freight and documents carrier.  The challenge was to design clothes that emphasised free movement in combination with the distinctive elements of the UPS brand and culture.  Hoth and Sommer have certainly done that and have spun out a lot of ideas in the process. 

Robert Hoff & Simone Sommer

 You can see the results of their work for yourself here. 

 I liked two items in the collection.  I thought the chocolate-brown UPS leather blouson was inspired.  It provokes thoughts and images of fifties servicewear, an America where the post, freight and utility services were all smart and courteous.  It looks manly and solid, and would imbue UPS employees with those same qualities.  I also liked the UPS t-shirt. Specifically the way the secondary colours are used to contour and emphasis the shoulderline.  It’s modern yet smart enough to be a corporate shirt. 

 The runner-up is interesting too.  Men’s footwear designer Damion Le Cappelain has created a sports shoe that looks, well, sporty.  But it is also romantic, in a futuristic kind of way.  In my opinion he is on to something, even if it is not quite there yet. 

Damion Le Cappelain

You can see the shoes here 

Other shortlisted menswear can also be seen, here and here

Hoth and Summer (and the runners up) won cash prizes for their work, which were presented to them at the annual RCA gala.  We will write more about these designers another time, so if you have questions or comments on these guys, please put them in the comments and as usual I will do my best to answer them.

Oliver Sweeney shoes start their sale today!   

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Their Bond Street flagship store has very good reductions on all their shoes, including their New Classics range, which are classic English shoes with some rather clever Sweeney twists. 

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Oliver Sweeney - Bond Street

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