Because there is (for the most part) a sense of fun and adventure in the best of Errol Flynn's movies movie lovers tend not to see that he could perform well in dramatic fashion. I can site two examples: 1) In DAWN PATROL he starts cracking up under the stress and strain of his command position; 2) In THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, Flynn senses that he is going to probably die on his last military mission (as does his wife Olivia de Havilland). But they kid and joke together about how they'll retire and grow fat together once the campaign is over.
So he could act very well indeed. But the hijinks that were part of his films usually covered his abilities to act. Then there was Jack Warner. He rarely agreed to let Flynn do "straight" dramatic or comic roles. In Flynn's early career he did do films like GREEN LIGHT, FOUR'S A CROWD, and THE SISTERS with mediocre results (the comedy FOUR'S A CROWD is the best of this bunch), but Warner knew how the public liked certain actors as dramatic players and certain ones in particular grooves. He rarely gave Flynn a non-adventure part after 1940. The murder mystery FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK, the all star romp THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, and the interesting French war drama UNCERTAIN GLORY were exceptions
I suspect this treatment began to bug Flynn after the rape case in 1944, when Warner's was determined (for damage control) to try to retain Flynn's hero image at all costs, and to make his sexuality a type of joke. Then, his contract with Warners ended and he went to M.G.M. He was able to do THAT FORSYTE WOMAN with Greer Garson, Walter Pigeon, and Robert Young. Here, he hoped, he would demonstrate his abilities as a straight actor as never before.
THAT FORSYTE WOMAN is based on THE FORSYTE SAGA's first novel, THE MAN OF PROPERTY (with a bit of the second novel IN CHANCERY thrown in). Written by John Galsworthy in the teens and twenties, the nine novels and numerous short stories and "interludes" about members of his rich, upper middle class family remain a favorite series of tales about the period of England from 1880 to 1929 (Galsworthy died in 1933). They won him the Nobel Prize in Literature. Unfortunately, the stories' appeal has led to them being used for television twice, the last time only four years ago. The best version is either that recent one, or the 1960s version starring Kenneth More, Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Martin Jarvis, Susan Hampshire, Nicholas Pennell, and (introducing) Michael York. I say unfortunately because the television versions (being multiple episodes) allowed the screenwriters more opportunity to dramatize more of the stories. Whole plot lines, jettisoned or condensed in a single film (even of a single novel) were expanded more comprehensibly. Also, as the 1960s version was going through the first six novels in 26 hour episodes, characters were given a chance to develop. In particular Soames Forsyte, the character played by Flynn in the movie.
In the 1960s version Soames was played by Eric Porter. Now it is an odd balance here. Porter had no great film career - he did not become the film icon that Flynn did. But on television he certainly was quite effective in several programs (he was a memorable Nevil Chamberlain in WINSTON CHURCHILL: THE WILDERNESS YEARS). His version of Soames was a wonderful full blooded characterization. Instead of just being a stuffed - shirt solicitor and art collector, Porter showed the demons that drive Soames to the mad act that blights his home life (Soames sexually attacks an unwilling Irene - his wife - when she refused to fulfill her wifely duties). Later his stuffiness actually stands out in rather good contrast to the anti-Victorian backlash that follows the First World War. He becomes a grand old curmudgeon.
Flynn could not do this. Indeed the entire rape issue in the novel was totally played down in the film (MGM brass could not bring up the idea of rape with Flynn, even though he had won the 1944 case brought against him on that charge). Instead they emphasized the other unattractive side of Soames. Committed to property, in his art collecting, his accumulation of wealth, and his home (and his future house being built by Philip Bossiney (Robert Young)), the movie Soames considers Irene (Greer Garson) his possession. In the novel this theme is brought out by Galsworthy (typical of the mindset of Victorian England - even in it's laws). Irene tries to escape with Bossiney (who is engaged to Soames cousin June (Janet Leigh)), but the latter dies under violent circumstances. However, Irene does leave Soames, and ends up marrying Soames other cousin Jolyon (Pidgeon).
With the total affect of the novel cut due to the mores of 1949 and the history of it's male leading man, the story was weakened. To his credit Flynn did give a good performance. He is a totally unlikeable Victorian pompous ass who happens to have no sense of humor (which is Soames' character, before his marriage problems) who likes to collect things. Problem is, even with his money it is hard to understand why anyone would be willing to marry such a man. Irene (in the novel) is the daughter of a professor who has died, and is living with her step-mother (whom she can't stand). If this was developed (as it was in the 1960s series) the problem of her marrying Soames would be understood. Here it wasn't.
As the story was done so superbly by Porter and his co-stars in the 1960s, Flynn's good performance in such a mediocre version is distinctly minor. However, out of respect for Errol's attempt to show what he could do (and his personal results) I'll give the film a "7" as a better than average try.
So he could act very well indeed. But the hijinks that were part of his films usually covered his abilities to act. Then there was Jack Warner. He rarely agreed to let Flynn do "straight" dramatic or comic roles. In Flynn's early career he did do films like GREEN LIGHT, FOUR'S A CROWD, and THE SISTERS with mediocre results (the comedy FOUR'S A CROWD is the best of this bunch), but Warner knew how the public liked certain actors as dramatic players and certain ones in particular grooves. He rarely gave Flynn a non-adventure part after 1940. The murder mystery FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK, the all star romp THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, and the interesting French war drama UNCERTAIN GLORY were exceptions
I suspect this treatment began to bug Flynn after the rape case in 1944, when Warner's was determined (for damage control) to try to retain Flynn's hero image at all costs, and to make his sexuality a type of joke. Then, his contract with Warners ended and he went to M.G.M. He was able to do THAT FORSYTE WOMAN with Greer Garson, Walter Pigeon, and Robert Young. Here, he hoped, he would demonstrate his abilities as a straight actor as never before.
THAT FORSYTE WOMAN is based on THE FORSYTE SAGA's first novel, THE MAN OF PROPERTY (with a bit of the second novel IN CHANCERY thrown in). Written by John Galsworthy in the teens and twenties, the nine novels and numerous short stories and "interludes" about members of his rich, upper middle class family remain a favorite series of tales about the period of England from 1880 to 1929 (Galsworthy died in 1933). They won him the Nobel Prize in Literature. Unfortunately, the stories' appeal has led to them being used for television twice, the last time only four years ago. The best version is either that recent one, or the 1960s version starring Kenneth More, Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Martin Jarvis, Susan Hampshire, Nicholas Pennell, and (introducing) Michael York. I say unfortunately because the television versions (being multiple episodes) allowed the screenwriters more opportunity to dramatize more of the stories. Whole plot lines, jettisoned or condensed in a single film (even of a single novel) were expanded more comprehensibly. Also, as the 1960s version was going through the first six novels in 26 hour episodes, characters were given a chance to develop. In particular Soames Forsyte, the character played by Flynn in the movie.
In the 1960s version Soames was played by Eric Porter. Now it is an odd balance here. Porter had no great film career - he did not become the film icon that Flynn did. But on television he certainly was quite effective in several programs (he was a memorable Nevil Chamberlain in WINSTON CHURCHILL: THE WILDERNESS YEARS). His version of Soames was a wonderful full blooded characterization. Instead of just being a stuffed - shirt solicitor and art collector, Porter showed the demons that drive Soames to the mad act that blights his home life (Soames sexually attacks an unwilling Irene - his wife - when she refused to fulfill her wifely duties). Later his stuffiness actually stands out in rather good contrast to the anti-Victorian backlash that follows the First World War. He becomes a grand old curmudgeon.
Flynn could not do this. Indeed the entire rape issue in the novel was totally played down in the film (MGM brass could not bring up the idea of rape with Flynn, even though he had won the 1944 case brought against him on that charge). Instead they emphasized the other unattractive side of Soames. Committed to property, in his art collecting, his accumulation of wealth, and his home (and his future house being built by Philip Bossiney (Robert Young)), the movie Soames considers Irene (Greer Garson) his possession. In the novel this theme is brought out by Galsworthy (typical of the mindset of Victorian England - even in it's laws). Irene tries to escape with Bossiney (who is engaged to Soames cousin June (Janet Leigh)), but the latter dies under violent circumstances. However, Irene does leave Soames, and ends up marrying Soames other cousin Jolyon (Pidgeon).
With the total affect of the novel cut due to the mores of 1949 and the history of it's male leading man, the story was weakened. To his credit Flynn did give a good performance. He is a totally unlikeable Victorian pompous ass who happens to have no sense of humor (which is Soames' character, before his marriage problems) who likes to collect things. Problem is, even with his money it is hard to understand why anyone would be willing to marry such a man. Irene (in the novel) is the daughter of a professor who has died, and is living with her step-mother (whom she can't stand). If this was developed (as it was in the 1960s series) the problem of her marrying Soames would be understood. Here it wasn't.
As the story was done so superbly by Porter and his co-stars in the 1960s, Flynn's good performance in such a mediocre version is distinctly minor. However, out of respect for Errol's attempt to show what he could do (and his personal results) I'll give the film a "7" as a better than average try.