Errol Flynn’s Illicit Romance with a 15-Year-Old, as Remembered by The Last of Robin HoodBy Julie Miller
FOR:
Toronto International Film Festival
Courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Kevin Kline as Errol Flynn and Dakota Fanning as his teenage lover, Beverly Aadland.
Errol Flynn may have been one of the first film stars to learn “the public never forgets.” By the mid-40s, Flynn’s career as a matinee idol and swashbuckling film star had dimmed thanks to scandalous reports of alcoholism, womanizing, and the alleged sexual assault of two underage girls. (To think how he would have fared in today’s TMZ-monitored society!) Even his 1959 death was tinged with salaciousness, when he reportedly died in the arms of his teenage girlfriend, Beverly Aadland, a former chorus girl whom Flynn had allegedly begun dating when she was only 15.
In 1961, Aadland’s mother, Florence, wrote a book about the relationship between her daughter and Flynn called The Big Love. Decades later, filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, intrigued by the book, tracked down the publicity-shy Beverly Aadland in her Palmdale, California, home, managed to gain her confidence, and used her recollections of the May-December romance as the basis for their film, The Last of Robin Hood, which premiered last night at the Toronto Film Festival. Despite the fact that Beverly rarely gave interviews about her relationship with Flynn, the filmmakers say she gave the project her blessing before her death in 2010. The Last of Robin Hood, which is dedicated to Beverly, stars Kevin Kline as the charismatic aging Flynn, Dakota Fanning as Beverly, and Susan Sarandon as the aforementioned, tell-all-authoring stage mother whose own dreams of becoming a dancer were derailed by a car accident that left her paralyzed.
In the interest of Old Hollywood gossip, we’ve compiled some of the juiciest Last of Robin Hood plot points, which refer to Flynn’s illicit romance, below:
Flynn first notices Beverly rehearsing as a chorus girl at the studio where he is working and summons her to his office via a third party. Shortly after, he invites her to “audition” for a part—an audition that happens to take place at a producer’s home at night. It is during this audition that Flynn takes Beverly’s virginity. (According to the film, Flynn does not learn that Beverly is 15 years old until later.)
A stage mom through and through, Beverly’s mother does not seem remotely alarmed when Flynn invites her daughter to an “audition” late at night, despite the fact that Flynn has a reputation as, to use Beverly’s father’s terms, “a walking ****.”
Although Beverly is unimpressed by Flynn, she eventually succumbs to his charm. Flynn, convinced that Beverly looks like a wood nymph, gives her the pet name “Woodsy.”
Flynn is able to woo Beverly’s starstruck mother and even encourage her to tag along on their dates as a third wheel because, as he tells her, he does not want the press to allege something unsavory.
After Beverly’s mother discovers that her daughter is sleeping with Flynn, Flynn is able to calm her nerves by promising that he will facilitate an acting career for Beverly. He takes her to an audition for Lolita, where he tells director Stanley Kubrick that he and Beverly are “a package deal.” (Obviously, this negotiation tactic does not work out.)
In addition to drinking round-the-clock, Flynn begins using I.V. drugs to settle his back pain following a trip to Africa.
At Beverly’s 17th birthday party, Flynn announces to friends and family that he and Beverly will be married.
He produces a movie in Cuba so that Beverly can star called Cuban Rebel Girls. While filming, he falls ill and dictates a living will to Beverly so that she is taken care of in the event of his death.
About a year later, while leasing his yacht in Canada so that he can fund his final divorce and marry Beverly, Flynn complains of back pain. Beverly escorts him to a doctor’s home in Canada.
Alerted that Flynn is en route, the doctor and his wife invite guests over. Upon arriving, Flynn opts to amuse the crowd instead of be treated, regaling them with a story about the time his friends stole John Barrymore’s corpse from the mortuary and deposited it in Flynn’s living room as a prank.
Moments later, Flynn leaves the room saying, “I’ve never felt better,” to get some rest. When Beverly checks on him, she finds him dead.
The will Beverly transcribed for Flynn is deemed invalid because it does not have a signature. She does not inherit anything from the late actor.
Beverly’s mother is arrested for public drunkenness afterward and as a consequence, Beverly is put into a juvenile home. Her mother is found guilty of contributing to her daughter’s delinquency and put in jail for 60 days.
Beverly ultimately makes amends with her mother, who wrote The Big Love against Beverly’s wishes, on Florence’s death bed.
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2013/09/errol-flynn-toronto-film-festival
