The Errol Flynn Signature Collection

Errol Flynn, the handsome, swashbuckling star of Hollywood's Golden Age, is seen at his best in the five classic Warner Brothers movies collected in this deluxe boxed set. Captain Blood (1935), Flynn's first starring vehicle, is a lavish adaptation of Rafael Sabatini's bestselling novel about an Irish physician who's sold into slavery and later forced into piracy (an action-packed adventure that became the template for Flynn's other seafaring sagas). The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) casts Flynn opposite Warner's top dramatic star, Bette Davis, who's nearly unrecognizable in heavy makeup as the tempestuous British queen not-so-secretly smitten with a dashing nobleman. In Dodge City (1939), his first western, Flynn plays an Australian cattleman who reluctantly accepts the job of cleaning up the titular lawless cow town (trivia note: this film, which more than any other inspired Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, has the wildest barroom brawl ever committed to celluloid). The Sea Hawk (1940), another Sabatini adaptation, strays far from its literary source but delivers plenty of thrills, action, and romance in the Captain Blood tradition. And speaking of straying: the historical record takes quite a beating in They Died With Their Boots On (1941), a fanciful but extravagant biopic that has Flynn playing General George Armstrong Custer (fellow Warner Brothers star and future president Ronald Reagan has a substantial supporting role here). Finally, and only available in this set, the newly produced documentary The Adventures of Errol Flynn chronicles the amazing life and career of the Tasmanian-born superstar, combining film clips, candid footage and photographs, and interviews with historians and colleagues. All of the DVDs here boast fine clean transfers and each includes both a new "making-of" featurette and a “Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies” (newsreel, shorts, cartoon, etc.) section. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (E. Hulse)