One of the biggest stars of the 1930s, Errol Flynn was the original bad boy of Hollywood.
He starred in such swashbuckling roles as “Captain Blood,” “Don Juan” and “Robin Hood.”
His friends were among the most famous actors and directors of the era, such as David Niven, Johnny Weissmuller and Humphrey Bogart. All of which enjoyed the freedom of sailing to Catalina Island on a whim to drink and party.
One of the biggest stars of the 1930s, Errol Flynn was the original bad boy of Hollywood.
He starred in such swashbuckling roles as “Captain Blood,” “Don Juan” and “Robin Hood.”
His friends were among the most famous actors and directors of the era, such as David Niven, Johnny Weissmuller and Humphrey Bogart. All of which enjoyed the freedom of sailing to Catalina Island on a whim to drink and party.
The current exhibition at the Catalina Island Museum, Escape to Catalina: Hollywood’s Biggest Stars on Catalina Island, delves into the personal memoirs of various stars that spent their free time on the Island.
Flynn and his buddies indulged in so many antics that they earned the reputation of being the most notorious, hard-drinking “hell-raisers” on the island. Nearly every weekend the men would race their yachts to Catalina Island—Flynn on his Sirocco, Weissmuller on his Allure, and Bogart aboard his Santana. All three would bet on the outcome.
One particular race between them has reached legendary status. Weissmuller won and promptly boarded Flynn’s yacht to collect his winnings. According to an account related by Johnny Weissmuller Jr., Flynn was “drunk and belligerent,” and responded to his loss by aiming a small cannon mounted on the bow of his yacht at Weissmuller’s boat. As he lit the fuse, he removed a cigar from his mouth and announced: “I’ll sink you, you sumbitch!” Weissmuller rushed to the cannon and kicked the barrel upward, launching the cannonball straight up into the sky. The men watched helplessly as the projectile plunged vertically and tore through the yacht’s upper deck, missing the two by only a few feet. After a few seconds, Flynn “burst into uproarious laughter.”
Thankfully the cannonball was not the explosive kind. The boat was rafted up and never really was in danger of sinking, but it certainly could have been disastrous.
A visit to the Catalina Island Museum’s Escape to Catalina exhibition will reveal more about Hollywood’s original bad boy and his hard-partying antics while visiting the island. Photographs and colorful stories of other major stars of the 1930s and 40s, along with a home video aboard Charlie Chaplin’s yacht are included in the exhibition.
The Catalina Island Museum is Avalon’s sole institution devoted to art, history, music and film. The museum, its digital theater and store are currently located on the ground floor of Avalon’s historic Casino and are open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, the museum may be reached by phone at 310-510-2414 or at its website CatalinaMuseum.org.
