An Object Lesson

promptly fulfilled his prophesy, marrying the first of three wives, film star Lili Damita. With her backing, he scored the lead in a major film. Jack Warner cast the ardent sailor and mutineer’s descendant in a part he was born to play: Captain Peter Blood, fictionalized portrayal of actual buccaneer Henry Morgan. Warner said, when he saw Flynn, “I didn’t know if the guy could act, but he was handsomer than hell and radiated charm, so I hired him on impulse.”

As if Flynn’s journey weren’t colorful enough, Hollywood publicists further embroidered his history, undoubtedly helped by

Flynn himself. A habitual diarist, Flynn blended fiction and nonfiction so they can never be entirely separated. He ultimately penned stage- and screenplays, novels and autobiographies.

After relishing his initial film success, Flynn came to resent Warner Bros.’s studio system, which typecast him in costume dramas, war pictures or Westerns. He dulled disappointments with vodka and a swashbuckling lifestyle that mirrored his screen image while trusting advisors to tend business matters. Thus, Lili scored a brutal divorce agreement that ultimately led to his bankruptcy while making her a millionaire. Between her vengeance and the lifelong egobashing from his mother, Flynn was never able to trust a mature woman, though they pursued him relentlessly. He hoped in vain to find privacy aboard Zaca. After a scientific research cruise with his father, a biologist, the elder Flynn reported, “Women swam naked out to the Zaca and begged to come aboard.”

Frequent costar Olivia de Havilland said, “Flynn was a sex symbol as much as Marilyn Monroe, taken advantage of by the studio.” After he and Vincent Sherman worked together on The Mask of Demetrios, the director concluded, “He wanted more than anything to be thought of as a good actor, but to cover his hurt, he pretended most of the time that acting and his career didn’t mean much to him. I became aware for the first time that I was dealing with a man who was far more sensitive and complex than I had ever imagined.”

After his adventurous beginnings, Flynn felt stifled: “The stereotyped