Flynn for Friday

There is a meme called the "Meme of 100" which Dr. Virago actually completed: KUDOS! I will probably attempt to do it over the course of a year or so. If I run out of things to tell you and have to start inventing outrageous lies, I'll be sure to put (lie!) next to it.

Little known fact #1:

When I was 11, I saw Erroll Flynn in Captain Blood (1935), and instantly fell in love—this madly flaming passion was further fanned by seeing Robin Hood, after which a piece of my heart was destined forever to belong to Flynn. I've seen nearly everything he was in. The following clip shows the sword fight between Sir Guy of Gisborne (played by the delectably evil Basil Rathbone) and Sir Robin of Locksley. *fluttery sigh*

Flynn and Rathbone were both fencers in real life as well and were known to choreograph parts of their fights themselves. To this day, a move where one blade is deflected by the other blade quickly circling around it and flipping it, is being taught to students in stage combat as "a Flynn." In the clip below, there's a super-quick one at around 1:23 minutes into it.  A few years ago I had an extended fight sequence in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (the scene between Viola and Sir Andrew Aguecheek), and you can imagine my feelings of fulfillment when I got to do "a Flynn." The 11 year-old inside me was tickled pink.