Issue Details: First known date: 2021... 2021 Wild Colonial Boy : Errol Flynn’s Rape Trial, Pacific Pasts and the Making of Hollywood
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This article examines the sensational 1942–43 trial of Hollywood’s leading man, Australian actor Errol Flynn. One purpose of this article is to track the trial’s course and social reverberations offering valuable insights into a critical historical precedent to the recent #MeToo movement. The article’s other purpose is to place the trial story, centred in America’s ‘film colony’ of Hollywood, in the context of Flynn’s backstory in Australia’s colonies of Papua and New Guinea, a period of Flynn’s life that ended only nine years before his trial. This article connects Flynn’s sexual experiences in New Guinea, especially his celebration of sex with very young New Guinea girls, with Hollywood’s sexual exploitation of teenage girls, a culture exposed by Flynn’s trial but ultimately condoned by a court in wartime America. The article interrogates Flynn’s role in circulating ideas about sex with underage girls and their implications in the past and present.' (Publication abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Historical Studies vol. 52 no. 4 2021 23515358 2021 periodical issue

    'It is with a mixture of relief and sadness that we sign off on our very last issue of Australian Historical Studies. We are particularly proud of this issue. In it we gather some new and innovative work, ranging from discussion of convict voyages to eastern Australia and analysis of the Chinese diaspora in Australia to a sobering exploration of rape culture in the 1942–43 trial of Errol Flynn. This issue also includes a state of the field essay on Captain Cook by Kate Fullagar and a fabulous line-up of museum, film and book reviews, including Heather Goodall on Grace Karskens’ latest blockbuster, Ann Curthoys on Henry Reynolds and Megan Davis and George Williams, and Ruth Balint on Sheila Fitzpatrick’s latest.' (Editorial introduction)

    2021
    pg. 591-610
Last amended 1 Dec 2021 08:32:12
591-610 Wild Colonial Boy : Errol Flynn’s Rape Trial, Pacific Pasts and the Making of Hollywoodsmall AustLit logo Australian Historical Studies
Subjects:
  • Hollywood, Los Angeles, California,
    c
    United States of America (USA),
    c
    Americas,
  • c
    Papua New Guinea,
    c
    Pacific Region,
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