Escape Me Never (1947)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

There are things I like about this film, and things I don't like.On the plus side, it's a very different kind of film, particularly for the likes of Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino, and Gig Young...perhaps not quite so different for Eleanor Parker. Those who were used to Errol Flynn the swashbuckler, must have been rather taken aback when they viewed this film at the local theater. And, it's a little bit different take than the typical story about the lover who is irresponsible and emotionally cruel to their mate(s).On the negative side, I really dislike the ending. Really dislike the ending. Really! I noted that another reviewer mentioned this was low budget. Well, that actually seemed to vary throughout the movie. In the opening scenes that were supposed to be Venice, it was pretty convincing. Then the scenes in the forest -- cheap, cheap, cheap (and that's not the sounds of birds). And some of the scenes filmed against a back projection were quite chintzy, as well.Flynn plays his role well here, though overall, it's a pretty unflattering role for him. And, the wrinkles in his forehead that were so evident by 1950, still aren't there in this film (it must have been a wicked 3 years in between). And, this is one of the few roles in which I actually liked Ida Lupino. More diverse a performance than I typically see her in. And, thank goodness to see Gig Young in a role where he's not a sappy "other man", such as in his later roles in Doris Day-type films. Eleanor Parker is so young here, I'm not so sure I would have recognized her were it not for her billing.This film is offbeat enough that I can see why it was a flop. And, I doubt it will grace many DVD shelves. And, the print that is shown on TCM is not very crisp, but I think that's less the photography than the maintenance of the 65+ year old film.Worth a watch...at least once. Now I'm in the mood for "Santa Fe Trail".

The film gets going awfully late and that's only when Ida Lupino is able to pour it on in her usual excitable way.Through an error the Eleanor Parker-Gig Young relationship is curtailed when Eleanor falls for brother Errol Flynn. Both men in the field of music are quite different from each other. Flynn, hoping to compose an opera, takes in Ida Lupino with a young baby. With the right brakes thanks to Parker, it appears that Flynn, who has now wed the Lupino character, will get his opera made. The falling apart of that project brings everyone to a downward spiral. Flynn leaves Lupino for Parker and tragedy comes to the Lupino infant.Of course, Flynn eventually realizes that Parker is not the woman for him as the film ends.It is only Lupino's performance that saves this somewhat. Flynn is terribly miscast and Eleanor Parker, again proves how selfish she could be in motion pictures. Young is rather benign in his part of Parker's suitor.

After 1945 in which Errol Flynn appeared in typical roles for him in Operation Burma and San Antonio, he obviously must have talked to Jack Warner about getting parts that would broaden his range. He did three films over the next two year designed to do that, Never Say Goodbye, Cry Wolf, and Escape Me Never. The last is probably closest to Flynn, but all three didn't either get great critical notice or did outstanding box office. After Escape Me Never, Flynn was back in traditional action roles like Silver River and The Adventures of Don Juan, the kind of parts his fans like to see him in.Escape Me Never is a four sided triangle story set in the years of the turn of the last century. Errol's a misunderstood genius of a composer who is living with a young widow, Ida Lupino and her baby. Ida's another Bohemian sort who broke into the villa in Venice of an English couple and their daughter. When she's confronted she mentions she's living with Errol. That sends a ripple through the house because daughter Eleanor Parker is engaged to Gig Young who is Errol's brother and they think Errol's a two timer. When she leaves Venice in a huff, Flynn, Lupino, and Young chase after her.The problem is that the daughter may have been wrong on the particulars, but in fact Errol is a two timing cad, though a charming one.Charm Flynn had in abundance, but I could never quite accept him as a musical genius. The best thing about the film is the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold who wrote a ballet for the film that is the highlight. Korngold scored a lot of Flynn's early swashbucklers, most notably The Adventures Of Robin Hood.This is the second version of this story, the British cinema did one in 1935 with Elisabeth Bergner and Hugh Sinclair. I'm guessing that was a better film.

This was one of the more difficult Errol Flynn movies to watch--mostly because Flynn plays a character that is probably more like him off-screen than any other he played (except, perhaps in one one of his last films when he played John Barrymore). Flynn is a ne'er-do-well brother who is shacked up with Ida Lupino. Lupino has practically no self-respect, as Flynn likes her but never in any way shows he loves her or her baby (by the way, WHOSE baby this is isn't discussed at all). Flynn ignores her, flirts with other women openly and is emotionally shallow. How a woman could love a creep like this is quite baffling--though I know there are many like this! Into their poor world comes Flynn's brother, played by Gig Young. Apparently his fiancée and her family thought that Lupino was living in sin with him (Young), when it was really with Flynn (the brother). She dumped him and ran off and Flynn and Lupino urge him to follow her. In fact, they all go off together singing and doing odd jobs to pay their way.Eventually, Flynn finds this fiancée first (played by Eleanor Parker). She seems to have gotten over Young very quickly and is soon smitten with Flynn--even AFTER she finds out he's been living with Lupino. Later, when Flynn and Lupino marry, Parker STILL secretly wants him. Apparently, Lupino is not the only idiot female in the movie! Well, to make a long story short, Parker and young break up and Flynn is about to run off with her when he finally shows he has some conscience and runs back to Lupino. By now, Lupino's baby had died due to neglect (Flynn didn't have a steady job and seemed unconcerned that the baby lived in a cold apartment and was sick). And naturally, Lupino takes him back, because, after all, she IS an idiot!! If you want a film that makes a lot of sense and where you can respect the characters, then find another film. It is an interesting character study but with either stupid females as well as a sex-crazed and shallow leading man (Flynn), it's still tough to watch. After all, if you can't like or respect the characters, it's tough to stick with a movie. It was well made and produced--but the plot just wasn't very satisfying and was quite forgettable.