 What
do Robin Hood and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) have
in common? Why, Errol Flynn of course. In the early 1950s, the swashbuckling
star of such action epics as Captain Blood and Charge of the Light
Brigade, joined up with the distinguished Scripps ichthyologist
Carl Hubbs (right in center photo below) to film The Cruise of the
Zaca. The Zaca, Flynn’s own 118-foot schooner, was notorious
as a venue for his off-screen hellraising and romancing. But in
the 20-minute documentary it becomes a scientific base for the study
of marine animals and for Hubbs advocacy of the gray whale (the
Hubbs beaked whale was named for him).
First released
in 1952, you can now see it on the newly released DVD The Adventures
of Robin Hood, starring Flynn. It’s well worth a look-see for
all SIO fans. As well as lessons on marine biology there’s
a hilarious segment in which Flynn leans too far out of a helicopter
and accidentally takes a dip in the Pacific. Tally ho!  |
