''Cruise of the Zaca'' is a short documentary on 16mm about a trip taken by

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

in 1946 on his boat the '' Zaca'' to collect specimens with his father, Professor Theodore Thomson Flynn, an eminent marine biologist. The trip was done in association with the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

of the University of California and took place off the east coast of Mexico and in the West Indies.

Story

Errol Flynn leaves his house on

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...

by helicopter captained by

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Man ...

and goes to the Scripps Institution. He goes on board the ''Zaca'' and visits

San Benito Island The Islas San Benito lie in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the Mexican state of Baja California, 25 km west of Cedros Island. They are part of the Cedros Island ''delegación'', a subdivision of Ensenada (municipality), Baja Califo ...

off the west coast of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, home to a number of rare

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

plant and animal species, the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Production

The trip started in August 1946. On board were Flynn, his father, his wife Nora, and John Decker, Howard Hill, Professor Carl Hubbs, Charles Gross and Jerry Corneya. After a month of sailing, many of the group left, including Flynn's wife and father, but Flynn pushed on through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean to Cap Haitien. Before going through the Canal Flynn stayed in Acapulco, where the ''Zaca'' had been hired to appear in location shooting during 1946 for ''

The Lady from Shanghai ''The Lady from Shanghai'' is a 1947 American film noir directed by Orson Welles (uncredited) and starring Welles, his estranged wife Rita Hayworth, and Everett Sloane. It is based on the novel ''If I Die Before I Wake'' by Sherwood King. Altho ...

'' (1948).

Release

Due to Flynn's 1948 divorce from Nora, release of the film was held up until December 1952. Although shot on 16mm the film was blown up to 35mm. In October 1951 it was announced Flynn had produced two films based on his travels, ''Voyage of the Zaca'' and ''Whaling in the Pacific''.

Critical reception

The critic from the ''Los Angeles Times'' said "it is rather a family affair with Flynn narrating effectively enough." ''Filmink'' called it "not a bad little movie – mostly a travelogue to be sure, but a travelogue starring Errol Flynn, and it’s a fascinating insight to the sailing aspect of his life."

''Deep Sea Fishing''

''Deep Sea Fishing'' was another film based on a fishing trip Flynn took with Howard Hill. It was shot in 16mm during the ''Cruise of the Zaca'' journey and involves Flynn and Hill boarding a small launch to fish for marlin and sail fish. Because of Flynn's contract with Warner Bros, which prevented his appearances of this kind, his name is never mentioned by the narrator.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0044534
''Cruise of the Zaca''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

1952 films 1952 documentary films American short documentary films 1950s short documentary films Warner Bros. short films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films