Racism and sexism were central to Errol Flynn’s life and career, but despite this the new biography is compulsive reading, says Dennis Altman.

Between 1934 and his final film in 1959, Flynn was one of the stars of the “golden age” of Hollywood, known for his swashbuckling roles in films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood.

There is already a considerable literature on Errol Flynn, including his own autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, but Patricia O’Brien’s Errol Flynn: The True Story of Australia’s Hollywood Icon has taken his life as a way of exploring the intertwined assumptions around race and sex that make Flynn a remarkable epitome of his time.

Flynn died in 1959, after appearing in 57 films, listed in an appendix. He was subsequently portrayed on film by Guy Pearce, Jude Law and Kevin Kline. His fame lives on in the expression “in like Flynn”, though the phrase was in use long before it became associated with him. There is even an Australian film of that name, about Flynn’s time in New Guinea, which has, deservedly, been largely forgotten.

Times have changed, and most of Flynn’s films now seem at best B-grade, replete with assumptions of white male privilege. In the interest of research, I subjected myself to several of his lesser-known films, Gentleman Jim and The Adventures of Don Juan. Sadly, I remained impervious to his charm.

Whether cast as a boxer in 19th-century San Francisco or a Casanova in 16th-century Spain, he seemed to be playing the same role: smooth, charming and the inevitable winner against impossible odds.

Bodies have changed over the past 80 years; once........

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