◆ SpookStack

ee rete RE ee ee ee aNd Rl a ll lt t V “08; 74° 36 ik § 22 4 23" ‘ 1S. | Ve. 78 | 29% IL < 3 .Y + | = BER With the publ :. the bigoted, the _ about. the much-discussed: revolution in + 4a wens . Mcgediy. obscene creat Brough ihe courts. If I were defentez a so-called “dirty” book, I'd feel a jury of my peers fully qualified to judgesits redcening «+. merits. Jutics do a. damned good soul- searching job that speaks for their com-- munity's collective morality. Let literary . “men, ‘ministers, professors, the tolerant, : broad-minded and the: “i narrow-minded all have at it in a jury! room. The sparks’ of conflice will shed: the light. by which justice may be illumi-. ‘nated. Only a° jury will'arrive at's judg. . ment ‘that is the wish, the temper of the. the ultimate criterion of judgment. PLAYBOY: “How. do you feel in gencral -- Sexual attitudes and practices that’s tak. ' - m, ing place in America “today? os . a BEL: : I'Sbelieve.-in 2 the - Constitution, !-" ‘thé Bill ‘of Rights,-and sex, and not nec- : “essarily in’ that-order:"But sex has been | here ‘since the Garden ‘of ‘Eden and_no-: ¢ overnight revolution in the sex relation. - “ship is going to accomplish anything 9.7 good. Greater candor, yes: greater per: : Missiveness, no. I can’t believe that pre- - marital and ‘extramarital relations per... se can lead to.a fuller life or more en- during happiness. I'm certainly not Vic-. torian, “except. in my office decor, and I've vertainly’ seen enough of life as an’ \ } able-bodied seaman, . knocking” around... 2 - “the world with Errol Flynn, and trying cases in every state; but'I do not-believe,- in this particular area of Nuinan rela -donship, that lack of will power will achieve any greater degree of happiness. T will say, howéver, that I don't think we're more mereticious sexually than lecherous * old - grandpa. We've just brought sex a littic more into the open. : ‘And that’s all to the good. ; PLAYBOY: You and Errol Flynn were: close ‘friends; weren't you? ok, BELL: Yes, we were.-We met when I“. was retaincd to represent ® sailor who had been accidentally harpooned in the. .foot by a guest on ‘Errél's’ yacht, ‘the’ Zaca. When I went down to Hollywood to question Errol and walked in wearing : a white suit and a black Homburg, his’ eyes lit up. He had’ always been im-! pressed with the histrionics of trial law, : and I've always felt that I might have. been an actor. After I'd taken his deposi- ; tion, we had a most enjoyable legal tus- : : le, and a friendship began. Fie was | ‘Great company. He lived life to the full-j : Le est; he was up at all hours; he drank | vodka before he got out of bed in the’ ‘morning: And he had the Devil in him. j than: his share of them. In a dresser drawer, I remember, Errol kept about 80° emerald-looking rings, which he'd give to girls, telling them with great {ecling, “This belonged to my mother.” . aes also pied, ce 1Okgs. OR ~ cet ed een i nh cee te ade te ee -comihunity—which I. think: should be ~ Lo. , - — me. We'd ~~ a Lo yod see, born July 29, 90 heey ate mr —— ed ~ y 7 - f . vl wg he a ae eater ell net anced n a e. te oa AR a e ne tot tCrnOon Gn Paris, . al his Clothes to he cool and if “own on his bed for a nap. | left him sleeping soundly and went j lownstairs to the hotel dar aid sold tick. {ets for five dollars apiece ic avour 20 “;Women—Frenchwomen und tourists— twhom I brought upstairs for a guided | tour of Errol in the altogether. Well, we a ; were all tiptocing through the bedroom § | when some silly Frenchweman begins _| Siggling and yelled ‘Fleen! Fléeni" tt /and woke him up.. Did he get sore! ' This was in 1949. I had been in Ror. ¢ .on a business wip, and was about tof j leave for Tokyo when Errol called fro.n | Paris’ He said, “Dear boy, you've got to j Come 10 Paris. They've got me over ! barrel.” I went, intending to slay two ; days, and stayed months. Errol Wus mak} ; ing ’a movie partially financed by? the ‘ French government and there were plen- ; ty of complications on which he needed imy help. We stayed about half the time ‘ton the Zaca, anchored off Nice. Errol-{ ‘would go down to the bilge, where he kept some gold ingots hidden, bring one ‘back, row to shore with it, turn it in for i currency—and we'd be off for a night at ; che. casino, i In Paris, at the Belle Aurora, a: exquisite litle French restaurant, after ¥¢ “we'd gotten up at noon, we'd sit from : about one to four and have ‘imaginar~ _ tials, drinking bottles of calvados ! That's applejick made in Normandy country; it would chase white lightning ‘out of business. We'd drink and vent legal cases, usually murders, which we , Wied on the spot. People would crowd Outside in the street until they bteckeal Vite Pd accuse Errel and CXwunine ain, : then-he would accuse me sand examine get almosr-to the point of ; { blows. = : : In Jater years, back in this country, my * family came to know Errol well, He ; Sometimes stayed with us. Buc he wasn’t _ Well. My little son, Caesar, called him “a : “sick man”—the perception of children. i My wile would plead with him to tke it | exsicr. He told her, “Loox, I've dane | everything twice, why shold I bo:her? - If I had an attack, there wouldn't be : | @ryone to give a damn.” Right at the)” 7" , end, he was planning to play me ina film. It was about this time that he sent a I wasn't home when he telephoned, on” ! his way to Vancouver to sell the Zaca: it | was like selling his life. He told my wife, ! “Tell the guy I love him; guse tell him that for me.” Then, later—it Was mid- night—I was in bed at our Los Angel , | me giileys of Aly Wicked, Wicked iVays. i ! ‘ home when Errol’s valet telephoned on... He loved pixy tricks, and played more’ -. ; suid. “Ule'’s gone.” r PLAYBOY: You tlk about him Hae” brouter. BELLI: J guess we were brothers, in a wrt —though I was an only child. Like {ose I'm wiid, enthusiastic: [ love people. é.