The Art of Seduction (81 page)

tall for these games: no

jockey she); \ If you 're

Lowering Inhibitions

built like a fashion model,

with a willowy figure, \

Then kneel on the bed,

One day in 1931, in a village in New Guinea, a young girl named Tu-
your neck \ A little arched;
perselai heard some happy news: her father, Allaman, who had left

the girl who has perfect legs

some months before to work on a tobacco plantation, had returned for a
and bosom \ Should lie

sideways on, and make her

visit. Tuperselai ran to greet him. Accompanying her father was a white
lover stand. \ Don't blush
man, an unusual sight in these parts. He was a twenty-two-year-old Aus-
to unbind your hair like
tralian from Tasmania, and he was the owner of the plantation. His name
some ecstatic maenad \

And tumble long tresses

was Errol Flynn.

about \ Your uncurved

Flynn smiled warmly at Tuperselai, seeming particularly interested in
throat.

her bare breasts. (As was the custom in New Guinea then, she wore only a —OVID,
THE ART OF LOVE,
grass skirt.) He said in pidgin English how beautiful she was, and kept re-TRANSLATED BY PETER GREEN

peating her name, which he pronounced remarkably well. He did not say
398
•
The Art of Seduction

"How do you attract a
much else, mind you—he did not speak her language—so she said goodbye
man," the Paris
and walked away with her father. But later that day she discovered, to her
correspondent of the
dismay, that Mr. Flynn had taken a liking to her and had purchased her
Stockholm
A f t o n b l a d e t

asked La Belle on July 3,
from her father for two pigs, some English coins, and some seashell money.
1910.
•
"Make yourself
The family was poor and the father liked the price. Tuperselai had a
as feminine as possible;
boyfriend in the village whom she did not want to leave, but she did not
dress so that the most

interesting portions of your
dare disobey her father, and she left with Mr. Flynn for the tobacco planta
anatomy are emphasized;
tion. On the other hand, she had no intention of being friendly with this
and subtly allow the
man, from whom she expected the worst kind of treatment.
gentleman to know you are

In the first few days, Tuperselai missed her village terribly, and felt ner
willing to yield at the
proper time. . . ."
•
"The
vous and out of sorts. But Mr. Flynn was polite, and talked in a soothing
way to hold a man" Otero
voice. She began to relax, and since he kept his distance, she decided it was
revealed a little later to a

safe to approach him. His white skin was tasty to the mosquitoes, so she be
staff writer from the
Johannesburg
M o r n i n g gan to wash him every night with scented bush herbs to keep them away. J o u r n a l ,
"is to keep acting
Soon she had a thought: Mr. Flynn was lonely, and wanted a companion.
as though every time you
That was why he had bought her. At night he usually read; instead, she be
meet him you are overcome
with fresh enthusiasm and,
gan to entertain him by singing and dancing. Sometimes he tried to com
with barely restrained
municate in words and gestures, struggling in pidgin. She had no idea what
eagerness, you await his
he was trying to say, but he made her laugh. And one day she did under
impetuosity."
stand something: the word "swim." He was inviting her to go swimming

— A R T H U R H . LEWIS,

with him in the Laloki River. She was happy to go along, but the river was
LA BELLE OTERO

full of crocodiles, so she brought along her spear just in case.

At the sight of the river, Mr. Flynn seemed to come alive—he tore off his clothes and dove in. She followed and swam after him. He put his arms

"I missed the mental
around her and kissed her. They drifted downstream, and she clung to him.
stimulation when I was

younger," he answered.
She had forgotten about the crocodiles; she had also forgotten about her fa
"But from the time I began
ther, her boyfriend, her village, and everything else there was to forget.
to have women, shall we
Around a bend of the river, he picked her up and carried her to a secluded
say, on the assembly-line
grove near the river's edge. It all happened rather suddenly, which was fine
basis, I discovered that the

only thing you need, want,
with Tuperselai. From then on this was a daily ritual—the river, the
or should have is the
grove—until the time came when the tobacco plantation was no longer
absolutely physical. Simply
doing so well, and Mr. Flynn left New Guinea.
the physical. No mind at

all. A woman's mind will

One day some ten years later, a young girl named Blanca Rosa Welter
get in the way."
•
"Really?"
went to a party at the Ritz Hotel in Mexico City. As she wandered through

•
"For me . . . I am
the bar, looking for her friends, a tall older man blocked her path and said
speaking of myself. I don't

speak for male humankind.
in a charming accent, "You must be Blanca Rosa." He did not have to in
I am speaking for what I've
troduce himself—he was the famous Hollywood actor Errol Flynn. His
discovered or what I need:
face was plastered on posters everywhere, and he was friends of the party's
the body, the face, the

physical motion, the voice,
hosts, the Davises, and had heard them praise the beauty of Blanca Rosa,
the femaleness, the female
who was turning eighteen the following day. He led her to a table in the
presence . . . totally that,
corner. His manner was graceful and confident, and listening to him talk,
nothing else. That's the
she forgot about her friends. He spoke of her beauty, repeated her name,
best. There's no

possessiveness in that."

said he could make her a star. Before she knew what was happening, he had

•
I watched him closely. •
invited her to join him in Acapulco, where he was vacationing. The

"I'm serious," he said.
Davises, their mutual friends, could come along as chaperones. That would

"That's my view and

feeling. Just the elementary
be wonderful, she said, but her mother would never agree. Don't worry
Use Physical Lures
•
399

about that, Flynn replied; and the following day he showed up at their
physical female. Nothing
house with a beautiful gift for Blanca, a ring with her birthstone. Melting
more than that. When you
get hold of that
—h
ang on

under his charming smile, Blanca's mother agreed to his plan. Later that
to it, for a short while."

day, Blanca found herself on a plane to Acapulco. It was all like a dream.

— E A R L CONRAD,

The Davises, under orders from Blanca's mother, tried not to let her
ERROL FLYNN: A MEMOIR

out of their sight, so Flynn put her on a raft and they drifted out into the ocean, far from the shore. His flattering words filled her ears, and she let him hold her hand and kiss her cheek. That night they danced together,
A sweet disorder in the
and when the evening was over he escorted her to her room and serenaded
dress \ Kindles in clothes a

her with a song as they finally parted. It was the end of a perfect day. In the
wantonness: \ A lawn

about the shoulders thrown

middle of the night, she woke up to hear him calling her name, from her

\ Into a fine distraction: \

hotel-room balcony. How had he gotten there? His room was a floor
An erring lace, which here
above; he must have somehow jumped or swung down, a dangerous ma-
and there \ Enthralls the
neuver. She approached, not at all afraid, but curious. He pulled her gently
crimson stomacher: \ A cuff
neglectful, and thereby \

into his arms and kissed her. Her body convulsed; overwhelmed with new
Ribbands to flow

sensations, totally at sea, she began to cry—out of happiness, she said.
confusedly: \ A winning

Flynn comforted her with a kiss and returned to his room above, in the
wave (deserving note) \ In
the tempestuous petticoat: \

same inexplicable way he had arrived. Now Blanca was hopelessly in love
A careless shoestring, in
with him and would do anything he asked of her. A few weeks later, in
whose tie \ I see a wild

fact, she followed him to Hollywood, where she went on to become a suc-
civility: \ Do more bewitch
me, than when art \ Is too

cessful actress, known as Linda Christian.

precise in every part.

In 1942, an eighteen-year-old girl named Nora Eddington had a tem-—ROBERT HERRICK,"DELIGHT

porary job selling cigarettes at the Los Angeles County courthouse. The IN DISORDER," QUOTED IN

place was a madhouse at the time, teeming with tabloid journalists: two PETER WASHINGTON, ED.,

EROTIC POEMS

young girls had charged Errol Flynn with rape. Nora of course noticed Flynn, a tall, dashing man who occasionally bought cigarettes from her, but her thoughts were with her boyfriend, a young Marine. A few weeks later Flynn was acquitted, the trial ended, and the place settled down. A man she
Satni, the son of Pharaoh

Usimares, saw a very

had met during the trial called her up one day: he was Flynn's right-hand
beautiful woman on the

man, and on Flynn's behalf, he wanted to invite her up to the actor's house
plain-stones of the temple.
on Mulholland Drive. Nora had no interest in Flynn, and in fact she was a
He called his page, and

said, "Go and tell her that

little afraid of him, but a girlfriend who was dying to meet him talked her
I, Pharaoh's son, shall give
into going and bringing her along. What did she have to lose? Nora agreed
her ten pieces of gold to
to go. On the day, Flynn's friend showed up and drove them to a splendid
spend an hour with me."

"I am a Pure One, I am

house on top of a hill. When they arrived, Flynn was standing shirtless by
not a low person," answers

his swimming pool. He came to greet her and her girlfriend, moving so
the Lady Thubuit. "If you

gracefully—like a lithe cat—and his manner so relaxed, she felt her jitters
wish to have your pleasure

melt away. He gave them a tour of the house, which was full of artifacts of
with me, you will come to
my house at Bubastis.

his various sea voyages. He talked so delightfully of his love of adventure
Everything will be ready
that she wished she had had adventures of her own. He was the perfect
there." Satni went to

gentleman, and even let her talk about her boyfriend without the slightest
Bubastis by boat. "By my

life," said Thubuit, "come

sign of jealousy.

upstairs with me." On the

Nora had a visit from her boyfriend the next day. Somehow he didn't
upper floor, sanded with

seem so interesting anymore; they had a fight and broke up on the spot.
dust of lapis lazuli and

turquoise, Satni saw

That night, Flynn took her out on the town, to the famous Mocambo
several beds covered with
nightclub. He was drinking and joking, and she fell into the spirit, and hap
royal linen and many gold
400
•
The Art of Seduction

bowls on a table. "Please
pily let him touch her hand. Then suddenly she panicked. "I'm a Catholic
take your meal," said

and a virgin," she blurted out, "and some day I'm going to walk down the
Thubuit. "That is not

church aisle wearing a veil—and if you think you're going to sleep with
what I have come to do,"

answered Satni, while the
me, you're mistaken." Totally calm and unruffled, Flynn said she had noth
slaves put aromatic wood
ing to fear. He simply liked being with her. She relaxed, and politely asked
on the fire and scattered

him to put his hand back. Over the next few weeks she saw him almost
scent about. "Do that for

which we have come here,"

every day. She became his secretary. Soon she was spending weekend nights
Satni repeated. "First you
as his house guest. He took her on skiing and boating trips. He remained
will make out a deed for
the perfect gentleman, but when he looked at her or touched her hand, she
my maintenance," Thubuit
felt overwhelmed by an exhilarating sensation, a tingling on her skin that
replied, "and you will

establish a dowry for me of
she compared to stepping into a cold-needle shower on a red-hot day. Soon
all the things and goods
she was going to church less often, drifting away from the life she had
which belong to you, in
known. Although outwardly nothing had changed between them, inwardly
writing." Satni acquiesced,

saying, "Bring me the
all semblance of resistance to him had melted away. One night, after a party,
scribe of the school."
• she succumbed. She and Flynn eventually engaged in a stormy marriage
When he had done what
that lasted seven years.

she asked, Thubuit rose

and dressed herself in a