Thanks Cecil...

[Fred Shapiro]

On Mon, 8 May 2000, Bruce Dykes wrote:

> Has 'in like Flynn' been done? Here's Cecil's give
> (http://www.straightdope.com/):
>
> Does "in like Flynn" refer to Errol Flynn's success with women?
> 06-Sep-1996
>
> Just one thing. We have no evidence that "in like Flynn" was used anywhere
> prior to November 1942.

Barry Popik has posted information, I believe from the Tamony files,
pushing the expression back to 1940.  As far as I can see, this demolishes
the Errol Flynn theory, or at least the theory specifically deriving "in
like Flynn" from the Errol Flynn statutory rape trial.


Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2