Robin Hood (1922)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Allan Dwan

Writer:

Douglas Fairbanks (story)

Release Date:

18 October 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Family

Plot:

Amid big-budget medieval pageantry, King Richard goes on the Crusades leaving his brother Prince John as regent...

Plot Keywords:

Tyrant | England | Robin Hood | Crusades | Pigeon

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Wallace Beery	...	King Richard the Lion-Hearted
Sam De Grasse	...	Prince John
Enid Bennett	...	Lady Marian Fitzwalter
Paul Dickey	...	Sir Guy of Gisbourne
William Lowery	...	The High Sheriff of Nottingham
Roy Coulson	...	The King's Jester
Billie Bennett	...	Lady Marian's serving woman
Merrill McCormick	...	Prince John's henchman
Wilson Benge	...	Prince John's henchman
Willard Louis	...	Friar Tuck
Alan Hale	...	The Squire / Little John
Bud Geary	...	Will Scarlett (as Maine Geary)
Lloyd Talman	...	Allan-a-Dale
Douglas Fairbanks	...	Earl of Huntingdon / Robin Hood

Also Known As:

Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

127 min | UK:117 min (video) | 133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

UK:PG | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Douglas Fairbanks Pictures

Trivia:

The castle is reputed to be the largest Hollywood set built for any silent movie. Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son, designed at least one set which he later remodeled as a temporary band shell for the Hollywood Bowl.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Big Moments from Little Pictures (1924)

Good Entertainment & An Ideal Role For Fairbanks

The Douglas Fairbanks version of "Robin Hood" is still good entertainment despite showing its age at times. The role gives Fairbanks a perfect chance to display his energy and charisma, and he is helped by lavish sets and scenery that recreate the world of medieval England. Wallace Beery as King Richard also is a nice complement to Fairbanks. Later versions, such as the Errol Flynn version which is still the best of all the Robin Hood movies, had many resources available to them that this one didn't, but this older version works well and is more enjoyable than most of the more recent movies based on the legend.

The story and characters are familiar from many other books and movies. But it includes some interesting scenes that cover or add parts of the legend that are not in a lot of other versions - for example, about the first half of this movie takes place before any of the events in the Flynn movie. It makes it interesting to watch even if you've already seen plenty of other "Robin Hoods", and amongst other things it gives Beery as Richard a lot more screen time. It is acted in the somewhat exaggerated style of many of the silent melodramas of the era, but in this case that tone, while perhaps providing an occasional unintentional chuckle, fits rather well with the subject matter. It's also worth paying attention to the grand sets that were constructed for the film. They were apparently rather renowned in their day, and they still do a good job of evoking the right background. Overall, it was a very good film for its time and one worth watching today.