Welcome to Sherwood! The Story of 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (2003) (V)

Director:

Jeff Kurtti

Writer:

Jeff Kurtti (writer)

Release Date:

2003 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Film historians examines the making of the 1938 "The Adventures of Robin Hood." |

Cast

Gene Allen	...	Himself - Warner Bros. Art Director
Bob Anderson	...	Himself - Sword Master
Rudy Behlmer	...	Himself - Film Historian
Joseph Breen	...	Himself - Director, Motion Picture Producers & Distributors Association (archive footage)
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself - Film Historian
John Mauceri	...	Himself - Conductor, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Robert Osborne	...	Himself - Film Historian
Paula Sigman	...	Herself - Literary Historian
Bob Thomas	...	Himself - Film Historian

Runtime:

56 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Company:

Kurtti-Pellerin

Trivia:

This documentary can be found on the 2003 DVD of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

Movie Connections:

References The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Painting the forest green...a great behind the scenes look...

The newly restored DVD of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD contains this documentary giving the viewer a behind the scenes glimpse of what was going on in the Hollywood of 1938 as Warners prepared to make their most expensive film up until then.

Rudy Behlmer, Bob Thomas and Robert Osborne do a nice job of explaining the problems of script, casting, photography, change of directors, the previews and the enthusiastic way the film was greeted by critics and public. It was a resounding hit at the famous Radio City Music Hall in New York City when it opened in May of that year.

Also interesting are the comments by Hollywood Bowl conductor John Mauceri who tells how interesting it was that Warners had under their studio three of the most famous film composers of that era: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner and Franz Waxman, all at the same time. He goes on to praise the score and explains how doing ROBIN HOOD became a lifesaver for Korngold and his family at a time when the Nazis were taking over his homeland of Austria. He even recites the story behind their escape on the last train leaving Germany before the invasion of Austria. (Sounds like an echo of The Sound of Music's storyline).

Fascinating, well researched, full of anecdotes that should fascinate any fan of this glorious film.

As for my title comment, "Painting the forest green," we discover that because the film began shooting in October of '37, much of the forest had begun shifting to autumn colors, requiring the studio to paint some of the shrubbery a shimmering green to give it a summery look. And it worked...but any astute observer of the film can notice that in certain scenes there are definite sprinklings of autumn colors among the leaves.

Interesting to note the fond friendship Basil Rathbone seemed to have for Olivia de Havilland in all of the candid shots.