The Adventures of Robin Hood

Although my personal favorite among Errol Flynn's films is The Sea Hawk, most will argue that his career role was this one in The Adventures of Robin Hood. It certainly has a deserved enduring popularity that's lasted for generations.

Just about every version of the Robin Hood legend from Douglas Fairbanks's silent classic to the one in 1997 with Kevin Costner, deals with the same story facts. A young nobleman, deprived of his lands and title by Prince John and his cohorts, takes to Sherwood Forest and gathers a band which practices their own form of financial leveling. Robbing from the rich and giving to the poor until the day comes when good King Richard the Lionhearted comes back from the Crusades and sets things right.

Were there ever a more attractive and idealistic a pair of young lovers on the screen than Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland? If there were, I'd be hard pressed to name them. They did eight films together from 1935 to 1941 and this one is probably the best. Errol all dash and charm and shy and retiring Olivia who just lights up the screen with beauty and romance.

Directors Michael Curtiz and William Keighley photographed this in some gorgeous technicolor. And they put together an almost perfect cast. You can't tell at all which scenes were directed by Curtiz and which by Keighley so seamless is the film's fabric.

The small roles are truly memorable. The best comic moments in the film come from Melville Cooper, the not quite so bold Sheriff of Nottingham and from Herbert Mundin and Una O'Connor as Much the Miller's Son from Robin Hood's band and DeHavilland's maid. Herbert Mundin was the first one in this cast to die, he was killed in an automobile accident just two years after this film was finished. He was a funny little man who played nervous types, a kind of English Don Knotts. But in what was probably his career role, he literally decides the fate of English history here in a superb act of bravery. We expect bravery and courage from the Errol Flynns on the screen, but Mundin's performance shows the virtue can be found in some of us you wouldn't expect. His is my favorite performance apart from the leads.

Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains make a superb pair of villains as Prince John and Guy of Gisborne. Rains covets the throne and Rathbone covets Olivia. They both provide the right touch of menace and make their performances real.

As I write this Olivia DeHavilland is the last surviving member of this classic film. During her career she fought hard with her studio to get roles where she would be more than the crinoline heroine waiting for her man to finish his brave deeds. She knew her worth and talent and got a pair of Oscars to prove it.

Back in the day DeHavilland dismissed films like The Adventures of Robin Hood. But several years back she attended a revival of both The Adventures of Robin Hood and Dodge City two very different type films she did with Errol Flynn.

As she watched it she saw the reverence and respect the audience had for both of these classics. When they were over she got a stunning ovation and she confessed that looking back now, she was real proud to have been associated with these films.

You have every reason to be proud Olivia. And we're real proud of you.

The other early romanticism take on the Robin Hood legend, aside from the silent Douglas Fairbanks version. This one puts famed Hollywood hell raiser pirate Errol Flynn in the title role of Robin Hood. As would be expected of that scoundrel/scallywag Flynn's famous devil-may-care-heroics, the Flynn Robin Hood outrightly refuses to support Prince John when he commits what Robin views as treachery - trying to get himself made king and abusing the land and the people in what may or may not be the aftermath of his older brother King Ricahrd the Lion-Hearted's death while battling in the crusades. After nearly getting killed by John and Gisbourne's men, Robin goes on the run, with Will Scarlet and along the way acquiring Much, Little John, a cantankerous Friar Tuck, and a whole army of merry men in tights. From there, he becomes the great outlaw we all know and love, fighting Gisbourne, the bumbling Sheriff and Prince John anyway which way he can and sweeps that adorable sweetie pie Maid Marion off her feet.

Sure the costumes may look fake today and the film itself overly colorful, but it's still a fun time. Sure Errol Flynn doesn't have a well articulated British accent either, but at least he doesn't sound like he's from the heart land of America. Flynn is certainly a lot quicker on his feet than Kevin Costner was, which comes in handy when you're in a duel to the death. Basil Rathbone is a fairly menacing Gisbourne, smarter than the Robert Addie or Michael Wincott versions (he looks kind of like Christopher Lee), and Olivia de Havilland is a very pretty Marion without being overly sexual and slutty about it (as was the case with many leading ladies back then). Out of the versions I've seen this is probably the only one where the Sheriff is an idiot and Gisbourne is the real menace (Gisbourne died early in the Kevin Costner verison of Robin Hood, and on TV's "Robin of Sherwood" he was just this weird neurotic guy, and I'm afraid I don't remember the Patrick Bergin version of Robin Hood very well).

There are least five big action sequences here, namely Robin's two escapes from Nottingham, an ambush in Sherwood Forest and the climax between Robin's & King Richard's men at Nottingham castle. Naturally, there is a duel to the death that features shadows on the wall going at it while the actors are off screen. Good stuff, especially for the children.

I have seen this film so many times over the years, having been introduced to it when I was about 10 by my grandfather, who was a true classic movie fan and grew up watching Errol Flynn on screen.

I have also seen the Kevin Costner version, which although entertaining in its own way mostly thanks to the amazing Alan Rickman, pales in comparison to this version. Heck, the Fox in the Disney version of "Robin Hood" and Cary Elwes as "Robin Hood Men in Tights" were better Robin Hoods than Costner! No, Flynn was meant to play this role.

The supporting cast is also incredible. Claude Rains as Prince John was priceless, and charming in his own malevolent way. Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale, Patric Knowles, and Eugene Palette were also memorable for me in the film.

And, of course, you can't write a review of this film without mentioning the chemistry of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Past or present, very few on-screen couples possess the natural chemistry those two had. They just looked at each other and you could tell there were unresolved feelings there (and there were, both admitted later on). They were just magic on screen together.

There is really something for everyone in this film, and I recommend seeing it.

Michael Curtiz received only a single Academy Award for directing the best of wartime espionage movies "Casablanca" but made great classics like "Captain Blood", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Sea Hawk" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood," orchestrating enthusiastically great stars and skilled technicians... He refined with charm and elegance plot and character with fluid camera movement and exquisite lightning, mixing action with peculiar sense of humor capturing with brilliant photography the natural look of Sherwood Forest, the cool tones of Nottingham Castle and the inn at Luton with its crackling fireplace...

The film had great marvelous scenes: When Robin decides to tackle with a staff Little John (Alan Hale); Robin's swordsplay with the gallant Friar Tuck (Eugene Palette); Robin and his Forest outlaws giving a warm welcome to Lady Marian and to the treasure's wagon lead by Sir Guy and the High Sheriff ; The Archery Tournament; Robin's Merry Men entering Nottingham Castle; and the magnificent final duel, with a masterful score, between Robin & Sir Guy...

Errol Flynn was the best swashbuckler of the sound era... He was ideally cast as the Saxon knight Sir Robin of Locksley who became a rebel outlaw robbing the rich to feed the poor... With his Merry Men he saved Saxon England against Norman ambitions... His most frequent enemies were the noisy High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melvin Cooper), the evil Bishop of Black Canon (Montagu Love), the eloquent chief conspirator Sir Guy of Gasbourne, and Prince John...

Flynn's splendid figure 'leaping, jumping, scaling and swinging' made him a great leader of men sheltering the old and the helpless... He was a romantic hero 'twinkling' with malice, gallantly courting the exquisite Olivia De Havilland...

Olivia De Havilland was a pretty and delicate woman in love with a brave and reckless outlaw...

Basil Rathbone, superb as the arrogant Sir Guy of Gisbourne, spreads terror by torturing, rivaling Robin for Lady Marian...

Claude Rains was the treacherous prince John who orders his Norman knights to oppress the helpless Saxons suffocating them with thefts, and burning their farms... He vows that Robin must be captured...

Winner of 3 Academy Awards (Art Direction, Original Score and Film Editing) "The Adventures of Robin Hood" is a delighted tale of high adventure, a tale of action and colorful pageantry, a great film for all the family...

What an amazing experience to see The Adventures Of Robin Hood 80 years after its original release. How can one explain the longevity of its relevance. Relevant in every department. Acting to start with. Errol Flynn was not considered a great actor, never an Oscar nomination or anything like that. Bette Davis was always frustrated for having to work opposite him rather that Laurence Olivier. But, look at him now, 80 years later - Erroll Flynn' s performance is as fresh today as the day he filmed it. Compare that with Oscar winner Russell Crowe's Robin Hood (2010) - Russell Crowe even had the impertinence of mocking Erroll Flynn's version. This bit of tribia kuind of depressed me after the high of seeing again this Michael Curtiz's masterpiece. Here, everything works. Other than Erroll Flynn - even if when's he is on the screen is difficult to pay attention to anyone else - we do. Mostly because Claude Rains, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and the rest of the sensational cast. This adventure film will continue to captivate audiences for years, decades, centuries to come.