The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.

Directors:

Michael Curtiz, William Keighley

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (original screenplay: based upon ancient Robin Hood legends), Seton I. Miller (original screenplay: based upon ancient Robin Hood legends)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone

Won 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Errol Flynn	...	Robin Hood
Olivia de Havilland	...	Maid Marian
Basil Rathbone	...	Sir Guy of Gisbourne
Claude Rains	...	Prince John
Patric Knowles	...	Will Scarlett
Eugene Pallette	...	Friar Tuck
Alan Hale	...	Little John
Melville Cooper	...	High Sheriff of Nottingham
Ian Hunter	...	King Richard the Lion-Heart
Una O'Connor	...	Bess
Herbert Mundin	...	Much
Montagu Love	...	Bishop of the Black Canons
Leonard Willey	...	Sir Essex
Robert Noble	...	Sir Ralf
Kenneth Hunter	...	Sir Mortimer

Storyline

Sir Robin of Locksley, defender of downtrodden Saxons, runs afoul of Norman authority and is forced to turn outlaw. With his band of Merry Men, he robs from the rich, gives to the poor and still has time to woo the lovely Maid Marian, and foil the cruel Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and keep the nefarious Prince John off the throne.

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Plot Keywords:

swashbuckler | little john character | king john character | the sheriff of nottingham character | robin hood character | 

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Taglines:

The Best Loved Bandit Of All Time!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for adventure violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 May 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Robin Hood

Filming Locations:

Jungleland, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,900,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,981,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Errol Flynn enjoyed working with the sophisticated and easy-going William Keighley but despised the temperamental and demanding Michael Curtiz. Problems between the two were reportedly exacerbated by Flynn's casual approach to production schedules and scene preparation, as well as his reputed bad memory for dialogue.

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Goofs

A car can be seen in the background when Will Scarlet gets off his horse to go to the aid of Much (who has just fought with Dickon Malbete).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Town Crier announcing capture of Richard: News has come from Vienna: "Leopold of Austria has seized King Richard on his return from the Crusades. Our king is being held prisoner. Nothing further is known. His Highness Prince John will make further public pronouncement tomorrow."

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Crazy Credits

Opening card: "In the year of Our Lord 1191 when Richard, the Lion-Heart, set forth to drive the infidels from the Holy Land, he gave the Regency of his Kingdom to his trusted friend, Longchamps, instead of to his treacherous brother, Prince John.

Bitterly resentful, John hoped for some disaster to befall Richard so that he, with the help of the Norman barons, might seize the throne for himself. And then on a luckless day for the Saxons..."

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Connections

Featured in Great Performances: Music for the Movies: The Hollywood Sound (1995)

User Reviews

Color. Costumes. Fun. Film History.

The first big budget 100% color film, The Adventures of Robin Hood is a rousing, sweet-tempered and big, fun film.

To be candid, many things about the movie have suffered in the 70 years since its release. History, uh, no, there's none of that here. It's all very mythic and fairy tale. The continuity errors shouldn't even be called errors; they are pretty much continuous (so when I found out it won Best Editing at the Oscars I laughed). The score, made much of on the DVD case, and an Oscar winner at the 11th Oscars, is bombastic, repetitive and completely at odds with the scenery at least 80% of the time, IMNSHO.

That said, the dialog still crackles, the costumes are UNBELIEVABLE and gracefully shot, Olivia de Havilland is stunningly gorgeous, Basil Rathbone is young and evil, Claude Rains plays John as gayer than a go go dancer on Pride day, and Errol Flynn takes effortless het masculinity and a beautiful smile further than it should legally be allowed to go. All the bit parts are well cast, and while it's not possible to know for sure, the whole production looks like everyone in it had a scenery chewing bang up good time. The bit parts are SO well cast, that Roy Rogers bought Trigger, the horse that Olivia de Havilland rides, and Trigger then rode out into history.

And when Olivia exclaims "You speak treason!" and Errol replies, purringly, "Fluently!" you'll smile. Recommended; a great movie for the whole family.