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The Adventures of Robin Hood |
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1938
Color
1 hour and 42 minutes
Academy Awards
- Art Direction
- Carl Jules Weyl
- Film Editing
- Ralph Dawson
- Original Score
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Academy Award Nominations
- Best Picture
- Henry Blanke
Hal B. Wallis
There have been many Robin Hoods in many films and TV shows, but the quintessential outlaw has to be Errol Flynn. It is in this film that Hollywood's most notorious bad boy set the standard by which all other Hoods are judged. Dashing, athletic and romantic, Flynn helps the downtrodden Saxons, defeats the wicked Normans, and wins the heart of Maid Marian with a twinkle in his eye and his tongue planted firmly in his cheek.
Flynn is ably assisted by a terrific cast. Olivia de Havilland is a meltingly lovely Marian; Claude Raines a delightfully wicked Prince John; Eugene Pallet an irresistibly gruff Friar Tuck. And Hollywood's most suave villain, Basil Rathbone, delivers his usual superb performance as the evil Sir Guy, ending in a climactic swordfight with Robin that is simply not to be missed.
Of course, there is absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the real Middle Ages in this sterilized, technicolor, men-in-tights production -- but who cares? This movie is fun, and it captures the spirit of the legend better than any other film since.
For great resources on art and literature relating to the Robin Hood legend, visit the Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester.
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Graphic adapted by your Guide from "Robin Shoots with Sir Guy," by Louis Rhead, 1912.
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