The Adventures of Robin Hood. 1938. Directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley.

(5/21/01)

After all these years and all these viewings, Warners' Robin Hood remains one of my favorites. There is a freshness and a richness about it which I love. I don't know of a more beautiful film in color. It was as if Technicolor found its perfect subject in this film. The pagentry and spectacle of medieval England are just dazzling to behold. It conjuires up a whole world which probably never existed--but should have. It is a first-class job all the way.

And Technicolor was especially suited to this production because so much of Robin Hood takes place outdoors. The color brought Sherwood Forest vibrantly to life--as well as the archery contest and the near-hanging. The scene where Marian starts to warm up to Robin somehow seems more memorable for being set outdoors. And the cinematographers made excellent use of the locations to create striking images. One favorite of mine is when Robin escapes from the castle and we have the long shot of him riding down the hill on horseback.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold outdid himself with the music. Considered by some to be his greatest film score, it is undoubtedly his most colorful. It brings the film to life. And then there is all that wonderful dialogue, delightful still after repeated viewings.

And then there are the performances. This film has a gallery of vividly-drawn characters who really seem to belong in an old story that we enjoy listening to again and again. In some cases it seems as if the actors had found a perfect context for their screen personas. Was there ever a better use for Eugene Pallette's gruffness than as Friar Tuck? Well, I supposed he was used as well in It Happened One Night--but he still gives me the sense of having been destined by his maker to play Tuck. And wonderful Una O'Connor--I don't think that her talents ever found a better outlet. Her romance with Much--the miller's son who never had a sweetheart--is so endearing and adds so much.

I guess that the characters remind me of Chaucer's pilgrims--not least of all because of the medieval English setting. Also just right is Ian Hunter as Richard the Lion-Hearted. The moment when he reveals his identity to Robin and his men gives me goosebumps. If Hunter ever had a better moment on the screen I have yet to hear of it.

And then there is Claude Rains as Prince John. He is irresistable. I really think that this is my favorite Claude Rains performance, probably because he seems to be enjoying himself so thoroughly. And he has so much fun with the dialogue which, after all, was written to be enjoyed. And he makes it clear that, after all, he's not really hurting people and causing suffering; he's just there to be the obstacle that the hero needs to oppose. His performance reassures us that it's all in good fun.

And then we come to Errol Flynn. He never looked better. He's perhaps a little more poised than in Captain Blood and that green suit he wears is most becoming. He cuts a fine figure in Technicolor. He plays here not a hero but a legend. Olivia de Havilland is likewise enhanced by Technicolor. The two of them retain the chemistry that they had in that earlier film and go through the paces of an antagonism (here only on the woman's part) which is dissolved into love and admiration. It's an old story, but one the world never tires of.

I shouldn't fail to mention another of my favorite images in this film: the moments in the duel between Robin and Sir Guy of Gisborne when we see the shadows of the duellists against a gigantic column. That's the sort of bravura, larger-than-life touch with which this film abounds.