After watching THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD as a young boy, I would go to my room, close the door, and have imaginary sword fights against Sir Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham. During one of these duels, I must have turned on the radio and Hot Buttered Popcorn was playing. It seemed to blend perfectly with my antics. Whenever the synthesizer bop came on the radio, I would immediately jump on my bed and start play fencing. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is the seminal movie that opened CrazyFilmGuy's eyes to the pleasure of a good old fashioned Technicolor adventure film starring one of literature's first action heroes.
Australian actor Errol Flynn's iconic performance as Sir Robin of Locksley aka Robin Hood in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is the benchmark for all Robin Hood films. Yes, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr played the swashbuckling hero in the 1922 ROBIN HOOD but it was a silent, black and white film. Kevin Costner, Cary Elwes, Russell Crowe, and even Sean Connery have all played the outlaw leader but Flynn (riffing off Fairbanks' swashbuckling performance) is the one we all remember.
Warner Brothers and MGM were initially going to make two separate Robin Hood movies in the 30s. Warner Brothers film would be adventurous. MGM's film would be a musical opera. MGM never did make their movie. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD has an operatic like feel from Erich Wolfgang Korngold's rousing musical score to the colorful spectacle of Michael Curtiz (and William Keighley's) direction filled with castles, grand feasts, an archery tournament, and hundreds of Merry Men. The decision to film ROBIN HOOD in Technicolor at a time when black and white was still the norm is a monumental decision. Sherwood Forest (actually a state park in Chico, CA) never looked more beautiful.
Borrowing from ancient Robin Hood legends and ballads, Norman Reilly Raine and Seton I. Miller are the credited screenwriters for THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. The film begins with the backstory. King Richard the Lion-Heart (Ian Hunter) has gone off in 1191 to fight in the Crusades. His evil brother Prince John (Claude Rains) kicks out Richard's temporary guardian Longchamps and assumes the throne. On his way back from the Crusades, Richard is kidnapped by King Leopold of Austria. Prince John claims to collect taxes from the Saxons to pay for Richard's ransom but he has no intention of rescuing his brother.
We first meet Sir Robin of Locksley aka Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) on horseback as he and his red attired squire Will Scarlett (Patric Knowles) rescue a Saxon named Much the miller's son (Herbert Mundin) from the clutches of Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) and the High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper) after Much has killed a deer in the royal forest. When Prince John hears of Robin's impudence, he wants him dead. Robin shows up at Gisbourne's Nottingham Castle with the dead stag, dropping the beast on Prince John's table during a banquet, arousing the curiosity of Prince John's guest the lady Marian Fitzwalter aka Maid Marian (Olivia De Havilland). Prince John tries to trap Robin but the outlaw escapes from the castle with Will and Much's assistance.
Robin begins to add to his band of merry men as he roams the countryside. The gregarious Little John (Alan Hale) and the heavy set Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette) join Robin's cause after brief bouts of good natured jousting and sword fighting. Robin's declared an outlaw by Prince John. Robin gathers all his followers at the Gallows Oak and pledges to fight against the oppression of the Saxon people by stealing from Prince John and the wealthy Norman land barons. Robin and his men ambush a caravan led by Sir Guy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Maid Marian returning with tax money collected for Prince John. Robin takes their clothes and shares the food with the less fortunate. He shows Marian how poor and hungry the locals are, winning over Marian's heart and mind. Robin keeps the money but lets Sir Guy and the Sheriff return to Prince John.
Furious, Prince John wants Robin Hood hanged. The Sheriff of Nottingham proposes an archery tournament to lure Robin Hood with the prize a golden arrow to be awarded to the champion by the Lady Marian. Robin and his men know its a trap but Robin's accepts the challenge anyway. Disguised, Robin enters the contest and surprise! He wins the tournament. But, Robin's captured by Sir Guy and his soldiers. Marian asks her loyal lady in waiting Bess (Una O'Connor) where she can find Robin's Merry Men. Marian takes a clandestine trip to the Kent Road Tavern. She locates the Merry Men and suggests a plan to rescue Robin.
Robin is brought to the town square to be executed. Will, Little John, Friar Tuck, and Much pull off a daring rescue, thwarting Prince John and Sir Guy's hopes of killing Robin Hood. Robin returns to Nottingham Castle that night to thank Maid Marian as the couple profess their love for each other. At the Kent Road Tavern, the Bishop of the Black Canons (Montagu Love) encounters a group of travelers. One of them is King Richard the Lion-Heart (incognito). The Bishop hurries back to the castle to warn Prince John. Maid Marian is imprisoned after she overhears the Bishop and tries to send word to Robin that Richard has returned. Robin and his men capture Richard and his knights as they ride through Sherwood Forest. They receive word that Prince John plans to become king. Robin, King Richard, and the Merry Men disguise themselves as monks and infiltrate the castle to disrupt Prince John's coronation and rescue Maid Marian in a rousing finale.
For many years, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD has been in CrazyFilmGuy's Top Five Favorite Films of all time. Only recently had it fallen out of my Top Five only because I had not watched it in a while (I think John Ford's THE SEARCHERS had bumped it). Watching it again, I remember why I fell in love with it. The swashbuckling Robin Hood making his brazen appearance in Prince John's castle, a stag draped over his back. The first time we see Maid Marian without her head dress, her long braided hair dangling over her shoulders. Robin and Little John's playful quarter staff duel. Robin winning the archery tournament, splitting an arrow no less. Marian's gaze as Bess explains what love feels like (it made a 2nd grade CrazyFilmGuy goosepimply as she spoke), Robin and his merry men ambushing Sir Guy's caravan in Nottingham forest, leaping and falling Merry Men everywhere. Robin's final duel with Sir Guy of Gisbourne, their battling shadows cast upon a castle wall. All in glorious Technicolor with Erich Wolfgang Korngold's stirring "March of the Merry Men" theme playing.
Besides King Arthur and the Three Musketeers, Robin Hood is one of the world's first super heroes. Yes, he's handsome, the best archer in the land, and a born leader. He robs from the rich and gives back to the poor. But he's not invincible. He's human. Little John bests Robin in a three quarter staff duel. Friar Tuck dunks Robin in a stream. Robin's overconfidence nearly gets him hanged when he's caught by Gisbourne after winning the archery tournament. Like Marvel or DCs comic superheroes, Robin has his mistakes and human weaknesses yet he overcomes them in the end to defeat tyranny and injustice.
Errol Flynn performance in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is nothing short of marvelous. CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935, also directed by Michael Curtiz) was Flynn's first lead role. It took Flynn awhile in that film to find his feet as the exiled doctor who becomes a pirate. In ROBIN HOOD, Flynn grabs the screen from his first entrance (Flynn actually has three grand entrances in ROBIN HOOD). As Robin, he's charming, roguish, romantic, and loyal to his king and men. Flynn would be my first film idol from the Golden Era of films (soon followed by Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant). Flynn's career spanned from playing pirates and Robin Hood to cowboys and even the doomed General George Armstrong Custer in THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (1941).
If Errol Flynn was my first matinee idol, Olivia De Havilland who plays Maid Marian was my first on screen crush. Even today, when I see her in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, my heart flutters. I was aware of feminine beauty even back in grade school but when De Havilland first appeared in ROBIN HOOD, I became all tingly and goose pimply in love just as Marian's lady in waiting Bess describes that feeling to Marian. De Havilland has a nice arc in ROBIN HOOD as she goes from loathing the green tighted bandit to understanding his fight for the poor and downtrodden to falling in love with him. De Havilland would play the love interest to Flynn and many other leading men in films in the early 30s and early 40s. Wishing more dramatic, substantial roles, De Havilland would sue Warner Brothers to get out of her contract and pursue stronger parts. Surprisingly, she won her case. De Havilland would go on to appear as twins, one a murderer in Robert Siodmak's THE DARK MIRROR (1946); as a woman fighting mental health issues in THE SNAKE PIT (1948); and would finally win an Academy Award for Best Actress in William Wyler's THE HEIRESS (1949) co-starring Montgomery Clift and Ralph Richardson.
Robin Hood is an exciting hero but THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD would not be as universally loved without a colorful cast of Merry Men and a few dastardly villains. The role of Little John is a crucial component and actor Alan Hale fills the role perfectly. Little John is the big guy with the kind heart. His rollicking laugh puts strangers at ease but he's Robin's # 1 bodyguard and enforcer. The quarter staff fight between Robin and Little John may be one of the most famous introductions of two friends ever. Apparently, Alan Hale was born to play the role as he appeared as Little John three times spanning three decades. Hale first played Little John in the Douglas Fairbanks 1922 version of ROBIN HOOD. Then, in 1938 in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. Hale would make one more appearance as the jolly giant in ROGUES OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1950), his last film before he died that same year. Fans (like me) of the television show GILLIGAN'S ISLAND will recognize Hale's son Alan Hale, Jr who played the Skipper.
The other key Merry Man role is Friar Tuck. Tuck needs to be rotund and feisty but with a good heart. A man of the cloth but willing to spill blood in the name of King Richard. Eugene Pallette stepped into the role of Friar Tuck in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and owned that character. With his bullfrog deep voice and penchant for mutton, Pallette made Friar Tuck both likable and another ally for Robin Hood. Patric Knowles who resembled the dashing Errol Flynn but never quite had his career plays Robin's squire and troubadour Will Scarlett. It may be Knowles most memorable role. Rounding out the Merry Men is the rubbery faced Herbert Mundin as Much the miller's son. Watching Much and lady in waiting Bess flirt is a hoot. Sadly, Mundin would die in a car accident in 1940.
Good villains are just as important as good sidekicks. THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD provides three excellent, unforgettable bad guys. Claude Rains as Prince John has a field day as the slightly effete brother of Richard the Lion-Heart. With a chip on his shoulder for his brother passing him over as regent in Richard's absence, Prince John exacts his revenge on the Saxon people, in particular Robin Hood. Rains was adept at making his villains or corrupt characters nefarious yet charming in such films as Michael Curtiz's CASABLANCA (1943) and Alfred Hitchcock's NOTORIOUS (1946). Rains is one of my favorite supporting actors to grace the silver screen.
Basil Rathbone had sparred with Errol Flynn in CAPTAIN BLOOD and they face off against each other again in ROBIN HOOD. Rathbone plays Sir Guy of Gisbourne, a Norman supporter of Prince John and suitor for Maid Marian's hand. Gisbourne lacks the charisma or nerve to show his true feelings to her. Robin Hood inflames his jealously when he woos Marian away from him. Rathbone makes a handsome villain and a worthy foe for Flynn. Rathbone could play both heroes and villains with ease. Usually in the Robin Hood legends, it was the Sheriff of Nottingham who was Robin's main nemesis. In THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, it's Gisbourne. The High Sheriff of Nottingham played by Melville Cooper is comic relief in this ROBIN HOOD. In other Robin Hood films and the legends, the Sheriff is Robin's primary antagonist.
There are plenty of connections between actors in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD as many were contracted to Warner Brothers during this period. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland would make eight films together besides ROBIN HOOD including CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939). Michael Curtiz directed those two films and many others with the pair. Errol Flynn and Alan Hale (who were good friends offscreen) would make 13 films together (a few were cameos for Hale) including DODGE CITY (1939) and ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (1948). Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone also worked (and dueled) together in CAPTAIN BLOOD and co-starred in THE DAWN PATROL (1938). Flynn and Patric Knowles played brothers in Curtiz's THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936). Claude Rains and Patric Knowles both appeared together in Universal's THE WOLF MAN (1941). Flynn, Rains, and Una O'Connor all made Curtiz's THE SEA HAWK (1940) together. But for me, Flynn, De Havilland, Rains, Rathbone, Hale, Knowles, and O'Connor are my cinematic family in ROBIN HOOD.
Nobody directed genre films better than Michael Curtiz. Horror, Swashbucklers, Westerns, War, Melodrama, Musical, Film Noir -- Curtiz did it all, mostly for Warner Brothers. Curtiz was fabulous staging action scenes, filling his screen with hundreds of extras, and making studio backlots look like French Casablanca, a seedy Mexican dive bar, or medieval Nottingham square. For THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, William Keighley began as the director but was replaced by Curtiz after studio heads thought Keighley's footage lacked pizazz. Several 2nd Unit directors helped film insert and non-essential actor scenes but Curtiz directed the remaining big scenes including the archery tournament and the final battle inside Nottingham Castle. I love the way Curtiz frames certain shots and moves the camera, loading the screen with loads of detail.
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD'S success can be traced to using the best tales from the Robin Hood legends for its movie. Because of its universal success, future Robin Hood films were forced to find different storylines for their films. Kevin Reynolds ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (1991) has Robin (a miscast Kevin Costner) just returning to Nottingham from the Crusades not with the Merry Men but a Moorish companion (Morgan Freeman) to find the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) in charge. Ridley Scott's ROBIN HOOD (2010), shows us the man before he became a legend. Russell Crowe plays Robin Longstride who returns from the Crusades and assumes the identity of a dying knight named Robert Loxley with a final request. Richard Lester's ROBIN AND MARIAN (1976) gives us Robin (Sean Connery), Marian (Audrey Hepburn), and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw) as older versions of their characters. And what would the Robin Hood film canon be without director Mel Brooks poking fun at the hero and his world in ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (1993).
A few fun Robin Hood facts. What is the name of the hat that Robin Hood wears? Is it a hat? A bonnet? It's called a bycocket which is a fancy name for a cap. It has a wide brim turned up in the back and pointed in the front like a beak. Only Errol Flynn and Cary Elwes in ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS wore the bycocket in their films. No one really knows who Robin Hood was. His name first appeared in William Langland's Piers Plowman in the 14th Century. Ballads about Robin Hood emerged in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Some scholars believe Robin Hood may have been many sources that merged into one. As for Maid Marian, she is believed to have been referenced first in a French pastoral play from the 13th Century, later adapted by the English in the late 15th Century in the May Games which paired her with Robin Hood. For all the Robin Hood facts and fiction, check out this website http://www.robinhoodlegend.com/
Errol Flynn will forever be associated with Robin Hood in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD just like Clint Eastwood will always be associated with Dirty Harry or Harrison Ford with Indiana Jones. Some roles are just meant to be played by one person. Flynn had the dashing good looks, the athleticism, the roguish smile. He looked good in green tights and wearing a bycocket. Whether Flynn knew it or not, he made quite an impression on an eight year old kid. Robin Hood was my first super hero. Also making an impression on CrazyFilmKid was the attractive Maid Marian, her allure casting a spell on me that endures to this day. In my estimation, there is no more perfect blending of adventure, romance, humor, and music than THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.
