The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)

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The Adventures of Robin Hood
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Michael Curtiz William Keighley
Produced by	Hal B. Wallis
Written by	Norman Reilly Raine Seton I. Miller
Starring	Errol Flynn Olivia de Havilland Basil Rathbone Claude Rains Patric Knowles
Music by	Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio Sol Polito
Editing by	Ralph Dawson
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	April 25, 1938
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,000,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Adventures of Robin Hood is an American film released in 1938 and directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley.

The picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

When Richard the Lionheart, the King of England, is taken captive by Leopold of Austria while returning from the Crusades, his brother John (Claude Rains) takes power and proceeds to oppress the Saxon commoners. Prince John raises their taxes, supposedly to raise Richard's ransom, but in reality to secure his own position on the throne.

One man stands in his way, Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn). The impudent rascal goes alone to see Prince John at the castle of Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) and announces to John's assembled supporters and a contemptuous Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) that he will do all in his power to oppose John and restore Richard to his rightful place. He then escapes, in spite of the efforts of John's men.

Robin and Will Scarlet (Patric Knowles) meet and recruit Little John (Alan Hale, Sr.), Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette) and a band of outlaws. Soon, Prince John finds himself harassed beyond all bearing.

One day, Robin and his men capture a large party of Normans transporting the collected taxes through Sherwood Forest. Among Robin's "guests" are Gisbourne and Maid Marian. When Marian gets to know Robin better, she begins to have a change of heart. The Normans are all released, though without the money.

Prince John then comes up with a cunning scheme to capture Robin. He announces an archery tournament, with the grand prize a golden arrow to be presented by Maid Marian, knowing that Robin will be unable to resist the challenge. All goes as planned; Robin identifies himself by winning the competition and is taken prisoner. However, with Marian's help, he escapes.

Meanwhile, King Richard (Ian Hunter) returns to England disguised as a priest, but is recognized at an inn by the Bishop of the Black Canons (Montagu Love), who hurries to inform Prince John. Upon receiving the news, John and Gisbourne plot to dispose of Richard quietly before he can raise an army. Marian overhears them and writes a note warning Robin, but Gisbourne finds it and has her arrested and condemned to death for treason.

Richard and his escort travel to Sherwood Forest to find Robin. News reaches them that John intends to have himself crowned king by the Bishop of the Black Canons. Knowing that the castle is too strong to be taken by force, Robin decides to use guile, visiting the bishop and "persuading" him to include Robin and his men in his entourage.

Through this ruse, they gain entry to the castle. A melee breaks out, during which Robin and Gisbourne engage in a prolonged swordfight.

Gisbourne is finally slain and John is defeated. Richard is restored to the throne; he exiles his brother, pardons Robin's men and gives Robin permission to marry Marian.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Errol Flynn as Robin Hood
Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian
Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne
Claude Rains as Prince John
Patric Knowles as Will Scarlet
Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck
Alan Hale as Little John
Melville Cooper as High Sheriff of Nottingham
Ian Hunter as King Richard the Lion Heart
Una O'Connor as Bess
Herbert Mundin as Much-the-Miller's-Son
Montagu Love as Bishop of the Black Canons
Leonard Willey as Sir Essex
Robert Noble as Sir Ralf
Kenneth Hunter as Sir Mortimer
Robert Warwick as Sir Geoffrey
Colin Kenny as Sir Baldwin
Lester Matthews as Sir Ivor
Harry Cording as Dickon Malbete
Howard Hill as Captain of Archers
Ivan F. Simpson as Proprietor of Kent Road Tavern

[edit] Production

The Adventures of Robin Hood was filmed on location in multiple areas of California including Chico and Pasadena as well as having several scenes shot at the Warner Bros. Burbank Studios. ^[1]

The Adventures of Robin Hood was produced at an estimated cost of $2 million, and was the first Warner Bros. film to be shot in the three-strip technicolor process^[2] (one of the few major motion pictures of the 1930s to do this). It was an unusually extravagant production for the Warner Bros. studio, which had made a name for itself in producing gritty, low-budget gangster films^{[citation needed]}, but their adventure movies starring Flynn had generated hefty revenue and Robin Hood was created to capitalize on this^{[citation needed]}. James Cagney was originally cast as Robin Hood but walked out on his contract, paving the way for Flynn.^[2]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical response

The film was well-reviewed and became the 6th highest-grossing film of the year^{[citation needed]}, with just over $4 million in revenues at a time when the average ticket price was less than 25 cents^{[citation needed]}. Warner Bros. was so pleased with the results that they cast Flynn in two more color epics before the decade was over^{[citation needed]}: Dodge City and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.

[edit] Awards

Wins

11th Academy Awards:
- Best Art Direction, Carl Jules Weyl
- Best Film Editing, Ralph Dawson
- Best Original Score, Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Nominations

11th Academy Awards:
- Best Picture, Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke

Other distinguishments

In 1995 the film was selected for preservation by the United States National Film Registry.

[edit] Legacy

Errol Flynn as Robin Hood.

Due to the movie's popularity, Errol Flynn's name and image became inextricably linked with that of Robin Hood in the public eye, even more so than Douglas Fairbanks, who had played the role previously in 1922.^{[citation needed]}

Scenes and costumes worn by the characters have been imitated and spoofed endlessly. For instance, in the Bugs Bunny animated short film, Rabbit Hood, Bugs finally meets Robin at the end of the film and is stunned to see find that it is Errol Flynn's character himself, in a spliced in clip from the feature film.

One unusual legacy of the film was launching the career of Trigger, the horse ridden by Olivia de Havilland in the film. Roy Rogers spotted the horse in the film and bought Trigger for his films. This film series made Trigger one of the most famous animals in show business.

In MythBusters, the 'Splitting an Arrow' myth test was based on the scene where Robin Hood completely split an arrow in an archery tournament. The revisit of the myth revealed that the arrow being split in the movie was made of bamboo^{[citation needed]}.