The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Two-Disc Special Edition DVD from Warner Home Video
The Adventures of Robin Hood is an uncontestable classic,
and Errol Flynn is the quintessential Robin. Heroic, jovial,
and most importantly acrobatic, Flynn's performance has never
been equalled for its sheer heroism and spirited vigor. Robin's
nemesis Sir Guy of Gisborne is equally impressive, brought to
life with snarling menace by Basil Rathbone. Claude Rains plays
the sniveling and despicable Prince John while Olivia DeHaviland's
Marian starts out as a prim snob but soon warms up as she comes
to love the true nobility of Robin.
The captivating visual style of the film owes heavily to illustrator
N.C. Wyeth. Although it was filmed entirely in California, the
look of "Olde England" is, nevertheless, convincingly
created. Capacious sets, and the rolling hills of Chico and Calabasas
stand in for the UK with relative persuasion. The action sequences
are far ahead of their time, and surge with energy (which is
especially impressive, considering the cumbersome lighting equipment
required for early color filming). Erich Wolfgang Korngold's
exciting and romantic music invests the film with a brassy, operatic
dimension, which sets the trend for adventure scores ever after.
The film has been beautifully remastered for DVD in all its Technicolor
glory and comes bundled with some fabulous supplements, including
a "making-of" retrospective, home movies of the production,
outtakes, and Korngold's score on an isolated music-only track.
The Robin Hood legend has been adapted a number of times since
this film was made, but never so memorably and with such energetic
perfection. This is a glorious, effervescent film, whose appeal
is undiminished even after 60+ years. Although many subsequent
attempts have been made to adapt this legend, few have measured
up to this unsurpassed classic.
Paul Andrew MacLean
© 2004
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LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com