The Adventures Of Robin Hood [1938]

The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliche coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor". Stocky Alan Hale Sr plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks' silent version), Eugene Palette plays the portly Friar Tuck and Melville Cooper is the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin and his easygoing manner is a marvellous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

For the first time they have managed to tame the highly over saturated Technicolor of the original film, and we can see it with a natural colour balance revealing masses of previously hidden detail. As a result all our favourite bits of the film are better that ever, the perfect cast of Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and Claude Raines, and the music of Korngold, the magnificent sets.

But it wasn't originally planned like this, and the excellent special features and commentary by Rudy Behlmer provide endless detail and fascinating facts. In addition there are light hearted extras,, two Robin Hood inspired Looney Tunes, two other shorts and a varied and not always relevant section called "Night at the movies 1938".

A wonderful re-issue of a wonderful film.


Almost perfect cinema.   August 22, 2004
 9 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is a great film.
Here we can see Flynn and Rathbone in top form working with a script that has obviously been expertly crafted.
We can also enjoy excellent staged fights that were ahead of their time, beautiful cinematography, a world class scoring, and snazzy direction.
In fact, if it were not for the awful costumes,(which belong in a cartoon)then i would be quite comfortable in awarding 5 stars.
Nonetheless, this is the best Robin Hood fantasy.


Nothing short of fantastic!   March 27, 2004
 1 out of 7 found this review helpful

When King Richard the Lion Heart (played by Ian Hunter) is imprisoned in Germany, his brother Prince John (Claude Rains) seizes power, and begins oppressing the common English people. When Sir Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn) can't take it anymore, he raises the standard of rebellion, and leads a host of "merry men" against John and his cohorts (Basil Rathbone and Melville Cooper). This is a swashbuckling story of romance (Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian), adventure, honor, and resistance to evil. [Color, released in 1938, with a running time of 1 hour, 42 minutes.]

There is probably nothing that I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said. This movie is nothing short of fantastic! The action is great, including some of the best swords-work seen for many years thereafter, and is exciting without being gory. I loved the message of the movie, and the fact that it is clean and fit for the whole family; the most erotic scene is when you can actually see Olivia de Havilland's hair!

Therefore, let me highly recommend this movie to everyone; it's got everything the discriminating viewer could want--romance, adventure and morals.