The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Directors:

Michael Curtiz
William Keighley

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (original screenplay) and
Seton I. Miller (original screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

The Best Loved Bandit Of All Time!

Plot:

When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army.

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Outlaw | Forest | Sherwood Forest | Usurper

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Robin Hood
Olivia de Havilland	...	Maid Marian
Basil Rathbone	...	Sir Guy of Gisbourne
Claude Rains	...	Prince John
Patric Knowles	...	Will Scarlett
Eugene Pallette	...	Friar Tuck
Alan Hale	...	Little John
Melville Cooper	...	High Sheriff of Nottingham
Ian Hunter	...	King Richard the Lion-Heart
Una O'Connor	...	Bess
Herbert Mundin	...	Much
Montagu Love	...	Bishop of the Black Canons
Leonard Willey	...	Sir Essex
Robert Noble	...	Sir Ralf
Kenneth Hunter	...	Sir Mortimer

Also Known As:

Robin Hood (Australia) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for adventure violence.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (original rating) (PCA #3790) | Portugal:M/6 | Canada:G (video rating) | West Germany:6 (nf) | Germany:6 (video rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) (2003) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | New Zealand:G (single DVD) | New Zealand:PG (2 dvd set) | Sweden:Btl (uncut) (1969) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-16 (1938) | Ireland:G | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl (cut) (1938) | UK:U | USA:PG (re-rating) (2003)

Filming Locations:

Bidwell Park - Manzanita Avenue, Chico, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

This film was originally intended as a much closer remake of the original Douglas Fairbanks’ Robin Hood (1922) film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A car can be seen in the background when Will Scarlett gets off his horse to go to the aid of Much (who has just fought with Dickon Malbete).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Town Crier announcing capture of Richard: News has come from Vienna: "Leopold of Austria has seized King Richard on his return from the Crusades. Our king is being held prisoner. Nothing further is known. His Highness Prince John will make further public pronouncement tomorrow."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Between Two Worlds: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (2001) (TV)

Errol Flynn IS Robin Hood

This is undoubtedly the best filmed version of the Robin Hood legend ever made. Errol Flynn leads a remarkable cast that seems to jump off the screen in their Technicolor brilliance. Flynn seems born to play this role (or any Swashbuckling Role for that matter). I urge all fans to read his highly entertaining autobiography My Wicked, Wicked Ways. After reading it you see that if he wasn't born to play these types of roles then he certainly spent his life practicing for them. The co-director Michael Curtiz is responsible for so many of the films one thinks about when the 'golden age of the studios' is mentioned – the list is amazing with Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy among them. And just listen to the music! Erich Wolfgang Korngold's musical score is without a doubt one of the finest pieces ever written for the silver screen. If you are a listener of classical music on the radio you are bound to hear the score to this film at least a few times a year. One cannot blame Hollywood for not matching this level of perfection in other Robin Hood versions. Does lighting ever strike in the same place twice?