The Adventures of Robin Hood [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

In order to avoid the material copyrighted by Douglas Fairbanks Sr. for his 1922 Robin Hood, the scripters of this Flynn version relied on several legendary episodes that had never before been filmed, notably the battle between Robin and Little John (Alan Hale Sr., who played this part three times in his long career) and the "piggy-back" episode between Robin and Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette). The film ties together the various ancient anecdotes with a storyline bounded by the capture in Austria of Richard the Lionheart (Ian Hunter) on one end and Richard's triumphant return to England on the other. Robin Hood is already an outlaw at the outset of the film, while Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) is initially part of the enemy camp, as one of Prince John's (Claude Rains) entourage. Marian warms up to Robin's fight against injustice (and to Robin himself), eventually becoming a trusted ally. James Cagney was originally announced for the role of Robin Hood, just before Cagney left Warner Bros. in a salary dispute. William Keighley was the original director, but he worked too slowly to suit the tight production schedule and was replaced by Michael Curtiz (both men receive screen credit). A lengthy opening jousting sequence was shot but removed from the final print; portions of this sequence show up as stock footage in the 1957 Warners film The Story of Mankind. The chestnut-colored Palomino horse ridden by de Havilland in the Sherwood Forest scenes later gained screen stardom as Roy Rogers' Trigger. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Features:
  • cc
  • All-new 65th-anniversary digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
  • Revealing documentaries on the movie's making and the Technicolor process
  • Audio commentary
  • Outtakes
  • Music-only audio track
  • Leonard Maltin hosts "Warner Night at the Movies" 1938, with trailer, newsreel, musical short, and cartoon
  • "Robin Hood Through the Ages"
  • Home movies
  • More vintage cartoons, short subjects, and studio blooper reel
  • Galleries of art/photo/publicity materials and Errol Flynn trailers
  • Audio-only extras: Radio show and Korngold scoring session

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Art Direction - 1938 (Carl Jules Weyl)
•     Won Best Editing - 1938 (Ralph Dawson)
•     Won Best Score - 1938 (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1938

• Film Daily

•     Won 10 Best Films - 1938

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1994

• New York Times

•     Won 10 Best Films - 1938

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• 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 - Sheriff of Nottingham
       Ian Hunter - Richard I the Lionheart
       Una O'Connor - Bess
       Herbert Mundin - Much-the-Miller's-son
       Montagu Love - Bishop of the Black Cannons
       Leonard Willey - Sir Essex
       Robert Noble - Sir Ralf
       Kenneth Hunter - Sir Mortimer
       Robert Warwick - Sir Geoffrey
       Colin Kenny - Sir Baldwin
       Lester Matthews - Sir Ivor
       Harry Cording - Dickon Malbete
       Howard Hill - Captain of Archers
       Ivan Simpson - Proprietor of the Kent Road Tavern
       Reginald Sheffield - Herald at Archery Toumament
       Olaf Hytten - Outlaw
       James Baker - Philip of Arras
       Peter Hobbes - Outlaw
       Wilfred Lucas - Archery Official
       Janet Shaw - Humility's Daughter
       Val Stanton - Outlaw
       Leonard Mudie - Town Crier
       John Sutton - Richard's Knight
       Austin Fairman - Sir Nigel
       Crauford Kent - Sir Norbert
       Holmes Herbert - Archery Referee
       Hal Brazeale - High Sheriff's Squire
       Charles McNaughton - Crippen
       Herbert Evans - Seneschal
       Alec Harford - Outlaw
       Marten Lamont - Sir Guy's Squire
       Lionel Belmore - Humility Prin
       Edward Dew - Outlaw
       Leyland Hodgson - Norman Officer

• Director:

  Michael Curtiz, William Keighley

• Producer:

  Henry Blanke, Hal B. Wallis

• Screenwriter:

  Seton Miller, Norman Reilly Raine

• Book Author:

  Walter Scott

• Cinematographer:

  Tony Gaudio, Sol Polito

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Leo F. Forbstein

• Composer (Music Score):

  Erich Wolfgang Korngold

• Editor:

  Ralph Dawson

• Art Director:

  Carl Jules Weyl

• Costume Designer:

  Milo Anderson

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  C.A. Riggs

• Makeup:

  Perc Westmore

• Consultant/advisor:

  Fred Cavens, Howard Hill

REVIEW:

• The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of the screen's greatest adventure films and an excellent example of how the studio system's production-by-committee method could create synergistically what, in that era, likely could not have been created by any single force. The hero behind the camera is co-director Michael Curtiz, who was installed by the corporate chiefs at Warner Bros. midway through production. Curtiz had little to do, though, with the impeccably selected cast. Errol Flynn may not have been the studio's first choice, but he is the screen's greatest Robin Hood. Among the film's many pleasures, you can watch for the meticulous attention to detail that was a hallmark of Curtiz's work. Incidentally, if you're wondering how the special effects were done on the split arrow stunt, there were no special effects. The astonishing shot was performed by professional archer Howard Hill who needed only one take. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi