STACK #169 Nov 2018

Robin and his Merry Men – on the right Alan Hale as Little John

film that has been described as one of the best examples of the classic studio system working at its peak. Flynn’s character is presented as the Saxon knight, Sir Robin of Locksley, who is incensed at the evil doings of Prince John (played in an effete way by Claude Rains) and his Norman barons, while King Richard is being held for ransom in Austria after his departure from the Third Crusade in Palestine. Robin becomes an outlaw with his band of followers in Sherwood Forest to thwart Prince John and his minions, who are collecting crippling taxes from the poor Saxon peasants. Many of the famous incidents of the legend are now presented on screen for the first time: The bout with quarterstaffs between Robin and Little John on a log spanning a stream (Alan Hale as Little John also played the same character in the Fairbanks version); Robin forcing the Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette) to piggyback him across a river; the archery tournament wherein a disguised Robin splits his opponent's arrow to win the contest; a captured Robin is rescued from hanging by his merry men; Robin and Prince John’s chief conspirator, Sir Guy of Gisbourne (brilliantly portrayed by Basil Rathbone) become rivals for the hand of Lady Marian (Olivia de Havilland); the return of King Richard (Ian Hunter), who with Robin’s help thwarts the coronation of Prince John – who has officially declared the absent Richard dead; and concluding with an exciting battle royal set inside the Great Hall of Nottingham Castle. The film was a boon for the WB stuntmen. In addition to the fights with weapons, there is leaping from trees during the attack on the treasure caravan, vine swinging, spectacular high falls and arrows plunging into padded chests and backs (the studio paid $150 per shot to stuntmen and extras for letting famed bowman Howard Hill hit them with arrows). Although both Flynn and Rathbone did most

down a winding staircase, casting huge shadows of the combatants onto the castle walls. Both actors looked first-rate with a sword, making their duel one of the most authentic sword fights on film. Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s,

of their own duelling and other action stunts, Flynn was doubled on his leap – with his hands tied behind his back – from the gallows onto a horse. Also, his swinging ride up to cut the rope to the top of the Nottingham Gate was executed by stuntman Fred Graham. Emphasis on all the stunts was in part a homage paid to the Douglas Fairbanks heritage. The final exciting duel between Robin and Gisbourne covered a remarkable area during the course of the action. Hero and villain fight their way Top: Robin and Marian (Olivia de Havilland) Above:The Villains: Claude Rains as Prince John, Basil Rathbone as Gisbourne and Melville Cooper as the Sheriff of Nottingham Above right: Duel to the death – Rathbone and Flynn

masterful score, rich with brass and percussive effects, considerably aided the duelling scenes. Furthermore, his entire award-winning score remains one of the most perfect examples of blending film image and music. (Korngold and his contemporary, Max Steiner, have come to be considered retrospectively as founding fathers of orchestral film music.) The Adventures of Robin Hood was released in May 1938 and became an immediate worldwide smash hit, making it, at the time, Warner Bros.' biggest money-making production. It also received four Academy Award nominations – winning three of them for Best Original Music Score, Best Film Editing and Best Art Direction. The eye-popping colour when seen today is still extraordinary and one of the best examples of the old three strip Technicolor process, which has been obsolete – due primarily to the huge unwieldly cameras – since the mid-1950s. Thanks to the subject matter, the film is timeless and still remains rollicking entertainment fused with romance, spectacle, pageantry, action, humour and the triumph of right over might.

Join STACK ’s resident filmhistorian Bob J and our community of cinema buffs to have your say eachmonth in ' Bob J’s Classic Movie Club ' Facebook group.

025