Robin and Marian

Robin Hood (Sean Connery), aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn) one last time.

Roger Ebert was positive towards Connery and Hepburn as Robin and Marian although he was uncertain about "history repeating itself" in regards to the plot. According to Ebert, "What prevents the movie from really losing its way, though, are the performances of Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn in the title roles. No matter what the director and the writer may think, Connery and Hepburn seem to have arrived at a tacit understanding between themselves about their characters." Although it may not be quite what Ebert meant, I do feel that Connery and Hepburn are what make this worth watching. The plot is just alright and the costumes are pretty good. But Connery shines, and Hepburn -- despite being past her best years -- makes a triumphant return to the screen. What brought her out of retirement?

The film picks up the Robin Hood legend some twenty years after with Robin and his sidekick Little John return to their old Sherwood Forest embittered by King Richard, by the Crusades and their sickening brutality…

They're informed by former friends Friar Tuck and Will that the lovely Maid Marian now lives nearby, where she has become the abbess… And the sheriff is as powerful as ever and rules the country…

Marian greets Robin's return with mixed feelings, and tells him that, in the passed two decades, she worked hard studying herbs and medicines, and she loves her life and she won't give it up…

Of course, after the return of Robin, Marian could not imagine herself living in the world again, or even wanting to… But after he rescues her from his long time enemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, who tries to arrest her on religious grounds, the two become lovers once again…

As Robin, Connery is a little bit in love with death… He flirts, he teases, he challenges his strong enemy to a single combat to the death...

As Marian, Hepburn felt so little for so long

One needs to say straight off the bat that if one wants lots of typical Robin Hood swashbuckling then one is better off seeing the Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner or one of the countless lesser films of Robin Hood. There is not much action here. However, the shortage of action is really quite appropriate to this particular film, which can be seen as a sequel to almost any other version you've seen. 'The Last Days Of Robin Hood' would have been as good a title as the one we have.

This being a Richard Lester film, there are plenty of humorous touches. Here, they seem somewhat out of place,as the general tone of the film is bittersweet. We have a Robin Hood who is aging and aware of it, yet still has to fill the role of a legendary hero. The film portrays even better than El Cid the passing of somebody into legend, and a sense of destiny- it's more important that Robin fulfill his than opt out and not have the risk of things ending sadly. Sean Connery never did change that accent, but he could be a superb actor at times, as indeed he is here. The supporting cast is a virtual Who's Who of fine British character actors of the time, but Robert Shaw stands out as the most menacing Sheriff Of Nottingham on film.

There is much in this film that is immensely touching, especially when Robin and Marian start resuming their romance which supposedly ended 18 years previously. David Watkin's gorgeous photography of the countryside is essential in giving the film it's autumnal quality. Despite the overly lengthy build up to it, the final Robin/Sheriff duel is well worth the wait, a really realistic, convincing brawl. The film is aided immensely by John Barry's music- his main theme is beautiful and deserves to be ranked among the more famous themes this great composer has written. One could easily find a more exciting and even more entertaining Robin Hood film than this, but probably not a more touching one.

This is a real collector's item. A literate script by Bill Goldman's older brother, Jim, something of an anglophile despite being born and bred in Chicago - he'd already weighed in with The Lion In Winter, both stage and then screenplay plus the novel Myself As Witness, about King John, so he was right at home in the territory. Thirteen years after From Russia With Love Robert Shaw and Sean Connery are back as adversaries though this time around there's a healthy dose of the love-hate aspect now obligatory since The Prisoner Of Zenda brought it off to a fare-thee-well. The autumnal feel is palpable from the first image of decaying fruit and is reinforced by the muted, pastel rather than oil pastoral settings. This leaves only the playing which runs the gamut from more-than-competent to exquisite. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness indeed, in spades. 9/10

I was about to say that you'd never in a million years get a Hollywood Studio today to make a movie about Robin Hood, Little John and Maid Marian in late middle age, twenty years after their youthful adventures, but then I thought, "Oh, no, you'd still sell it - it's got Sean Connery attached!" Not far short of thirty years on, he has scarcely changed in the interim and could easily take the same part at the age of 73. There'd be no place for the excellent Nicol Williamson, the reassuring Denholm Elliott or the phenomenal Robert Shaw in such a script, of course.

That said, I first fell in love with this movie when I was quite young (I'm still only 38 at the time of writing), and was amazed some years later when it was re-shown on television to see it summarised in the Radio Times as apparently a weak effort. I couldn't disagree more with that assessment; the wonderful, wonderful script by James Goldman, perfectly balancing a late blooming love story with shades of regret, humour and action, is brought to life by this cast-iron cast.

Upon re-viewing, I realise I had neglected Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham. My favourite kind of villain is the one who regards his adversary as kind of an old friend, and Shaw pulls this off really well. In the scene when he first meets Robin after the latter's return from the wars, he makes it clear that he has to take Marian, but he says, "God go with you." Nowadays, it's almost shocking to see Robin almost casually killing the guards who have been sent to attack him, but then Shaw's Sheriff views the dead bodies and gives them their due as soldiers: "Take up their limbs and bury them." Shaw does most of his acting with his eyes, and you can see the whole life of regret, valueless death and his own lost advancement, in them.

The love story is beautifully handled, but it has to be said that the chief and most memorable relationship in the movie is that between Robin and Little John.

The opening of the movie is something else that would never survive a modern cut: an entire sequence set at the time of the crusades with an incredible cameo by Richard Harris as his namesake, the Lionheart, along with other British stalwarts like Esmond Knight, Bill Maynard and Peter Butterworth. These characters are all amazingly well fleshed out, considering they take no part in the main body of the story. This is one of the few portrayals, if not the only one, of Richard the Lionheart which clings closer to what was probably his true character - far from the heroic king, kept hostage and kept from his beloved England by the war with the Muslims, the real Richard never spent much time in England even after his return from the Crusades, preferring to prosecute a war of conquest in France (he probably only spoke French). This Richard is not driven by religious righteousness, but by the greed which was the real motivation for the wars of the day.

The main portion of the film, however, is set in a recreation of twelfth century England, in its heartland - a land of decay and poverty being overtaxed by grasping landlords - a perfect backdrop for a story of regret and opportunities missed.