La leggenda di Robin Hood

Michael Curtiz received only a single Academy Award for directing the best of wartime espionage movies "Casablanca" but made great classics like "Captain Blood", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "The Sea Hawk" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood," orchestrating enthusiastically great stars and skilled technicians... He refined with charm and elegance plot and character with fluid camera movement and exquisite lightning, mixing action with peculiar sense of humor capturing with brilliant photography the natural look of Sherwood Forest, the cool tones of Nottingham Castle and the inn at Luton with its crackling fireplace...

The film had great marvelous scenes: When Robin decides to tackle with a staff Little John (Alan Hale); Robin's swordsplay with the gallant Friar Tuck (Eugene Palette); Robin and his Forest outlaws giving a warm welcome to Lady Marian and to the treasure's wagon lead by Sir Guy and the High Sheriff ; The Archery Tournament; Robin's Merry Men entering Nottingham Castle; and the magnificent final duel, with a masterful score, between Robin & Sir Guy...

Errol Flynn was the best swashbuckler of the sound era... He was ideally cast as the Saxon knight Sir Robin of Locksley who became a rebel outlaw robbing the rich to feed the poor... With his Merry Men he saved Saxon England against Norman ambitions... His most frequent enemies were the noisy High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melvin Cooper), the evil Bishop of Black Canon (Montagu Love), the eloquent chief conspirator Sir Guy of Gasbourne, and Prince John...

Flynn's splendid figure 'leaping, jumping, scaling and swinging' made him a great leader of men sheltering the old and the helpless... He was a romantic hero 'twinkling' with malice, gallantly courting the exquisite Olivia De Havilland...

Olivia De Havilland was a pretty and delicate woman in love with a brave and reckless outlaw...

Basil Rathbone, superb as the arrogant Sir Guy of Gisbourne, spreads terror by torturing, rivaling Robin for Lady Marian...

Claude Rains was the treacherous prince John who orders his Norman knights to oppress the helpless Saxons suffocating them with thefts, and burning their farms... He vows that Robin must be captured...

Winner of 3 Academy Awards (Art Direction, Original Score and Film Editing) "The Adventures of Robin Hood" is a delighted tale of high adventure, a tale of action and colorful pageantry, a great film for all the family...

I am almost ashamed to say it,but I only recently saw this film for the first time at the ripe old age of 36.After it was over, I thought,"Why on earth did I wait so long?".This is really a fun movie full of adventure,romance,with a healthy dose of laughs. Errol Flynn,by far gives the most credible performance of the Robin Hood character.He oozes charm and wit,here.This film is a great trip back to a special time in movie making when we didn't need extreme sex and violence to entertain us.Now that I have seen it,this movie definitely goes on my video shelf.If you have children,or if you love to feel like one,as I do,I highly suggest you give this a look.Great film.

The other early romanticism take on the Robin Hood legend, aside from the silent Douglas Fairbanks version. This one puts famed Hollywood hell raiser pirate Errol Flynn in the title role of Robin Hood. As would be expected of that scoundrel/scallywag Flynn's famous devil-may-care-heroics, the Flynn Robin Hood outrightly refuses to support Prince John when he commits what Robin views as treachery - trying to get himself made king and abusing the land and the people in what may or may not be the aftermath of his older brother King Ricahrd the Lion-Hearted's death while battling in the crusades. After nearly getting killed by John and Gisbourne's men, Robin goes on the run, with Will Scarlet and along the way acquiring Much, Little John, a cantankerous Friar Tuck, and a whole army of merry men in tights. From there, he becomes the great outlaw we all know and love, fighting Gisbourne, the bumbling Sheriff and Prince John anyway which way he can and sweeps that adorable sweetie pie Maid Marion off her feet.

Sure the costumes may look fake today and the film itself overly colorful, but it's still a fun time. Sure Errol Flynn doesn't have a well articulated British accent either, but at least he doesn't sound like he's from the heart land of America. Flynn is certainly a lot quicker on his feet than Kevin Costner was, which comes in handy when you're in a duel to the death. Basil Rathbone is a fairly menacing Gisbourne, smarter than the Robert Addie or Michael Wincott versions (he looks kind of like Christopher Lee), and Olivia de Havilland is a very pretty Marion without being overly sexual and slutty about it (as was the case with many leading ladies back then). Out of the versions I've seen this is probably the only one where the Sheriff is an idiot and Gisbourne is the real menace (Gisbourne died early in the Kevin Costner verison of Robin Hood, and on TV's "Robin of Sherwood" he was just this weird neurotic guy, and I'm afraid I don't remember the Patrick Bergin version of Robin Hood very well).

There are least five big action sequences here, namely Robin's two escapes from Nottingham, an ambush in Sherwood Forest and the climax between Robin's & King Richard's men at Nottingham castle. Naturally, there is a duel to the death that features shadows on the wall going at it while the actors are off screen. Good stuff, especially for the children.

The first big budget 100% color film, The Adventures of Robin Hood is a rousing, sweet-tempered and big, fun film.

To be candid, many things about the movie have suffered in the 70 years since its release. History, uh, no, there's none of that here. It's all very mythic and fairy tale. The continuity errors shouldn't even be called errors; they are pretty much continuous (so when I found out it won Best Editing at the Oscars I laughed). The score, made much of on the DVD case, and an Oscar winner at the 11th Oscars, is bombastic, repetitive and completely at odds with the scenery at least 80% of the time, IMNSHO.

That said, the dialog still crackles, the costumes are UNBELIEVABLE and gracefully shot, Olivia de Havilland is stunningly gorgeous, Basil Rathbone is young and evil, Claude Rains plays John as gayer than a go go dancer on Pride day, and Errol Flynn takes effortless het masculinity and a beautiful smile further than it should legally be allowed to go. All the bit parts are well cast, and while it's not possible to know for sure, the whole production looks like everyone in it had a scenery chewing bang up good time. The bit parts are SO well cast, that Roy Rogers bought Trigger, the horse that Olivia de Havilland rides, and Trigger then rode out into history.

And when Olivia exclaims "You speak treason!" and Errol replies, purringly, "Fluently!" you'll smile. Recommended; a great movie for the whole family.

I have seen this film so many times over the years, having been introduced to it when I was about 10 by my grandfather, who was a true classic movie fan and grew up watching Errol Flynn on screen.

I have also seen the Kevin Costner version, which although entertaining in its own way mostly thanks to the amazing Alan Rickman, pales in comparison to this version. Heck, the Fox in the Disney version of "Robin Hood" and Cary Elwes as "Robin Hood Men in Tights" were better Robin Hoods than Costner! No, Flynn was meant to play this role.

The supporting cast is also incredible. Claude Rains as Prince John was priceless, and charming in his own malevolent way. Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale, Patric Knowles, and Eugene Palette were also memorable for me in the film.

And, of course, you can't write a review of this film without mentioning the chemistry of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Past or present, very few on-screen couples possess the natural chemistry those two had. They just looked at each other and you could tell there were unresolved feelings there (and there were, both admitted later on). They were just magic on screen together.

There is really something for everyone in this film, and I recommend seeing it.