The Adventures of Robin Hood

A film created back in the days when adventuring swashbucklers were considered the "Star Wars" of it's time, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" was the film that established the (notorious ) legendary Errol Flynn and made him a bona fide Hollywood Star. 

The story of the legendary outlaw has been told countless times including in books, songs, comic books, games, television series and the earliest known in the media was in film. 

In this story King Richard the Lionheart (Ian Hunter) has been taken captive in Austria, his no good nick brother Prince John (Claude Rains) takes over the kingdom and raises the taxes over the people to strengthen his army and his hold on the throne. 

The Saxon Robin, Earl of Locksley (Errol Flynn) stands his ground and protects his people by robbing the rich and giving to the poor thus given the name Robin Hood. Robin's main foil in this film is Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) who meets Robin in Sherwood and gets humiliated after attempting to arrest a man who tried to poach the King's deer. 

This man named Much the Miller's son (Herbert Mundin) would go on to join Robin, Will Scarlet (Patric Knowles),  Little John (Alan Hale, Sr.) and the rest of his merry men to challenge Prince John's regime and his enforcers Sir Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper). 

The film is stocked with a great supporting cast and probably one of the best of it's era, here we see Robin romancing the virtuous Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) and engaging in a friendly duel against the hotheaded Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette). 

 The film's brilliant cinematography was also superb as it was supervised by the legendary duo of Tony Gaudio and Sol Polito, creating a beautiful spectacle utilizing the fantastic set pieces on screen. 

The director Michael Curtiz made sure to capture every aspect of Flynn's personality, a man full of enthusiasm for the career making performance and the role he will be most identified with for the rest of his life.

For years I have seen countless Robin Hood interpretations but on film but I must admit "The Adventures of Robin Hood" is the most fun version yet. The most recent adaptation I have seen was the Ridley Scott- Russell Crowe version  and I actually fell asleep on the movie theater while watching it.

I think the difference between other Robin Hood films and this version is the lighthearted approach that the director took in making it. These days film studios are into making films that are more real, gritty and action packed but I think what's missing is the innocence and the exuberance in film making. Every movie these days are too either too serious, too violent or too dark for even kids to watch making films today exhilarating but less interesting. 

After watching this film I must admit that the simple story lines, direct dialogue and the cliche's made it the most fun, the tights that have been parodied and the silly fighting scenes choreographed like dance sequences made the film more unique than it's contemporaries today and that is why it is deemed a classic.

Grade:B+