The Adventures of Robin Hood
(1938), 102 min. Technicolor

The legend of Robin Hood is brought to life in this, my all-time favorite movie, a truly perfect and satisfying film in many ways! Basil Rathbone and Errol Flynn in the same film — who could ask for more? This film has everything: romance, action, suspense, humor, excellent music, and great acting, especially from Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne.

The script for The Adventures of Robin Hood was based on the traditional legends and ballads of Robin Hood and Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe.  It's not a remake of the 1922 Douglas Fairbanks movie Robin Hood, although there is an emphasis on stunts similar to ones in the 1922 movie (e.g. Robin's swinging ride up the cut rope to the top of the Nottingham gate).  The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of the best film versions of a folk legend ever made. Scenes such as Little John on the bridge, Friar Tuck and the river crossing, the archery tournament, the escape from the scaffold ... they're all in this film.

In the year 1190 in England, Prince John (Claude Rains) is ruling the county and oppressing the Saxon elements, while his brother Richard is away at the Crusades. Word comes that King Richard has been captured by the Austrians and is being held for an immense ransom. Prince John exacts heavier taxes and pockets the money for himself.

Sir Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn) has become an outlaw and is known as Robin Hood. Robin Hood is a hero of Saxon resistance against the ruling Normans who misuse and abuse their power and who oppress the poor folk who farm the land. But Robin is steadfastly loyal to King Richard (the Lion-Hearted), who is a Norman ruler. Injustice is Robin's enemy, not the system of government. Armed with a mighty longbow and leading a band of merry men, Robin Hood robs the rich and bestows his takings upon the poor.

Oppression is personified by Sir Guy of Gisbourne, a Norman baron determined to make life miserable for the Saxon peasants in Nottinghamshire, and even more determined to capture and hang Robin Hood, the outlaw. Gisbourne oozes evil throughout the movie and is downright scary. We see Sir Guy in the second scene of the film, right after the announcement that Leopold of Austria is holding King Richard for ransom. Prince John and Sir Guy decide to raise the taxes, supposedly to ransom the king. But ambitious Prince John has no intention of paying the ransom.

In the next scene Gisbourne captures Much, the Miller's Son, who has just killed a deer in Sherwood Forest. Gisbourne informs Much that poaching a royal deer is an offense punishable by death. But Robin Hood appears and, aiming an arrow at Sir Guy, rescues Much. 

Later, in the memorable scene of the banquet in Nottingham Castle, Robin makes a grand entrance with the slain deer slung over his shoulders and presents the freshly killed deer to Prince John as a gift. It is here that Robin is introduced to Lady Marian, a ward of King Richard. It is also here that Robin announces his plans to oppose Prince John.

At this point fighting breaks out and Robin narrowly makes his escape from the castle.

While Gisbourne's men continue to brutalize the peasants, Robin Hood adds Little John and Friar Tuck to his band of faithful followers, the "Merry Men of Sherwood." After Gisbourne's tax gatherers have wrested a large amount of gold and silver from the people, the Sheriff and Gisbourne must journey through Sherwood Forest with the treasure caravan to reach Nottingham Castle. Lady Marian, accompanies them on this journey. Robin and his men ambush the party and reclaim the treasure. The prisoners are invited to the banquet in Sherwood Forest, and Lady Marian begins to understand Robin and feel sympathy for his cause.

Gisbourne and Prince John discuss strategy

Gisbourne and the Sheriff captured by Robin Hood

Completely humiliated, Gisbourne and the Sheriff are sent back to Nottingham in rags. They agree to hold an archery tournament in order to trap Robin Hood. They are confident he won't be able to resist the challenge. (At the archery tournament Robin Hood splits his opponent's arrow. This feat was actually performed by archery expert Howard Hill.) The trap works; Robin is captured and sentenced to hang. To the frustration of Gisbourne, Robin's men help Robin Hood escape from the gallows.

Meanwhile, King Richard and a retinue of five men, all disguised, return to England. Learning of this, Prince John and Gisbourne plot to assassinate the king and crown Prince John the following day. Lady Marian overhears the plan and tries to warn Robin, but Gisbourne arrests her and  charges her with treason.

The coronation ceremony is the climax of the film, followed by the final duel between Flynn and Rathbone, which is masterful. Rathbone shows his skill at fencing and Flynn shows his charm, good looks and athletic ability. Robin and Sir Guy cross swords down a large winding staircase, and knock over tables and candelabra. At one point you see only their shadows on a pillar. Finally Robin kills Sir Guy, who tumbles over a wall and falls spectacularly to the stone floor below. After Gisbourne is killed, Marian is freed, Prince John is ousted, and Richard reigns again. The true king, Richard the Lion-Hearted, gives his blessing as jolly old Friar Tuck unites Robin Hood and Maid Marion in marriage.

An experienced fencer, Basil Rathbone did his own fencing in the film. Fencing instructor Fred Cavens said of Rathbone, "He has excellent form and is the most colorful of all the people I have taught. I doubt that he would do well in competition, but for picture purposes he is better than the best fencer in the world." (quoted in Rupert Alistair's Errol, Olivia & The Merry Men of Sherwood)

Cavens choreographed screen duels to look like sword fights rather than fencing competitions. The resulting duels are glorious to watch. Some of the fencing techniques seen in The Adventures of Robin Hood did not exist in the twelfth century, however; they were developed centuries later. But such historical inaccuracies don't bother us, do they?

Doubling for Rathbone in the fall from the castle staircase during Sir Guy's final duel with Robin, stuntman Fred Graham broke his ankle. Rathbone did his own falling backward over the parapet after Robin ran his sword through him, but he landed on a pile of mattresses. The film shows the stuntman landing with a thud on the hard stone floor, a That fall sent the stuntman to the hospital.

Sir Guy and the Sheriff wearing rags

They must admit their failure to Prince John

When Warner Bros. began working on the script for "The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1935, the studio announced that the film would star James Cagney as Robin Hood and Guy Kibbee as Friar Tuck. However, in a contractual dispute with Warner Bros, Cagney walked out. After Flynn's success with Captain Blood the studio announced that The Adventures of Robin Hood would star Errol Flynn.  

Olivia DeHavilland had acted with Errol Flynn in the 1935 film Captain Blood. Their chemistry was so genuine that Warner Bros paired them in multiple films, including The Adventures of Robin Hood. Rathbone had also acted with both Olivia and Errol in Captain Blood.

In his book about the making of The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol, Olivia & The Merry Men of Sherwood), author Rupert Alistair wrote that when Claude Rains was cast as the scheming Prince John, he wasn't sure how to approach the part. "But when he learned that he would be wearing a rust-colored, heavily banged pageboy bob, he confided in his daughter that 'all the henna, ermine and brocade' inspired him to play the prince as 'tacitly homosexual.'"

Trivia:

• When King Richard and his nobles open their cloaks to reveal themselves, we see that they are wearing costumes emblazoned with a large cross on the front—costumes that identify them as Knights of the Crusades. Although the reveal is very dramatic, the costume is historically inaccurate. Crusaders wore the cross on the front when leaving for the Holy Land. When returning home, they wore the cross on the back of the tunic.

• Rathbone was earning $6000 per week as a freelance actor in 1938.

• The horse that Maid Marion rode was named Golden Cloud. He later became famous as Roy Roger's horse Trigger.

• Kenneth Hunter, who played Sir Mortimer, was the brother of Ian Hunter (King Richard).

• Alan Hale, who played Little John, also played Little John in the 1922 Fairbanks film Robin Hood.

• Owen the Welshman was played by world champion archer Howard Hill.

• Most of the Sherwood Forest scenes were filmed in Bidwell Park, a 2400 acre natural park in Chico, California, about 350 miles north of Los Angeles. A few scenes were shot at a nearby forest named Sherwood Forest after being used for location shots in the Fairbanks film. The archery tournament was filmed at the old Busch Gardens in Pasadena.

After two years of research and with a budget of $1,185,000, shooting began on September 26, 1937. The original director was William Keighley. Two months later, when the picture was behind schedule and over budget, the studio replaced Keighley with Michael Curtiz, who had directed Captain Blood and The Charge of the Light Brigade, among others.

Erich Korngold, a classical composer who felt inadequate to write the score for a 90% action film, was persuaded by Warner Bros to try it on a week-to-week basis, with the option to quit at any time. He stuck it out and ultimately won an Academy Award for his wonderful score.

Shooting ended January 14, 1938.  General release in the USA was originally planned for February; because of the delays, the film was not released until May 1938.

The film was shot in three-color Technicolor, a new procedure at that time, and only the third Technicolor feature made by Warners. The final cost of producing The Adventures of Robin Hood was about $2,000,000 — at that time the most expensive picture ever produced by Warner Bros. But the picture was a hit, grossing almost twice that amount in 1938.

Academy Awards, 1938
Erich Wolfgang Korngold — music
Ralph Dawson — editing
Carl Jules Weyl — art direction
The film was nominated for Best Picture, but did not win.

Sir Guy reacts to Robin's defiance

Robin Hood bows before Lady Marian

Visit the Turner Classic Movies website to see a few great video clips from the film, including the trailer:

Watch the climactic final battle and duel between Robin Hood and Sir Guy (choreographed by Fred Cavens):

See Page Two for more reviews and photos from the film. See Page Three for pictures of posters, lobby cards and promo photos.

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Images on this page and pages 2 and 3 are from "The Adventures of Robin Hood," copyright Warner Bros. Films.

Sources:  
The Adventures of Robin Hood, Rudy Behlmer, ed., Wisconsin/Warner Bros. Screenplay Series, copyright 1979, The University of Wisconsin Press.
Swordsmen of the Screen by Jeffrey Richards, copyright 1977, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

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All original content is copyright Marcia Jessen, 2024