The
Adventures of Robin Hood
Dir. Michael Curtiz, 1938.
Even as the
opening credits roll at the beginning of the film, one thought ought to occur
to every viewer: this movie looks good. It looks amazingly good, and the
vivid reds and greens are brilliant and bright, in all of their original
Technicolor glory. The remastered DVD version is so
clear, in fact, that you can nearly see the brushstrokes on the grey paint on
each castle wall. Once you're past all that, it's easy to get lost in this
vibrant adventure film, and marveling at the set design and the fantastical
costumes becomes an enjoyable part of the viewing experience.
The film opens
with a baroque musical score, and the score carries us through the forests of
Sherwood until we meet our hero, Errol Flynn's Robin Hood. He rides up and
poses with an accompanying flourish, to protect a man named Much
from being arrested for killing a deer on the king's land. Afterward, he storms
into Prince John's great dining hall with the royal deer on his back, where his
vainglorious pride gets him invited to dinner (supposed to be a prelude to his
execution), and he catches the eye of the lovely lady Marian. Uniting the
oppressed populace against the traitorous would-be usurper, Robin gives a
rousing speech that inspires the outlaws all over England, and he organizes a
kidnapping of John and his enforcer, Guy of Gisbourne,
as they are escorting Marian through the forest. After seeing in Robin’s camp
both the poverty and the patriotism of the English people, who await the great
King Richard's return from the Crusades, Marian has to admit her love for
Robin, despite his being a Saxon rogue, and she a
noble Norman. She tells John how the brave Sir Robin is the only man who
recognizes the troubles of the English people. Sentenced to death for her
insolence, she needn't worry—Robin will save her. After reuniting with the
returning Richard, Robin and his men stage an exciting rescue, complete with a
magnificent sword fight that claims the life of Guy, and reclaims the throne
for the lion-hearted Richard. Marian gets her man, England gets its king back,
and the movie gets its happy ending with the exile of John and the union of
Robin to Maid Marian.
Despite its
formulaic plot and predictable Romeo-and-Juliet romance, this is a fun movie to
watch, even now. The costumes alone are worth it, as the remastered
footage brings out the splendor for each sequined purple robe and every bright
green pair of “12th Century” tights. Young Hollywood's love for
ornamentation is a bit laughable, but always fun, and
the costumes add to the mise-en-scene as each crowd
shot seems to have been filmed using very large, tall crane rigs. It's an epic
with a very epic feel, but it has all of the humor of a light-hearted comedy,
and is honestly still amusing for the right reasons. Flynn's aloofness makes
for a very humorous experience, and yet the film hits all of the dramatic notes
with equal aplomb. Marian turns a blind eye to the suffering of the Saxons at
first, but after discovering the love of an honest man and seeing the suffering
of the English people, she can't help but stand in defiance of John, despite
that it earns her the death sentence. “England is bigger than Normans and
Saxons,” she says, although it's one of Robin's lines that proves
the most effective. He tells Marian why he doesn't blame John or the Normans
for England's troubles, but rather he faults Richard for abandoning his people.
Which is why, in the face of death and the charge of treason, he must stand by
his people and watch over them until they can be redeemed and set free from
tyranny. It's a good end to a good movie, and it's a little surprising to see
that something so ornately antiquated, by Hollywood's modern standards, can
still be so affecting.
Jeff
Candela