The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
"The Adventures of Robin Hood" is a 1938 film produced by Warner Bros., presenting a romanticized retelling of the classic English folk legend. The film features Errol Flynn as the charismatic Robin Hood, who, alongside an all-star cast including Olivia de Havilland as Lady Marian and Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne, battles against the authoritarian rule of Prince John. With a budget exceeding $2 million, the film was notable for its use of Technicolor, offering vibrant visuals that enhanced its storytelling.
Screenwriter Norman Reilly Raine, with Seton I. Miller, integrated traditional elements from Robin Hood ballads while modernizing the narrative to emphasize themes of social equality and individualism, resonating with audiences during a time of global political tension. Directed initially by William Keighley and later completed by Michael Curtiz, the film received critical acclaim, winning Academy Awards for art direction, editing, and original score, composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
As the U.S. emerged from the Great Depression, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" became a cultural touchstone, illustrating the virtues of anti-authoritarianism and setting a high standard for future filmmaking in Hollywood.
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The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
Identification Romantic film adaptation of a classic English folktale
Directors William Keighley and Michael Curtiz
Date Released on May 14, 1938
A romantic epic, The Adventures of Robin Hood was a product of the Hollywood studio system, providing a classic but modernized story line to a mass public tired of economic displacement and wary of rising political unrest in the world.
In the spring of 1938, Warner Bros. released The Adventures of Robin Hood to general audiences across the United States, three months after deadline and with production costs of more than $2 million. The film combined acting, writing, production, musical, technical, and directorial talent into a modern, romantic retelling of a popular English folk legend. Reviews were nearly uniformly positive. The film received Academy Awards for best art direction, best editing, and best original score.
Although screenwriter Norman Reilly Raine, in conjunction with Seton I. Miller, incorporated traditional elements of the legendary Robin Hood ballads, such as Robin’s quarterstaff duel with Little John, he modernized the story by depicting Robin as a charismatic, heroic individual committed to social equality while cheerfully exhibiting personal contempt toward the illegitimacy of authoritarian Norman usurpers. With a faithful conformity to the script, director William Keighley cast Errol Flynn as Sir Robin of Locksley. Flynn’s swashbuckling performance was complemented by an all-star supporting cast, featuring the graceful beauty Olivia de Havilland as Lady Marian Fitzwalter; Basil Rathbone as the conniving, duplicitous Sir Guy of Gisbourne; and Claude Rains as the villainous Prince John.
Because the film was overbudget and off schedule, Warner Bros. replaced director Keighley in November, 1937, with the Hungarian workhorse director Michael Curtiz, who finished production. The film was produced in Technicolor, using a three-color dye transfer process that was richly hued. Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed the original, romantic orchestral score, for which he won an Academy Award.
Impact
By 1938, the United States was slowly beginning to emerge from the worldwide economic depression precipitated by the stock market crash of 1929. As the nations of the world transitioned out of the Great Depression, they were awakened to the dangers of emergent authoritarianism in the form of fascism in Germany and Italy and totalitarianism in the Soviet Union. The Adventures of Robin Hood romanticized the American virtues of individualism, social equality, and antiauthoritarianism. The work set the filmmaking standard for the Hollywood studio system.
Bibliography
Knight, Stephen, ed. Robin Hood: Anthology of Scholarship and Criticism. Cambridge, England: D. S. Brewer, 1999.
Nollen, Scott Allen. Robin Hood: A Cinematic History of the English Outlaw and His Scottish Counterparts. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1999.
Nugent, Frank S. “The Screen: Errol Flynn Leads His Merry Men to the Music Hall in The Adventures of Robin Hood.” The New York Times, May 13, 1938, p. 17.
Potter, Lois, ed. Playing Robin Hood: The Legend as Performance in Five Centuries. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1998.