The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Reviewed

Original Review

The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938 is a film that owes its reputation, I believe, to faulty memories. This is a film I would like to like. But I can't. It ought to be a great film. But it isn't. Errol Flynn as Robin Hood and Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne are both excellent in their roles, and the legend of Robin Hood is rich with possibilities for tales of adventure, romance, treachery, and heroism. Alas, this version is a drudgery to behold, nay, a torture. Claude Rains' talent as a general anaesthetic permeates the film until the last scene. Flynn may be charming as the hero, but the combat scenes defy believability even for swashbuckling fare. I'm sure the garish Technicolor was dazzling in its day, but the film never gives one a sense of place other than that of a Hollywood set. The writing is unforgivably bland, the directing is uninspired, and the all-around inferior quality of the acting is a sad consequence of both. Somehow, though, Flynn's panache shines through the dismal shambles in which he finds himself, and perhaps it is this alone that has contributed to this film's undeserved status as a classic. At all other levels, one can't help thinking it could have been done better—much better.

Writing: Terrible
Directing: Poor
Acting: Mediocre
Cinematography: Fair
Stunts: Fair
Swordplay: Fair
Panache: Great

Overall Rating: Mediocre
Swashbuckling Rank: Fair Good


[Originally posted in Cuparius.com on 21 August 2006.]

Extended Review

It has been 17 years since I wrote my first review of The Adventures of Robin Hood, and in the interest of fairness and an awareness of how my perception may have changed after having seen many more swashbuckling movies in the intervening years, I thought it would be wise to give it another viewing. My opinion of it has indeed changed. I chuckle now at the offense I took at its shortcomings—as if it ever aspired to be anything more than what it proclaimed itself to be (and succeeded at being): a romantic adventure movie clothed in legendry. It really is better than I remembered, and I'm not sure whether it's because I've seen so many more movies that fall short of it or because I have greater understanding of the importance of it in the context of the era in which it was made: a world in the grip of the Great Depression and on the brink of another World War. It truly was an inspirational movie as well as an escapist one. And it was genuinely well made. In many regards, it was good enough, but in others it was excellent. It is a marvel of set design and, in some scenes, fight choreography. The final duel between Robin Hood and Sir Guy is spectacular. It's an exciting and heartfelt movie that may not be the best swashbuckling movie or the best Robin Hood movie or the best Errol Flynn movie, but it's a good movie in all of those categories. I can appreciate it now.

Writing: Fair
Directing: Fair
Acting: Fair
Cinematography: Good
Stunts: Good
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Great

Overall Rating: Good
Swashbuckling Rank: Good/Great

Written by: Norman Reilly Raine and Seton I. Miller
Directed by: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley
Performed by: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, et al.