The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

My Review

Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland star in the classic tale of Robin and girl friend Marian in “The Adventures of Robin Hood.” When Prince John seizes the throne of England, while brother King Richard the Lionheart is away, he overtaxes the people of the land. Robin of the Hood then forms a rebel band in Sherwood Forest to rob from the rich, give to the poor, and fight Norman tyranny. Director Michael Curtiz (“Kid Galahad” 1937) gave this film top rate production values, excellent performances, and good writing by Norman Reilly Raine and Seton I. Miller.

The cast includes Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisbourne, Claude Rains as Prince John, Patrick Knowles as Will Scarlet, Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck, Alan Hale as Little John, Melville Cooper as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Ian Hunter as King Richard the Lionheart, Una O’Connor as Bess, Herbert Mundin as Much, Montagu Love as the Bishop, Carol Landis as a guest at the banquet, and Trigger as Lady Marian’s horse. (Trigger was not yet owned by Roy Rogers.)

The very watchable “The Adventures of Robin Hood” was the eighth highest grossing film of 1938 for producer Hal B. Wallis and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was filmed at various locations throughout California, and nominated for four Academy Awards, winning three – Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, and Best Musical Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold). The non-winner was for Best Picture.