The Adventures of Robin Hood - Michael Curtiz & William Keighley
Unedited Thoughts - This is part of my unedited thoughts series.
In my review of The Matrix I talk about the production houses logo’s been modified and we know we are in for something special. Well turns out this wasn’t anything new. The Warner Brothers logo is presented as heraldry here – neat stuff.
A huge focus of this telling of the tale is Saxons vs Normans. I had never seen this reading before and it was not nuanced at all. Ten to fifteen mentions in the first ten minutes – just in case we forgot.
All the characters are well handled and everyone has agency – there are no bit parts. Maid Marion is a stand out here – she is no damsel in distress. Errol Flynn is great as Robin.
It has dated pretty well apart from a few action scenes. The large fight at the end is almost comical because of the ‘clink clink’ of fake swords. There is another scene where you see a halberd bend – presumably because it is foam or plastic or something.
All of our favourite supporting characters are here from Little John to Friar Tuck. All well played and distinct from each other – a great supporting cast in all.
The story is pretty well done but there are some big problems as well. A key plot point is that Prince John learns of Kind Richard’s return shortly after his return. This is handled rather poorly. The Bishop, who is on Prince John’s side just happens to be in the inn that the King is staying at.
The plot surrounding Main Marion toward the end is questionable. Guy of Gisborn accuses her of aiding Robin escape hanging. Which apparently she did – but because we didn’t see how or what she did the whole threat and her ordered execution just feels hollow.
There isn’t anything that indicates that it is an inside job apart from her saying that she has a plan. What actually occurs could easily have been done without her involvement so how Guy comes to this conclusion is anyone’s guess. Without seeing her involvement OR how guy decides that she is involved is just bad storytelling.
If you thought that was bad her rescue is much worse. Her servant tells her lover to get word to Robin. The lover attacks an assassin who is going to kill the king – fine up until this point. The lover is left knocked unconscious in the forest somewhere.
Will Scarlet just happens to find him and takes word to Robin – all in time to save Marion. The contrivance and coincidence is completely ridiculous and unnecessary.
Overall the film is good. Great performances and a good story around well known characters. The interwoven plot falls to pieces at the end and the whole film suffers greatly for it.
