As is obvious from the picture above, this movie is in Technicolor, which wasn't exactly new in 1938, but hadn't been used very often. When people think of older movies, they think 'black-and-white.' Well, most of them were, but not all. And when you see a movie in Technicolor, the colors are just fantastic. And that only adds to the glamor and spectacle of Robin Hood, and it holds up even today, over eighty years later.
I was going to say that most people already know the basic plot of this movie, but then I remembered that for most modern viewers, Kevin Costner or Russell Crowe are more relevant as the iconic hero. And Costner's turn as Robin Hood was, shall we say, pretty liberal with the basic plot. A Moorish ally? No Prince John? Marian sword-fighting? Not exactly historically accurate. I haven't seen Crowe's version, so I can't comment on it, other than to say there's no way it's anywhere near as good as this one.
So, let's recap the plot. Prince John wants the throne of England. His brother, King Richard III, is a prisoner in France, and John has no intention of paying the ransom to get him back. He's going to collect it via increased taxes, but he's not actually going to give it to the French just to get his brother back. So, while the Norman soldiers are busy taking everything they can from the Saxon peasants, the Saxon noble, Sir Robin of Locksley, takes exception to their actions. He even breaks into Prince John's celebratory feast and eats venison with them, meeting Maid Marian in the process. Big fight scene, he escapes, you know the drill.
Later on, he captures the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisborne while intercepting a shipment of gold for John's coffers. Marian is with them, and realizes that Robin isn't the heartless killer her Norman relations keep saying he is. Later, she learns of a plot to assassinate the escaped King Richard, but is in turn caught by Gisborne before she can warn Robin. He finds Richard anyway and has a big climactic fight with Gisborne at John's coronation. Afterward, he gets Richard's blessing to marry Marian, and they live happily ever after. Or so we assume, since that part wasn't filmed.
This wasn't the first film version of Robin Hood; the original swashbuckling movie star, Douglas Fairbanks, played him in the 1922 movie. That one was both silent and black-and-white, and not too many people today will have seen it. I've got it downloaded, of course. But Fairbanks version, while entertaining, can't match up to Flynn's absolute command of the screen and his almost-perfect embodiment of the character. Flynn's chemistry with DeHavilland is off-the-charts; they made quite a few movies together over their careers, although they were never involved off-screen (though they should have been).
The fight scenes are iconic, particularly the climactic one. And the supporting cast are pitch-perfect, including Little John, played by Alan Hale Sr., the father of the future Skipper of Gilligan's Island, and Friar Tuck, played by Eugene Pallette, who had a habit of playing feisty clergy (he was also the priest in The Mark of Zorro, starring Tyrone Power). The soundtrack is stirring and martial, and the cinematography rules.
I can't say enough about this movie; it's absolutely perfect, one of the greatest movies ever made. You can keep your Citizen Kane; give me Robin Hood all day long.
I've got my own medieval adventure stories available as well; they aren't as iconic as Robin Hood, of course, but they're full of action and excitement, minus the music. Check out the first two book of the Chronicles of Meterra: Arrival and The Devil's Playground, available in e-book or paperback format.
No comments:
Post a Comment