We decided to round out out our Errol Flynn Fest with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), directed by the thrilling Michael Curtiz.
I guess I won't go through the whole story. I'll mention that Alan Hale (Skipper's dad) plays Little John, Eugene Pallette plays Friar Tuck as a glutton and master swordsman. Prince John is Claude Rains and the sheriff of Nottingham is played as a sort of nothing by Melville Cooper. The best villain is, of course, Basil Rathbone as Guy of Gisbourne. Olivia de Havilland is ornamental as Maid Marion, but a bit underused. Una O'Connor as her maid is a lot of fun.
And Flynn is great as Robin. He does a lot of the old throw-the-head-back-and-laugh - can we bring that back a little? There are a bunch of great fights - one where he walks into Prince John's banquet with a poached deer, eats dinner with the court, insults everyone and then fights his way out.
And of course, the famous final fight between Flynn and Rathbone. Rathbone was an Army fencing champion and gave Flynn a lot of coaching. the fight is fast, with some nice staircase work and camera choreography. Maybe not the greatest, but way up there.
In concl/usion, I'd forgotten how Saxon vs. Norman this movie was. Do we have to bring nationalities into this?
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