Robin Hood: The Conclusions Part 2

ROBIN HOOD: THE CONCLUSIONS 

PART 2

I've already given my rankings on what I think are the most important elements of the Robin Hood mythos. Now we're going to touch on other elements, primarily on the secondary characters such as the various Merry Men.

It's a curious thing that while all the Robin Hood films so far have featured Robin, Marian and the Sheriff, a few versions have cut out other characters altogether. Out of the Merry Men only two have appeared in all ten of the versions for this retrospective. Not even monarchy is spared, as some Robin Hood films do not feature either King Richard the Lion-Heart or his villainous brother, Prince John.

However, we're getting ahead of ourselves.  Now, to look at the various Merry Men and Monarchs. As last time they will be ranked from best to worst and the year of their film given.

BEST LITTLE JOHN

1. Alan Hale (1922/1938)*
2. Nicol Williamson (1976)
3. Nick Brimble (1991)
4. Phil Harris (1973)
5. James Robertson Justice (1952)
6. Leon Greene (1967)
7. Eric Allan Kramer (1993)
8. Kevin Durand (2010)
9. Jamie Foxx (2018)

It seems a bit of a cheat to have Alan Hale be our Best Little John since he played the part not once, not twice, but three times: in the original silent Robin Hood, in The Adventures of Robin Hood and in Rogues of Sherwood Forest in 1950 which I did not watch for this retrospective. He was 30 when he first romped through Sherwood Forest, then 46, then 58: a remarkable run.

However, his three-times-lucky interpretation is not what makes him the best. What gives him this honor is that he really captures the devil-may-care attitude of Little John, a rascal who enjoys a good fight and who is loyal to Robin. Williamson, while not a devil-may-care figure, at least had the loyalty part down. He played an older, more mature Little John, so one can cut him some slack when it comes to romps.

Brimble edges out Harris only in that the former does look more imposing physically, and we also see him as a family man who is less interested in fighting than in defending his home. Harris is hampered by the fact he's basically playing Baloo from The Jungle Book.  It was pleasant and I have nothing negative to say about it, but doing the same character in a different setting does not cut it.

The others I rank only be degree of memorability. I can't remember much from Justice, Greene or Kramer, but I do remember that Durand was basically there. As for Foxx, he has many negatives against him.

First, he is not Little John, but Azeem from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves by another name. Second, he's probably the shortest Little John in film history at 5' 9".  Third, he was not a major part of 2018's Robin Hood. Once he trained the 'not-Batman', he basically disappeared, popping up only when needed. The fact that he had his hand cut off was also a daft decision among many daft decisions.

BEST FRIAR TUCK

1. James Hayter (1952/1967)
2. Eugene Pallette (1938)
3. Tim Minchin (2018)
4. Andy Devine (1973)
5. Mark Addy (2010)
6. Mike McShane (1991)
7. Mel Brooks (1993 as Rabbi Tuckman) 
8. Willard Louis (1922)
9. Ronnie Baker (1976)

Another case of a slight unfairness in the rankings. James Hayter played our good Friar twice: in 1952's The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and 1967's A Challenge for Robin Hood. What elevates him beyond just his repeat appearance is that, more than any other Friar Tuck, Hayter balances the idea of the fat, jolly friar and the skilled swordsman. There is a delight, almost a cuddliness to Hayter's Friar, but he is able to be dramatic. We see this when he secretly observes the murder of his patron in A Challenge for Robin Hood.  Hayter for the most part, was a delight as Friar Tuck: a mix of piety and mirth, who could rattle off quips and keep the faith equally.

Pallette comes a very close second as he is an ideal Friar Tuck: rotund, with a fondness for drink and food but with faith, even if he is almost perpetually crabby and not as jolly as he could be. In a surprising turn, Tim Minchin finds himself among the better Friar Tucks and about the only real positive aspect of 2018's Robin Hood. A little too hipster in this oddball reimagining with his knit cap, at least Minchin's Friar had a personality: that of the eager but bumbling cleric. Perhaps I should knock him down for being the least religious of the various friars, but on the whole he did better than everyone else.

Devine was not divine as our badger Friar, but he was probably the more compassionate when it came to tending his flock. Addy edges McShane in that I think he seemed to at least be trying and McShane's Friar just seemed to be there to show 'Christian bigotry' against the Muslim. To his credit he at least recognized when he was wrong but there wasn't much to him.

Brooks' Rabbi Tuckman was a bit of Hebrew humor in the surprisingly unfunny Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and I genuinely do not remember Louis or Baker.

BEST WILL SCARLET

1. Patrick Knowles (1938)
2. Bud Geary (1922)
3. Delholm Elliot (1976)
4. Scott Grimes (2010)
5. Douglas Mitchell (1967)
6. Anthony Forwood (1952)
7. Christian Slater (1991)
8. Matthew Porretta (1993 as Will Scarlet O'Hara)
9. Jamie Dorman (2018)

Will Scarlet is the least disposable of our Disposable Merry Men, appearing in every version seen for this retrospective save the 1973 animated version. I think Scarlet's absence there is due to the focus of the Robin-John relationship to everything else.

Why is Knowles the best Will Scarlet? I put it to the fact he is the one that stood out over the others. My memories on the rascally Scarlet are pretty thin, but I think Geary did more than Grimes, who probably was better than memory holds. Elliott, however, edges Grimes in that his Scarlet seemed to be an actual friend of the ageing Robin even if I find his casting a bit odd.

The 1967 and 1952 versions were neither memorable or horrible, but we then descend to some awful performances. It's amazing that Christian Slater was held as the 'appeal to the youth', and his efforts at an English accent should be more mocked than Costner's failure to even try. However, Poretta ranks lower because he did nothing. He was given this silly name of Will Scarlet O'Hara (who is from Georgia) and then that's pretty much it.

Dornan was just a disaster. He cannot act, or at least I have yet to see him give an actual performance. Granted, I've seen him only in those awful Fifty Shades films, but he is a major reason for why they are so awful. Sure, I suppose he has a nice body though in Robin Hood he can't show it off. He cannot show any emotion and to top that off, for reasons unknown his Will (Scarlet) Tillman is set up to be a villain in the sequel that will never come. It's just cringe-inducing.

BEST KING RICHARD

1. Wallace Beery (1922)
2. Ian Hunter (1938)
3. Sean Connery (1991)
4. Peter Ustinov (1973)
5. Patrick Barr (1952)
6. Patrick Stewart (1993)
7. Danny Huston (2010)
8. Richard Harris (1976)

The 1967 A Challenge for Robin Hood and 2018's Robin Hood are the only versions to exclude King Richard I from the screen. In a surprising turn, Wallace Beery's more merry monarch tops this list, especially since Beery was not known for a jolly manner. His Richard could be harsh, but on the whole he was the noble Lion-Heart we all know and love.

Hunter keeps to this tradition, though he also keeps to the tradition of being a smaller part of the story. Connery and Ustinov essentially made cameos, with the former causing laughter at the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves screening. At least he had a purpose, which Ustinov didn't.

As a side note, Connery is the only actor to appear in two different roles in Robin Hood films: the older Robin in Robin and Marian and King Richard in Prince of Thieves.

I do not remember Barr, and Stewart was just there to spoof Connery. Huston and Harris are from the new tradition of making Richard I a villain, an evil character. We saw this in Robin and Marian where Richard committed war crimes, something that the dark Robin Hood of 2010 kept. Harris however gets voted the worst because he was just so hammy.

BEST PRINCE JOHN

1. Claude Rains (1938)
2. Peter Ustinov (1973)
3. Sam De Grasse (1922)
4. Hubert Gregg (1952)
5. Richard Lewis (1993)
6. Oscar Isaac (2010)
7. Ian Holm (1976 as King John)

Our wicked John Lackland has failed to appear on three occasions: 1967's A Challenge for Robin Hood, 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and 2018's Robin Hood. Most often it is because the Sheriff takes on the primary villain role.

However, The Adventures of Robin Hood is perfectly able to balance the three villains (Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisbourne) by giving each distinctive personalities. I don't think there has been a better version than Claude Rains, who remains my favorite actor of all time. He is shrewd and camp at the same time, a bit fey but no less dangerous.

Claude Rains is just the best in anything he does. Take that as a standing recommendation.

Ustinov made Prince John into a totally comic and inept figure, which is what the role required. His hissy fits, his Mommy fixation all work to make Prince John the inept foil to our fox.  De Grasse was more villainous than normal, but without the ability Rains had. I don't remember Gregg and I cut Lewis some slack in that he was meant to be comic.

Poor Isaac was nothing in 2010's Robin Hood and did nothing except scream and show off how fit he was. Holm ranks at the bottom only because he was basically a cameo.

BEST ALAN-A-DALE

1. Roger Miller (1973)
2. Bud Geary (1922)
3. Eric Flynn (1967)
4. Alan Doyle (2010)
5. Elton Hayes (1952)

Our balladeer Alan-a-Dale is the most disposable of our Disposable Merry Men. He has been absent in a record five of the ten Robin Hood films in this retrospective, not appearing in 1938, 1976, 1991, 1993 and the most recent version in 2018.

Out of all his appearances, the best one was done by an animated rooster. It helps when the balladeer is the legendary Roger Miller, who brings his country charms to our kid-friendly version. He also has three songs, all of which are effective. While most love Oo-De-Lally and Whistle Stop (both quite charming), his Not in Nottingham is quite dark and sad, perfect for the mood.

I genuinely cannot remember the others save for Hayes, and I remember him for being so horribly annoying I wanted to smash his lute over his head.

We have come to the end of our Robin Hood Retrospective, at least for now. I may find other Robin Hood films and integrate them later, and despite common sense I figure we'll get another Robin Hood film within my lifetime.

If so, it will dutifully be added, but no matter what I do not see any other version coming close to overtaking 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood as the standard to which all other Robin Hoods are measured.

Robin Hood: The Conclusions Part 1

ROBIN HOOD: THE CONCLUSIONS

PART 1

Well, we've come to the end of our Robin Hood retrospective. Ten films, including two previously reviewed Robin Hood films before the latest version came earlier this year. Now it is time to take another look, though perhaps not a final one, at this story of the outlaw who 'robbed from the rich to give to the poor'.

Once again, the films are:

1922: Robin Hood
1938: The Adventures of Robin Hood
1952: The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
1967: A Challenge for Robin Hood
1973: Robin Hood (animated version)
1976: Robin and Marian
1991: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1993: Robin Hood: Men in Tights
2010: Robin Hood
2018: Robin Hood (originally titled Robin Hood: Origins)

This is a very expansive topic, and perhaps in the future I may revisit it for a more in-depth analysis; for now, let's stick to looking at just my rankings. This section covers the primary characters. In Part 2, I will look at the Merry Men, some of whom do not appear in some Robin Hood films.

They are ranked in order from best to worst, with brief thoughts following. To help sort out who goes where, I've added the year next to the name.

BEST ROBIN HOOD

1. Errol Flynn (1938) (29 years old: tied for youngest with Taron Egerton)
2. Brian Bedford (1973) (38 years old)
3. Douglas Fairbanks (1922) (39 years old)
4. Sean Connery (1976) (46 years old: tied for oldest with Russell Crowe)
5. Cary Elwes (1993) (31 years old)
6. Kevin Costner (1991) (36 years old)
7. Richard Todd (1952) (33 years old)
8. Russell Crowe (2010) (46 years old: tied for oldest with Sean Connery)
9. Taron Egerton (2018) (29 years old: tied for youngest with Errol Flynn)
10. Barrie Ingham (1967) (35 years old)

It's been eighty years since The Adventures of Robin Hood premiered, and yet no one has ever been able to dislodge Errol Flynn as the definitive Robin Hood. He really put the 'merry' in the Merry Men, and there's a reason the spoof was called Men in Tights.  Flynn's lusty portrayal of the Saxon nobleman turned outlaw is still what we think of when we think of Robin Hood: the outfit, the swagger, the laughter and charm. No matter how one goes about it, either in embracing the image as the animated version or spoof did, or trying to get away from it as the two most recent versions have, there simply is no getting around Flynn's version.

For good or bad, everyone else save Flynn was out-acted by an animated fox. Bedford's version has Flynn's swagger and devil-may-care manner and more importantly, his charm. He edges out Fairbanks, who today may come across as rather outlandish. However, Douglas edges out Connery only in that Fairbanks was the original to whom Flynn's portrayal owes a great debt to. I also give Fairbanks points for being almost 40 and still being so wildly athletic. Connery's Robin still has that bit of a rascal to him, but he is an older, more mature Robin, one tinged with regret.

Elwes' quip about "unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent" was clearly a dig at Costner, but six out of the ten actors who have played Robin have been British (I figure Egerton would argue he's Welsh and Connery would say Scottish, but why quibble). Two have been Australian (Flynn and Crowe) and two American (Fairbanks and Costner). Fairbanks, however, was in a silent film, so there was no accent to speak of. Elwes ranks higher because he balanced the derring-do with the spoof, showing he could easily play a straight Robin. Costner, accent aside, at least was of a better age than Todd, who despite being 33 looked younger. Also, who really remembers Richard Todd as Robin Hood versus Kevin Costner (accent aside)?

Todd at least was better than the growly, morose and crabby Crowe doing Gladiator: Medieval Times. He was nearing 50, a pretty odd age to start a franchise of seeing him leaping about Sherwood Forest. Once again age plays an issue as we go down the list, as Crowe at least looked like an adult worn down by war versus the youthful Egerton, who made Robin look like a cosplayer. Isn't it interesting that while Flynn and Egerton were the same age when they played Robin, one looked like an adult and one didn't?

Finally, Ingham was my worst because he just gave a bad performance.

BEST MAID MARIAN

1. Olivia de Havilland (1938) (22 years old: tied for youngest with Joan Rice)
2. Audrey Hepburn (1976) (47 years old: oldest Maid Marian)
3. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (1991) (33 years old)
4. Amy Yasbeck (1993) (31 years old)
5. Joan Rice (1952) (22 years old: tied for youngest with Olivia de Havilland)
6. Monica Evans (1976) (36 years old)
7. Enid Bennett (1922) (29 years old)
8. Cate Blanchett (2010) (41 years old)
9. Eve Hewson (2018) (27 years old)
10. Gay Hamilton (1967) (24 years old)

It is extraordinary that as of this writing, Dame Olivia de Havilland is still with us at age 102. She really is 'the last movie star', or at least one of the last figures from that so-called "Golden Age of Cinema" still with us.

It was a really tough race to decide between de Havilland and Hepburn, but in the end, I gave the thinnest of edges to de Havilland due to the character's evolution. In The Adventures of Robin Hood, we see her transformation from haughty Norman royal ward to an English rose, one who sees beyond prejudice to help Robin. The passion Marian develops for Robin is in her performance, and you marvel at how youthful and beautiful both Marian and de Havilland are.

Hepburn maintained her great beauty even as she advanced in age, and in Robin and Marian we see a woman filled with love for Robin but who has moved on. As the Mother Abbess she is strong, even independent, but the sight of Robin sparks within her those old feelings of tenderness. Her final speech to a dying Robin are so beautifully rendered.

Mastrantonio deserves credit for developing, or at least pushing, the idea of Maid Marian in a better direction. Less 'damsel-in-distress' and more 'warrior princess', her Marian at least initially started out capable of holding her own. No cinematic version yet has given Marian a stronger persona, but Mastrantonio at least was a step in the right direction. Yasbeck knew that Men in Tights was a spoof but she didn't make Marian into an idiot. In certain ways, she was much smarter than the himbo Robin.

I'm giving Rice a slight edge in that unlike other Marians, she at least did something. Evans was pretty as our vixen, but she disappeared for a lot of Robin Hood to where I forgot she was there. Bennett was a bit too fluttery as Marian.

Dear me but Blanchett was horrendous as Marian, with no enthusiasm and almost a contempt for the whole thing. She at least had some sense, which is more than I can saw for Hewson, who was nothing. Even Hewson's blank performance was better than Hamilton, who was there in body but not in anything else.

BEST SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM

1. Alan Rickman (1991)
2. Melville Cooper (1938)
3. Robert Shaw (1976)
4. Pat Buttram (1973)
5. Peter Finch (1952)
6. William Lowery (1922)
7. Roger Rees (1993)
8. John Arnatt (1952)
9. Matthew Macfayden (2010)
10. Ben Mendelsohn (2018)

While the Sheriff of Nottingham has appeared in every Robin Hood story, he is not always the villain curiously enough. We'll look at the antagonists a little later, but for now we're staying with our wicked Sheriff.

There is really only one performer who has made the Sheriff into an iconic role, and that is the late-and-much-missed Rickman as our bonkers Sheriff. His performance is in turns malevolent and almost mirthful, a figure who knows he's evil and makes no apologies for it. He pushes camp without going full-on overboard, someone who is clearly a menace but who is almost childlike in his manner. Whether it's his command to 'cancel Christmas' or his lusting after the Maid Marian, Rickman commands the screen so much he blows everyone away. The film may be Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but it's the Sheriff who leaves a major impression to where he might as well be the star of the film.

Cooper is unique among Sheriffs in that he is clearly comic relief, as far away from Rickman's version as one can get. Actually, he's as far away from any version of the Sheriff. He is clearly an idiot, blustering fool who is of no menace to anyone. However, that's the performance that it was meant to be. Again, unlike other Robin Hood films, his Sheriff was not the antagonist, otherwise it would have been a short film. Cooper manages to be comical without it seeming totally idiotic to think he'd be the Sheriff. It's a great balance and a credit to him as an actor.

Shaw's Sheriff was more calculating, more methodical. He was not the raging, bonkers Rickman or the blustery Cooper. Instead, he was more than willing to bide his time until Robin came to him. He is a confident antagonist, which makes him a more menacing one.  Buttram was just nasty, fitting for a wolf, and his unique voice got some of the humor without losing the meanness of his Sheriff.

We forget Finch was in a Robin Hood film, which is why he ranks somewhere in the middle. He was not bad, but his performance was not in the same level as his later career would be. I don't really remember Lowery, but he ranks higher because Rees' spoof was not as funny as it could have been.

Arnatt was more unintentionally comical, but at least he had a role in A Challenge for Robin Hood.  That's again more than I can say for Macfayden, who was not so much inept as he was unnecessary. He was just there to start up for the hoped-for franchise that did not come. Poor Mendelsohn, like Macfayden, is doomed to be in a film that was meant as a franchise but that will get no sequel. Unlike Macfayden, however, Mendelsohn was in the thick of it, and his performance was just sad: bonkers but pointless.

BEST VILLAIN

1. Sir Guy of Gisbourne (1938)
2. Sheriff of Nottingham (1991)
3. Sheriff of Nottingham (1976)
4. Sheriff of Nottingham (1973)
5. Sheriff of Nottingham (1952)
6. Prince John (1922)
7. Sheriff of Rattingham (1993)
8. Sir Godfrey (2010)
9. Sir Roger De Courtnay (1967)
10. Sheriff of Nottingham (2018)

Again, there have been films where Robin's main antagonist is not the Sheriff of Nottingham. Our bad Sheriff has been Robin's primary antagonist, but not his exclusive one.

In all the Robin Hood films, we see one antagonist who really commands our respect and even fear. That is Basil Rathbone as the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne, a character who has appeared in four versions (1922, 1938, 1991 and 2018). Rathbone's Sir Guy is the most dangerous of villains: a smart one. He is unrepentant, unafraid and almost Robin's equal. He is the Moriarty to Robin's Sherlock Holmes, the Master to Robin's The Doctor. His wickedness, his bigotry, his contempt for his hated rival is matched by his skills as a fencer and plotter. He is not to be trifled with, which makes Robin's gleeful trifling all the more grating.

Rickman comes close to matching Rathbone in spirit, his Sheriff clearly malevolent but unlike Rathbone, slightly more aware of the grandness of his malevolence. Shaw has Rathbone's plotting nature but not his rage or antagonism. Buttram's Sheriff is slightly more comical but again with a nasty side.

Again, I cannot recall much of Sam De Grasse's Prince John, but he was not afraid to hang people to get his way. I give Rees the slight edge over the others in that at least it was meant to be funny. The others just ended up funny. Mark Strong's Sir Godfrey was so unimaginative and I don't remember him at all. I remember Blythe's Sir Roger as being camp with a capital C.

As for Mendelsohn, all he did was act as if this were an elaborate dress rehearsal for the next Star Wars film. Really, he ought to try doing a comedy.

BEST VERSION

1. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
2. Robin Hood (1922)
3. Robin and Marian (1976)
4. Robin Hood (1973)
5. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
6. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)
7. Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
8. Robin Hood (2018)
9. Robin Hood (2010)
10. A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)

As if there were any other choice?

The Adventures of Robin Hood is one of the greatest films ever made. It has action, romance, comedy, a thrilling score, a fast-pace, engaging story and simply perfect performances all around. Every film save the original silent version is in its shadow. It has been spoofed, it has been name-checked in other films (such as The Rocketeer, where an Errol Flynn-type actor was doing a Robin Hood-type movie).

It also is the standard to which all other Robin Hood films are measured against. Even at 80 years, it is still seen and loved.

The silent Robin Hood ranks slightly higher only because in many ways, the Flynn version emulates it: the athleticism, the romance, the danger, the cockiness all come consciously or not from the silent film version. Even as it closes in on the century mark, it still holds up rather well.

Robin and Marion is a beautiful meditation on aging, on regret and love rediscovered. It's a deeper and more moving film that really should be rediscovered. It also has a beautiful John Barry score, which while not as good as Erich Wolfgang Korngold's is still quite a fantastic piece of music.

The animated Robin Hood is by no means perfect. You can see where Disney cut corners, but it has its own charm and is a nice way to introduce children to the story. As much as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is bashed, and with cause, I found myself entertained enough to like it. It also helps that it has Alan Rickman's bravura performance and the introduction of the 'noble Muslim', something that almost all succeeding Robin Hoods have included.

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is pleasant enough, though not something I would rush to see again. It's also probably the last good Robin Hood film seen in this retrospective.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights has only the songs and Cary Elwes & Amy Yasbeck's performance to really recommend it. The jokes were obvious and not funny, and it's only to Elwes and Yasbeck's credit that they managed to make it watchable.

The two failed franchise-starters in 2010 and 2018 were awful. The only difference is that 2018 did not take itself as seriously as 2010, not that that's a recommendation. Robin Hood 2018 thinks it's smart. Robin Hood 2010 thinks it's important. Both are dead-wrong.

As for A Challenge for Robin Hood, the challenge as I wrote is to stay awake. Apart from James Hayter's performance as Friar Tuck, the movie is a bore.

Well, there it is, but there is more. I'll look at the Merry Men in the future. I may also give a deeper look at the various films. For now, however, I think we've reached the end of our romp through Sherwood Forest.

At least until the next version comes along...

Robin Hood (2018): A Review

ROBIN HOOD (2018)

Memory is a curious thing. It can make one nostalgic for things that perhaps were not good.  It can also make us quickly forget how soon or long-ago something happened.

Such is the case with Robin Hood.  It has been just eight years since our Chief Merry Man had the cinematic treatment in a failed franchise starter with a very unmerry Russell Crowe as our title character.

Now we turn to Taron Egerton, who at 29 may be the youngest actor to take the role. He's done the action/franchise thing already with the Kingsman films, so why not have another go at a new series? Robin Hood was originally titled Robin Hood: Origins, but perhaps in the only sane decision involving this film, they dropped the obvious signal that this was meant to be the first part of a Sherwood Forest Cinematic Universe.

Robin Hood is not the worst film I've seen this year, but it is perhaps the funniest one...funnier even than Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and that one was meant to be a spoof. Robin Hood 2018 just ended up as one.

Robin, Lord Loxley (Egerton) is a wealthy Englishman who catches a horse thief. Twist: it's a woman named Marian (Eve Hewson). Very quickly an affair begins until the Sheriff of Nottingham (Ben Mendelsohn) drafts him into the Third Crusade.

I mean literally: Robin gets a letter with the words 'DRAFT NOTICE' and that this is the Third Crusade.

At this point, the first thing that popped into my head is when Bugs Bunny is aghast to find that he was drafted, but I digress.

Off to 'Arabia' Robin goes, where he and his fellow Crusaders, in uniforms closer to Desert Storm gear than Crusader clothing, go through a combination Gears of War and Medieval Sniper, leading to the capture of Moors. One of the Moors sees the Crusaders behead his son, though Robin tried to stop the beheading. The only thing saving Robin is that he's a Lord, so he's sent back to England rather than killed outright.

Back in very unmerry England, Robin finds himself declared dead, his properties taken, and Marian married, or at least involved with Will Tillman (Jamie Dornan), who is something of a politician. The Sheriff, having gone full Trump with the "give me money or those invaders will come here" shtick, is bleeding the population dry while they work in the mines.

Robin is astonished to find the Moor in Nottingham, the Moor having stowed away on the ship for three months. He survived undetected because...reasons.  Now going by John (Jamie Foxx), he will train Robin or 'Rob' as he's more often called to thwart the Sheriff and do a little redistribution of wealth. However, Rob has to have a secret identity...the Batman, I mean, the Hood.

Rob has to cotton up to the bonkers Sheriff while simultaneously robbing him blind. This is complicated by his continuing desire for Marian and the moderation Will seeks. He does have an ally in Friar Tuck (Tim Minchin), who knows something of the inner workings of the Catholic Church, which is also in cahoots with the Sheriff in some really bonkers scheme to play both ends in this war against 'the Christians' and 'the Muslims' and take the throne.

In the end, Rob inspires the people to rise up against their oppressors in Nottingham, especially after the Sheriff has ordered the mines and nearby homes cleared. This leads to an epic street battle between the Sheriff's troops and the population.

We end with Rob, Marian and many other men heading to Sherwood Forest, while the wicked Cardinal (F. Murray Abraham) appoints a new leader. Yes, there literally is a new Sheriff in town...Will Scarlet-Tillman, his transformation into the Dark Ages Two-Face act now complete.

Political messaging in Robin Hood?
Whatever gave you that idea?

It is apt that Robin Hood was released on this Thanksgiving Day weekend as it is a most delightful turkey. First-time screenwriters Ben Chandler and David James Kelly decided that their Robin Hood was going to be hip, contemporary, brimming with allegory if not downright insightful social commentary. What they accomplished was to both virtue-signal and show themselves to be inept at just about every element.

You can look at how they thought they were being clever by having parallels between the Nottingham peasants (who are curiously multicultural for Tenth Century Britain) and Antifa protesters. You can see the same in Robin's call for 'a distribution of wealth' (his exact words).

You can look at how they thought they were being hip by having almost everyone call our title character 'Rob' as opposed to 'Robin' (as perhaps 'Robin' isn't what the kids look for in a hero). You can see the same in the outfits our characters wear. Robin seems fond of Nehru jackets, the Sheriff wears what appears to be a coat borrowed from the Star Wars films, and with his beanie and long hair one would not be surprised if Friar Tuck played hacky sack between confessions.

You can look at how they thought they were being contemporary with what can be described as a Medieval Rave. At the party where Rob keeps up his 'false identity', the decadent elites in their far-out costumes and casino setting (because roulette tables were routine in this era), I was genuinely surprised they didn't actually have thumping techno music blaring.

I mean that totally sincerely...I was expecting Andy Hunter to be spinning tracks

The only thing Chandler and Kelly showed themselves to be was essentially thieves, ripping off Batman Begins & The Dark Knight in terms of plot, with touches of American Sniper and V for Vendetta at the very least. I don't think the whole 'secret identity' has been the focus or a major part of the Robin Hood mythos, at least not to the degree Robin Hood has had it.

Not that first-time film director Otto Bathurst did himself any favors with any non-script ideas. I don't think we've seen such a lousy collection of acting in a film. Egerton is not without talent, but the only thing he offers here is cockiness, and cockiness doth not a hero make. Apart from the obligatory shirtless scene where he shows how much he's worked out this Robin comes across as not really changed all that much from his war experience.

Hewson's Marian similarly has nothing to go with, and worse, the efforts to make her more 'heroic' and 'strong' fall flat when our introduction to her has her disguising everything but her cleavage. She speaks as if she has a faint grasp of English. Dornan continues to show he cannot act, and this time he does not have his body to show off as he did in the Fifty Shades films. His Will makes it hard to imagine anyone would wonder why Marian wavers between the two. And why is he Irish?

Accents are a puzzle, especially with Foxx who slips between vaguely foreign and American. He is so irrelevant as John (and at 5'9" he would be among the smallest Little Johns in film history) that when he disappears for long stretches I genuinely forgot he was even in the film.

Mendelsohn has cornered the market on 'crazed villains' at this point, and he either has embraced the hamminess of it all or just decided Robin Hood was dress rehearsal for the next Star Wars film. The scene between Mendelsohn and Abraham was hilarious in terms of how they seemed to try to out overact the other. Both of them were so over-the-top individually that together they were a laugh riot.

Minchin seems to be the only one who might escape relatively unharmed, his Tuck more a bumbling muddled but well-meaning figure than anything else. I do, however, wonder how he came to own spectacles, but historical details are unimportant in Robin Hood. You can tell by the costumes which were a bit too contemporary for the times and the sets that made Nottingham look like a theme park.

The film sets up a sequel, just like King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, another film it cribs from shamelessly. Robin Hood won't earn enough to make a follow-up, and even if it did, with bad acting and a terrible shambles of a story why would or should there be?

DECISION: D-

Robin Hood: Men in Tights. A Review

ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS

It is not surprising that the legend of Robin Hood, not to mention the various film versions of said legend, were finally sent up in a spoof. Robin Hood: Men in Tights is more a spoof of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (a film that despite my own enjoyment of it already played somewhat like a spoof) than the overall Robin Hood mythos. While the film has a few really funny moments, too many sight gags and obvious set-ups ruin what could have been a fun romp.

Our Robin of Loxley (Cary Elwes) finds that the Crusades aren't all they're cracked out to be. He leads a mass escape with help from Islamic prisoner Asneeze (Isaac Hayes) before returning to England. Asneeze asks Robin to find his son Ahchoo (Dave Chappelle), who according to Asneeze is 'an exchange student'. The eager himbo agrees.

Once back home, he finds his castle literally repossessed, with only the blind servant Blinkin (Mark Blankfield) remaining.

At this point, I wonder where Winkin and Nod went to, but I digress.

Robin is determined to restore his lands, but he'll have to face against the evil Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees), who is in cahoots with the very neurotic Prince John (Richard Lewis). Robin finds Ahchoo and then builds up more of the Merry Men. There's Little John (Eric Allan Kramer) and master knife fighter Will Scarlet O'Hara (Matthew Poretta), who says he's from Georgia.

That seems to be the height of Men in Tights' wit.

This 'uprising' is a consternation to Rattingham and John, and the latter needs the help of Latrine (Tracy Ullman), who looks like a witch but is really the cook. She's got the hots for Rattingham, who in turn has the hots for Maid Marian (Amy Yasbeck). She in turn catches sight of Robin and it's instant love, even if her chastity belt plays havoc with her desires.

Rattingham hires Don Giovanni (Dom DeLuise) to use a hitman to kill Robin at an archery contest, but while that plot goes wrong Robin is still captured. Marian agrees to marry Rattingham in exchange for his life.

Obviously, Rattingham isn't going to keep his end of the bargain, but with a little help from the Merry Men and Marian's lady-in-waiting Broomhilde (Megan Cavanaugh), along with Rabbi Tuckman (co-writer/director Mel Brooks), it will be a final confrontation where our lovebirds end up happily ever after.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights does have funny moments, but oddly they come from the musical numbers versus the actual story. Both the Sherwood Forest Rap and the title song are hilarious. The song Marian, Marian that Lady Marian sings is surprisingly tender and sweet. It makes one wonder why there hasn't been a straight Robin Hood musical. 

The best performance is that of Elwes as our cocky and somewhat dimwitted Robin, who comes across as an eager young man at times blissfully unaware of his idiocy while maintaining an air of confidence. He is on the joke without overplaying the joke. Elwes' Robin comes across as both funny and earnest, someone who means well but is also clueless.

Yasbeck too plays things with a more deft comic touch, aware that this is a spoof but not being broad. Rees rises above what he's given as Rattingham, especially given that his constant malapropisms soon disappear.

There were funny moments and lines in Men in Tights. Chappelle's nod to Malcolm X was funny, as was DeLouise's dead-on The Godfather imitation. Lewis' crack that Latrine's meal "looks like a Seder at Vincent Price's house" was also amusing.

However, the rest of Men in Tights flounders, primarily due to Brooks and his co-writers Evan Chandler and J. David Shapiro. They consistently call out that 'this is a movie', and while a little meta never hurt anyone, they do it so often that you end up waiting for the next 'oh look we're in a movie' bit to drop. Whether it's when a window is broken to reveal a "crew member" or Dick Van Patten's cameo as a church Abbot hitting the camera with his staff, the film loves to point out itself.

As a side note, the Abbot commenting "I hate that guy" when someone sounding suspiciously like Costello calls out "HEY ABBOT!" is a funny in-joke.

Men in Tights also seems to call out past Brooks films, and not to its benefit apart from Patrick Stewart's cameo as King Richard (itself a spoofing of Sean Connery's cameo in Prince of Thieves). Any chance to hear Brooks quip "It's good to be the King" is welcome.

Other throwbacks, not too good. Broomhilde's quest to keep Marian pure looks like a throwback to Spaceballs' 'virgin alarm'. Worse was their penchant for signaling the jokes a mile ahead. When, for example, Robin and Little John are fighting with quarter-staffs, I already knew they'd end breaking them again and again. When the heavyset Broomhilde was ready to jump onto her horse, we all knew what would happen next.

Men in Tights is also, curiously, a bit dated. You get Arsenio Hall Show shout-outs and the Atlanta Braves' Chop, which while I found amusing I'm not sure hold up well. Finally, it throws things in and doesn't do anything with them. Will Scarlet O'Hara comes from Georgia, but they never do anything with it. The 'Ahchoo' bit wasn't that funny the first time round, but the response of 'bless you' gets worse until they mercifully stop it.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights has some funny bits and surprisingly good songs. It shows that Cary Elwes could have played a great straight Robin Hood or a comic Robin Hood. However, all that isn't enough to make the unintentionally funny Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves more enjoyable than the allegedly intentionally funny Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

DECISION: D+

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. A Review

ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES

When I first saw it in theaters, I thought Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, was just beyond awful. The acting, the story, the cameo that made the audience break out into laughter. Had I written reviews back then, I would have decried it as one of the worst films I had ever seen.

In the ensuing years however, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a film that, despite myself, I have warmed to. Oh there are problems, and it is by no means the best version of the Robin Hood mythos. That being said, I actually fell for the cheesiness of it all, down to its sappy love song.

1194 Jerusalem. Captured English nobleman Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner) escapes from the Muslim prison after the Crusades and returns to his native England. He is accompanied by a Moor, Azeem (Morgan Freeman), who has sworn to protect Robin after he helped Azeem escape, a debt that is to be repaid at a time of Azeem's choosing.

Robin returns to a land that is far from merry or welcoming. His father has been murdered, accused of devil worshiping, and his lands have been forfeit to the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman). Curiously, if anyone knows about worshiping the Devil, it's the Sheriff, who has a Satanic altar in his castle and the services of a witch, Mortianna (Geraldine McEwan). This sorceress pushes Nottingham to get rid of Robin and is fearful of 'the painted man'.

Robin, meanwhile, goes to visit the Lady Marian to inform her of her brother's death in the Crusades and to honor his word to protect her. Maid Marian Dubois (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) is more than able to protect herself thank you very much, though even being King Richard's cousin is not much protection.

Robin and Azeem, along with a Locksley retainer, find themselves captured by bandits in Sherwood Forest, but soon Sir Robin manages to make him their leader. He earns the grudging respect of John Little, whom Robin nicknames Little John (Nick Brimble) but not that of hothead Will Scarlet (Christian Slater). Will seems to have an antagonism towards 'the spoiled rich young ruler', though the reason won't be revealed until much later.

The outlaws are a bother to Nottingham, and more so when Marian appears to be helping them. Worse, she seems fond of the formerly mean Robin, which irritates the Sheriff who dreams of marrying her. Nottingham not only lusts after our fair Maid but is told by his witch that a son and heir could get him the throne.

The Sheriff plots to capture Robin by seizing the Sherwood Gang, women and children too, including Marian's lady-in-waiting Sarah (Imogen Bain). To free them, Marian must marry him. This unholy union must be stopped by Robin and Azeem, who gather the few men and women not captured (along with Will, whose secret is finally revealed) to storm the castle. It's a fight to the bitter end, but all things end happily.

The Maid Marian and Sir Robin are married by the beer-loving Friar Tuck (Michael McShane), and who happens to come upon the wedding but King Richard himself (Sean Connery), who will not allow the marriage...unless he gives the bride away.

I do remember the audience laughing when Sean Connery made his appearance. I think I laughed too, though I was young and might have just reacted to the audience's reaction. Perhaps this was one too silly moment for the people who had sat through close to two hours of daring-do that was not all that much daring.

It might also have been an outlet for some of the most curious decisions in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, of which 007 popping up might have been the last straw.

Perhaps the oddest decision was with Costner. Now, I don't think he is a bad actor, but I think the idea that the all-American Costner could make anyone believe he was an English nobleman was a little strange. When in his first scene he states, "This is English courage", it is with a less-than-enthused American accent.

Costner seems at times almost bored with it all. Whether it is in his 'inspirational' speeches or discovering his long-lost half-brother or pledging revenge for his father, he has a very dull expression and manner, as if he is learning to speak.

That is counterbalanced when he sometimes behaves as if he were a teen in a middle-aged man's body, all giddy with meeting Maid Marian again.  Come what may, Costner was flat and at times disengaged from things.

It is especially apparent whenever we see Rickman on screen. He dominates as the thoroughly evil Sheriff, almost gleeful in his malevolence. There is a light twinkle when he has to endure Mortianna or being interrupted as he is about to rape the Lady Marian, as if he knows the world is evil and these 'good people' keep getting in the way. He certainly plays evil and menacing well (such as when he lures Robin's father to his death), but you sense the Sheriff enjoyed the evil.

There is something almost camp in his performance, for no man can utter the line, "CANCEL CHRISTMAS!" and make it look logical rather than bonkers.


For all the bashing Costner gets, it's Slater who should be more bashed. Costner didn't bother with an English accent, or at least didn't make much of an effort. Slater did, which makes his one-note 'angry young man' bit more comical. I'm surprised people weren't laughing when Will reveals his connection to Robin.

Mastrantonio could have made a better Marian if the film had decided to follow one route rather than force her into two. In the beginning she was Marian: Warrior Princess, a strong woman capable of holding her own. By the midpoint however, she becomes less strong and more lovely-dovey, though to be fair perhaps the sight of a nude Kevin Costner has that effect on women. Still, despite that inconsistency I think Mastrantonio did a strong job with what she had to work with.

To Prince of Thieves' credit, it introduces a new element into the mythos with Azeem, the 'noble Moor'. I cannot say that this is an original idea, but I don't think it is from the actual stories. Freeman makes Azeem both noble and even amusing in his take on "Christian" (as he consistently refers to Robin as) and this world. The film does well in having a positive portrayal of a Muslim, one who is both warrior and scholar.

Prince of Thieves is rather long with story threads that don't seem to fit. The subplot of attempting to restore his father's name after charges of Satanic rites seems odd given the pressure Robin is in. The film also appears to be trying for some vague Arthurian connection with the Witch. One wonders whether the film could have worked better if things had been trimmed or cut.

Still, despite all the flaws in it, I did fall slightly for Prince of Thieves. Even the love song (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, which is so long that it runs nearly the whole length of the credits, made me actually like the film.

Can I call it a 'bad movie I like'? I think so. I'm surprised that I ended up liking Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves the second time round. Maybe I've grown softer and more forgiving. Maybe I just enjoyed myself without thinking things too much. Maybe I just allowed myself to be carried away with the fantasy and paid little heed to the flaws.

What I can say is that I did enjoy Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and I cannot fault a film for that.

DECISION: C+

Robin and Marian: A Review

ROBIN AND MARIAN

With Robin and Marian, we get a more contemplative take on the Robin Hood mythos, one that touches on the themes of love lost and found. It may have its off moments, but by and large Robin and Marian is a surprisingly quiet and moving film.

Robin (Sean Connery) is nearing the end of his time in the Crusades with tyrannical Richard the Lionheart (Richard Harris). Robin and his BFF Little John (Nicol Williamson) are almost executed by Richard when Robin refuses to destroy a castle with no defenders, only women and children.

Fortunately, Richard dies of an arrow wound and grants them leave.

Robin and John return to find that the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw) is still there, still sucking the life out of the people. All the old gang have either died or gone off in the twenty years since Robin went crusading, with only Will Scarlet (Delholm Elliott) and Friar Tuck (Ronnie Barker) still around. They urge Robin to resume his outlaw ways, but Robin is essentially retired.

He does, however, want to look in on his great love, Maid Marian. It comes as a surprise that Marian (Audrey Hepburn) is now Mother Jennet, prioress of an abbey. She says she isn't happy to see Robin after all these years, and to be fair she has greater issues at hand.

The Sheriff, along with Sir Ranulf (Kenneth Haigh) are enforcing King John's decrees regarding his war with the Pope. One of those laws is that any high churchman has to either leave or be arrested. As the Mother Superior, Marian falls under that law, and she is willing to be imprisoned.

Robin, however, won't hear of it, and quickly (and forcefully) spirits her away. Sir Ranulf is enraged, while the Sheriff seems more amused. The Sheriff takes a more cautious and steady approach, convinced Robin will come to rescue the nuns he's arrested as a trap.

The Sheriff knows his man, but he's still thwarted by 'these old men'.  Despite herself, Marian still loves Robin and they resume their romance.

Sir Ranulf gets both men and permission from King John (Ian Holm) to lay siege to Sherwood Forest, something that again amuses the Sheriff. The wily lawman goes to the edge of the forest...and waits. This confounds the Merry Men and grates at Robin, who ultimately decides against Marian's wishes to challenge the Sheriff to a single match, winner take all.

The fight ends, after a while, with the Sheriff's death and Robin wounded. The Merry Men do manage to eke out a win and Marian, with John's help, takes Robin to the abbey. Robin thinks he will recover from his wounds, but Marian instead has poisoned both of them. She declares with her dying breath that she loves Robin totally and absolutely.

"I love you more than God," she says. Robin, aware that both will die, asks John for an arrow and his bow. He fires it out the window and gets John to promise to bury them together wherever the arrow lands.

Robin and Marian starts out a bit badly thanks to Harris' wild over-acting. Even though he and Holm are there essentially making cameos (Holm could not have been on the screen for more than five minutes), Harris manages to look deranged and theatrical. It's not a pun when I say someone should have reigned in Harris as he all but does a jig as he is dying.

Once we get to England, however, Robin and Marian becomes a pleasant romance. This is thanks to the work of our two leads. Connery might have made for a fascinating Robin Hood early in his career, but here he seems suited to play a more worn-down, more weary Robin.  He still has some vim and vigor to his outlaw, a touch of joie de vivre given what he's endured.

However, he is also later on moving and gentle with Marian.  I say 'later on' because in the beginning he is very chauvinistic towards her. He forces her to escape despite her own wishes and seems content to think little of her views. As the film progresses, you see he is motivated by love, even if he goes about it the wrong way.

Then we get Marian, and more proof that Audrey Hepburn was fashioned by God Himself. Even as she aged, she remained breathtakingly beautiful and elegant. I read it somewhere that Hepburn never thought of herself as attractive. With all due respect, this is the only time I can think of where Audrey Hepburn was completely wrong.

Apart from the grace Hepburn lends to the film, her performance is equally lovely. Her Marian, Mother Jennet was strong yet vulnerable, strong in her love and strong in her views. Perhaps her best moment was at the end, where she speaks to the dying Robin of how much she loved him. To say she loved him more than God is blasphemy, especially for a nun. However, she mentions other things, like loving him more than children or prayers or peace or food.

This is a woman in love, but one who had accepted a life without her love until he came back.

I found Shaw to be less a menace and more a bystander, albeit one who seemed more shrewd than malevolent. His Sheriff is a cool customer, one not fazed by anything and used to having his own way. There was a surprising lack of action with him, but perhaps that was to counter Haigh's sneering Sir Ranulf.

It's here where things get a bit odd. At times, Robin and Marian looks a bit like deleted scenes from Monty Python & The Holy Grail. From the costumes (The Knights of Nee In The Desert) to Sir Ranulf's somewhat broad manner to Delholm Elliott breaking out songs (a casting I found a touch curious), there were moments when the film was in danger of slipping almost into farce.

A particular moment is when Robin and John are planning to rescue the nuns, with their merchant wagon and haggling with other merchants.

That being said, Robin and Marian has an ace up its sleeve: John Barry's beautiful score. It's lush and romantic and elegant. A wonderful moment is when Robin and Marian finally see each other. As Mother Jennet says she is not happy to see Robin, the music tells you otherwise. It tells you that she is still deeply in love with him and is overwhelmed to see him again.

Barry shows he was one of the best composers around, sadly underappreciated, who should be better remembered. He was the equal of a John Williams or Max Steiner, and Robin and Marian is one of his great works.

Robin and Marian is at times a raucous film but it is also a heartfelt love story. The ending might surprise people but on the whole, this is a film of a lion in winter, who has one last roar left to him.

DECISION: B-

Robin Hood (1973): A Review

ROBIN HOOD (1973)

The animated version of Robin Hood is curiously not the first time Disney tackled the story of he would rob from the rich to give to the poor. Unlike The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, Robin Hood grants the makers more freedom to be both more kid-friendly and less grand. One can see flaws in it, but it has enough charm in it that one ends up liking Robin Hood.

Narrated by rooster Alan-A-Dale (Roger Miller), we learn of the fox Robin Hood (Brian Bedford) and his BFF, bear Little John (Phil Harris). They're happy-go-lucky fellows living in Sherwood Forest when they come upon the greatest prize: the royal coach of lion Prince John (Peter Ustinov) and his right-hand man snake Sir Hiss (Terry-Thomas). Disguised as fortune tellers, they hoodwink our imbecile tyrant out of his loot.

Prince John, who has a Mommy Complex, is enraged. He keeps putting the squeeze on the citizens for money, something the wolf Sheriff of Nottingham (Pat Buttram) does to great delight.

Meanwhile, young rabbit Skippy (Billy Whittaker), whose idol is Robin, comes upon the vixen Maid Marian (Monica Evans) and her lady-in-waiting, chicken Lady Kluck (Carole Shelley). Marian invites Skippy and his friends to come and play with them, where they all mock Prince John. Marian pines for Robin but figures he's forgotten her.

Far from it, for Robin still dreams of Marian, even willing to fall into a trap of an archery tournament for her. He almost is, but a combination of Marian's pleas and Little John's blade saves Robin. When Prince John learns there's a song among the people of Nottingham mocking him, he is so enraged he orders taxation tripled. Anyone who can't pay gets locked up, leading to everyone getting locked up.

Things come to a head when badger Friar Tuck (Andy Devine) is arrested and sentenced to hang when he attacks the Sheriff for taking money from the poor box. It's up to Robin and John to rescue both the Friar and the citizens, before a regis ex machina saves them all and things end happily.

If you examine Robin Hood, you can see the flaws. This is not a lavish production by any means. Among the films more noticeable aspects is how they were unafraid to recycle sequences and even characters.

More than once when the various animals are involved in a chase you can tell easily that they are using the same animation cels to essentially repeat the motions. Even more surprising is in how the characterizations of some of the animals was repetitive to what had come before.

Robin Hood was released six years after The Jungle Book, with only The Aristocats in between them. For all intents and purposes, Little John was Baloo and Sir Hiss was Kaa in all but name. At least with Sir Hiss, they opted for a different voice, but Little John and Baloo were played by the same man in the same way.

In terms of using songs in story, Robin Hood to its credit is not afraid to go dark. The Not in Nottingham number sung by country crooner Miller is quite sad and mournful, which is pretty much at odds with almost the rest of the story.  If one looks at both the feel and the music for Robin Hood, it's actually quite upbeat, even if the 'wah-wah' guitar make it a dead giveaway that this is the early seventies.

From the upbeat opening Whistle Stop (which introduces the characters and voice-actors, a curiosity among Disney films) and Oo-De-Lally (which is where we see "Robin Hood & Little John walking through the forest"), down to the jazzy Phony King of England, Robin Hood is pretty light confection.

There is one exception, the love ballad appropriately titled Love. This is the musical highlight of Robin Hood, sung beautifully by Nancy Adams, which has some beautiful animation where we see Robin and Marian reconnecting. The music and lighting bugs floating among our lovers is sure to enchant.

Robin Hood also cuts back on characters, with no real Merry Men. Instead, we get a buddy picture with Robin and Little, who are more like naughty boys than brave outlaws. Perhaps Robin Hood's biggest flaw is its resolution. Richard the Lionheart just appears and resolves everything (the regis ex machina).

However, I have to remember that Robin Hood is one of Disney's more kid-friendly films where things are meant to be a bit more broad and bloodless. I'm not sure any creature was hurt. Moreover, the performances indicate how things were directed.

Ustinov's Prince John was a totally inept villain, made more so by him instantly crying "Mommy!" and sucking his thumb at the mere mention of his mother. Ustinov used his voice and droll manner to great use, constantly quipping on "corpulent clerics" and his frenemy Sir Hiss, whom he refers to as an "aggravating asp" and "procrastinating python". Ustinov has a way with words.

Terry-Thomas' Sir Hiss was a delight as the sycophantic underling, and Buttram made his Sheriff villainous without being frightening. Shelley and Harris made a nice double-act with the clucky Lady Kluck and the daddy-o Little John. Miller was wonderful as the Narrator/Balladeer, who kept us informed of things.

For the more serious aspect, Bedford's Robin had a pleasant charm of a rascal and Evans' Maid Marian a gentle manner. We got light moments, such as when we see Marian's wardrobe has a Robin Hood wanted poster in the style of a girl's locker, but these were kept visual more than vocal.  Those moments are saved for others, such as when Lady Kluck takes on the Prince's guards in a manner of a football running back, down to having university fight songs playing as she tackles them.

Robin Hood may be flawed, but its a nice delightful little romp that one forgives much of it.

DECISION: B-

A Challenge For Robin Hood: A Review (Review #1125)

A CHALLENGE FOR ROBIN HOOD

If A Challenge for Robin Hood is not among the more-memorable versions of our medieval tale, there's a reason for it. A Challenge for Robin Hood is rather bad. Then again, given that Hammer Studios, the studio best known for a particular brand of horror films decided to give this tale their own take, it's no surprise that at times the film plays like a horror film.

Unlike his Norman kinsman Sir Roger de Courtnay (Peter Blythe), Robin de Courtnay (Barrie Ingham) is a very respectful and responsible man. That doesn't shield him from Saxon hatred, but Robin at least saved young Saxon Stephen (John Gugolka) from being killed by Robin's evil cousin.

The de Courtnays rule their fiefdom with some benevolence, but once Sir Roger's father dies, Roger's evil, already quite visible, expands. Despite his father's wishes that his holdings be spread evenly among Robin, Roger and Roger's brother, the EVIL Roger decides to kill his brother and frame Robin. He also burns the will in front of everyone: the family priest, Friar Tuck (James Hayter) and the servants, including Little John (Leon Greene) and Will Scarlet (Douglas Mitchell).

Robin and Tuck manage to flee from the castle, Scarlet is arrested for helping their escape and Little John just wrestles. Roger is bothered by this, but he is equally distracted by the comely Lady Marian and her maidservant, Mary (Gay Hamilton).  Robin joins a group of Saxon outlaws thanks to his superior skills and commitment to fight on their side, and is given the nickname 'Robin Hood'.

It's now up to Robin and his not-so-Merry Men to thwart both Sir Roger and his boss, the Sheriff of Nottingham (John Arnatt) as well as clear Robin's name.

The primary challenge in A Challenge for Robin Hood is staying awake through it. Even if its running time is only 96 minutes, it feels endlessly longer. There's a certain B-Movie quality to the film, as if this were not just made on the cheap but also on the quick.

Without being too harsh, I can see A Challenge for Robin Hood being a featured film on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The Hammer trappings are on display in the opening scene involving murder and the suggestion of Sir Roger literally hunting down young Stephen. There's also some surprising lecherous moments involving either the villainous Sheriff or the more camp Sir Roger.

Acting-wise, Ingham makes for a weak Robin Hood. He's generically handsome with a perpetually open shirt but little to suggest he is a commanding figure. Arnatt's Sheriff is overtly evil, the type of role that Michael Gough would play in some of those Hammer horror films before he became the cute and cuddly Alfred in Tim Burton's Batman films. Almost to counteract him is Blythe's very camp Sir Roger, who played evil with a Capital E to the point of being parody.

Faring worse were the Merry Men. Douglas Mitchell's Will Scarlet looked half-asleep and Greene's Little John did nothing but wrestle, as if he were nothing more than the muscle. Granted, Peter Bryan's screenplay gave them almost nothing to work  on, but they seemed nonentities. The worst was Hamilton as Maid Marian. She was totally blank as Marian, expressing no real emotion or apparently interest in the film.

The sole saving grace was Hayter's Friar Tuck, the pure comic relief who was allowed the wittiest moments. He could do serious, such as when he sees and overhears Sir Roger killing off his own brother, but for the most part Hayter was that little bit of levity in the film. One could say he had a leg up on everyone given he'd played the part before in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, but Hayter was a delight in the part.

Curiously, Alfie Bass was billed as a 'guest star' in A Challenge for Robin Hood as a pie seller on his way to the de Courtnay Renaissance Faire. Why Bass was singled out as 'guest starring' is lost to time, but in a coincidence, both Bass and Hayter would go on to appear in the television comedy Are You Being Served?, with Bass replacing Hayter when the latter left the series.

The comedy seemed a bit odd. At the fair Tuck and Robin, who is disguised as a monk, tell the cloth seller they'll take the entire order of Lincoln green. "What order wears a cloth of green?" the shocked seller asks, to which Tuck replies, "The Order of St. Patrick".  While this is a funny bit, it's when the film descends to a literal pie fight that one gives up.

Not that having Robin wrestle Little John as "The Masked Monk" does not make things stranger.

The fights themselves are neither exciting or comical, so one guesses as to whether A Challenge for Robin Hood is meant to be action or comedy.

It ends up being neither, and worse, for reasons I cannot guess at, A Challenge for Robin Hood all but suggests there will be a sequel.

I can cut it some slack due to the fact that it looks as if money was an object here. I can also credit it for making interesting choices regarding the legend. For example, here Robin is a Norman nobleman rather than a Saxon and Marian is the Saxon. We also see that the Merry Men most associated with Robin were servants to the de Courtnays with only Alan-A-Dale as a genuine outlaw.

Apart from that though, A Challenge for Robin Hood is a misfire: slow, a bit dull save for Hayter and a bit of a shadow in the Robin Hood mythos.

DECISION: D-

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men: A Review

THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN

The Disney Company was slowly shifting from animated to live-action features. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men was their second live-action feature, and while it is not as well-remembered as other films, it is pleasant enough.

Young Robin Fitzooth (Richard Todd) is in the employ of the Earl of Huntington (Clement McCallin), whose daughter is the young Maid Marian (Joan Rice). The Earl is joining King Richard (Patrick Barr) to go on a Crusade, and Marian will be the personal attendant to the Queen Mother (Martita Hunt). While he's away, England will be looked over by Richard's brother, John (Hubert Gregg).

Richard's probably not even gone from England before John shows his dark side. Determined to enrich himself, he creates a de facto personal army in the Midlands, using his newly-appointed Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Finch) to squeeze the populace. Robin's father Hugh (Reginald Tate) refuses to join in Nottingham's army. Even the Fitzooth's join win at the archery contest will not break them.

Nottingham fears Fitzooth will be inspiration for a rebellion, so he has him killed. Robin escapes into Sherwood and joins a group of other outlaws forced to hide out due to John and Nottingham's oppression.  Soon, Robin begins to lead them, thwarting the Sheriff.

Other men join them. Some, like John Little or Little John (James Robertson Justice) do so willingly. Others, like feisty but avuncular Friar Tuck (James Hayter), not so much. Things come to a head when news of Richard's capture makes it to England.

A collection for ransom is begun, but John's lands curiously plead poverty. A personal visit from the Queen Mother and the Archbishop of Canterbury is made for show, but Marian has snuck out the night previous to learn about her old friend Robin and his outlaws. She finds them to be loyal to the King, and even persuades them to give her their collected money to use for the ransom and show their loyalty.

The Queen Mother is impressed. John and the Sheriff appalled.

Eventually, an effort to frame Robin fails, Marian is taken prisoner and Robin and his men make a daring raid to both clear their names and rescue the fair Maid Marian.

Perhaps the biggest surprise to those watching The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is seeing Peter Finch as the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham. While Finch is hampered by a terrible wig, he gives a good but not great performance. It isn't on the level of his later work such as Sunday Bloody Sunday or Network, but he's evil enough.

What I mean is that as this is a Disney movie, he can't be monstrous. Finch's Sheriff is unpleasant, even nasty, but not hideous. I think it is because he defers greatly to Gregg's Prince John, and he seems a trifle camp as our villain.

One of the more curious elements in The Story of Robin Hood is the role of women. Here, Hunt's Queen Mother is more directly involved, and she balances imperiousness with gentleness. In particular are her interactions with Rice's Maid Marion, where there is a grandmother feel to where even when she is reprimanding Marion, it's more out of concern than anger.

Rice was pleasant as Marian, a girl who is openly flirtatious with her family's servant's son but who has some gumption to her. She is unafraid to go after the truth, even if means temporarily donning drag to infiltrate the Merrie Men. Sometimes she is reduced to both making goggly-eyes at Robin and 'a damsel in distress', but Rice has her moments.

Incidentally, I figure the 'Merrie' rather than 'Merry' is used to try and make it all more medieval English.

Out of the Merrie Men, the standout is Hayter as Friar Tuck. He's impish and playful: when we first meet him, he's singing a love ballad meant as a duet, where he plays both brave knight and maiden fair. He has a jolly manner to him, but is also able to fight strongly against the Sheriff's men.

Curiously, Hayter would reprise his role as Friar Tuck in A Challenge for Robin Hood, which was made by Hammer Films, better known for their horror than their frolics.

As for Todd, he is again pleasant as Robin. At times looking older than his thirty-three years, his Robin was a mix of action and naivete, between the young man thrust into danger and the warrior he became.

I think the best description for The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is 'pleasant'. If there's one thing that does annoy, it's Elton Hayes' Allan-A-Dale, who breaks out into balladeering at nearly every appearance. Sometimes you just want to smack him and break his lute.

Apart from the somewhat incessant ballad-making, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is 'pleasant', a nice bit of distraction that should entertain those looking for light entertainment in a clean Disney spirit. By no means the best version of Robin Hood, it's pleasant enough.

DECISION: C+

The Adventures of Robin Hood: A Review

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD

Was there ever a more glorious, more joyful film than The Adventures of Robin Hood? There is such delight in it, such an unapologetic sense of adventure, romance and more importantly, just fun in the film that you finish watching with a grand grin. There's great craftsmanship in The Adventures of Robin Hood too, with every element shaping this into perhaps one of the greatest films ever made. Perhaps not in the same way a Citizen Kane or Seven Samurai are 'great', but The Adventures of Robin Hood is just such a pleasure you can't help but enjoy every aspect.

England, ruled by the Normans, is under the 'care' of Prince John (Claude Rains) while his brother King Richard the Lion-Heart (Ian Hunter) is off to Crusade. Technically, Prince John isn't or shouldn't be in charge, but he's wrangled his way to be Regent.

Now comes shocking news: Richard is being held for ransom in Europe, which delights Prince John and his second-in-command, Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone). Along with the comically inept High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper), John and Sir Guy strangle the economic lifeblood of the native Saxon population.

One day, Much the Miller's Son (Herbert Mundin) kills a royal deer when Sir Guy catches him. Much is not afraid to tell Sir Guy off, but in to save him is a Saxon nobleman, Sir Robin of Locksley. Sir Robin is one of the few Saxons in position and rank, and he also is unafraid to declare his loyalty to Richard.

At first a mere nuisance, Sir Guy in particular soon starts seething with rage at this man, who is declared an outlaw and now goes by 'Robin Hood' (Errol Flynn). Robin soon starts gathering men to aid in thwarting the usurper's plans to keep the ransom being squeezed out for himself. Among them are his best friend Will of Gamwell, better known as Will Scarlett (Patric Knowles), a large man named John Little who is nicknamed 'Little John' (Alan Hale) and Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette), a fat friar who is also an able swordsman.

Together, they manage to capture Sir Guy and the Sheriff, who are accompanied by a Norman noblewoman, the Lady Marian Fitzwalter, a royal ward generally known as Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland). At first, Maid Marian holds this Saxon outlaw in contempt, but as he guides her through the refugees in Sherwood Forest whom he protects and as she learns more, Maid Marian sees that perhaps things are not as she first thought.

A plot is hatched to outwit Robin via an archery contest, with Marian as unwitting bait. The rascally Robin cannot resist showing off his skill or a chance to see the beautiful royal ward again, and he's captured. Marian defies 'her' people to help Robin, and both acknowledge their love for each other. They also acknowledge that the divisions between Saxon and Norman are foolish, as they are now both loyal to England and Richard, together.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Richard has snuck back to England, and Prince John's court plots to assassinate the monarch and place John formally on the throne. John also plans to execute Maid Marian for helping Robin. It's up to Robin and his Merry Men, along with help from Maid Marian's loyal lady-in-waiting Bess (Una O'Connor) to stop this coup and rescue Marian.

As many a good story, our lovers are reunited and they live happily ever after.

One of the best words for The Adventures of Robin Hood would be 'sumptuous'. The film is a glorious visual treat. This is primarily courtesy of the beautiful Technicolor, which renders all the costumes and art direction in luxurious and vibrant visuals.

Everything appears rich and grand. One can quibble about whether the fact that so much of The Adventures of Robin Hood was so spotless and shiny was historically inaccurate, but one has to remember that at some level, this is fantasy.

The film is also blessed with perhaps the finest cast assembled for a film. When people think 'Robin Hood', they think Errol Flynn even if they have never seen the film. That jolly, laughing figure with a devil-may-care manner and swashbuckling persona is how many see Robin Hood, down to the green tights.

It helps that Flynn is simply gorgeous. There's no getting around it: Flynn is breathtakingly beautiful, from his very first moment on screen you see what an insane handsome figure he was.

All that: the jolly manner and sheer physical beauty, may fool people into thinking Flynn was not acting. No, on the contrary, Flynn gives a very rich and charismatic performance. It is a remarkably deep performance.

We see this when we have at least one moment where he drops the cheerful veneer. As he escorts Maid Marian through the forest to see the Saxon refugees we see a sad man, one whose heart is pure, who fights only because it's his only recourse against injustice. "It's injustice I hate, not the Normans", he tells her.  That bravado is allowed to slip and we see a true noble-man.

We also have another extremely talented performer who is also blessed to be gorgeous: Flynn's longtime screen partner, Dame Olivia de Havilland. She is not just a pretty face. We see the evolution in Maid Marian, from the haughty Norman noblewoman to an English woman, who sees how wrong she was and how in helping Robin, she helps her true people: the English people.

We also see a woman in love, and she has a wonderful scene with O'Connor and later Flynn where she talks about whether it is love.

I go back to the cast, and every part is played brilliantly. Rains, my favorite actor of all times, makes Prince John deliberately camp, befitting someone with grand aspirations and no justification for such grandiose ideas about himself.  Cooper's Sheriff is the comic relief: obviously an idiot but unaware of it. Whether it is 'shielding' Prince John and pompously declaring "Oh, if only I could get to (Robin Hood)" or bumbling his way to an idea, he does wonders.

The highlight of the villains, however, is Rathbone as Sir Guy. It's interesting that Rathbone tended to play either overt villains or Sherlock Holmes, the antithesis of a villain. There never seemed to be a happy medium. Rathbone's Sir Guy was the perfect antagonist: hateful, arrogant and above all highly skilled. He was shrewd as well as contemptible, someone you messed with at your own peril.

The greatness about this Triumvirate of Evil is that they all balanced each other out: Rathbone's Sir Guy was the malevolent force who was very serious, Cooper's Sheriff was the buffoon you couldn't take serious and Rains' Prince John was a little of both.

The Merry Men were equally brilliant. From Hale's generally jolly Little John to Pallette's in turns gentle and loud Friar Tuck to Knowles' cocky Will Scarlett, each had a little moment.

My favorites however are Mundin's Much and O'Connor's Bess. As these unlikely lovers they were just so cute together. You instantly liked them as the counterpoint to the grand, sweeping romance of the gorgeous Flynn and de Havilland. They make their own adorable little pair: the flittery O'Connor and the rather plain Mundin courting in their own sweet way.  You instantly like them, the mix of the somewhat saucy lady-in-waiting forever watching over 'her little lamb' and the courageous but a touch naive miller's son.

Again, they are so cute.

Much Ado About Bess...now there's an idea.

The film has two directors: William Keighley and Michael Curtiz, the latter among the greatest yet least-known and recognized of filmmakers. While it is hard for me to say which moment was by what director, we can see just how well both of them blended even though Curtiz replaced Keighley. The great thing about The Adventures of Robin Hood is that it manages to balance the romance with the action, never short-changing one.

Finally, one has to mention Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score, one of the finest ever written for film. From the rousing opening theme to its lush romantic melodies to the thrilling action music and the sweeping music for when Robin literally sweeps in to a shocked Sir Guy and Maid Marian, adding a 'Welcome to Sherwood Forest, my lady!", Korngold's score is a rare moment when the Academy got it right when it singled it out for recognition (along with the film's editing and art direction).

The Adventures of Robin Hood set the standard for all succeeding versions of this story of our noble outlaw, his lady fair and his merry men. Some of the other versions were grittier, maybe darker or even spoofs. However, I don't think any version can or ever really will come close to this version.

Everything in The Adventures of Robin Hood is perfect: the performances, the visuals, that glorious Korngold score. A joy from start to finish, it is essential viewing for anyone who loves movies.

DECISION: A+