Herb Kane
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The Adventures Of Robin Hood – Two Disc SE
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 1938
Rated: PG
Film Length: 102 Mins
Aspect Ratio: Standard (OAR)
Audio: DD Mono
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
The Feature:
The Adventures Of Robin Hood is the final installment of the recently released Warner Legends Set. It’s hard to say what might have happened if Jack Warner hadn’t been feuding with James Cagney at the time, since he was originally chosen to play the part of Robin Hood. Flynn was his second choice after seeing him in 1935’s Captain Blood. Ultimately, he was the right pick. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture. Although it didn’t win Best Picture, it did win for Best Art Direction (Carl Jules Weyl), Best Film Editing (Ralph Dawson) and Best Music, Original Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold). Columbia’s You Can’t Take It With You took the Best Picture award.
Even though Jack Warner approved the initial budget of 1.6M, the film wound up costing 2.0M – the most expensive WB picture up to that point. Even though the film was a great success, the studio still ended with a yearly deficit of more than 1.9M.
Even the slightest glimpse of Flynn (at least for me) associates the legend with the role of the witty Robin Hood. After watching several Flynn films recently including The Adventures Of Robin Hood, I couldn’t help but think there was no other actor who’d have had as much fun dressing for work… Another footnote worthy of mention was the star’s athletic ability. It was that obvious quality which eventually led to this role (among others) and he insisted on doing his own stunts.
Directed by Michael Curtiz, The Adventures Of Robin Hood is the classic story of Robin Hood (played by Errol Flynn) and his group of oppressed Saxons who eventually fight back against their oppressor, Prince John (played by Claude Rains) and his henchman Sir Guy of Gisbourne (played by Basil Rathbone).
Turned outlaw, Robin Hood steals from the rich to give to the poor. After they are taxed heavily by the Sheriff of Nottingham, the group finally rebels. He assembles the demoralized group of Saxons and forms an adept group known as the Merry Men. During the struggle, he falls in love with Maid Marion (played by Olivia deHavilland) who is the love interest of his adversary Sir Guy of Gisbourne.
Not only must Robin Hood fight to win the love of Maid Marion, he and his group of Merry Men must fight to keep Prince John from taking over the throne of England held by his brother King Richard the Lion Heart (played by Ian Hunter).
Video:
The Adventures Of Robin Hood was shot in glorious Technicolor. The video presentation of this film is nothing short of spectacular. The colors are absolutely breathtaking. In fact at times, the colors reminded me of an oil painting where you could almost imagine they were textured. Are they slightly over saturated…? Yes. And I’ll be honest, I prefer many of the Technicolor offerings to be slightly oversaturated. The contrast was also exceptional. There are many scenes where the Saxons are hiding up in the trees which really seem to show off the film like 3D quality of this picture. Very impressive. Black levels were equally impressive. The level of grain was minimal. The level of detail was also exceptional although there are scenes where the image appears to be rather soft.
Remember, this film is almost 66 years old, and there are a few items worth mentioning, most notably, what seemed like light instability during the first few scenes and at the 61:50 mark of the film. Also, the picture seemed very much out of focus at the 91:00 mark and one can only assume this is not a transfer issue. Just observations folks…
Considering the age of this film, this is a stunning video presentation.
Audio:
The audio soundtrack is a DD Mono offering. Of the three films represented in the Legends Set, The Adventures Of Robin Hood offers the best audio presentation – that’s not to say the others are bad (they’re not, in fact they’re exceptional)… this is simply a step above. Dialogue is clear and crisp never harsh or even remotely distorted. In fact, it’s even dynamic at times. The movie is filled with action scenes and a great score which lends to the excitement, all of which is exhibited beautifully. The soundtrack is also free of any hiss… and that’s a good thing!
An excellent audio offering…
Special Features:
Once again both discs are loaded with special features. On disc one is the feature film as well as a number of extras. First up is a Commentary By Author/Film Historian Rudy Behlmer. This is a voice-over of the entire film with Rudy offering up some interesting tidbits and history relating to the film including some of the film’s inconsistencies from the novel. Behlmer has a rather soothing voice and listening to him never gets monotonous. Very thorough and informative. Duration: 101:49 Mins.
Music Only Track is as you might imagine the entire film with just the music score only – no dialogue.
Warner Night At The Movies starts off with yet another commentary from Leonard Maltin explaining why many of the extras have been added to this particular featurette. His intro is 2:41 Mins. Next is a theatrical trailer for the great 1938 Cagney film, Angels With Dirty Faces… WB, this movie really needs to be released! The next feauture is a Newsreel which is nothing more than a 1:23 minute feature on a new machine gun carrier invented for military use. Freddie Rich And His Orchestra are featured next with a number of swing tunes from the period. Duration: 11:05 Mins. Finally for the segment is the 1938 Looney Tunes short, Katnip Kollege. Unfortunately this particular short hasn’t yet been restored and a number of scratches and dirt are present. It’s one I’ve never seen before and I’m happy to have it. Duration: 07:25 Mins.
The next special feature is an extensive collection of Errol Flynn trailers titled, the Flynn Trailer Gallery. It contains twelve trailers from the following films: Captain Blood, The Prince & The Pauper, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Dive Bomber, They Died With Their Boots On, 1948 re-issue of The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Sea Hawk, Objective Burma, Kim and lastly The Master of the Ballantrae.
The final special feature from disc one are text listings for Awards and Cast & Crew.
Disc two starts off with a fabulous documentary titled, Glorious Technicolor narrated by Angela Lansbury. This in my opinion is the icing of the special features on this set. It covers a mini biography on the Technicolor process founder, Dr. Herbert Kalmus. There are a number of commentaries from likes of Jack Cardiff who recalls various experiences as well as techniques used during different films. Covered are most of the original pictures that used the process including animation at Disney and WB. Personally, I found the documentary worth the price of admission alone. Duration: 60:04
Welcome To Sherwood – The Story of The Adventures Of Robin Hood is another commentary from Rudy Behlmer which describes how WB wanted to change direction from their gritty gangster films to go on to making films like Robin Hood. Duration: 55:42.
Two more Looney Tunes are featured; Rabbit Hood from 1949 with the infamous Errol Flynn scene dubbed in… “Welcome to Sherwood”… and Robin Hood Daffy from 1958. Both look great on the big screen and if they are any indication of what is to come, many of us will be pleased with the upcoming animation sets.
Up next are two short films. The first is Cavalcade of Archery which is a short biography of Howard Hill who was a pro archer used during the filming of Robin Hood. Duration: 9:24 Mins. The next short is titled The Cruise Of The Zaca. This is a portrayal of Flynn, an avid yachtsman and a chronicle of some of his voyages with various friends and family. Duration: 19:56.
Last but not least is a short feature titled Robin Hood Through The Ages which is a brief account of the various Robin Hood productions that exist today including the 1922 silent version starring Douglas Fairbanks. Duration: 6:52.
Here’s Looking At You, Warner Bros.
Also, as indicated earlier, if you purchase the Warner Legends Set, you receive the bonus disc titled, Here’s Looking At You, Warner Bros. This is 108 minute documentary on the history of Warner Brothers narrated by Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand, Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn among others. It starts with a biography of the brothers and how they eventually became involved in the motion picture business. Included is a history of the company’s films from silents to the transformation to talkies. There are a number of interviews with many of the long time Warner contract players (even if they were only brief at times…). Also included is a brief account on WB animation. There are tons of clips from many of the landmark films the studio was responsible for including many hilarious outtakes. While the 1991 documentary is slightly dated (with Clint Eastwood sporting much more hair…) it is still a very informative documentary offering up many facts and tidbits that aficionados are sure to appreciate. If you’re even remotely interested in any or most of the films included in the Legends Set, I would dissuade you from purchasing them individually and hold out for the Set. The documentary is a nice addition… especially for the price.
Final Thoughts:
Regardless of the other Robin Hood productions of this great story, this 1938 version starring Errol Flynn is clearly the definitive version. The sixty six year old movie has become instantly scene recognizable as one of the greatest action adventures ever made.
Just in case you can’t tell, I am absolutely delighted with the Legends Set released by Warner Bros. It’s certainly obvious their commitment to the format and more importantly, their treasures are being given the attention they deserve. If you are a fan of these movies or of classics in general, you won’t be disappointed. Highly Recommended…!!!
Released: September 30th, 2003
