Hollywood has a very fine tradition of twisting existing heroes into their own images - even by the time this movie came out in 1938 everybody from Moses to Mr. Moto had gotten sucked into the Dream Vortex at least once - but The Adventures of Robin Hood is probably the greatest of them all. It's just so magically in sync with the source material without succumbing to pedestrian slavishness - Errol Flynn, Alan Hale, and Eugene Pallette aren't just PLAYING Robin, Little John, and Friar Tuck (respectively), but they ARE these characters, and the world they live in isn't just the "movie version" of Sherwood Forrest but the genuine article! It's all an illusion, of course - it was…

Twas' a Swashbuckling good time!! Sorry I had to say it. Michael Curtiz (famed director of Casablanca) co-directs this early technicolor film that has been hailed for over 70 years as one of the greatest adventure films ever made. Watching it now in this era, much of my appreciation lends to the fact of how it doesn't look at all like a film made in 1938. It is as if it never aged a single day.

Even the fighting choreography and violence in the battle scenes was very well done and realistic for its production age. Errol Flynn shines and triumphs as the epitome of the movie-style hero. He is suave, talented and brave. In fact all of the performances…

**Part of the Best Picture Project**

What's that? Oh yes. It's Errol Flynn and he's motherfucking Robin Hood. Wanna do something about that? Well guess what? You can't. Know why? Cause he's Errol Flynn.

I regret that minor transgression, but it had to be said. This film would not work without Errol Flynn. He defines the character. He's a dick but he's the absolute coolest dick in a room full of dicks. When you look up the definition of "devilish smile", you'll see Errol's picture there.

The Adventures of Robin Hood is the first true action adventure film in the Best Picture Project (although Wings and Captain Blood may come close), and it's one of the bests for a reason.…

Directed by William Keighley and starring James Cagney as Robin Hood, Guy Kibbee as Friar Tuck, David Niven as Will Scarlett and another actress as Marion, this was Warner's original idea for 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' (1938).
Budgeted at just over a million and a half dollars the project ballooned to £2 million as the director was replaced because the studio thought the action scenes lacked any impact. The new director was Michael Curtiz, Cagney was replaced with Errol Flynn by producer Hal B. Wallis as Cagney had by this time left the studio dissatisfied with his contract. Studio boss, Jack Warner wanted Flynn removed from the project as the actor constantly forgot his lines and had to have…

The Adventures of Robin Hood is not merely an excuse to showcase the gloriousness of Technicolor, rather, it is an extremely satisfying action-adventure picture with a lot of heart and energy. The story, of course, is based on the widely-known legends of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn), the sympathetic outlaw of Sherwood Forest whose well-intentioned exploits lead to conflict with the authority figures of the region, namely Prince John (Claude Rains) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone). Along the way, he gathers a group of like-minded followers, most notably Little John (Alan Hale Sr.) and Friar Tuck (Eugene Palette) who aid him in his crusade for righteousness.

What jumps out at me the most (Visually) in the film, is the…

Hollywood has a very fine tradition of twisting existing heroes into their own images - even by the time this movie came out in 1938 everybody from Moses to Mr. Moto had gotten sucked into the Dream Vortex at least once - but The Adventures of Robin Hood is probably the greatest of them all. It's just so magically in sync with the source material without succumbing to pedestrian slavishness - Errol Flynn, Alan Hale, and Eugene Pallette aren't just PLAYING Robin, Little John, and Friar Tuck (respectively), but they ARE these characters, and the world they live in isn't just the "movie version" of Sherwood Forrest but the genuine article! It's all an illusion, of course - it was…

I didn't realise this until recently, but it turns out I watched this a bunch as a kid. There's an old-timey cadence to everyone's speech that I love. It's old-fashioned and it works perfectly here. I wouldn't want it in every movie, but it's fun and swashbuckling and people eat mutton and there are archery contests.

Errol Flynn is great guns in this, obvs, but what interested me is that this is really a story about Maid Marian. She starts out in a place, doesn't feel right about being in that place, is brought into a new world by Robin Hood (she sees how Robin Hood and the Saxons live, oppressed by the Normans), and decides to help Robin, getting…