‎The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz, William Keighley • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

The Adventures of Robin Hood

1938 Directed by Michael Curtiz, William Keighley

Excitement...Danger...Suspense...as this classic adventure story sweeps across the screen!

Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.

Errol Flynn Olivia de Havilland Basil Rathbone Claude Rains Patric Knowles Eugene Pallette Alan Hale Melville Cooper Ian Hunter Una O'Connor Herbert Mundin Montagu Love Leonard Willey Robert Noble Kenneth Hunter Robert Warwick Colin Kenny Lester Matthews Harry Cording Howard Hill Ivan F. Simpson Carole Landis

102 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Monday Seagull 4

One night, after a long day at work, I made my way home through the cold, wintery streets of Toronto. Tired and hungry, I wanted nothing more than to be safe inside my own house, eating a hot bowl of soup.

My walk brought me through a particularly rough neighbourhood. I usually made it a habit to stick to the safety of the main road, but my fatigue and rumbling stomach reminded me of a short cut a friend once pointed out, and the temptation was just too great.

It was a dark alleyway; appearing empty, but full of ominous doorways, explicit graffiti, and the miscellaneous debris of urban decay. Eerie whispers escaped from the shadows, and the disturbing meow…
Review by Evan ★★★★ 8

This was way better than I was expecting. For my film class, I have to write a 5-8 page paper comparing and contrasting this film, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and Robin Hood (2010). It's due in exactly one week -___-. So in other words, it will be 5 pages lol.
Review by Dragonknight ★★★★ 4

Film #21 of Project 30

”Do you know any prayers, my friend?”

This must have been the blockbuster of the year back in 1938, an amusing adventure filled with action, humor, romance and color. The eternally sharp and shining colors of The Adventures of Robin Hood give it a fascinating look, in fact even now and in the age of color cinema watching Michael Curtiz’s depiction of the Robin Hood’s adventures is a quite spellbinding experience, Technicolor gives the film a somewhat unusually bright and sparkling look as if everything is happening in a color-enhanced dream, the film’s ability of creating such a joyful and splendid atmosphere of color and light is really admirable.

But this is not just about…
Review by Patrick Willems ★★★★

It's kind of embarrassing how much better this is than every other Robin Hood movie from the past 80 years.
Review by JC ★★★★★ 4

"Where's your love of fights, risk, adventure?"

That expression of 'they just don't make em like this anymore' couldn't be more true here. To say this film is uplifting would be an understandment of the century. I felt like a million bucks after this was over, with a big stupid grin on my face from beginning to end. So many moments in this film I felt like I had watched already, and it was very clear just how influential this classic film is.

For starters, my goodness is this bright and colourful. Starting from that upbeat DVD cover art and throughout the film itself, this film is just beautiful to look at and I now need to rewatch this on…
Review by Dirk Diggler ★★★★ 2

Part of the Film School Dropouts Challenge
Week 4: Swashbuckler

For some stupid reason I had very low expectations of The Adventures of Robin Hood, but actually it was so much fun. It's pure classic Hollywood; the hero is a cheeky bastard, the lady is beautiful, the villains are despicable, the line between good and bad is drawn clearly, it's filled with cheesy romance and fun action, and the hero and the good wins at the end. The story is simple yet exciting, the acting is campy yet perfectly so, the costumes and sets are wonderful and works well with the colors, and the dialogue is witty and most certainly purposeful. What more can you possibly want? This film is really worth a watch; it's a purely fun, innocent, exciting, delightful and timeless film that makes it difficult not to smile throughout, and is the ideal version of the tale of the legendary Robin Hood.

"Why, you speak treason!"
"Fluently"

Recent reviews

Review by Blake axmanoj ★★★★

It's remarkable that in the span of one year the modern action hero was born and decided how to work in cinema. Between this and Stagecoach the way to present a protagonist arised complete with close-up, exposition of skill, and ensemble filling in the blanks.

I know that sounds pretentious and if I could make reviews private I would.
Review by Michael Reaney

Pleasantly surprised. The middle sags a bit, but the climax is iconic and thoroughly entertaining. Thanks for the code, Filmstruck.
Review by Jerod Bork ★★★

This is... not good. And is incredibly underwhelming in a post-Princess Bride world. But it’s still cute and endearing as hell.
Review by Maxime_Gerin ★½

Une leçon d'absence de mise en scène. Un storyboard corporatif filmé avec le moins d'interférence possible du vivant. Une vision bébête de la qualité (beaux décors + beaux costumes + beaux acteurs + couleur + narratif classique = BON) qu'aucun être humain sur le plateau n'a pu détourner, sauf pour quelques corps en mouvement lors de scènes d'action.
Review by Adam Sullivan ★★★★

This movie is really hard to dislike. Its fun, simple, swashbuckling adventure with a great cast and fun action. Its also probably the best adaptation of Robin Hood hollywood has ever produced. I don't know for sure, I haven't seen the Disney version.
Review by Thomas Coates ★★★★

Won 3 Oscars - Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing & Best Music, Original Score and nominated for Best Picture.

Although my personal favorite among Errol Flynn's films is The Sea Hawk, most will argue that his career role was this one in The Adventures of Robin Hood. It certainly has a deserved enduring popularity that's lasted for generations.

Were there ever a more attractive and idealistic a pair of young lovers on the screen than Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland? If there were, I'd be hard pressed to name them. They did eight films together from 1935 to 1941 and this one is probably the best. Errol all dash and charm and shy and retiring Olivia who just lights…
Review by euro ★★★★½

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Robin Hood (Errol Flynn), der Rächer der Enterbten, der Bestecher von Witwen und Waisen macht den Sherwood Forest (nie gehört) unsicher und lehrt dem barbarischen Prinz John das Fürchten. Ganz nebenbei buhlt er auch noch um die Gunst der bezaubernden Lady Marian (Olivia de Havilland)

Die Mutter aller Robin Hood und Abenteuerfilme erstrahlt in den schönsten Technicolor-Farben, aufwendige Kulissen, wunderbare Strumpfhosen-Kostüme und klasse inszenierten Fecht-Duellen, bei denen sich die Stuntmänner vor 80 Jahren auch noch ernsthaft verletzt haben. Jo, 80 Jahre hat der Streifen inzwischen auf dem Buckel. Und das muss einer der ersten Spielfilme gewesen sein, die ich Anfang der 80er oder früher noch an einem Sonntag nachmittag im TV sehen durfte. Robin Hood war…
Review by Jonathan Abresch ★★★★

The pleasant mild cheddar of film.
Review by TM2YC ★★★★½

To be honest, I'm not sure what parts of the Robin Hood myth were original, or invented for this first hit talkie adventure but this has all the scenes you'd expect. The fight with Little John, the Archery competition (and the splitting of the arrow), the rescue from the hangman, the unveiling of King Richard, the badinage with Maid Marian and lots of swashbuckling up and down stairwells. I've watched 1938's 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' quite a few times and it sits alongside 1991's 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' and Disney's animated version in my perfect Robin Hood trifecta.

The script and direction are amazingly efficient, cramming everything into 102-minutes. All the major characters are fully introduced and Robin…