MICHAEL CURTIZ, WILLIAM KEIGHLEY
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBBB.
USA, 1938. Warner Bros.. Screenplay by Norman Reilly Raine, Seton I. Miller, based upon ancient Robin Hood legends. Cinematography by Tony Gaudio, Sol Polito. Produced by Henry Blanke. Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Production Design by Carl Jules Weyl. Costume Design by Milo Anderson. Film Editing by Ralph Dawson. Academy Awards 1938.
It’s hard to think of a more exciting or enjoyable adventure film than this superior telling of the Sherwood Forest and his Merry Men! Errol Flynn is tailor-made for the title role, a dapper English do-gooder who robs from the oppressively rich and gives his treasures to the impoverished and oppressed citizens of England, all the while avoiding the wrath of the evil Prince John (Claude Rains) and winning the heart of the pure-as-spun-gold Maid Marian (a ravishing Olivia de Havilland). The photography is stultifying in its beauty, even by today’s technically advanced standards, and William Keighley and Michael Curtiz’s direction shines like gold. This film hasn’t aged a single day in over sixty years and can still be enjoyed to the fullest.
