Rating: PG
Genre:
Adventure
Release Date: 09/30/2003
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 102 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
In order to avoid the material copyrighted by
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. for his 1922
Robin Hood, the scripters of this
Flynn version relied on several legendary episodes that had never before been filmed, notably the battle between
Robin and
Little John (
Alan Hale Sr., who played this part three times in his long career) and the "piggy-back" episode between
Robin and
Friar Tuck (
Eugene Pallette). The film ties together the various ancient anecdotes with a storyline bounded by the capture in Austria of
Richard the Lionheart (
Ian Hunter) on one end and
Richard's triumphant return to England on the other.
Robin Hood is already an outlaw at the outset of the film, while
Maid Marian (
Olivia de Havilland) is initially part of the enemy camp, as one of
Prince John's (
Claude Rains) entourage.
Marian warms up to
Robin's fight against injustice (and to
Robin himself), eventually becoming a trusted ally.
James Cagney was originally announced for the role of
Robin Hood, just before
Cagney left
Warner Bros. in a salary dispute.
William Keighley was the original director, but he worked too slowly to suit the tight production schedule and was replaced by
Michael Curtiz (both men receive screen credit). A lengthy opening jousting sequence was shot but removed from the final print; portions of this sequence show up as stock footage in the 1957
Warners film
The Story of Mankind. The chestnut-colored Palomino horse ridden by
de Havilland in the Sherwood Forest scenes later gained screen stardom as
Roy Rogers'
Trigger.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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