The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Adventures of Robin Hood. 1939 Warner Bros. (First National) Pictures/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Alan Hale
Directors: Michael Curtiz & William Keighley
Two-disc special edition DVD available at Amazon.

Welcome to Sherwood, my lady!

King Richard is captured by Leopold of Austria while returning from the Crusades. His brother Prince John (Rains) takes power in his place, and begins oppressing the commoners. He also raises taxes, allegedly to raise to pay for Richard's ransom, but he does it only to secure his position on the throne.

Eventually, John raises the ire of Robin, Earl of Locksley (Flynn), who begins his crusade by saving Much (Herbert Mundin) from arrest for poaching one of the king's deer. Robin meets with Prince John, and announces to he and his assembled supporters, which includes Maid Marian (de Havilland) that he opposes him, and will do anything possible to restore King Richard to the throne. After escaping, Robin takes refuge in Sherwood Forest with Will Scarlet (Knowles), and starts recruiting followers, notably Little John (Hale) and Friar Tuck (Pallette).

At first, Marian is disdainful of Robin and his band of "cutthroats", but after she is captured along with a large party transporting collected tax money through the forest along with the Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper), she realizes that Robin is fighting the good fight. While Prince John is scheming to find a way to be rid of Robin, Richard (Ian Hunter) returns to England disguised as a monk. He is quickly exposed, but Richard goes underground to join Robin and his men. Can they stop Prince John from being crowned king and save an abducted Marian?

How many people can think of Robin Hood, and not have Errol Flynn come to mind. The film is a good one, and Warner Bros. did a stellar job restoring it (the colors are sharp and vivid) and transferring it to DVD. Highly recommended movie.