How to Choose the Best Robin Hood for You
With a million retellings to choose from (plus a new one on the way), we help narrow down the field.
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By Matt Patches May 12, 2010 |
The "Screw Multiple Colors" Version
You're not narrow-minded, your just like things simple. Spectrums of color are so...complicated, and black & white - what is this, an art film?
1922's Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood starring (you guessed it) Douglas Fairbanks as Robin Hood finds the perfect middleground. Besides having been one of the more expensive films of the 1920s - a whopping $1 million - Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood sported a monochromatic hue. Is Robin Hood on screen? Go green! Maid Marian? Let's make it pink!
ILM would have eaten their hearts out.
The "It's a Classic, You Have to Like It" Version
If you have movie buff friends, older colleagues, or parents and you're looking for a Robin Hood reference to impress them with, name drop the 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn.
Mentioning the swashbuckling blockbuster will feed on their nostalgia, mentally sending them back to a time when they were kids and "Hollywood made real movies" and giving you time to slip out of the conversation. Errol Flynn's Robin Hood: the cinematic "Get Out of Jail Free" card.
The "Brighter Than Bright Technicolor" Version
The Robin Hood legend has the advantage of practically being tailor-made for the classic Hollywood adventure flick. You'd have to be blind not to be blown away by the elaborate sets, period costumes and dramatic, often colorful lighting that would make Dario Argento salivate.
But what if you really do have bad eyesight?
If you need a Robin Hood to abre los ojos, turn to The Bandit of Sherwood, where the Technicolor is so eye-poppingly vibrant, optometrists recommend viewing the movie over cataract surgery. The film stars Cornel Wilde as the son of Robin Hood, who teams with his Dad to take down the villianous William of Pembroke.
Sunglasses required.
The "Suave Like James Bond" Version
You can always turn to Robin Hood for a good sword fight or impressive archery skills, but if you're looking for a dash of misogynistic female wooing with your action?
In Prince of Thieves, Jon Hall plays ladies' man Robin of Locksley, who rescues Marian and shows her how things are done in Sherwood Forest.
"Oh, you want to know how to use a bow and arrow? Here, let me show you..."
The "I've Still Got It" Version
If you ever feel like life's passing you by and you're worried about accomplishing your dreams as you grow old, revisit 1950's Rogues of Sherwood Forest for a reminder that even an older guy can pack a punch.
Alan Hale Sr., who played Little John in both the Douglas Fairbanks Robin Hood and the Errol Flynn Robin Hood, returned to the role at the age of 58. Think of him as Judi Dench's M of Robin Hood continuity. It would be Hale Sr.'s final screen appearance, but the big guy proved he could still pack a bunch (or a stranglehold) after all those years.
