The Adventures of Robin Hood

The first big budget 100% color film, The Adventures of Robin Hood is a rousing, sweet-tempered and big, fun film.

To be candid, many things about the movie have suffered in the 70 years since its release. History, uh, no, there's none of that here. It's all very mythic and fairy tale. The continuity errors shouldn't even be called errors; they are pretty much continuous (so when I found out it won Best Editing at the Oscars I laughed). The score, made much of on the DVD case, and an Oscar winner at the 11th Oscars, is bombastic, repetitive and completely at odds with the scenery at least 80% of the time, IMNSHO.

That said, the dialog still crackles, the costumes are UNBELIEVABLE and gracefully shot, Olivia de Havilland is stunningly gorgeous, Basil Rathbone is young and evil, Claude Rains plays John as gayer than a go go dancer on Pride day, and Errol Flynn takes effortless het masculinity and a beautiful smile further than it should legally be allowed to go. All the bit parts are well cast, and while it's not possible to know for sure, the whole production looks like everyone in it had a scenery chewing bang up good time. The bit parts are SO well cast, that Roy Rogers bought Trigger, the horse that Olivia de Havilland rides, and Trigger then rode out into history.

And when Olivia exclaims "You speak treason!" and Errol replies, purringly, "Fluently!" you'll smile. Recommended; a great movie for the whole family.