The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938/HD-DVD)
Picture:
B+ Sound: C+ Extras: B Film: B
After
Warner Bros. survived as a studio thanks to Rin Tin Tin and thrived when they
were the studio that brought sound to movies, they were determined to take on
any new idea or innovation (like 3-D and widescreen filmmaking) and be a (if
not the) leader in the next big
thing. Though they had made films in
color before, including two-strip Technicolor, the arrival of three-strip
Technicolor was one of the most key events since sound itself in
Hollywood. It led to almost all films
becoming color and was a huge hit. The
studio agreed and went all out for their first three-strip Technicolor feature:
Michael Curtiz’s The Adventures Of Robin
Hood (1938). It is no surprise then
that Warner has made this one of their earliest HD-DVDs.
Errol
Flynn was perfectly cast as the title character famous for stealing form the
rich and giving to the poor, but the real key to his performance is a great
combination of energy, friendliness, joy, kinetic physicality and charm like he
never had the chance to play before and if you think about it, never
again. Despite many challengers from
Sean Connery (Richard Lester’s mature revisionism of the mythos in Robin & Marion with Audrey Hepburn)
and Kevin Costner (in the Kevin Reynolds blockbuster hit Robin Hood – Prince Of Thieves) to endless failed challengers
trying to “go back to the original material” pretentiously, Flynn endures
because of Curtiz, the Norman Reilly Raine/Seton O. Miller screenplay and
ambition on his part in part to equal what Douglas Fairbanks Sr. had
established in the Action and Fantasy genre back in the silent era. It is a shining performance that remains
undimmed nearly 80 years later.
Robin’s
nemesis here is Basil Rathbone, soon to be the iconic hero Sherlock Holmes,
playing all-time boo-hiss villain Sir Guy Of Gisbourne, who will not tolerate
Robin’s activities, the hope he gives the lower classes or any challenge to his
authority. With that attitude, you know
he’s a real so and so. The film
immediately jumps into the action with its extensive production design, costume
design and army of real actors, stunt actors & some of the most amazing
manicured horses in cinema history.
Besides
his athletic abilities and cleverness, Robin’s other great asset is his
flawless archery (which parallels the use of the gun in the Hollywood Western
by the hero as the best shot in town) and other fighting skills that all add up
to creating a legendary status that makes sense. How many times in recent bad action films do
we hear that the hero (or even villain) has this amazing legend or skill only
to be an oaf?
Then
there is the strong cast of characters played by some of the best actors of the
day, including Little John (played by actor Alan Hale), Maid Marion (Olivia de
Havilland), Will Scarlett (Patric Knowles), Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette),
Prince John (Claude Rains) The High Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper) and
King Richard -The Lion Heart (Ian Hunter).
Looking at the film again, this might be one of the greatest casts of
any commercial film from the Classical Hollywood period, showing the Studio
System at its peak (the next year would be the system’s overall peak) and the
kind of talent that was all over Warner Bros. itself. Curtiz had already been a premiere director,
including in early key genre films (Doctor
X, the two-strip Technicolor original Mystery
Of The Wax Museum, Philo Vance film Kennel
Murder Case), so it is no surprise they considered him the best choice for
this rich production and the result was a huge hit for the studio.
Though
the sets are obvious, some acting moments corny and narrative maybe too
obviously book-like at times (even outside of the opening with text explanation
of the film’s world that looks like an expensive book so rare, that it is about
to go up for auction at Christie’s versus “that eBay place”) that show some of
its age, the film has aged very well giving it authentically that rare timeless
quality so many films wish they had now.
This film is as smart as it is very entertaining, which is why it
remains a classic. The more you watch,
the more you realize its influence. This
is the best way yet to see it outside of a film print.
The 1080p
1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image is centered in the 1.78 X 1 frame with
black bookends to retain the original aspect ratio as shot by ace
cinematographers Sol Polito (who formed the visual look of Warner’s films at
the time) and Tony Gaudio, who had worked with Curtiz before. Warner and Turner Entertainment have done
extensive work on preserving and restoring the film. Though this HD-DVD cannot beat a pristine
35mm dye-transfer three-strip Technicolor print, this is still a rich and
strong digital equivalent that now stands as one of the best color films in
either HD format. The print has some
minor flaws, but color is consistent, along with depth of field and surprising
detail.
This was
shot at a time when three black and white strips through three different
filters had to be shot to get the color here.
Fortunately, there was no major negative shrinkage trouble and the
reconfiguration of the strips here is often seamless. This is the first 1.33/block style/Academy
Aperture film to arrive in either HD disc and the second ever in any HD format,
with Francis Ford Coppola’s One From The
Heart (reviewed elsewhere on this site) the solitary 1.33 film issued in
the now-defunct D-Theater/D-VHS format and was presented the same way. The two Looney Tunes cartoons included here
in HD are also presented that way, but more on that in a minute.
The Dolby
Digital Plus 1.0 Mono is the second-ever title in either HD format to be
monophonic and also the second to be 1.0 Mono.
The previous also happens to be a Warner title, The Searchers (reviewed elsewhere on this site) and though home
theater systems can split it into two speakers with the touch of the right
button, one wonders if 2.0 would be a better option. Unfortunately, even the music was not stereo,
but this is better than the standard Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono form the standard
DVD.
Of
course, the music is by the legendary Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whose
distinctive music informs ever Lucas/Spielberg film with a John Williams score
and all their imitators. However, even
after their dozens of commercial successes, the Korngold scores are the
original at this game and hold up extremely well. This particular score is as great as any such
work at the time of any composer at a time when so many extremely talented
composers changed music forever though their Hollywood film work. It brings the level of energy up a few more
levels as a result, making the film even richer overall.
Extras include
a studio bloopers reel dubbed Breakdowns Of 1938, other outtakes,
an Errol Flynn trailer gallery, several rich stills galleries related to the
film’s production & promotion, Korngold’s piano sessions for the film,
isolated music track you can watch with the film, audio-only Robin Hood Radio Show, vintage live
action short subjects Cavalcade Of Archery & The
Cruise of The Zaca, home movies of Korngold and Rathbone shot during
the production dubbed A Journey To Sherwood Forest, full
length audio commentary with film historian Rudy Behlmer, a Robin
Hood Through The Ages piece that shows versions prior to this film with
some of this film in German, Leonard Maltin hosting a “Warner Night At The Movies” section recreating what you would see
before a feature like this started (including a vintage newsreel, live action
musical short, Katnip Kollege animated short and Angels With Dirty Faces trailer), two documentaries (Welcome To Sherwood about the film and Glorious Technicolor about the famous
process and why it was so celebrated) and two Looney Tunes cartoons in 1080p
1.33 X 1 digital High Definition!
The
cartoons are two classics that will drive fans to buy this disc even over the
actual film. The first is Rabbit Hood (1949) where Bugs Bunny
goes to Sherwood and guess who shows up?
Purists were not happy when the clip spliced in of Flynn was substituted
for a Costner clip when his Robin Hood was released, but rest assured Flynn is
here in this original cut of the cartoon.
Robin Hood Daffy (1958) is
even loonier as Daffy Duck goes around claiming to be Robin Hood, much to the bemusement
of Porky Pig as Friar Tuck. Daffy keeps
trying to impress Porky’s monk as an expert thief, but keeps falling on his
beak. Then there are the brilliant
quarter-staff sequences and the hilarious conclusion. Both are excellent and show Warner Animation
at its Golden Age peak. Including them
in HD was a brilliant move on Warner’s part, both also in dye-transfer
three-strip Technicolor that make them demo-quality for color as well as the
film itself.
Besides
the many general imitators because of this film in particular and the legend in
general, other heroes that echoed him followed, including The Green Archer (in
a movie serial reviewed elsewhere on this site), Marvel Comics’ Hawkeye and
especially DC Comics’ Green Arrow, who is the most successful of them all the
rest. However, The Adventures Of Robin Hood is in a class by itself and this new
HD-DVD will only serve as to remind us all of just what a remarkable, great
film it is from one of the major studios then and now.
- Nicholas Sheffo
