Another Errol Flynn one ... this one is obviously his best, and what he will be remembered for.
The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938
One of the most popular of all adventure films -- stirring for children and intensely nostalgic for adults. As Robin, Errol Flynn slings a deer across his shoulders with exuberant aplomb; he achieves a mixture of daring and self-mockery, like that of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in the 20s. The film gives the legend a light, satirical edge: everyone is a bit too much of what he is. (The archetypal roles that the actors played here clung to their later performances.) With improbably pretty Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, Alan Hale as Little John, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains as the villains. The story is clear, the color ravishing, the acting simple and crude. Erich Wolfgang Korngold did the marvellous score; the rousing, buoyant direction is credited to Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, the former having replaced the latter.
Yup. I would indeed call that film rousing and buoyant. I love it.
Posted by sheila