You know the story—King Richard the Lionheart has been captured on his way back from a Crusade. Prince John capitalizes on his brother’s ill fortune, takes the throne, and taxes the Saxons mercilessly. Saxon nobleman Sir Robin of Locksley opposes Prince John’s reign of terror and hides in the Sherwood Forest. He assembles a band of merry men to harass Prince John’s minions, retake tax money, and aid the poor. On one raid, Robin captures the Lady Mariam. She is initially contemptuous of him but begins to learn of Prince John’s treachery. The cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham recommends an archery tournament to expose Robin, the best archer in England. The trap works and Robin is set to be hanged when Mariam, now sympathetic to his cause and falling in love, arranges his rescue. King Richard returns to England and is nearly killed by Prince John’s assassin. Robin’s men give the king safe passage and rally around him to retake the throne. Reinstated, King Richard commands Robin to marry Lady Mariam. And they lived happily ever after.
This film is a classic Hollywood, swashbuckling, Technicolor, action-adventure-comedy-romance-popcorn film and you know what—it totally holds up. Yeah, it’s plain in areas, it’s been parodied into oblivion, and Robin Hood is an arrogant American dude who basically winks at the camera. But the film is still fun. While the characters don’t really grow or change (except for Mariam, who pulls a 180), their characterizations are charming and consistent. The script is funny, has excellent pacing, and moves like a Marvel movie (honestly, Robin Hood is basically Tony Stark). I kept looking for reasons to slight the film for being a popcorn flick, but screw it—the film shines with its own artistic merits. The sets are expansive and lush. The camerawork is fantastic (in my favorite shot, Robin and Sir Guy’s duel carries them out of frame, but the candle-lit silhouette of the fight continues on a castle wall). The film’s music, composed by the famous Erich Wolfgang Korngold, is boisterous and romantic, forging the path for the John Williams adventure scores we so love today. And themes of corruption, pillaging the poor, leading by fear, and the power of hope, loyalty, and integrity remains as relevant today as it was in 1938.