The Adventures of Robin Hood

This past Month of May marked an anniversary of milestone movie.   The Adventures of Robin Hood celebrated it's 80th Anniversary

 Showcasing its then rising stars Olivia DeHavilland and Errol Flynn. The duo would go on and star in eight films together, Robin Hood was already the third time the pair had worked together on screen.  Placing them up with notable Hollywood on screen couples, like Spencer & Hepburn, Bogart & Bacall, Hanks & Ryan, and Sandler & Barrymore.

On the week of the film’s Anniversary, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment released the trailer of the next generation of Robin Hood to hit the big screen. Starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx, Robin Hood is set to hit theatres on November 21, 2018;  The Adventures of Robin Hood was not the first theatrical released film, there was a movie starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. that was released in 1922.  His son, Douglas  Fairbanks Jr.  was offered the title role on this version, but turned it down specifically because of his close relation with his father and to avoid drawing comparisons , So he opted out of the movie  when the role was offered, which eventually ended up for a young Errol Flynn.

The film is a milestone for a few reasons, at the time. It was the most expensive movie ever made, with a budget reaching 2 million dollars, there were only eleven Technicolor cameras in existence, and the film used all eleven during its filming schedule. By year end The Adventures of Robin Hood  was the biggest box office draw for 1938. Making back more the double its projected budget in a time when the united states was still in an economic downturn with unemployment reaching 19%, which was 5 percent increase from the previous year,  The movie went on to win 3 Oscars, for best Art Direction, Editing, and most importantly original Score.  Erich Wolfgang Korngold was the composer; its significant because prior to the 1939 academy awards the only recipient of best original score was the head of the music department from a big Hollywood studios. Korngold was a composer, born in Hungary; he was a child protégé, composing music for operas.  The irony was Korngold got cold feet and desperately wanted to back out of making the music of the movie when he realized the scope and the using a full orchestra to compose the musical score.  The producers held him to his contract and he became the first composer to ever win.  Opening the door for future composers such as Hans Zimmer, James Horner and up and comer Tyler Bates. Talented individuals to steer and over see the musical development of a movie to help tell its story.   

It is also the movie that created the character of Maid Marian to be the love interest for Robin, in earlier incarnation and story adaptations Marian was not featured before this movie and now has become a staple character of Robin of Locksley and his story. Since its release 80 years ago, there has been over 100 interpretive retelling of this story in film, television, and animation.