Now Showing: The Adventures of Robin Hood

“You who so plod amid serious things that you feel it shame to give yourself up even for a few short moments to mirth and joyousness in the land of Fancy; you who think that life hath not to do with innocent laughter that can harm no one; these pages are not for you.”

― Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

There’s a new Robin Hood movie coming out this summer, The Death of Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman as the legendary leader of the Band of Merry Men. 

It looks dreadful. 

That’s a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. I’m a huge Hugh fan, and I really enjoyed writer/director Michael Sarnoski’s 2021 movie Pig (with a great performance by Nicolas Cage). But you can tell from watching the trailer that Sarnoski, like so many others before him, misses the point about the legendary hero of Sherwood Forest. He forgets he’s a fun, life-loving hero and what that means to the audience, the very people who need a positive example in their lives. 

There have been dozens of Robin Hood retellings since Howard Pyle wrote and illustrated the definitive retelling of the legend in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood in 1883. My first exposure to the story happened 90 years after the book came out, when I went to see the Walt Disney classic directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and David Hand, featuring the unforgettable songs and singing style of Roger Miller, who provided the voice for Alan-a-dale. Here’s the trailer for a trip down memory lane. It’s still a favorite.

Since then, I’ve watched a wide range of Hollywood stars slip into a pair of green tights to try to bring Robin Hood to life. Kevin Costner tried it in 1993 with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, giving us a hero who looked like he spent more time with his blow dryer than battling bad guys.  Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe teamed up in 2010 for Robin Hood, a movie that switched gritty realism for legendary lyricism with surprisingly dull results. The unlikely pairing of Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx did its best to recapture the adventurous spirit of the legend in their 2018 Robin Hood, but neither of them looked comfortable in those tights.

Speaking of which, Mel Brooks took a complete 180-degree turn on the legend with his 1993 comedy, Robin Hood: Men in Tights (click here). Although Cary Elwes certainly looks the part of the hero, adventure has never been Brook’s strong suit, and so the film falls flat in that regard. But it still is hilarious.

The only one to truly capture on film the spirit that Pyle put down on the page was Errol Flynn in the colorful classic directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) and William Keighley (The Bride Came C.O.D.). It’s not only gorgeous to look at, but the heroic image of Robin swinging up to a tree limb to welcome his arch enemies to Sherwood forest puts all the other posers to shame. As good as the perfectly coiffed Alan Rickman is in the Kevin Costner flick, he stands in the shadow of Basil Rathbone, who set the standard for playing the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne. And Claude Rain’s decision to play Prince John as a total fop feels weird these days, but it still works.

So do yourself a favor before going out to see Jackman’s brooding bastard suck all the fun out of the story, settle down to watch the rollicking romance of Errol Flynn and The Adventures of Robin Hood.