CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Robin Hood

Director

Allan Dwan

Year

1922

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon C Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Even though the most famous and influential Hollywood rendition of the Robin Hood story is the 1938 gem The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Douglas Fairbanks’ 1922 version is also very important and worth seeing. Famous for its use of the largest Hollywood set built for any silent movie (the castle), its storytelling no doubt influenced the further Errol Flynn masterpiece and the overall legend in pop culture. Though easily surpassed by the 1938 witty swashbuckler, this film is very entertaining in its own right.

The story has good King Richard the Lion-Hearted (Wallace Beery) picking Robert Earl of Huntingdon (Douglas Fairbanks) as his main man for the Crusades. Resentful Prince John (Sam De Grasse), the King’s brother, snatches the opportunity to become regent for good when his brother leaves. Aided by foul Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Paul Dickey), he decides to ensure that his brother doesn’t find a safe way back. In the meantime, he terrorizes his people with ridiculous taxes and overall tyranny. Out in the Crusades, the Earl of Huntingdon gets word of this, and decides to go back and help the people but, unable to tell the King, he’s believed a deserter and becomes an outlaw: Robin Hood.

My main reaction to this film was that of unpleasantness with the treatment of Robin’s character as a nobleman. A timid fellow, shy around women, and overall clumsy, he’s hardly a hero, and it’s even hard to believe that the King would pick him among others. As usual with Fairbanks, his character evolves from this awkward fellow to a dashing, intrepid leading man. I thought this time I wouldn’t fall for it, but once again, the guy managed to convince me. The second half was as entertaining as can be. Not enough to make up for the mostly boring first half, but pretty good.

Once the film has established most of its characters, there’s no stopping the action. That is both good and bad. Good, because the pace gets very exciting and Fairbanks is one hell of an acrobat. And bad, because most of the important characters are given little to no importance. Lady Marian (Enid Bennett) has a showcase in the first half, and is important throughout the entire movie, as is Little John (Alan Hale), but others like Will Scarlett (Bud Geary), Allan-a-Dale (Lloyd Talman), Friar Tuck (Willard Louis), and even the High Sheriff of Nottingham (William Lowery) go nearly unnoticed. The film’s overlength is unjustified when time is not used to develop such important characters, probably assuming the audience already knows who they are and no formal introduction is required.

Fairbanks at his best, magnificent sets, and the overall greatness of the story, as well as the film’s influence in future films on the subject, make this worth the while.

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