Robin Hood (1922)

Director:

Allan Dwan

Writer:

Douglas Fairbanks (story)

Release Date:

18 October 1922 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Family

Plot:

Amid big-budget medieval pageantry, King Richard goes on the Crusades leaving his brother Prince John as regent...

Plot Keywords:

Pigeon | Good Versus Evil | Robin Hood | Swashbuckler | Archery

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Wallace Beery	...	King Richard the Lion-Hearted
Sam De Grasse	...	Prince John
Enid Bennett	...	Lady Marian Fitzwalter
Paul Dickey	...	Sir Guy of Gisbourne
William Lowery	...	The High Sheriff of Nottingham
Roy Coulson	...	The King's Jester
Billie Bennett	...	Lady Marian's serving woman
Merrill McCormick	...	Prince John's henchman
Wilson Benge	...	Prince John's henchman
Willard Louis	...	Friar Tuck
Alan Hale	...	The Squire / Little John
Bud Geary	...	Will Scarlett (as Maine Geary)
Lloyd Talman	...	Allan-a-Dale
Douglas Fairbanks	...	Earl of Huntingdon / Robin Hood

Also Known As:

Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

133 min | UK:117 min (video) | 127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

UK:PG | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corp.

Trivia:

The official title of this movie is "Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood."

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Big Moments from Little Pictures (1924)

Robin Hood as you've never seen it before...

...and may never want to see it again.

My biggest problem with the movie was the strange pace. In the beginning, before the Earl of Huntingdon becomes Robin Hood, things move as slowly as a snail. The movie is just over two hours long and could have been much shorter. For example, it opens with a long jousting tournament that could have been completely removed. But after Huntingdon goes AWOL on King Richard's Crusades (which are disturbingly glorified in this movie) to protect England from the tyranny of evil Prince John and adopts the alias Robin Hood, things suddenly start moving at break-neck speed.

Douglas Fairbanks shines in this film, creating a Robin Hood with surprising heart and humanity for a silent movie. But in a movie that was a big-budget blockbuster for the 1920s, Fairbanks's star is often eclipsed by needless pageantry, as well as by his own less-talented co-stars, particularly Wallace Beery as King Richard, the so-called "lion hearted" king who spends most of the movie laughing. He laughs when he sees that Earl of Huntingdon (Robin Hood) is scared of women, he laughs when he defeats the Muslims in the Crusades, he laughs when he discovers that Robin Hood is Huntingdon is disguise, and he laughs as he tries to barge in on Robin and Marian's wedding night in the final scene. Before long, you'll be wondering why the heck everyone in Nottingham reveres this guy, or you'll be asking the question I heard someone sitting near me in the theater whisper: "What is so funny, anyway?" Enid Bennett, playing Lady Marian, seems like a good actress, but it is hard to tell, as she's given little more to do than faint whenever a fight starts and wake up once the action's over. Her romance with Robin Hood, however, is definitely worth watching. My favorite scene in the whole movie was their first kiss: When Robin leans in toward her, she modestly turns away, and he settles with kissing the hem of her sleeve instead.