Robin Hood

“Robin Hood” (1922, USA, Allen Dwan)


“Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood” is perhaps the first great example of the escapist world of feel-good action/adventure films. In this realm of film, the audience is normally only privy to at least a little background on the hero character. We never know much behind the bad guys of the “Indiana Jones” films, only that they are bad. A film can be digested easily when it’s good vs. evil (see Stephen King movies/novels). The film itself fleshes out the different realms of the action/adventure by choreographing scenes, exhibiting scintillating fantastical landscapes, good actors who can pull their own weight in their cog-in-the-machine roles, and a great dialogue the audience captivated from beginning to end. Yes, the action adventure film can be very delightful when done right.

“Robin Hood” qualifies as a lasting great action adventure film. The castle set pieces (reportedly the largest ever built for any silent film) are enormous and amazing with the detailed stone work. The castle is so large as to take on a character of its own in the film (to rival the woods). There are huge scenes with hundreds of extras that are fascinating to watch. The film reportedly was granted the largest budget at that point: $1.4 million; and brought in over $2.5 million. Douglas Fairbanks as uncredited script writer, lead actor, and producer/financier brought this vision of Robin Hood to the screen to be directed by one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, Allen Dwan. Dwan started making films in 1911 and went full steam into the 50’s. Great cast of actors pull off all the characters. My one complaint is the length of the film. It’s hard to believe people would have sat for over two hours to watch a movie in 1922, but apparently they did. I wouldn’t want to be the editor, but it could have been 20 minutes less and maybe even a tad more effective.

Although the camera is a limited player in this film, as in terms of motion, the camerawork succeeds in bringing the castle of Nottingham to life. Like most silent films, the camera at the time had limited focal range and would stick largely to mid shots and long shots and occasionally some close-ups. For “Robin Hood,” the the long shots serve the purpose of giving more detail to the action and to the background. The first scene has the drawbridge lowering in front of the camera and soldiers come marching out at the viewer. However, is telling that the two ‘moving’ camera sequences are back to back as Robin is climbing up the drawing drawbridge. The first is a long shot showing the bridge closing and panning up with the bridge, like watching a huge lower lip close the mouth. The second shot is from the top of the bridge looking down at trapped soldiers behind the gate, as if closed in the mouth. Of the castle and at the castle.