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Douglas FairbanksRobin Hood (1922)

1922 (public domain) silent version of the classic, with Douglas Fairbanks, Alan Hale and many others.

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This movie is part of the collection: Feature Films

Producer: Douglas Fairbanks
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Fairbanks; Robin Hood

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Reviewer: Spuzz - - May 18, 2009
Subject: Shtunk!!
Awesome storytelling here, even though, yes, it was made in 1922, is silent and runs 2 hours and 12 minutes. Douglas Fairbanks spells out why he was the swashbuckling hero of the day, putting on a bravara performance here, especially after he dons the Robin Hood gear. I found myself watching this all the way to the end with very few pauses, something I can't say for a lot of movies I watch. A bit of a screeching orchestral score though (or at least the interpretation of it)

Reviewer: g rated - - April 10, 2008
Subject: another G5 Classic
Another G rated 5 star classic - you cant do much better than this one

Reviewer: Cat Lady - - October 8, 2007
Subject: Three horn blasts for this one!
This is storytelling at its best, and Douglas Fairbanks is the writer. It's "Robin Hood - The Human Story," and Fairbanks spins a rich and perfectly balanced tale that shows of the highest and the lowest things human beings are capable of. He does so with remarkably little written dialogue for the audience to read, aided by excellent casting and performances. Even though it is a silent movie, you just have to watch it to know exactly what the people in it are saying and thinking. Wallace Beery gives an enthusiastic and powerful performance as King Richard, prowling around, well, like a lion, and occasionally literally chewing on the scenery. When he yells "HUNTINGTON!" you can hear him in your mind - it's that kind of a movie. There's real chemistry between Beery and Fairbanks as the Earl of Huntington so that you know it isn't just a sovereign-loyal follower relationship, but also a rich friendship between two of the most vital and powerful men of the medieval age; and all the while Sam De Grasse is lurking around in the background. He balances these two powerful actors perfectly with a very quiet, dagger-like, and bitter presence; he is a perfect Prince John.

This is a story about friendship and it culminates in something King Richard says to Huntington at the end (no spoilers here!). There is also a marvelous interpretation of chivalric love shown here between Huntington and Marian. Indeed, at the start Fairbanks tells the audience that he is giving them a glimpse of medieval life, and he delivers. It isn't always pretty: thugs of Prince John terrify villagers, women are tortured right in front of the camera; others are lashed for spurning Prince John's advances; and near the end someone is killed right in front of the camera in desperate hand-to-hand combat as brutally as it might happen in real life. Fairbanks doesn't spare his audience much, but neither does he make them wallow in it. The dark is only there so the light shines the brighter. That was how things were back then.

There is humor, some of it subtle, some bordering on slapstick; there are courage, and hope here, too.

The Robin Hood part comes later in the film, and it's almost like a fantasy -- the characters and costumes that would become so routine later on in other films are fresh and lively here, though the Sheriff of Nottingham doesn't get much screen time. As Robin Hood, Fairbanks transforms into another character, and one who apparently has an exemption from the law of gravity. Some of his best stunts are in this film, and I'm thinking specifically of the drawbridge scene, though there are many other good sequences.

It is a fantasy that the audience definitely needs at this point in what has become a very grim story. However, Fairbanks is so ebullient in this part, the action so overwhelming, and the Merry Men so darned merry, it's a relief when Richard comes striding into the forest in disguise, saying that he's not sure if he wants to join Robin Hood or slay him. We all know it's Richard, of course, but Robin and his men don't have a clue; and we're glad to see him because now we're ready to get back to the main story. Yet so cleverly written is the tale that still it comes as a surprise and one of the highest peaks of the film when the returned king reveals his true identity.

The set is superb, and it has an excellent musical soundtrack that apparently dates back to the original 1922 score. The Spanish subtitles are a little distracting at first, but once the film grips you, you won't even notice them.

Yes, I like it a lot. (BG)