By Barbara Burkowsky

(Continued from previous page)

Some critics and commentators have described Robin Hood as suffering from a "long and plodding preamble" before the appearance of Robin Hood merrily bouncing through the forests and effortlessly evading capture by the King’s soldiers.  After more than eighty years, it is easy to fall into the trap of comparing an original silent film to its many popular remakes, each of which had to be adapted to the style and audience expectations of its decade.

So what, we may ask, did the audience of 1922 think of Fairbanks’ grand production and portrayal of this legendary medieval Englishman who robbed the rich, only to feed the poor?

Before box office takings became an organized and accepted method of rating a film’s success, it was a complex matter of combining various factors such as a production company’s profits and exhibitors’ reports.  An independent study of these various sources by James Mark Purcell has listed the most successful films for each year from 1922 to 1928, and in 1922 one film ranks first by a wide margin:  Robin Hood!   Furthermore, Douglas Fairbanks received the Photoplay Medal of Honor in 1922 for this outstanding production, and a closer look at Robin Hood’s many features will clearly show why it was so highly esteemed.

Cinema audiences of 1922 were not yet very familiar with historic or costume dramas on a very large and lavish scale - D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance of 1916 stood out as the grandest production of the movies to date.  Yet Robin Hood surpasses the size and grandeur of the famed Babylonian set for Intolerance, and cost an estimated 1 to 1.5 million dollars – by far the most expensive production of the time, and certainly the largest set that had ever been constructed for a motion picture.

Together with his wife, Mary Pickford, Fairbanks bought a large, empty plot of land in Santa Monica to build the towering Old English castle for Robin Hood, and this studio later served for both his and Pickford’s successive productions.  With so much money invested, Fairbanks made sure that at least as much effort was also invested in all other aspects of the production of Robin Hood, and to this end he worked fastidiously first at a story, then at thoroughly researching medieval English history - their daily life, clothing, social customs, weapons, furnishings and other accessories.

Many varied stories from medieval England abound, from Robin Hood to kings, knights and the Crusades, but often these classic tales are not suitable material for a cinema audience without some changes and adaptations.  Fairbanks’ knowledge of, and interest in history and literature enabled him to combine elements from history and the timeless qualities of romance, as well as age-old vices such as greed for power and corruption.

As in most good classic stories, there are exemplary characters of virtue, and at least one villain in opposition whose vile deeds demand action and justice.  Not unlike the moral of The Mark of Zorro, the good King’s evil brother, Prince John, oppresses the people while the King and his men go off to battle in the Crusades, and this tyranny creates a champion of the downtrodden people:  Robin Hood.

The conflict between good and bad is complemented by a tender love story between the Earl of Huntingdon – soon to become Robin Hood – and Lady Marian, but far from a predictable happy ending in both cases, our hero and his lady both endure hardships and obstacles, creating suspense and audience involvement with the principal characters.

Fairbanks’ Robin Hood shows us - in grand splendor and with a touch of humor – the circumstances under which a champion of the poor and oppressed arose, and this is highlighted by the Earl of Huntingdon’s initial modesty and shyness of women:  not the traits immediately associated with a brave champion of justice.  Yet the extent of wicked Prince John’s cruel reign and Lady Marian’s desperate letter to the Earl of Huntingdon cause a new man to emerge and take on the guise of Robin Hood.

Robin Hood further enhances the atmosphere of genuine medieval England by the use of its poetic language in the Old English style while still easily understood by modern audiences.  For the romantically inclined, the love story between the Earl-come-Robin Hood and Lady Marian is sure to satisfy, while for others the Earl’s loyalty to the King and the Crusades is a highlight.  But above all, everyone thrills to see the champion of justice bring hope to the oppressed, and perform amazing feats as he foils his pursuers; jumping, sliding and climbing throughout the massive medieval castle until the good king is restored to his throne.

Lady Marian is elegantly portrayed by Australian-born actress, Enid Bennett, wife of Fred Niblo, the director of Fairbanks’ prior two films, The Mark of Zorro and The Three Musketeers.  Also in Fairbanks’ fine hand-picked cast is Sam de Grasse, an actor of high repute who appeared in several earlier Fairbanks films, and is perfect in the role of the bad Prince John who makes no effort to hide his lust for power in Robin Hood.  Wallace Beery, who was the bad guy in Fairbanks’ superb comedy The Mollycoddle (1920), is a very convincing King Richard the Lion-Hearted.

Robin Hood’s director, Alan Dwan, was also very familiar to Fairbanks, having directed eight of his films, most of which are sadly believed to be lost.  Only Manhattan Madness (1916), The Half-Breed (1916), The Habit of Happiness (1916), and A Modern Musketeer (1918) survive to testify to the long-successful working relationship between Fairbanks and Dwan.

Robin Hood is available on DVD on Kino Video with bonus materials such as rare outtakes and an excerpt of Will Rogers’ 1923 parody of Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood.  It also features a new stereo recording of the original musical score, but this is unfortunately not an orchestral version - rather, the music is performed on a single electronic keyboard. This film is also included in the Kino Boxed Set DVD, The Douglas Fairbanks Collection.
 
 

All text and images protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.