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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2017 0:52:54 GMT
I enjoyed it, but Richard Greene will always be Robin Hood to me. I suppose it depends on whom you see first, right? Errol Flynn will always be Robin Hood to me, just as his frequent costar Basil Rathbone will always be Sherlock Holmes to me, as Sean Connery will always be Bond to me, and as Christopher Reeve will always be Superman to me. Whenever anyone mentions one of these characters, these actors are the first who come to my mind. Interesting how that works, but not surprising, I suppose. Although I gotta admit: Michael Keatons Batman erased Adam West from my memory pretty darned fast. I'd say that was merciful, LOL.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 11, 2017 1:22:18 GMT
I suppose it depends on whom you see first, right? Errol Flynn will always be Robin Hood to me, just as his frequent costar Basil Rathbone will always be Sherlock Holmes to me, as Sean Connery will always be Bond to me, and as Christopher Reeve will always be Superman to me. Whenever anyone mentions one of these characters, these actors are the first who come to my mind. Interesting how that works, but not surprising, I suppose. Although I gotta admit: Michael Keatons Batman erased Adam West from my memory pretty darned fast. I'd say that was merciful, LOL. Good point, though that's a somewhat exceptional case, as the Adam West show wasn't as much a direct adaptation of Batman as a gentle mocking of Batman. I'm somewhat fond of the West show, just because its strait-laced goofiness appeals to me. Yes, I have a rather lowbrow sense of humor! I'm with you, though, on Michael Keaton, who's my favorite Batman. Makes me think, who was the first Batman I saw? I really don't know, now that I think of it. Hmm...
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Post by geode on Jan 7, 2018 15:07:21 GMT
Although I gotta admit: Michael Keatons Batman erased Adam West from my memory pretty darned fast. I'd say that was merciful, LOL. Good point, though that's a somewhat exceptional case, as the Adam West show wasn't as much a direct adaptation of Batman as a gentle mocking of Batman. I'm somewhat fond of the West show, just because its strait-laced goofiness appeals to me. Yes, I have a rather lowbrow sense of humor! I'm with you, though, on Michael Keaton, who's my favorite Batman. Makes me think, who was the first Batman I saw? I really don't know, now that I think of it. Hmm... Adam West was a good Batman and Bruce Wayne when allowed to do so in scripts and direction.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 18:57:05 GMT
I would call it Errol Flynn's best performance and the second best "swashbuckler" next to The Buccaneer (1958).
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Post by geode on Feb 2, 2018 5:22:22 GMT
I enjoyed it, but Richard Greene will always be Robin Hood to me. Richard Greene was the first Robin Hood I encountered, but now I am about equally split between him and Errol Flynn.
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Post by geode on Mar 8, 2019 19:49:03 GMT
Did anybody see this travesty?
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 8, 2019 22:20:31 GMT
It's a film that would never be made now. I think Jack Warner probably saw it as a boost for the war effort (THE SEA HAWK is much more obvious with its "Hurrah! we have money for a war!" ending) but it has little that would be considered a propaganda message except perhaps the "Maid Marian is a Norman" angle.
The character of Robin Hood is WAY too positive/heroic male for modern studios. There's zero anxiety or doubt in his behavior, presented as a good-natured guy and landowner. He even gives a speech about needing to protect the homeland from foreigners who attack the women! If modern superhero films tried to channel the same energy, they would be better received. Given how old this film is, and yet it is still well-regarded, shows that traditional character portrayals have longevity.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 8, 2019 22:25:14 GMT
Adam West was closer to the comics than Michael Keaton. West was rather tall and he had the right voice (Mid-Atlantic accent I think it is called). He did not have the physique but neither did Keaton. Mike Henry was rumored to be considered for a serious version of the show before it went camp, and he really looked like the Bruce Wayne of the comics. He might have been the best visual representation of the character had they used him. He was intimidating in the western More Dead Than Alive. The worst moment in the Keaton Batman was when he threatens the Joker "I can do crazy yeah!" He simply lacks the anatomy to be convincing as a threat to anyone. He lacks the height, the physique, and the attitude.
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Post by geode on Mar 11, 2019 14:03:32 GMT
It's a film that would never be made now. I think Jack Warner probably saw it as a boost for the war effort (THE SEA HAWK is much more obvious with its "Hurrah! we have money for a war!" ending) but it has little that would be considered a propaganda message except perhaps the "Maid Marian is a Norman" angle. The character of Robin Hood is WAY too positive/heroic male for modern studios. There's zero anxiety or doubt in his behavior, presented as a good-natured guy and landowner. He even gives a speech about needing to protect the homeland from foreigners who attack the women! If modern superhero films tried to channel the same energy, they would be better received. Given how old this film is, and yet it is still well-regarded, shows that traditional character portrayals have longevity. What war effort? The United States was in an isolationist mode at the time of release and years away from being at war.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 11, 2019 14:54:21 GMT
What war effort? The United States was in an isolationist mode at the time of release and years away from being at war. Well, let's say anti-Hitler messages then. Even the Fox film House of Rothschild alludes to him, and that was a 1935 film. Write-ups on The Sea Hawk make reference to the obvious political message.
There's considerable data about Roosevelt's administration wanting to get into the war however, such as the McCollum memo.
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Post by geode on Mar 11, 2019 15:42:46 GMT
What war effort? The United States was in an isolationist mode at the time of release and years away from being at war. Well, let's say anti-Hitler messages then. Even the Fox film House of Rothschild alludes to him, and that was a 1935 film. Write-ups on The Sea Hawk make reference to the obvious political message.
There's considerable data about Roosevelt's administration wanting to get into the war however, such as the McCollum memo.
Roosevelt had no desire to get into a war with Germany in 1937 when "The Adventures of Robin Hood" went into production. This was years before The McCollum Memo was generated in 1940, when WW II had been underway for over a year with Britain fighting for life during the London Blitz. The situation in the world was dramatically different in 1940 than in 1937-38. "The Sea Hawk" came out about the same time in mid-1940. By that time there were other films basically attacking Hitler such as Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and others like "The Mortal Storm"...
Does "The House of Rothchild" really allude to Hitler? It certainly has a message about anti-Semitism that had parallels to the situation in Germany, but directly to Hitler?
I doubt there was any political motive in the production of "The Adventures of Robin Hood"...with no references to Hitler.
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Post by Prime etc. on Mar 11, 2019 17:56:26 GMT
Roosevelt had no desire to get into a war with Germany in 1937 when "The Adventures of Robin Hood" went into production. This was years before The McCollum Memo was generated in 1940, when WW II had been underway for over a year with Britain fighting for life during the London Blitz. The situation in the world was dramatically different in 1940 than in 1937-38. "The Sea Hawk" came out about the same time in mid-1940. By that time there were other films basically attacking Hitler such as Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and others like "The Mortal Storm"...
Does "The House of Rothchild" really allude to Hitler? It certainly has a message about anti-Semitism that had parallels to the situation in Germany, but directly to Hitler?
I doubt there was any political motive in the production of "The Adventures of Robin Hood"...with no references to Hitler.
It's been a while since I watched it but I remember someone personified as a Hitler-like character. But as I said, compared to the Sea Hawk, there is no obvious war propaganda message in the Adventures of Robin Hood.
I see Maid Marian was not historically a Norman, so that was likely the political ingredient. That and the fact that Robin Hood was an outlaw. For some reason WB favored criminal characters as protagonists a fair bit.
In the commentary track for VIRGINIA CITY, the historian remarked he was uncertain why Errol Flynn's character was mentioned to be an Irish immigrant. I don't think it is hard to explain. Immigrant characters were also favored in some Hollywood studio movies. The main characters in THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT did not have to be Italian immigrants. That was a conscious decision by someone.
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Post by geode on Jun 11, 2019 14:07:13 GMT
Roosevelt had no desire to get into a war with Germany in 1937 when "The Adventures of Robin Hood" went into production. This was years before The McCollum Memo was generated in 1940, when WW II had been underway for over a year with Britain fighting for life during the London Blitz. The situation in the world was dramatically different in 1940 than in 1937-38. "The Sea Hawk" came out about the same time in mid-1940. By that time there were other films basically attacking Hitler such as Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and others like "The Mortal Storm"...
Does "The House of Rothchild" really allude to Hitler? It certainly has a message about anti-Semitism that had parallels to the situation in Germany, but directly to Hitler?
I doubt there was any political motive in the production of "The Adventures of Robin Hood"...with no references to Hitler.
It's been a while since I watched it but I remember someone personified as a Hitler-like character. But as I said, compared to the Sea Hawk, there is no obvious war propaganda message in the Adventures of Robin Hood.
I see Maid Marian was not historically a Norman, so that was likely the political ingredient. That and the fact that Robin Hood was an outlaw. For some reason WB favored criminal characters as protagonists a fair bit.
In the commentary track for VIRGINIA CITY, the historian remarked he was uncertain why Errol Flynn's character was mentioned to be an Irish immigrant. I don't think it is hard to explain. Immigrant characters were also favored in some Hollywood studio movies. The main characters in THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT did not have to be Italian immigrants. That was a conscious decision by someone.
Yes I think you are correct about the bias towards having characters that were immigrants in several films of that era, and of course there was "Casablanca" with so many actors in it who I had fled Hitler's reign in Europe.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 11, 2019 14:52:07 GMT
Yes I think you are correct about the bias towards having characters that were immigrants in several films of that era, and of course there was "Casablanca" with so many actors in it who I had fled Hitler's reign in Europe. BTW Charles Lindbergh, at the Sept 11 1941 America First rally, said: "Our theaters soon became filled with plays portraying the glory of war."
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