The Adventures of Robin Hood

Perhaps the most acclaimed and beloved of the Michael Curtiz-Errol Flynn collaborations, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is a fun, unpretentious swashbuckler full of great action, disarmingly dashing heroes, hissable villains and glorious Technicolor. While Captain Blood and The Charge of the Light Brigade had made Flynn a star, this film made him a legend.

England's King Richard the Lionheart (Ian Hunter) is taken captive by treacherous Austrians while returning from the Crusades, leaving the throne in the hands of his unscrupulous brother Prince John (Claude Rains) and his right-hand man Sir Guy (Basil Rathbone). Fighting John's oppression is Robin of Locksley (Errol Flynn), a disaffected nobleman - and crack archer - who raises an Army of oppressed Saxons to bring John to heel and place Richard back on the throne. Robin also romances John's paramour, the beautiful Maid Marian (Olivia De Havilland), in the process.

The straightforward charm of The Adventures of Robin Hood is undeniable, even seventy years later. The story has been told many times, from Disney's animated film to Richard Lester's Robin and Marian to Kevin Costner's typically bloated effort - and a Ridley Scott-helmed remake is in the pipeline - but never better than here. Robin is an endearingly anarchic character who "speaks treason fluently", embodying boyish impudence, virile charm and charisma: the perfect matinee protagonist, fighting oppression, giving authority the finger and wooing the pretty girl. The movie is virtually free of political or thematic baggage, telling its simple story entertainingly and well, with a brisk pace, snappy dialogue and loads of well-staged action that make it effortlessly entertaining.

Curtiz took over from William Keightley mid-way through production, but the movie certainly equal his work on Light Brigade and The Sea Hawk. The movie has some of the best action scenes ever filmed, especially the climactic swordfight between Flynn and Rathbone; when did Hollywood forget how to swashbuckle? The real treat here, however, is the radiant Technicolor photography by Tony Gaudio and Sol Polito, with vivid greens and reds leaping off the screen, and Carl Jules Weyl's wonderful, expansive set design is brought to life. California - er, England - never looked so good. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's sweeping, exciting score sweetens the deal.

Errol Flynn has never been better than here, perfectly embodying the archetypical swashbuckling hero: charming, virile, athletic, and kickass. The radiant Olivia De Havilland has wonderful chemistry with Flynn, their romance much more convincing than in Charge of the Light Brigade. Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains make a wonderfully hateful duo of villains. Flynn regulars Alan Hale and Patric Knowles, Ian Hunter (Battle of the River Platte), Una O'Connor (The Informer), Montagu Love (Juarez) and Melville Cooper (Rebecca) round out the cast nicely.

The Adventures of Robin Hood remains among the best of its kind, it's simple charm and sheer entertaining value remaining potent seventy-one years later.