Robin Hood (1922)
was the first motion picture ever to
have a Hollywood
premiere, held at Grauman's
Egyptian Theatre
on October 18, 1922. The movie's full title,
under which it was copyrighted, is
Douglas Fairbanks in
Robin Hood, as shown in the illustration at
right.
This
swashbuckling adventure was based on the legendary tale of
the Medieval hero, Robin Hood, and was the first production to
present many of the elements of the legend that became familiar to
movie audiences in later versions, although an earlier treatment had been filmed a
decade before in Fort Lee, New Jersey
. It was one of the most expensive films of the
1920s, with a huge castle set and an entire 12th century village of
Nottingham
constructed at the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio in
Hollywood. Director
Allan Dwan
later recalled that Fairbanks was so overwhelmed by the scale of
the sets that he considered canceling production at one point. The
story was adapted for the screen by Fairbanks (as "Elton Thomas"),
Kenneth Davenport,
Edward Knoblock,
Allan
Dwan and
Lotta Woods, and was
produced by Fairbanks for his own production company, Douglas
Fairbanks Pictures Corporation, and distributed by
United Artists, a company owned by Fairbanks,
his wife
Mary Pickford,
Charles Chaplin and
D. W. Griffith.
Primary cast
Plot summary
The opening has the dashing
Earl of
Huntingdon (played by Fairbanks) besting his bitter enemy, Sir
Guy of Gisbourne (played by Paul Dickey), in a
joust. Huntingdon then joins
King Richard the Lion-Hearted (played
by Wallace Beery) who is going off to fight in the
Crusades and has left his brother,
Prince John (played by Sam De Grasse), as
regent. The prince soon emerges as a cruel,
treacherous tyrant. Goaded on by Sir Guy, he usurps Richard's
throne. When Huntingdon receives a message from his paramour, Lady
Marian Fitzwalter (played by Enid Bennett), telling him of all that
has transpired, he requests permission to return to England. King
Richard assumes that the Earl has turned coward and denies him
permission. The Earl seeks to leave in spite of this, but is
ambushed by Sir Guy and imprisoned as a
deserter.
Upon escaping from his confines, he returns
to England
, endangering
his life and honor, to oppose Prince John and restore King
Richard's throne. He finds himself, and his friends,
outlawed, and Marian apparently dead.
Huntingdon returns to Nottingham and adopts the name of Robin Hood,
acrobatic champion of the oppressed. Leading a band that steals
from the rich to give to the poor, including
Friar Tuck (played by Willard Louis),
Little John (played by
Alan Hale, Sr.),
Will
Scarlet (played by Bud Geary) and
Alan-a-Dale (played by Lloyd Talman), he labors
to set things right through swashbuckling feats and makes life
miserable for
Prince John and his
cohort, the High Sheriff of Nottingham (played by William Lowery).
After rescuing Marian from Prince John's prison and defeating Sir
Guy in a final conflict, Robin is captured. The timely reappearance
of King Richard returns him to Marian and foils the efforts of
Prince John.
The budget for the film is estimated at approximately one million
dollars. Some sets were designed by
Lloyd
Wright.
Wallace Beery played
King Richard the Lion-Hearted again the
following year in a sequel called
Richard the
Lion-Hearted.
Alan Hale, Sr. made such an
impression as
Little John in this film
that he reprised the role sixteen years later in
The Adventures of Robin
Hood (1938) opposite
Errol
Flynn, then played the character again in
Rogues of Sherwood Forest in
1950, 28 years after his initial performance in the original
Fairbanks film, which is notable for probably being the longest
period for any actor to appear in the same major role in film
history.
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