The Adventures of Robin Hood appears in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite a few small concerns, the movie mostly looked excellent and transcended it age-related origins.
Some of the minor problems connected to sharpness. While most of the film appeared nicely distinct and detailed, occasional issues popped up in that domain. Some shots came across as moderately ill defined and soft. The concerns weren’t enormous, but they existed – and seemed like an artifact of the Technicolor photography, which made them unavoidable. No signs of jagged edges or shimmering showed up, though, and the movie also seemed to be free of edge enhancement.
As for print flaws, Adventures mostly avoided them. Some light speckling occurred, but given the flick’s age, these issues were quite unobtrusive.
A Technicolor extravaganza, the film’s tones provided some of the transfer’s strongest elements. Skin tones looked a bit pink at times, but these concerns were easily overshadowed by the image’s positives. The movie enjoyed a broad and vivid palette, and the hues came across as vibrant and dynamic at all times. They really seemed splendid.
Black levels were dense and deep, and low-light shots appeared appropriately concise and clear, though they tended to present the heaviest grain. Overall, I felt pretty impressed with the transfer of Adventures.
The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack of The Adventures of Robin Hood also seemed very solid for its era. The audio came across as nicely smooth and distinct. Speech occasionally betrayed a little edginess, but that issue seemed much less noticeable than normal for a flick from this period. Dialogue was always intelligible and acceptably natural.
Music presented reasonable range and seemed bright and relatively full. Effects appeared tight and accurate, and no distortion interfered with the audio. The track also seemed pleasantly free from defects like hiss, noise or crackling. Ultimately, the sound for Adventures appeared quite satisfying.
How did the picture and audio of the Blu-ray compare to those of the 2003 DVD? Audio was a wash, as both discs included apparently identical soundtracks. However, the Blu-ray improved the DVD’s visuals, as it looked tighter and more dynamic.
The Blu-ray replicates most of the 2-DVD set’s extras, and we begin with an audio commentary from film historian Rudy Behlmer. A veteran of many other similar tracks, Behlmer gives us a typically solid running, generally screen-specific discussion. Behlmer touches on many different topics. He talks about the history of the Robin Hood legend and the era in which the story takes place, many production details, and biographical information about its participants.
Behlmer packs a lot of great information into the commentary in an efficient and entertaining manner. When you see Behlmer listed as a commentary participant, it’s pretty much money in the bank, as you’re essentially guaranteed that you’ll get a solid chat.
Another audio track offers a music only presentation. The score comes via its original monaural mix and arrives with a Dolby Digital presentation. Fans of the music will surely love this extra.
A creative and fun addition to the set, Warner Night at the Movies attempts to replicate the cinematic experience circa 1938. As explained via a two-minute and 39-second introduction from Leonard Maltin, this feature includes a preview for Angels With Dirty Faces - a flick from the same era as Adventures - plus a period newsreel, an animated short called Katnip Kollege and a live-action musical short entitled Freddie Rich and His Orchestra. These are the kinds of pieces that might have preceded a theatrical showing of Adventures, so if you activate this feature, you get an attempt to duplicate a night at the cinema. I like this program and think it’s quite clever.
We also get an Errol Flynn Trailer Gallery. This provides 12 promos for 11 Flynn flicks; it features a reissue ad for Adventures as well as the original clip. It’s a nice collection of trailers from a span of 18 years.
After this we move to a documentary entitled Glorious Technicolor. Narrated by Angela Lansbury, this 60-minute, five-second program mixes archival materials, movie clips, and contemporary interviews with actors Esther Williams, Arlene Dahl, Evelyn Keyes, Kim Hunter, and Jerry Maren, cinematographers John Alton, Jack Cardiff, Vittorio Storaro, and Oswald Morris, Cammie King Conlon, the stepdaughter of Technicolor pioneer Herbert Kalmus, Technicolor research scientist 1953-1965 Dr. Richard J. Goldberg, UCLA Film and TV Archive preservationist Robert Gott, author Fred Basten, Daniel Selznick, the son of film mogul David O. Selznick, MGM makeup artist 1936-69 William Tuttle, Vincente Minelli’s collaborator and friend Tony DuQuette, and editor Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell.
“Glorious” offers a solid examination of Technicolor and its history. We get notes about early attempts at color films and see how pioneer Herbert Kalmus became involved. We then watch as the company grows and his ex-wife Natalie runs things with an iron hand. We also find many examples of prominent uses of Technicolor and view a lot of great movie clips. “Glorious” tells its tale well and educates us on Technicolor in a brisk and interesting manner.
After this we get another documentary called Welcome to Sherwood: The Story of The Adventures of Robin Hood. In this 55-minute and 44-second program, we find movie clips, archival materials, and interviews with Behlmer, Maltin, literary historian Paula Sigman, film historians Bob Thomas and Robert Osborne, swordmaster Bob Anderson, WB art director Gene Allen, and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conductor John Mauceri. They go through the history of the Robin Hood legend and then really dig into the movie itself.
We learn how it got to the screen, casting, the state of Warner at the time, and all the significant production elements from script to stunts to score. It repeats a fair amount of material from Behlmer’s commentary, but given the completeness of his discussion, that became inevitable. “Sherwood” provides a fine recap of the production and serves as a good examination of the film.
Under From the Vaults, we get two vintage animated shorts related to the Robin Hood legend. We find 1949’s “Rabbit Hood” (7:57) and 1958’s “Robin Hood Daffy” (6:39). The first stars Bugs Bunny and is easily the superior of the pair. It even tosses in a pseudo-“cameo” from Adventures!
Up next we locate two Short Films “From the Vaults”. “Cavalcade of Archery” showcases bowman Howard Hill and runs eight minutes, 32 seconds. “The Cruise of the Zaca” details boating expeditions that feature Errol Flynn; it fills 18 minutes and seven seconds. Neither seems terribly stimulating, but they offer moderately intriguing historical curiosities. (For reasons unknown, both drop Behlmer introductions from the original DVD.)
An examination of different movies comes up in Robin Hood Through the Ages. Actually, this Rudy Behlmer-led discussion focuses almost entirely on 1922’s version from Douglas Fairbanks. We get a couple of notes about earlier ventures, but then Behlmer takes us through scenes from the Fairbanks edition and compares them to elements of Adventures. This six-minute and 50-second program gives us a nice look at that flick, but it could – and should – have been more all encompassing.
Once again, Rudy Behlmer brings us A Journey to Sherwood Forest. He narrates this 13-minute and 17-second compilation of behind the scenes footage shot during the production of Adventures. Behlmer tells us who’s who and gives us some basic notes as we watch this fairly mundane material. Still, though the clips don’t seem terribly compelling on their own, the rareness of this sort of footage makes it more interesting.
Outtakes provides eight minutes and 24 seconds of unused footage. Introduced and narrated by Rudy Behlmer, we get details about the clips as we watch them. It’s a fun look behind the scenes at some raw material.
A long blooper reel, Breakdowns of 1938 runs 12 minutes and 45 seconds as it showcases goofs from all sorts of Warner productions from that year, most of which provoke spasms of profanity from the actors. These flubs were just as lame then as they are now and the sameness of the mistakes makes the piece tedious, but I must admit it’s intriguing to see performers like Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis screw up, especially when it results in an outburst.
In the Audio, we find two more elements. First we discover the National Radio Broadcast of the “Robin Hood Radio Show” (28:34) from May 11, 1938. This offers the airing of Korngold’s score accompanied by narration from Basil Rathbone.
“Piano Sessions” (16:36) with Erich Wolfgang Korngold comes without any explanation, but it seems to be a small concert given by the composer. He runs through tunes from a number of his flicks, and that includes a little from Adventures. Neither of these extras does much for me, but as with the isolated score, fans of movie music should really like them.
Finally, Adventures provides collections of stills in an area called Splitting the Arrow Galleries. This domain breaks down into five sections: “Historical Art” (21 frames), “Costume Design” (39), “Scene Concept Drawings” (20), “Cast & Crew” (31), and “Publicity & Posters” (16). Nothing spectacular shows up here, but it’s a good series of images nonetheless. One negative: “Arrow” reproduces the elements in way that makes them surprisingly small.
More than 75 years down the road, The Adventures of Robin Hood remains a fine film. Not only do we see its influence on later flicks, but also it still seems exciting and entertaining. The Blu-ray presents strong visuals, positive audio and a nice roster of supplements. I feel pleased with this fine release.
To rate this film, visit the original review of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD
