Copyright 11 November 1938 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 28 September 1938. U.S. release: 11 November 1938. Australian release: 11 February 1939. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 11 February 1939 (ran 5½ weeks). 100 minutes.
NOTES: Basil Rathbone was nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for Best Supporting Actor, losing to Walter Brennan in Kentucky. Also nominated for Best Sets (Adventures of Robin Hood); Best Original Music Score (Adventures of Robin Hood); and Best Sound Recording (The Cowboy and the Lady).
COMMENT: Usually the trouble with historical spectacles is that they tend to be lavish but dull. This one is lavish all right but, aside from some tediously obligatory romantic escapades between Colman and Dee - which somewhat pale by comparison with the earlier more vital ones with Ellen Drew - it has a fascinating, witty and literate script by Preston Sturges. The character of the king has been drawn with sharp, acerbic strokes, enabling Basil Rathbone a right royal time with his witty, eccentric dialogue. Here is one of Rathbone's few character roles in which he has successfully buried his usual mannerisms - and accent. He is almost unrecognizable both in speech and figure - yet the change in his usual stance and delivery is highly effective.
Colman is his usual self, perhaps a trifle more animated than usual. Contributions from the large support cast, particularly Walter Kingsford, John Ridgely, Sidney Toler and Heather Thatcher are more than a match for the script.
As usual, the director excels with the staging of crowd scenes and the execution of scenes of pageantry and action - the arrival of the Burgundian envoy at court, the attempted flight from the palace, the rout of the invaders. So far as its wit, its delight in eccentricity, the historical self-consciousness of its characters and amusing tables-are-turned situations, the script is modeled along Shavian lines. Alas, it is less than Shaw in its conventional romantic notion of its poet/thief hero, in its wearisomely prolonged trial in masquerade (a stale situation which is played as if it were both amusing and new), and especially in its routinely dull romance.
Still, the film is elaborately dressed, the visuals have a splendid drive, thanks to Lloyd's deft pacing and astute camerawork. Photography, art direction, costumes, special effects, music, film editing, sound recording are marvelous.
NOTES: Basil Rathbone was nominated for a prestigious Hollywood award for Best Supporting Actor, losing to Walter Brennan in Kentucky. Also nominated for Best Sets (Adventures of Robin Hood); Best Original Music Score (Adventures of Robin Hood); and Best Sound Recording (The Cowboy and the Lady).
COMMENT: Usually the trouble with historical spectacles is that they tend to be lavish but dull. This one is lavish all right but, aside from some tediously obligatory romantic escapades between Colman and Dee - which somewhat pale by comparison with the earlier more vital ones with Ellen Drew - it has a fascinating, witty and literate script by Preston Sturges. The character of the king has been drawn with sharp, acerbic strokes, enabling Basil Rathbone a right royal time with his witty, eccentric dialogue. Here is one of Rathbone's few character roles in which he has successfully buried his usual mannerisms - and accent. He is almost unrecognizable both in speech and figure - yet the change in his usual stance and delivery is highly effective.
Colman is his usual self, perhaps a trifle more animated than usual. Contributions from the large support cast, particularly Walter Kingsford, John Ridgely, Sidney Toler and Heather Thatcher are more than a match for the script.
As usual, the director excels with the staging of crowd scenes and the execution of scenes of pageantry and action - the arrival of the Burgundian envoy at court, the attempted flight from the palace, the rout of the invaders. So far as its wit, its delight in eccentricity, the historical self-consciousness of its characters and amusing tables-are-turned situations, the script is modeled along Shavian lines. Alas, it is less than Shaw in its conventional romantic notion of its poet/thief hero, in its wearisomely prolonged trial in masquerade (a stale situation which is played as if it were both amusing and new), and especially in its routinely dull romance.
Still, the film is elaborately dressed, the visuals have a splendid drive, thanks to Lloyd's deft pacing and astute camerawork. Photography, art direction, costumes, special effects, music, film editing, sound recording are marvelous.