I struggled with whether I should classify this as a classic movie.\u00a0 I decided to be technical.\u00a0 Since I saw this movie at its premiere in 1976 and since I was born in the late 1950s I assume that categorizes it as post-classical, more or less.\u00a0 The story takes up twenty years after Robin and Little John have followed King Richard the Lion Hearted to the Crusades.\u00a0 Disillusioned and tired of war he returns to take up his life in England.<\/p>\n
When I saw this movie the first time I was shocked to see that James Bond was old, balding and apparently way out of shape.\u00a0 I liked the movie but it didn\u2019t make a huge impression at the time.\u00a0 I re-watched it last week.\u00a0 This time it clicked.\u00a0 Sean Connery as the aging hero is very believable.\u00a0 The action contrasts intentionally against the swashbuckling portrayal of Errol Flynn in \u201cThe Adventures of Robin Hood.\u201d\u00a0 In the 1938 edition when Flynn is attempting to flee the Sheriff\u2019s castle he cuts the rope holding up the portcullis to the castle gate which allows the weight of the gate to propel him effortlessly to the top of the wall from which he then laughingly escapes the Sheriff\u2019s men.\u00a0 In the Connery version when the gate is closed on Robin, he and Little John begin to slowly and painfully climb the wall.\u00a0 These are two middle aged men struggling to do what they used to do effortlessly.\u00a0 By the time they reach the top of the wall soldiers are upon them and the escape is anything but light-hearted.\u00a0 The comical and yet stirring scene sets the stage for the action in the rest of the movie.\u00a0 We see Robin and his re-assembled band of arthritic merry men painfully re-acquaint themselves with guerilla warfare against the Sheriff of Nottingham.\u00a0 And we find Maid Marian is now Mother Superior of the local convent.\u00a0 She is about to be sent to prison by the Sheriff for some policy against the church by King John.\u00a0 Robin rescues her, against her will, and carries her off to Sherwood Forest to try and rekindle their interrupted life together.\u00a0 Audrey Hepburn an actress that I\u2019ve only liked rarely in film is almost as well cast as Connery.\u00a0 She brings humor and feminine grace to the part and is totally believable in the role.\u00a0 The screen romance is extremely well done and balances out the adventure sequences in a remarkable way.<\/p>\n
And finally, the counterbalance to the merry band is the Sheriff of Nottingham, played by Robert Shaw.\u00a0 And he is allowed to be a chivalrous foe who seems to be as fond of Robin as he is disdainful of his own oaf-like associates.\u00a0 Of course, he knows that this collision with Robin will end in their long-delayed duel.\u00a0 And that duel is the climax of the adventure story.\u00a0 But the finale is the resolution of Robin and Marian\u2019s star-crossed fate.\u00a0 Always separated by war and duty that robbed them of their youth and the happiness they hoped for, they see before them more conflict and the certainty that age and weakness will eventually win out over them.<\/p>\n
This is an older man\u2019s Robin Hood.\u00a0 You have to be at the point where running up a few flights of steps has you panting a little to really appreciate this movie.\u00a0 It is heroic to \u201crage against the dying of the light.\u201d\u00a0 And it is especially admirable to do it with a little self-deprecating humor.\u00a0 For any of you folks out there with more than a few gray hairs, this movie comes highly recommended.\u00a0 And if you have a long-time sweet heart it\u2019s a good date movie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I struggled with whether I should classify this as a classic movie.\u00a0 I decided to be technical.\u00a0 Since I saw this movie at its premiere<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237],"tags":[1337,43,38,1338,1335,1334,1336],"class_list":["post-4249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-audrey-hepburn","tag-movie-review","tag-review","tag-robert-shaw","tag-robin-and-marian","tag-robin-hood","tag-sean-connery"],"yoast_head":"\n