Welcome to a video that is twice as long as usual because my gosh we are going to call out every move in this fight like it’s… … …Yu-Gi-Oh? Is that where they call out their attacks? IDK. Anyway, let me know what you think 😁 Buy my book: books2read.com/juststabmenow
pretty much any Japanese cartoon from the 70s had the hero call out his attack, whether it was an Atomic Punch from a giant robot or a boomerang attack from a ninja team.
Imagine a movie about medieval Europe that is not filmed in a grey-brown pallette with everyone wearing black leather biker gear. It is probably illegal nowadays.
Especially since the Middle Ages were quite colorful. The wealthy would have shown off their access to expensive dyes, fine cloth and leather, precious metals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones. Commoners (including serfs) still had bright colors along with undyed cloth and leather. Black and brown were not common colors because the dye formulas were difficult (according to the Welsh Viking). Any 'black' was really a dark grey. You only got proper black in illustrations because ink/paint had different formulas than clothing dye.
@@julietfischer5056there are quite detailed descriptions in the records about what the rich were wearing or living in with titles like, field of cloth of gold.
@@julietfischer5056 A cheaper way to get black is shear a black (dark brown) sheep and then add a lot of blue dye to try to push it closer to a true black (woad was usually the cheapest dye available in medieval Europe). If you're working from white wool then dark grey, blue or brown is the most likely outcome. Starting from a black/brown animal does mean you're likely to have coarser wool so you've got to decide on that trade off.
_Robin Hood and little John_ _Walkin' through the forest_ _Laughin' back and forth_ _At what the other'ne has to say_ _Reminiscin', this-'n'-thattin'_ _Havin' such a good time_ _Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally golly, what a day_
Robin Hood and Little John, running through the forest Jumping fences, dodging trees and trying to get away Contemplating nothing but escape and finally making it Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day
Having only seen Prince of Thieves and Men in Tights, it's impressive how closely Mel Brooks matched the Adventures of Robin Hood visually. I kind of want to see you breakdown the sword fights in Men in Tights now...
Honestly my only *slight* problem with Men in Tights is that ever since realising just how good Cary Elwes is with a stabby slashy stick there's a little bit of me waiting for him to just go full Wick on everyone. Don't get me wrong, the loss of 'ah... right rope!' alone would have made it too high a price but still... Also now I've actually written that, hey, Hollywood... can we do that please? Cary Elwes just going ham with a sword for, like, ninety minutes for some reason not related to puppy murder?
Lady Marian decides to stay in the castle instead staying in the forest so she can act as a spy... sure, sure... yeah, I would do that too, I would totally sacrifice myself to become a spy in a warm castle with good food... 😂
"You're going to be watching this in the Cinema one time. You're not going to be slowing it down to look for flaws." I will be using this quote from now on.
I mean, I feel it's not unreasonable for the director to have failed to forsee someone doing a breakdown of this fight on a video platform that can share content around the world 85 years in the future 😂
I believe Rathbone only starred as a hero when he played Sherlock Holmes (a role he was great in). It's such a shame Golden-Era Hollywood loved to pigeonhole its actors so much. He would have made a fantastic swashbuckling hero, it saddens me that he never got the chance.
He was a master fencer, often outclassing his on-screen opponents. It took talent and skill to make the other guy's win look legit (in addition to the fight choreography).
Just a little background flavor. In the early 1970s (yes, I'm that old), my cousin was an actor on the soap opera Secret Storm and lived in the same building as Basil Rathbone's widow, Ouida Bergère, in New York. According to her, Basil was NOT a fan of Errol Flynn and his antics, but apparently his biggest complaint was the fact that he had to "work so damned hard to make Flynn look good". She never said anything about Tyrone Power.
Yes! My understanding is that even after they had the professional come in and choreograph the fight, Flynn would ad lib a lot of the time. Understandably, this drove Rathbone nuts.
Little trivia (there's a LOT of trivia about this film.) That palomino horse that Lady Marion is riding when Robin captures her and the Sheriff in the forest? It was a well known horse used quite often because it was so nice that was named Golden Cloud. (Good name.) A certain young up and coming Western cowboy star saw that horse and decided he really liked it. So he bought it, changed its name and rode it til it died. After it died he had the animal stuffed and put up in his own museum. That Singing Cowboy star (who partly got hired because he had diabetes and couldn't be drafted away from the studio in WWII when all the other cowboys were going off to war) was Roy Rogers and the palomino's name became Trigger...and the two of them appeared in dozens of B Westerns and had their own television series during the 1950's...which I watched because all little boys growing up in the 1950's did. Sold a ton of merch. I had the lunchbox!
@@davidlosey431 Also at the now-defunct Busch Gardens near L.A. Fun fact: Bidwell Park was chosen in part because of a certain nifty big tree, but the cinematography folks decided they didn't like the angle, and built a duplicate tree facing the proper direction.
Sword fights are all very well, but the best bit of TAORH for me is - the music! Korngold won an Oscar for it, and well deserved it was. It fits perfectly into every scene, and to every part of the fight. An aside - on being told that Korngold's music "sounds like Hollywood", Andre Previn replaied: "No, Hollywood sounds like Korngold".
Fun fact: In Prince of Persia (1989), the sword fighting animations were rotoscoped from Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone's duel in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Far out! I'm old enough (if you couldn't tell by my opening comment) that I played that one as a young man back in the day, on the Mac, about ten years before I went over to the Dark Side (as Mac users called going to Windows then).
Saw the same thing, what a sturdy candle right? To be fair I don't think foam sowrds were a thing when they film this, and you need a fairly safe sword as a prop to the movie, so you need a not so strong sword analog
Funny you mention the hair. The forest scence was shot first. Even Eroll didn't like the cut - but, he was wearing a hat. He went to the higher ups and demanded/requested/begged them to change to the style we see the rest of the movie. It was the hat that saved him - since it wouldn't matter what his head would look like without it.
I'm not sure at which point the production changed directors, from William Keighley to Michael Curtiz, but there's a 'storybook' look to a lot of the Sherwood Forest stuff that doesn't quite match the deep shadows and mobile camerawork of the castle interiors. Compare to The Sea Hawk, which is Curtiz all the way (and gives Flynn much better hair).
Jill calling out the numbers of the fight reminds me of my dentist taking gum measurements and calling out the numbers for the assistant to write down. (Though analyzing fight scenes is far more enjoyable than the dentist.)😆
You need to look at the classic Scaramouche. There are multiple duels in it which are fun to watch if not historically accurate but it is a great romp of a movie. Stewart Granger comes off to me as a 1950 Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead fame) with an element of sarcasm to him. Mel Ferrer is suitably intimidating as the Marquis de Maynes. From IMDB: "This movie contains what is reported to be the longest fencing duel ever caught on film, a sequence lasting 6.08 minutes from first sword touch to final thrust. The climactic fight ranges throughout the theater, from the balcony boxes, to the lobby, through the main seats, backstage, and finally on the stage itself. The actors spent eight weeks preparing for this sequence, having to memorize 87 different individual sword passes and 28 stunts."
There are also two heart stopping beauties in Scaramouche...Janet "Jamie Lee Curtise's Mom" Leigh and Eleanor Parker...Technicolor really made them look radiant.
Both commenting are right. The training scenes have their own merit and I’d like to see a review of them while understanding this is Hollywood. Both the ladies were absolutely stunning.
this stresses again why I love Mel Brook's Robin Hood. NOT Because it's mocking it, but the attention to detail even to this.... it's STUNNING! Just helps having Cary Elwes saying "Unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an english accent."
@@LisaMarieFord yeah, but recently THE WORST ACCENT I have seen in a modern film.... MICHAEL FASSBENDER in XMen First Class. Out of no where, he does an Irish accent at the big speech in Cuba beach. So, it's crazy even in a film 13 years ago, they can't keep their accents straight, and you don't have to be Kevin Costner.
If you want to see a Robin Hood swordfight that's the opposite of panto, check out the fight in 'Robin and Marian' (1976) where Sean Connery's Robin goes up against Robert Shaw's Sheriff of Nottingham in much less flashy, much more grim and bloody contest that was probably much more what medieval combat was like.
It was also Sean Connery vs Rober Shaw intense fight round two, over a decade after From Russia With Love. Great movie and total opposite of The Adventures of Robin Hood.
I really enjoyed the background detail on how British military instruction influenced the choreography for this era of film. Also concerned for any cavalrymen who were attacked from any angle other than above.
Thing to remember is the point of law that you cannot libel the dead. So a lot of posthumous biographies of celebrities are the greatest works of fiction they've ever been involved in.
so that's why he freaks Jill out and while obviously that's not good my gut reaction to Jill's reaction was that he was a creep. And I'm somewhat glad that's not the case.
@@silverjohn6037 Yeah, Errol Flynn sure had his share of hacks writing all kinds of shit after his death. However, Thomas McNulty's Errol Flynn: The Life and Career is probably the most even handed biography of this very complex man, and should be read if somebody is interested in Flynn and Golden Age of Hollywood. There is also Errol's own biography "My Wicked Wicked Ways", which shouldn't be taken as gospel but it's so damn good read that you simply don't care how truthful Mr. Flynn is...Good or Bad, that guy sure was larger than life.
Love the fact that Rathbone pulled out a dagger!! Both for practical and character reasons-using a dagger in close quarters is a solid move to kill an opponent, but can also be seen as cheating or cowardly depending on the society’s code of honor
I was privileged as a child to go see this in a double feature with Flynn's The Adventures of Don Juan - and one of the Directors of the Adventures of Robin Hood gave a speech during the intermission. It was awesome.
Yes! And Jill needs to see the Adventures of Don Juan, especially finally between Don Juan and the Duke de Lorca. The story behind that jump at the end of the dual would be worth it alone
So many wonderful things came together to form The adventures of Robin Hood….the use of technicolor, the top to bottom perfect casting, the magnificent score by Eric Wolfgang Kornhold (John Williams deeply respects Korngold) the beauty of Olivia de Havilland (she went on her own learning arc) yet smart enough to devise the plan to save Robin. The villains were wonderful and Errol Flynn was at the peak of his very masculine beauty. From what I have read de Havilland & Flynn were having an off screen relationship. Many years later she watched the film on TV & she was moved by memories of those happy times…. I have watched the film many times. I have concluded that from start to finish the movie is just fun. It entertains and that is what any good action film requires. One final note~several of the sets were first built for the Douglas Fairbanks 1922 silent version of Robin Hood.
Idk about the off-screen relationship, but he was very interested in marrying her (after divorcing his 2nd? wife that the time) She knew him very well and was smart enough to know better than to do anything about it. Clever girl.
Korngold also did the music for Captain Blood. The overture for that film (linked below) is one of my favorite pieces of movie music and you can can hear it's influence in a lot of John Williams work. ruclips.net/video/EnERZmvEeRs/видео.html
Flynn was the archetypical Hero! type actor. Charisma for days that allowed him to lay some of the foundation for the modern day swashbuckler archetype: witty banter, flashing swords, beat the bad guy and win the girl!
What I like about Robin's killing thrust, it looks like he does a high feint, then stabs low as Gisbourne goes high to defend. Another thing, too, that makes it so great, they are frequently close together, normally a lot of fights have the combatants fighting at distance most of the fight. In my opinion, the greatest Robin Hood movie out there.
Even as a kid I knew the fight was all flummery, but, like you said, the scenes and shots are all done so well and it so fun, who cares. Thanks for the 1 2 3 4 diagram, I love inside trivia like that.
I freaking love every Rathbone fight. He was so skilled not because he was a great swordsman (he was) but he was able to make his partner look so damn good on stage. Flynn was never a great fencer, but Basil carried him in two movies to create some iconic duels. Both here and Captain Blood! Flynn really could only do a 5 cut. Jill, have you ever looked at the Jose Ferrer/Stuart Granger duel from Scaramouche? Edit: was typing and watching at the same time.. Woo! Captain Blood!
Errol Flynn is reputed to have conducted the last Naval fight totally under sail when his trading Schooner was attacked by two Pirate Junks but that may just be an urban Legend. This is my second Favourite Flynn Movie beaten only by the Sea Hawk which has even better shadows on the wall something that Spielberg paid tribute to in the vastly underrated Hook.
fun fact Howard Hill "The World's Greatest Archer' (as he was called) an US Archery expert in the 1930s 40s and 50s was not only a consultant on the film, he is the last archer Robin shoots against in the Archery tournament. You can see his old black and white shorts uploaded on youtube.
Rathbone always said Tyrone Power could "Fence Flynn into a cocked hat!" But Flynn was pretty much the premier Swashbuckling Hero of the late 30's and 40's which is where they got the term "flynning"...which I heard from you for the first time and I love it.
He was absolutely the premier swashbuckling hero of the time, which isn't to say he was the best with a sword. Tyrone was clearly better, and Basil made a pretty penny making Errol look good in a fight. Marketing is everything.
One of my all time favorite movies, and the first technicolor movie my Mother ever saw (when it came out in 1939). She said she went to the morning showing at 10:00 am and left the movie theater at 8:00 PM at night. Yes it's panto, but so is Star Wars.
Basil Rathbone was pretty much the Christopher Lee of an earlier generation. WW1 hero, skilled duellist and typecast as playing the villain in movies. A pity they never where in the same movie, I bet the two of them could have performed a really amazing sword fight together.
The vividness of "Technicolor"(tm) is a thing of the 193/40's in that most films were still B&W then, but it makes films using what was a very expensive process the become iconic. Yes, the most iconic are "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind" but studios knew colour was a big draw to customers so they could get the big stars of the time into those films. They knew those customers did not care about technique nor could you see the continuity mistakes - so did not care about that, it was the spectacal they public wanted and this film delivered on that level- so much so that Walt Disney almost used it as a "template" for its own "Robin Hood" animation.
Jill, you have the most entertaining sponsorships of any RUclips creator I've watched! One day, I will buy a premium "Just Stab Me Now" hoodie. One day. When I have the money for it. But I did buy the book, and it is excellent! :)
I grew up in the relatively small California town that the whole production relocated to when doing the Sherwood Forest location shots, and this movie was still a Big Deal™ for us decades later. There was a Robin Hood Days annual festival, and displays of original props and costumes in the city hall museum. My favorite detail is that chainmail was just yarn pulled into a loose knit and given a coat of metallic paint, because good gods there were a lot of "armored" extras.
Watched this movie for the first time last year. Was _shocked_ by how much "Men in Tights" owed to it. Had only known MiT as a parody of "Prince of Thieves" previously.
,man in tight was a parody of all the live action robin hood movies, but it seem the basic bones started with the adventures and work the rest around it.
I immensely enjoy these videos! Can't wait for the follow up. A few days ago I watched Rashômon by Akira Kurosawa, that mainly features different retellings of the same event, and in two of those retellings there is a sword fight between two characters. Now, these two versions of the sword fight are vastly different and very interesting and very telling, even for the audience who doesn't know much about swords. And when I saw the first one (not knowing the second one was coming), I thought "Man it would bea cool if Jill Bearup did a video dissecting the action here". I'm sure it could be very interesting and a lot of fun for you you to analyse both fights and really hammer in just how strongly different they are.
"Thankfully the fight scenes are undercranked to a degree that you generally don't notice the first time through..." Whilst I doubt I got all of them, that one stood out like a sore thumb. Yes, even on first viewing whilst not looking for it. Not going to go looking for the ones I missed, though. Glad you mentioned it, though, and looking forward to your next!
Can we get a series that's all either: -Basil Rathbone (maybe some Holmes?) -Robin Hood (Trying to analyze the animated one would be funny, but there's also the infamous rising sword from Men in Tights) -Fencers who don't actually know what they're doing (I don't know enough to comment) I feel like any of these could be solid
Basil Rathbone is my favorite classic Hollywood actor, followed closely by Tyrone Power. I always enjoyed watching the over the top swashbuckling adventures growing up.
Full disclosure: Mr. Flynn's Robin Hood led to the folllowing: me, doing: 1) Olympic competitive fencing....epee' , of course..... 2) learning, then teaching, stage combat... 3) acting.....lots of Shakespeare..... Thanks so much! Love your work. If I live long enough (nearly 70.....), perhaps some day we may, in good fun, cross swords. Thanks!
One of the films I loved the most when I was a kid. And still do love it. Thx for explaining this ⚔ICONIC⚔fight, the staircase part being my favorite one. Looking forward to Captain Blood.
At that time in Hollywood they were making so many swashbucklers that any serious leading man needed to have some sword fight training and some horsemanship skills if he wanted to work. The main training available was, of course, traditional fencing, so you get a number of films where the swords were supposed to be broad swords or short swords or whatever that had been modified so that actors could use them in a fencing style fight, regardless of how a real swordfight would've looked at the time represented. I would absolutely have loved to see a samurai film from the 30s where Flynn and Rathbone fenced each other with long, thin katanas.
This was fun! 5! Excited for Captain Blood. Also, if you ever need a quick sword fight, you could look at 1982's The Scarlet Pimpernel with Anthony Andrews and Ian McKellen.
This is one of my favorites. The VHS copy i had before I was married has been worn out. This movie was the first reason I got into Dungeons and Dragons,. It is required watching on our TV just like Jaws is for my wife. After so many watchings, there are many flaws with this movie, but I still love it. And it was nice to see Alan Hale play a mischievous "smart" character. As opposed to some of the other characters he plays in other movies with Errol Flynn. Don't forget Una O'Connor. Nice review.
I think this was quite possibly the first 'sword fight' I ever saw. I don't remember how old I was exactly, four or five perhaps, almost certainly on a tiny black and white TV, but I remember I loved it. I would probably have watched it again and again had the technology existed. As it was nothing made my little ears perk up like the sound of blade on blade in any film and I was constantly in search of more. I probably would not have loved Star Wars, for example, half as much as I did if it hadn't had 'sword' fights in it. In fact with hindsight this film is the one that birthed a life long fascination with sword fights and fantasy in general. You can quite possibly trace the responsibility for my subscription to it. Weird huh? Shame the choreography was not any better, but it was good enough to totally invest me in the story. So there you go if you truly want to enjoy this film turn yourself into a five year old boy!
As an addition to the whole "Flynn" look-back. You could catch "My Favorite Year", which is a loose retelling of the time a much older Flynn (here named "Alan Swan" and played by Peter O'Toole) guested on the "King Kaiser (Sid Caeser) Comedy Hour" (which had a laundry list of future famous creatives in the writers' room, including a Mr. Brooks and a Mister Alan). It's a hoot, and we see clips from "Defender of the Crown" (the in-universe Robin Hood/Ivanhoe), a name so cool Cinemaware stole it for a videogame a few years later. Not too much swordplay unfortunately, but lots of drunken daring-do.
AMEN. This is a criminally ignored film. Its’s funny, sad, romantic, poignant, funny. Did I say funny? If you can’t find humor to laugh at in this film, then I feel very badly for you. A personality transplant may help. Or accordion lessons.
12:51 that candle cut bent Robin's sword 😂 I think that a lot of the success and spectacle of this fight can be attributed to the director and/or fight scene choreographer recognizing that Errol Flynn wasn't going to be matching Basil Rathbone's fencing aptitude and so they filmed the fight in such a way that the actual fighting wasn't the only interesting thing occurring on screen at any given time. As you mentioned, the phrases are frequently broken up by obstacles, shadow play, new weapons, etc. All of those help mask the fact that most of the actual sword contact is attack and parry 5 🤣 I think I had more to say in this comment, but my attention has been completely diverted by two adorable fledgling chicks sitting on the fence outside my window so I shall leave this here and divert my focus to the cuteness of nature instead 😊
JILL, PLEASE DO "THE PIRATE MOVIE"!!! It's a delightful, if often panned, parody of The Pirates of Penzance (SP?) musical. And, yes, it's a musical, too. But they parody more than their source material. It includes a castle spanning fight scene that, at least one moment, parody's the very fight scene you're reviewing now. (They literally have a third person wandering around with a book about great movie fight scenes turned to the page about this one.) Also, I'm still waiting for the armor rating for Dearstalker's All For One internet web comedy about D&D.
Fun facts, from the commentary and behind the scenes on the DVDs: Errol Flynn said he hated the wig he wore as Robin Hood. Technicolor was a brand new tech at the time and the studio really wanted to show it off. Remember, it was the following year that The Wizard of Oz came out. The director, Michael Curtiz, was apparently well known for his use of shadows. He also directed Captain Blood, Casablanca, and White Christmas. Thanks for the video, Jill! Like many, I was looking forward to this one. Suggestion for the future: Alatriste
If you haven't already seen it, might i recommend The Great Race (1965)? Two sword fights, a bar clearing brawl, and the most epic pie fight in cinematic history. And plenty of laughs in between.
That exhaustive detail was just delicious and luckily for me I do like the number 5 😂 definitely worth staying up til midnight for. Much love, from Australia 🇦🇺 ❤
- This was fantastic! I want to hear Jill's commentary on a long SCA Crown Tourney fight. ❤ There's many on RUclips for anyone interested, and sometimes the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals can turn into long bouts as the participants get more cautious (and tired).
This adaptation of Robin Hood and Captain Blood are among my favorite movies (along with the Mark of Zorro). Poor Basil though, I love his as an actor and fencer but dang he always loses the fights. LOL A fight that might be good for analysis is the fight between Gregory Peck and a rather unknown (at the time) Christopher Lee in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
I remember being pleasantly surprised by this film when I first watched it. I was expecting just fun (got the DVD for something like $2 for three movies in a bargain bin), and was surprised that it was also quite good. Also thinking that Basil Rathbone was clearly far better at everything than Errol Flynn and wondering why he wasn't cast as the lead. He stole the show. Now the only swordfights I'm needing you to dissect is the dress down in Scarlett Pimpernel and the one from Count of Monte Cristo. I should watch Captain Blood before your next vid. Robin Hood is the only Flynn movie I've ever seen, so it'll be brand new to me.
Errol Flynn played Robin Hood because he was a MOVIE STAR in Warner Bros. studio, Basil Rathbone was very accomplished character actor, but not a star that general public would flock to see in theaters. It's that simple.
Yes!! Do Captain Blood! I just watched it a couple weeks ago. I’m slightly disappointed that you didn’t comment on THE most egregious case of bad props ever. In the scene where Robin is threatening the guard in the dungeon his sword is badly bent.
Loved this! I never thought of the difference between fencing swords and the swords they used making a difference, but of course it would., The idea that the overhead strikes come from military training is fascinating too. I'm intrigued by the 'Pantomime' thing as well, we don't really have that in the USA but I've always loved this movie as sort of a storybook come to life vibe that I think fits. Also Captain Blood is one of my faves, great to hear it's getting looked at :D
Quite stoked for you to cover Captain Blood. The Adventures of Robin Hood is just a fun romp. I guess it just hits different if you see it before you know anything about Flynn. When I first saw it he was just the guy playing Robin, and later Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk and in Against All Flags. Once more of the off-screen details were known, it takes the shine off the films a bit, and Flynn is quite😬 indeed. Despite all that, The Adventures of Robin Hood is my favorite telling of the story, followed by the Disney animated one and then Men in Tights.
To this day, this is THE Robin Hood movie. I've loved it as a child and do to this day. So do my kids of 8, 10 and 12 today. It's a feelgood movie. A bit overly colourful perhaps. Korngold's score is awesome. And Errol Flynn is a gem.
Howard Hill, who was the archery advisor and did a bunch of the stunt archery on this movie, has a book about his adventures with archery called Hunting The Hard Way, which is quite a good read.
I haven't watched the whole video yet, so I'm not sure if it comes up, but those stuntmen had to have a lot of faith in Hill's accuracy. They were wearing cork blocks covered in a thin sheet of aluminum under their costumes, and Howard Hill had to hit them, sometimes when the stuntmen were moving.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher Hill was an amazing archer- there are videos of some of his amazing trick shots, as well as a very daring hunter, using only a long bow, for dangerous game like wild boar. He did make the shot that split the arrow in the movie; even if from about 7-8ft away quite an impressive shot.
@@Gorski213 The Special Edition DVD of "Robin Hood" has a feature on him, and he does many of his trick shots, including splitting the arrow. Impressive on his part, but also for the brave folks who stood & let him shoot increasingly smaller things off their heads.
@@vdavis4785 lt also has ''Rabbit Hood''- a hilarious Bugs Bunny take on the film and a cameo of Errol in it ''Don't you worry; never fear. Robin Hood will soon be here..'' 🤣
I asked for this analysis, and I was not disappointed. I *love* hearing your commentary on decades-past actors. Every time you bring up Basil Rathbone's beef with Errol Flynn, I cackle. Also, I read Just Stab Me Now and LOVED IT! I finished it in three days flat, and I'll have you know that the last time I read something at that speed was in ye olden days of high school summer vacation. It was so witty and charming and wonderfully done! Thanks for persevering to get it written. :)
Stewart Granger (star of Scaramouche, another fight you need to review) told Errol Flynn "I'm a much better swordsman than you" to which Flynn replied "I've got a nicer arse, and that 's what matters in film"
I love the fact that Nasir was supposed to die in the fight with Robin, but the cast loved him so much, they kept him on instead. And then a ton of Robin Hood adaptations after also included a Muslim member of the Merry Men even though there were no original stories including him!
When I saw the thumbnail I was convinced you were about to review "Robin Hood: Men in Tights". After clicking, I read the title and I though "Oh well, still good", but now I really would love if you analysed Mel Brooks' rendition. In any case, I must thank you because your video also made me understand just how much homage was paid by Brooks to "The Adventures of Robin Hood", and not only to "Prince of Thieves".
Rathbone was paired with Flynn repeatedly precisely because Flynn's enthusiasm for fencing exceeded his skill, and Rathbone was one of the few actors who could shoot a scene with Flynn without getting hurt by Flynn getting a bit too into it.
Oh it’s so nice to see you back in fighting form! I haven’t thought of all these old movies in what seems like forever! They used to be on tv fairly often.
When I was in charge of promoting Robin Hood Country in the 1990’s we used to have live sword fighting, archery and jousting in Sherwood Forest every year at the Robin Hood Festival!
12:51 After a few more decades of evolution, Flynn's Candle would eventually develop enough sharpness and durability that one of its more advanced descendants would cut right through Charlie Sheen's sword in Hot Shots! Part Duex
as someone who first watched this film at the tender age of 9 and counted it as a comfort movie for a long time, i really appreciate this video!!! i still enjoy this movie if only for how flashy it is, seeing as it's one of the earlier technicolor hollywood films (not super sure of the history of technicolor being adopted into mainstream hollywood so feel free to correct me on that) and i just get the feeling of the cinematographers and color artists behind the camera going "ok, how bright can we make this movie and do you think people will care if there are peasants wearing royal blues and purples?" It's a visual delight to watch and they use said flashiness to conceal any technical oopsies. I'd never thought to pick apart the fight choreography, but after watching this video, I'm not surprised that the choreography is just as flamboyant as the rest of the movie! It's an iconic swashbuckling film for a reason and i still like it, but i love picking at it and pointing out the extreme cheesiness of the movie and the copious amount of continuity errors (my personal fav being during the execution escape when Robbin straight up switches horses during a close up lol). Anyway, i love ur videos, Jill!!!!
Nope. First I’ve heard it and I’ve heard generations of folks talk about this movie. It’s Errol Flynn. No one was really focused on the movie haircut. 😂
Great video. At some point you might make a video explaining at some longer length why one would possibly have a low opinion on the thankfully diseased mr Flynn. Not only as a stage combatant. Also I would love Jill’s review of the fencing in the spanking new French 3 Musqueteers movies! Cheers!
![Kodak Black - Versatile 4 [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VcP_1Ua__vY/mqdefault.jpg)
Welcome to a video that is twice as long as usual because my gosh we are going to call out every move in this fight like it’s…
…
…Yu-Gi-Oh? Is that where they call out their attacks? IDK. Anyway, let me know what you think 😁
Buy my book: books2read.com/juststabmenow
Dragonball Z, I think. Yu-Gi-Oh is the card game one, although the idea of them stopping their sword fight to play go fish is hilarious
Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, a very anime trope. Also, saying "You'll/I'll/They'll be sent to the SHADOW REALM!!"
I bought the book, now reading. Seems entirely different from every other book I have read.
Definitely interesting 😊
pretty much any Japanese cartoon from the 70s had the hero call out his attack, whether it was an Atomic Punch from a giant robot or a boomerang attack from a ninja team.
@@Xenorama i thought that was just a dubbing thing
Imagine a movie about medieval Europe that is not filmed in a grey-brown pallette with everyone wearing black leather biker gear. It is probably illegal nowadays.
Especially since the Middle Ages were quite colorful. The wealthy would have shown off their access to expensive dyes, fine cloth and leather, precious metals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones. Commoners (including serfs) still had bright colors along with undyed cloth and leather.
Black and brown were not common colors because the dye formulas were difficult (according to the Welsh Viking). Any 'black' was really a dark grey. You only got proper black in illustrations because ink/paint had different formulas than clothing dye.
It's become 'the look' these days, regardless of all the evidence to the contrary.
@julietfischer5056 same thing back in the day, the bare stone walls and naked tables are hardly accurate to the setting.
@@julietfischer5056there are quite detailed descriptions in the records about what the rich were wearing or living in with titles like, field of cloth of gold.
@@julietfischer5056 A cheaper way to get black is shear a black (dark brown) sheep and then add a lot of blue dye to try to push it closer to a true black (woad was usually the cheapest dye available in medieval Europe). If you're working from white wool then dark grey, blue or brown is the most likely outcome.
Starting from a black/brown animal does mean you're likely to have coarser wool so you've got to decide on that trade off.
_Robin Hood and little John_
_Walkin' through the forest_
_Laughin' back and forth_
_At what the other'ne has to say_
_Reminiscin', this-'n'-thattin'_
_Havin' such a good time_
_Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally golly, what a day_
My favorite Robin Hood movie; not that I've actually seen very many, but still.
Robin Hood and Little John, running through the forest
Jumping fences, dodging trees and trying to get away
Contemplating nothing but escape and finally making it
Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day
BEST ROBIN HOOD MOVIE
Every town... has it's ups and downs
Sometimes ups... outnumber the downs
But not in Nottingham...
Oh thank you, now that will be in my head for the rest of the week.
Having only seen Prince of Thieves and Men in Tights, it's impressive how closely Mel Brooks matched the Adventures of Robin Hood visually. I kind of want to see you breakdown the sword fights in Men in Tights now...
Going to have to rewatch that .thanks for pointing that out.
@@papabearlives9995 There's never a bad time to rewatch Men in Tights!
Honestly my only *slight* problem with Men in Tights is that ever since realising just how good Cary Elwes is with a stabby slashy stick there's a little bit of me waiting for him to just go full Wick on everyone. Don't get me wrong, the loss of 'ah... right rope!' alone would have made it too high a price but still... Also now I've actually written that, hey, Hollywood... can we do that please? Cary Elwes just going ham with a sword for, like, ninety minutes for some reason not related to puppy murder?
Oh my gosh, I desperately want to see Jill break down the Men in Tights fight scenes. It would be hilarious
I'll second that motion. Men In Tights fight analysis please!
Lady Marian decides to stay in the castle instead staying in the forest so she can act as a spy... sure, sure... yeah, I would do that too, I would totally sacrifice myself to become a spy in a warm castle with good food... 😂
It makes sense that she'd stay there to be Robin's eyes and ears.
To quote Sgt Schultz when Klink’s ordered him to be a food taster “I’m risking life and limb, mmm, for the fatherland” munch munch, *sips wine*
@@ErnestLordGoring meanwhile he sees nothing! Nothing! 😂
@@EmeraldsFire 😂 And if he did, he wouldn’t even tell himself. *That’s* how secretive he is!
I need to spy! I'll go to the buffet.
"You're going to be watching this in the Cinema one time. You're not going to be slowing it down to look for flaws."
I will be using this quote from now on.
I mean, I feel it's not unreasonable for the director to have failed to forsee someone doing a breakdown of this fight on a video platform that can share content around the world 85 years in the future 😂
My sister went on vacation to England last week and my little niece kept asking if they could go and visit the "stab me" lady. Lol!
I've gained a whole new respect for Basil Rathbone watching this, Zorro and The Court Jester
He absolutely made Errol Flynn a star with Captain Blood. Basil Rathbone was a magnificent villain.❤
Rathbone is an amazing actor
I believe Rathbone only starred as a hero when he played Sherlock Holmes (a role he was great in). It's such a shame Golden-Era Hollywood loved to pigeonhole its actors so much. He would have made a fantastic swashbuckling hero, it saddens me that he never got the chance.
He was a master fencer, often outclassing his on-screen opponents. It took talent and skill to make the other guy's win look legit (in addition to the fight choreography).
It is to be remembered that Rathbone was twice the British Army Fencing Champion, and presumed to later compete in the Olympics in fencing.
9:49 this is the exact point that they would kiss in a flirty fight
Just a little background flavor. In the early 1970s (yes, I'm that old), my cousin was an actor on the soap opera Secret Storm and lived in the same building as Basil Rathbone's widow, Ouida Bergère, in New York. According to her, Basil was NOT a fan of Errol Flynn and his antics, but apparently his biggest complaint was the fact that he had to "work so damned hard to make Flynn look good". She never said anything about Tyrone Power.
Yes! My understanding is that even after they had the professional come in and choreograph the fight, Flynn would ad lib a lot of the time. Understandably, this drove Rathbone nuts.
Little trivia (there's a LOT of trivia about this film.) That palomino horse that Lady Marion is riding when Robin captures her and the Sheriff in the forest? It was a well known horse used quite often because it was so nice that was named Golden Cloud. (Good name.) A certain young up and coming Western cowboy star saw that horse and decided he really liked it. So he bought it, changed its name and rode it til it died. After it died he had the animal stuffed and put up in his own museum. That Singing Cowboy star (who partly got hired because he had diabetes and couldn't be drafted away from the studio in WWII when all the other cowboys were going off to war) was Roy Rogers and the palomino's name became Trigger...and the two of them appeared in dozens of B Westerns and had their own television series during the 1950's...which I watched because all little boys growing up in the 1950's did. Sold a ton of merch. I had the lunchbox!
"more hay, trigger?"
"no, thanks, Roy, I'm stuffed."
So that's the original Trigger, eh? Now I know where the palomino pony at my workplace got his name! :)
@kenbrown2808 that's a good one! I approve!
They shot the Sherwood Forest scenes in Bidwell Park in Chico, CA
Trigger!!!!!
@@davidlosey431 Also at the now-defunct Busch Gardens near L.A. Fun fact: Bidwell Park was chosen in part because of a certain nifty big tree, but the cinematography folks decided they didn't like the angle, and built a duplicate tree facing the proper direction.
Sword fights are all very well, but the best bit of TAORH for me is - the music! Korngold won an Oscar for it, and well deserved it was. It fits perfectly into every scene, and to every part of the fight.
An aside - on being told that Korngold's music "sounds like Hollywood", Andre Previn replaied: "No, Hollywood sounds like Korngold".
Mr Preview knew his stuff.
Grieg’s Piano Concerto…with him and him! (Was not expecting a Morecambe and Wise reference today but I’m here for it 😊)
@@JillBearup you're welcome, M'Lady
@@JillBearup All the right references, just not necessarily in the right order.....
The overture to Captain Blood for the win;). John Williams was definitely influenced by Korngold.
ruclips.net/video/EnERZmvEeRs/видео.html
"Buy my book!"
But I already have it, Jill (It is a lot of fun!)
Fun fact: In Prince of Persia (1989), the sword fighting animations were rotoscoped from Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone's duel in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Don Bluth also used the fight in Secret of Nimh.
A fantastic game with great duels, for 35 years ago at least.
No way!
Far out! I'm old enough (if you couldn't tell by my opening comment) that I played that one as a young man back in the day, on the Mac, about ten years before I went over to the Dark Side (as Mac users called going to Windows then).
I love how bent Robin's sword was after hitting a candle. Stayed bent in a couple other of the camera angles too until Robin stands back up.
I saw the swords flex in a couple other exchanges, too.
I only noticed the bend as he's disarming the guard to let Marion out of the cell. Now I have to watch it again. Okay...twist my arm
Saw the same thing, what a sturdy candle right? To be fair I don't think foam sowrds were a thing when they film this, and you need a fairly safe sword as a prop to the movie, so you need a not so strong sword analog
It's because the swords were made of aluminum.
@matiasfalcone2821 this was actually joked about in prince of thieves
Wait wait wait, we're getting a "to be continued"? I can't wait to hear about the Captain Blood swordfight
Funny you mention the hair. The forest scence was shot first. Even Eroll didn't like the cut - but, he was wearing a hat. He went to the higher ups and demanded/requested/begged them to change to the style we see the rest of the movie. It was the hat that saved him - since it wouldn't matter what his head would look like without it.
I'm not sure at which point the production changed directors, from William Keighley to Michael Curtiz, but there's a 'storybook' look to a lot of the Sherwood Forest stuff that doesn't quite match the deep shadows and mobile camerawork of the castle interiors. Compare to The Sea Hawk, which is Curtiz all the way (and gives Flynn much better hair).
Jill calling out the numbers of the fight reminds me of my dentist taking gum measurements and calling out the numbers for the assistant to write down. (Though analyzing fight scenes is far more enjoyable than the dentist.)😆
You need to look at the classic Scaramouche. There are multiple duels in it which are fun to watch if not historically accurate but it is a great romp of a movie. Stewart Granger comes off to me as a 1950 Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead fame) with an element of sarcasm to him. Mel Ferrer is suitably intimidating as the Marquis de Maynes. From IMDB:
"This movie contains what is reported to be the longest fencing duel ever caught on film, a sequence lasting 6.08 minutes from first sword touch to final thrust. The climactic fight ranges throughout the theater, from the balcony boxes, to the lobby, through the main seats, backstage, and finally on the stage itself. The actors spent eight weeks preparing for this sequence, having to memorize 87 different individual sword passes and 28 stunts."
We also get a glimpse of sword instruction and training-- would like to hear notes on that.
There are also two heart stopping beauties in Scaramouche...Janet "Jamie Lee Curtise's Mom" Leigh and Eleanor Parker...Technicolor really made them look radiant.
Both commenting are right. The training scenes have their own merit and I’d like to see a review of them while understanding this is Hollywood. Both the ladies were absolutely stunning.
Now I need to find a way to rewatch Scaramouche, it’s such a fun film.
@@hopewilliard6781 It's a shame that there is no HD version of Scaramouche available (at least to my knowledge)...well, maybe someday.
😎💙 I wish we could have had Basil Rathbone as a hero in one of his movies - especially since he can actually fight.
Agreed!
Did any of his Sherlock Holmes films have interesting fights?
this stresses again why I love Mel Brook's Robin Hood. NOT Because it's mocking it, but the attention to detail even to this.... it's STUNNING! Just helps having Cary Elwes saying "Unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an english accent."
That was primarily directed at Kevin Costner without calling him out by name. 😂
@@LisaMarieFord yeah, but recently THE WORST ACCENT I have seen in a modern film.... MICHAEL FASSBENDER in XMen First Class. Out of no where, he does an Irish accent at the big speech in Cuba beach. So, it's crazy even in a film 13 years ago, they can't keep their accents straight, and you don't have to be Kevin Costner.
If you want to see a Robin Hood swordfight that's the opposite of panto, check out the fight in 'Robin and Marian' (1976) where Sean Connery's Robin goes up against Robert Shaw's Sheriff of Nottingham in much less flashy, much more grim and bloody contest that was probably much more what medieval combat was like.
It was also Sean Connery vs Rober Shaw intense fight round two, over a decade after From Russia With Love. Great movie and total opposite of The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Shaw's portrayal of the sheriff added so much charactor to what is often a cardboard cutout, it was the highlight of the film
the grin on my face when you said Captain Blood was next up
I really enjoyed the background detail on how British military instruction influenced the choreography for this era of film.
Also concerned for any cavalrymen who were attacked from any angle other than above.
Errol Flynn was a disturbingly interesting man. In so much that he trafficked weapons for fun on occasion.
Thing to remember is the point of law that you cannot libel the dead. So a lot of posthumous biographies of celebrities are the greatest works of fiction they've ever been involved in.
so that's why he freaks Jill out and while obviously that's not good my gut reaction to Jill's reaction was that he was a creep. And I'm somewhat glad that's not the case.
@@silverjohn6037 Yeah, Errol Flynn sure had his share of hacks writing all kinds of shit after his death. However, Thomas McNulty's Errol Flynn: The Life and Career is probably the most even handed biography of this very complex man, and should be read if somebody is interested in Flynn and Golden Age of Hollywood. There is also Errol's own biography "My Wicked Wicked Ways", which shouldn't be taken as gospel but it's so damn good read that you simply don't care how truthful Mr. Flynn is...Good or Bad, that guy sure was larger than life.
@@Pandie2828 Oh no yeah he was a creep
@@calebmcurby8580 dammit
Love the fact that Rathbone pulled out a dagger!! Both for practical and character reasons-using a dagger in close quarters is a solid move to kill an opponent, but can also be seen as cheating or cowardly depending on the society’s code of honor
Jill the pitch woman. "Buy my merch. But the good merch. Not the bad merch, which is... also mine"
Hey, you should know that the more expenisve stuff does actually work better (in the case of hoodies, at least) 😁
I was privileged as a child to go see this in a double feature with Flynn's The Adventures of Don Juan - and one of the Directors of the Adventures of Robin Hood gave a speech during the intermission. It was awesome.
Yes! And Jill needs to see the Adventures of Don Juan, especially finally between Don Juan and the Duke de Lorca. The story behind that jump at the end of the dual would be worth it alone
LUCKY!!!
Saw them with a theater organ recital. Twas cool.
I really enjoyed this one. Have you ever considered being a sports commentator? "5 3 5 4 4 5 2 stick him with the pointy end" 😂
So many wonderful things came together to form The adventures of Robin Hood….the use of technicolor, the top to bottom perfect casting, the magnificent score by Eric Wolfgang Kornhold (John Williams deeply respects Korngold) the beauty of Olivia de Havilland (she went on her own learning arc) yet smart enough to devise the plan to save Robin. The villains were wonderful and Errol Flynn was at the peak of his very masculine beauty.
From what I have read de Havilland & Flynn were having an off screen relationship. Many years later she watched the film on TV & she was moved by memories of those happy times….
I have watched the film many times. I have concluded that from start to finish the movie is just fun. It entertains and that is what any good action film requires.
One final note~several of the sets were first built for the Douglas Fairbanks 1922 silent version of Robin Hood.
Idk about the off-screen relationship, but he was very interested in marrying her (after divorcing his 2nd? wife that the time) She knew him very well and was smart enough to know better than to do anything about it. Clever girl.
Korngold also did the music for Captain Blood. The overture for that film (linked below) is one of my favorite pieces of movie music and you can can hear it's influence in a lot of John Williams work.
ruclips.net/video/EnERZmvEeRs/видео.html
Flynn was the archetypical Hero! type actor. Charisma for days that allowed him to lay some of the foundation for the modern day swashbuckler archetype: witty banter, flashing swords, beat the bad guy and win the girl!
Yeah, that guy laid some foundation all right. He laid a lot.
@_WillCAD_ Well done sir. Well done.
One of my happiest acting experiences was as The Sheriff in a panto Robin Hood. It was much fun ^_^
What I like about Robin's killing thrust, it looks like he does a high feint, then stabs low as Gisbourne goes high to defend. Another thing, too, that makes it so great, they are frequently close together, normally a lot of fights have the combatants fighting at distance most of the fight.
In my opinion, the greatest Robin Hood movie out there.
Seconded. It’s been THE favorite Robin Hood movie of generations around the world.
Even as a kid I knew the fight was all flummery, but, like you said, the scenes and shots are all done so well and it so fun, who cares. Thanks for the 1 2 3 4 diagram, I love inside trivia like that.
The lighting in films of this era was tremendous. Totally unnatural but absolutely beautiful.
I freaking love every Rathbone fight. He was so skilled not because he was a great swordsman (he was) but he was able to make his partner look so damn good on stage. Flynn was never a great fencer, but Basil carried him in two movies to create some iconic duels. Both here and Captain Blood! Flynn really could only do a 5 cut.
Jill, have you ever looked at the Jose Ferrer/Stuart Granger duel from Scaramouche?
Edit: was typing and watching at the same time.. Woo! Captain Blood!
I had a tv grpwing up, but no cable. So I grew up with this film, ivanhoe 1952 and star wars
An awesome childhood!
I grew up on these too! My mom loved older movies and eschewed TV as much as possible. Ivanhoe is glorious ❤
Errol Flynn is reputed to have conducted the last Naval fight totally under sail when his trading Schooner was attacked by two Pirate Junks but that may just be an urban Legend. This is my second Favourite Flynn Movie beaten only by the Sea Hawk which has even better shadows on the wall something that Spielberg paid tribute to in the vastly underrated Hook.
Hook is a beautiful movie
The novel that the Sea Hawk is based on is even better!
@@sakr-el-bahr272 Agreed but how many of todays watchers have read it?
Love some Sabatini!
@@jamesmaclennan4525 Without reading it, they’ll never understand my name.😉
fun fact Howard Hill "The World's Greatest Archer' (as he was called) an US Archery expert in the 1930s 40s and 50s was not only a consultant on the film, he is the last archer Robin shoots against in the Archery tournament. You can see his old black and white shorts uploaded on youtube.
Rathbone always said Tyrone Power could "Fence Flynn into a cocked hat!" But Flynn was pretty much the premier Swashbuckling Hero of the late 30's and 40's which is where they got the term "flynning"...which I heard from you for the first time and I love it.
He was absolutely the premier swashbuckling hero of the time, which isn't to say he was the best with a sword. Tyrone was clearly better, and Basil made a pretty penny making Errol look good in a fight. Marketing is everything.
One of my all time favorite movies, and the first technicolor movie my Mother ever saw (when it came out in 1939). She said she went to the morning showing at 10:00 am and left the movie theater at 8:00 PM at night. Yes it's panto, but so is Star Wars.
It was the first feature film filmed entirely in Technicolor.
Basil Rathbone was pretty much the Christopher Lee of an earlier generation.
WW1 hero, skilled duellist and typecast as playing the villain in movies.
A pity they never where in the same movie, I bet the two of them could have performed a really amazing sword fight together.
The vividness of "Technicolor"(tm) is a thing of the 193/40's in that most films were still B&W then, but it makes films using what was a very expensive process the become iconic. Yes, the most iconic are "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind" but studios knew colour was a big draw to customers so they could get the big stars of the time into those films.
They knew those customers did not care about technique nor could you see the continuity mistakes - so did not care about that, it was the spectacal they public wanted and this film delivered on that level- so much so that Walt Disney almost used it as a "template" for its own "Robin Hood" animation.
Jill, you have the most entertaining sponsorships of any RUclips creator I've watched! One day, I will buy a premium "Just Stab Me Now" hoodie. One day. When I have the money for it. But I did buy the book, and it is excellent! :)
Same, and same!❤
I grew up in the relatively small California town that the whole production relocated to when doing the Sherwood Forest location shots, and this movie was still a Big Deal™ for us decades later. There was a Robin Hood Days annual festival, and displays of original props and costumes in the city hall museum. My favorite detail is that chainmail was just yarn pulled into a loose knit and given a coat of metallic paint, because good gods there were a lot of "armored" extras.
Very cool!
Watched this movie for the first time last year. Was _shocked_ by how much "Men in Tights" owed to it. Had only known MiT as a parody of "Prince of Thieves" previously.
,man in tight was a parody of all the live action robin hood movies, but it seem the basic bones started with the adventures and work the rest around it.
"Unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent"
Cary Elwes Robin Hood digging Kevin Costner Robin Hood.
I immensely enjoy these videos! Can't wait for the follow up.
A few days ago I watched Rashômon by Akira Kurosawa, that mainly features different retellings of the same event, and in two of those retellings there is a sword fight between two characters. Now, these two versions of the sword fight are vastly different and very interesting and very telling, even for the audience who doesn't know much about swords.
And when I saw the first one (not knowing the second one was coming), I thought "Man it would bea cool if Jill Bearup did a video dissecting the action here".
I'm sure it could be very interesting and a lot of fun for you you to analyse both fights and really hammer in just how strongly different they are.
"Thankfully the fight scenes are undercranked to a degree that you generally don't notice the first time through..."
Whilst I doubt I got all of them, that one stood out like a sore thumb. Yes, even on first viewing whilst not looking for it. Not going to go looking for the ones I missed, though. Glad you mentioned it, though, and looking forward to your next!
Can we get a series that's all either:
-Basil Rathbone (maybe some Holmes?)
-Robin Hood (Trying to analyze the animated one would be funny, but there's also the infamous rising sword from Men in Tights)
-Fencers who don't actually know what they're doing (I don't know enough to comment)
I feel like any of these could be solid
"Buy my book!"
I bought your book. LOL
Robin Hood is like pantomime ...
Oh no it isn't !!!
.
.
.
Oh like nobody else was thinking that 😁
Love the video and looking forward to more 👍
OH YES IT IS! 😂
@@meganofsherwood3665 OH NO IT ISN'T!
OH YES, IT IS!
Basil Rathbone is my favorite classic Hollywood actor, followed closely by Tyrone Power. I always enjoyed watching the over the top swashbuckling adventures growing up.
Full disclosure: Mr. Flynn's Robin Hood led to the folllowing: me, doing:
1) Olympic competitive fencing....epee' , of course.....
2) learning, then teaching, stage combat...
3) acting.....lots of Shakespeare.....
Thanks so much! Love your work.
If I live long enough (nearly 70.....), perhaps some day we may, in good fun, cross swords.
Thanks!
That sounds like a life of grand adventure for certain!
One of the films I loved the most when I was a kid. And still do love it. Thx for explaining this ⚔ICONIC⚔fight, the staircase part being my favorite one. Looking forward to Captain Blood.
I really like Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, cannot wait for your review on the sword fights.
At that time in Hollywood they were making so many swashbucklers that any serious leading man needed to have some sword fight training and some horsemanship skills if he wanted to work. The main training available was, of course, traditional fencing, so you get a number of films where the swords were supposed to be broad swords or short swords or whatever that had been modified so that actors could use them in a fencing style fight, regardless of how a real swordfight would've looked at the time represented. I would absolutely have loved to see a samurai film from the 30s where Flynn and Rathbone fenced each other with long, thin katanas.
This was fun! 5! Excited for Captain Blood. Also, if you ever need a quick sword fight, you could look at 1982's The Scarlet Pimpernel with Anthony Andrews and Ian McKellen.
“Oh, the English and their STUPID sense of fair play!”
I love that movie.
This is one of my favorites. The VHS copy i had before I was married has been worn out.
This movie was the first reason I got into Dungeons and Dragons,.
It is required watching on our TV just like Jaws is for my wife.
After so many watchings, there are many flaws with this movie, but I still love it.
And it was nice to see Alan Hale play a mischievous "smart" character. As opposed to some of the other characters he plays in other movies with Errol Flynn.
Don't forget Una O'Connor.
Nice review.
Any time you have Basil Rathbone in a cinematic swordfight, you know it's good.
I think this was quite possibly the first 'sword fight' I ever saw. I don't remember how old I was exactly, four or five perhaps, almost certainly on a tiny black and white TV, but I remember I loved it. I would probably have watched it again and again had the technology existed. As it was nothing made my little ears perk up like the sound of blade on blade in any film and I was constantly in search of more. I probably would not have loved Star Wars, for example, half as much as I did if it hadn't had 'sword' fights in it. In fact with hindsight this film is the one that birthed a life long fascination with sword fights and fantasy in general. You can quite possibly trace the responsibility for my subscription to it. Weird huh? Shame the choreography was not any better, but it was good enough to totally invest me in the story. So there you go if you truly want to enjoy this film turn yourself into a five year old boy!
A Robin-Hood-obsessed 7 yr old girl works too! 😂
As an addition to the whole "Flynn" look-back. You could catch "My Favorite Year", which is a loose retelling of the time a much older Flynn (here named "Alan Swan" and played by Peter O'Toole) guested on the "King Kaiser (Sid Caeser) Comedy Hour" (which had a laundry list of future famous creatives in the writers' room, including a Mr. Brooks and a Mister Alan). It's a hoot, and we see clips from "Defender of the Crown" (the in-universe Robin Hood/Ivanhoe), a name so cool Cinemaware stole it for a videogame a few years later. Not too much swordplay unfortunately, but lots of drunken daring-do.
AMEN. This is a criminally ignored film. Its’s funny, sad, romantic, poignant, funny. Did I say funny? If you can’t find humor to laugh at in this film, then I feel very badly for you. A personality transplant may help. Or accordion lessons.
OMG one of my favorites movies on Earth, and so few people even know it exists ...
@@jcortese3300 ''l'm a movie star, not an actor''😆
@@Gorski213 My favorite line from "My Favorite Year"!
I'm still bummed that Peter O'Toole didn't win Oscar for his magnificent performance as "Alan Swan".
12:51 that candle cut bent Robin's sword 😂
I think that a lot of the success and spectacle of this fight can be attributed to the director and/or fight scene choreographer recognizing that Errol Flynn wasn't going to be matching Basil Rathbone's fencing aptitude and so they filmed the fight in such a way that the actual fighting wasn't the only interesting thing occurring on screen at any given time. As you mentioned, the phrases are frequently broken up by obstacles, shadow play, new weapons, etc. All of those help mask the fact that most of the actual sword contact is attack and parry 5 🤣
I think I had more to say in this comment, but my attention has been completely diverted by two adorable fledgling chicks sitting on the fence outside my window so I shall leave this here and divert my focus to the cuteness of nature instead 😊
Because it hit the wall.
JILL, PLEASE DO "THE PIRATE MOVIE"!!! It's a delightful, if often panned, parody of The Pirates of Penzance (SP?) musical. And, yes, it's a musical, too. But they parody more than their source material. It includes a castle spanning fight scene that, at least one moment, parody's the very fight scene you're reviewing now. (They literally have a third person wandering around with a book about great movie fight scenes turned to the page about this one.)
Also, I'm still waiting for the armor rating for Dearstalker's All For One internet web comedy about D&D.
It's actually a comic opera and it's absolutely so much fun and very pantomimy!
@@adedow1333"Nuts!"
"Them, too!"
My first thought watching the fight, was the MASSIVE amount of swords fighting at once that ALL must have been fight coordinated. Thats epic!
Fun facts, from the commentary and behind the scenes on the DVDs:
Errol Flynn said he hated the wig he wore as Robin Hood.
Technicolor was a brand new tech at the time and the studio really wanted to show it off. Remember, it was the following year that The Wizard of Oz came out.
The director, Michael Curtiz, was apparently well known for his use of shadows. He also directed Captain Blood, Casablanca, and White Christmas.
Thanks for the video, Jill! Like many, I was looking forward to this one.
Suggestion for the future: Alatriste
We LOVE Robin Hood in exhaustive detail ❤️
If you haven't already seen it, might i recommend The Great Race (1965)? Two sword fights, a bar clearing brawl, and the most epic pie fight in cinematic history. And plenty of laughs in between.
That exhaustive detail was just delicious and luckily for me I do like the number 5 😂 definitely worth staying up til midnight for. Much love, from Australia 🇦🇺 ❤
Wow… that really was a bunch of fives. It’s a great video Jill and I can’t wait for Captain Blood! Just don’t get any on the cheese.
Protect the cheese
- This was fantastic! I want to hear Jill's commentary on a long SCA Crown Tourney fight. ❤ There's many on RUclips for anyone interested, and sometimes the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals can turn into long bouts as the participants get more cautious (and tired).
This adaptation of Robin Hood and Captain Blood are among my favorite movies (along with the Mark of Zorro).
Poor Basil though, I love his as an actor and fencer but dang he always loses the fights. LOL
A fight that might be good for analysis is the fight between Gregory Peck and a rather unknown (at the time) Christopher Lee in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
Ooh! That sounds really good!
A Flynning double feature? I'm here for it. Looking forward to next week!
I remember being pleasantly surprised by this film when I first watched it. I was expecting just fun (got the DVD for something like $2 for three movies in a bargain bin), and was surprised that it was also quite good. Also thinking that Basil Rathbone was clearly far better at everything than Errol Flynn and wondering why he wasn't cast as the lead. He stole the show.
Now the only swordfights I'm needing you to dissect is the dress down in Scarlett Pimpernel and the one from Count of Monte Cristo. I should watch Captain Blood before your next vid. Robin Hood is the only Flynn movie I've ever seen, so it'll be brand new to me.
Errol Flynn played Robin Hood because he was a MOVIE STAR in Warner Bros. studio, Basil Rathbone was very accomplished character actor, but not a star that general public would flock to see in theaters. It's that simple.
Yes!! Do Captain Blood!
I just watched it a couple weeks ago.
I’m slightly disappointed that you didn’t comment on THE most egregious case of bad props ever. In the scene where Robin is threatening the guard in the dungeon his sword is badly bent.
Loved this! I never thought of the difference between fencing swords and the swords they used making a difference, but of course it would., The idea that the overhead strikes come from military training is fascinating too. I'm intrigued by the 'Pantomime' thing as well, we don't really have that in the USA but I've always loved this movie as sort of a storybook come to life vibe that I think fits. Also Captain Blood is one of my faves, great to hear it's getting looked at :D
Quite stoked for you to cover Captain Blood.
The Adventures of Robin Hood is just a fun romp.
I guess it just hits different if you see it before you know anything about Flynn. When I first saw it he was just the guy playing Robin, and later Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk and in Against All Flags. Once more of the off-screen details were known, it takes the shine off the films a bit, and Flynn is quite😬 indeed.
Despite all that, The Adventures of Robin Hood is my favorite telling of the story, followed by the Disney animated one and then Men in Tights.
Bonus points Jill for using the Sword of Gryffindor for your demo. Keep em coming!
To this day, this is THE Robin Hood movie. I've loved it as a child and do to this day. So do my kids of 8, 10 and 12 today. It's a feelgood movie. A bit overly colourful perhaps. Korngold's score is awesome. And Errol Flynn is a gem.
Howard Hill, who was the archery advisor and did a bunch of the stunt archery on this movie, has a book about his adventures with archery called Hunting The Hard Way, which is quite a good read.
I haven't watched the whole video yet, so I'm not sure if it comes up, but those stuntmen had to have a lot of faith in Hill's accuracy. They were wearing cork blocks covered in a thin sheet of aluminum under their costumes, and Howard Hill had to hit them, sometimes when the stuntmen were moving.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher Hill was an amazing archer- there are videos of some of his amazing trick shots, as well as a very daring hunter, using only a long bow, for dangerous game like wild boar. He did make the shot that split the arrow in the movie; even if from about 7-8ft away quite an impressive shot.
@@Gorski213 The Special Edition DVD of "Robin Hood" has a feature on him, and he does many of his trick shots, including splitting the arrow. Impressive on his part, but also for the brave folks who stood & let him shoot increasingly smaller things off their heads.
@@vdavis4785 lt also has ''Rabbit Hood''- a hilarious Bugs Bunny take on the film and a cameo of Errol in it ''Don't you worry; never fear. Robin Hood will soon be here..'' 🤣
I asked for this analysis, and I was not disappointed. I *love* hearing your commentary on decades-past actors. Every time you bring up Basil Rathbone's beef with Errol Flynn, I cackle.
Also, I read Just Stab Me Now and LOVED IT! I finished it in three days flat, and I'll have you know that the last time I read something at that speed was in ye olden days of high school summer vacation. It was so witty and charming and wonderfully done! Thanks for persevering to get it written. :)
Is it too soon to chant "sequel, sequel!"?
This movie sets the standard. Only once it's set can we judge others. It is, as your title suggests, iconic.
Stewart Granger (star of Scaramouche, another fight you need to review) told Errol Flynn "I'm a much better swordsman than you" to which Flynn replied "I've got a nicer arse, and that 's what matters in film"
If you've got it, flaunt it
This film formed the basis of so many of my childhood games they could probably sue.
"everyone like a sticker"
the sword lady is selling rapiers, now?
Perhaps ladies daggers?
@@adedow1333 I am a lady, and I would like a dagger, please ! 😂
Specifically ones to hide in ballgowns
For your next challenge - pick an fight or two from the Robin of Sherwood TV series that you will enjoy reviewing. That's a *proper* Robin Hood!
I love the fact that Nasir was supposed to die in the fight with Robin, but the cast loved him so much, they kept him on instead. And then a ton of Robin Hood adaptations after also included a Muslim member of the Merry Men even though there were no original stories including him!
I was hoping someone would say this. Even though it was made for a family audience in the 1980s, it's still worth watching.
This movie is one of the stable movies of my childhood. I adore it and Errol Flynn in general
Ooooh, Captain Blood, lots of my memories are stirring, thank you
You’re making the fight scenes more interesting with these commentaries and calling out the numbers ❤
When I saw the thumbnail I was convinced you were about to review "Robin Hood: Men in Tights".
After clicking, I read the title and I though "Oh well, still good", but now I really would love if you analysed Mel Brooks' rendition.
In any case, I must thank you because your video also made me understand just how much homage was paid by Brooks to "The Adventures of Robin Hood", and not only to "Prince of Thieves".
I'm loving that you're doing more of the good old swashbucking movies. Any chance that you could do Scaramouche?
Rathbone was paired with Flynn repeatedly precisely because Flynn's enthusiasm for fencing exceeded his skill, and Rathbone was one of the few actors who could shoot a scene with Flynn without getting hurt by Flynn getting a bit too into it.
Aside from Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood, what other films were they paired up in? I haven’t been able to find any.
@@JillBearup The Dawn Patrol - they're on the same side, and nary a sword IIRC. WW1 flying aces sorta movie.
Oh it’s so nice to see you back in fighting form! I haven’t thought of all these old movies in what seems like forever! They used to be on tv fairly often.
"This video was _still_ sponsored by me. Buy my book."
I like this line so much, I might just go get another copy.
When I was in charge of promoting Robin Hood Country in the 1990’s we used to have live sword fighting, archery and jousting in Sherwood Forest every year at the Robin Hood Festival!
Jill, Robin and my morning coffee …. A good start to the day
12:51 After a few more decades of evolution, Flynn's Candle would eventually develop enough sharpness and durability that one of its more advanced descendants would cut right through Charlie Sheen's sword in Hot Shots! Part Duex
as someone who first watched this film at the tender age of 9 and counted it as a comfort movie for a long time, i really appreciate this video!!! i still enjoy this movie if only for how flashy it is, seeing as it's one of the earlier technicolor hollywood films (not super sure of the history of technicolor being adopted into mainstream hollywood so feel free to correct me on that) and i just get the feeling of the cinematographers and color artists behind the camera going "ok, how bright can we make this movie and do you think people will care if there are peasants wearing royal blues and purples?" It's a visual delight to watch and they use said flashiness to conceal any technical oopsies. I'd never thought to pick apart the fight choreography, but after watching this video, I'm not surprised that the choreography is just as flamboyant as the rest of the movie! It's an iconic swashbuckling film for a reason and i still like it, but i love picking at it and pointing out the extreme cheesiness of the movie and the copious amount of continuity errors (my personal fav being during the execution escape when Robbin straight up switches horses during a close up lol). Anyway, i love ur videos, Jill!!!!
I have never heard that anybody complaints about Errol Flynns hairdo in Robin Hood. NEVER!
Nope. First I’ve heard it and I’ve heard generations of folks talk about this movie. It’s Errol Flynn. No one was really focused on the movie haircut. 😂
Great video. At some point you might make a video explaining at some longer length why one would possibly have a low opinion on the thankfully diseased mr Flynn. Not only as a stage combatant.
Also I would love Jill’s review of the fencing in the spanking new French 3 Musqueteers movies!
Cheers!
Hey Jill! Everybody loves Robin Hood and everybody loves a good sword fight, will you do Robin Hood Men in Tights?