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Films

Robin Hood in Film

robin hood in film

The story of Robin Hood has been made into a movie at least fifty times – with many films going on to become financial and critical successes.  Here are some clips from some of incarnations of the story of the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest and the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.

robin hood in film

In 2009 Rochester University hosted a four day conference entitled Robin Hood: Media Creature, which examined the ways in which the outlaw hero has been reshaped over the past 700 years, and look at the evolution of Robin Hood through stage, song, literature and film. “Every generation gets the Robin Hood they want and the Robin Hood they deserve,” says Thomas Hahn, professor of English at the University of Rochester and the organizer of the conference. Click here to read our news article about the conference.

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Here are some of the most famous Robin Hood movies:

1922 – Robin Hood – the first motion picture ever to have a Hollywood premiere, it was one of the most expensive films of the 1920s, with a budget estimated at approximately one million dollars. A huge castle set and an entire 12th century village of Nottingham constructed on Hollywood studio.

1938 – The Adventures of Robin Hood – winning three Academy Awards (and nominated for Best Picture) this film starred Errol Flynn in the lead role. A critical and financial success, this is considered to be one of the most iconic of the Robin Hood films.

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1960 – Sword of Sherwood Forest – After playing Robin Hood on the 1950s British TV series, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Richard Greene returned in 1960 for this film.

1973 – Robin Hood – for many children this film would be their first exposure to the story of Robin Hood. An animated Disney film, the characters are actually animals, with Robin Hood being a fox and the Sheriff of Nottingham a wolf. It was a major financial success for Disney.

1991 – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – another big-budget Hollywood film, it starts Kevin Costner with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Morgan Freeman.

1993 – Robin Hood: Men in Tights – a comedic spoof of the previous Robin Hood films, produced and directed by Mel Brooks.

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2010 – Robin Hood – This is the most recent Hollywood blockbuster take on the story, with Ridley Scott directing and Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett taking the lead roles. It made over $320 million at the box office.

The most complete list of Robin Hood films can be found here.

Also, Wikipedia has a list of Robin Hood movies.

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