# Robin Hood
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 29, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004 "2007-04-29T01:32:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/1 "2007-04-29T01:32:44Z")
I’m taping an old Errol Flynn version of the movie above (gets 4 stars from the cable reviewer).
One of the things I heard or read about this film is the sounds of the arrows is unlike any other film. Turns out a special effects guy mad special arrows for the movie.
Gonna check it out, and I invite you to do so, too.
---
### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/2 "2007-04-29T01:53:20Z")
I assume that you mean The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938 and also starring Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone. It’s a classic film. I’m just surprised that it’s new to you. I’ve seen it on television multiple times since I was a child.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/3 "2007-04-29T02:05:34Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn]
I assume that you mean The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938 and also starring Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone. It’s a classic film. I’m just surprised that it’s new to you. I’ve seen it on television multiple times since I was a child.
[/QUOTE]
Oh. Well, I’m only 11, and we just got our first TV yesterday. It’s Black and White but really nice - a Philco.
---
### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/4 "2007-04-29T02:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl]
Oh. Well, I’m only 11, and we just got our first TV yesterday. It’s Black and White but really nice - a Philco.
[/QUOTE]
😃
Great response.
Enjoy the movie, it is still, by far, the greatest Robin Hood movie of them all!
I have probably seen it a dozen times or maybe more.
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/5 "2007-04-29T02:28:35Z")
Robin Hood, for my generation, will forever be Kevin Costner.
And I weep because of that.
---
### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/6 "2007-04-29T02:30:06Z")
I know nothing of arrow sounds, but Mythbusters did a segment on the, er, segmenting of the arrow in the 1938 film. Turns out that the shafts were made of that favourite medieval English wood - bamboo.
---
### Author:  [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/7 "2007-04-29T02:43:33Z")
Love the Errol Flynn version. Kevin Costner version suxxx. (yes, I used the stupid spelling intentionally)
We watch it often but I can’t say I ever noticed anything about the sound effects. It’s just solid filmmaking in the late '30’s. And who _wouldn’t_ love a swashbuckling cad like Errol Flynn and the beautiful Olivia de Havilland. \
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/8 "2007-04-29T02:44:54Z")
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin]
I know nothing of arrow sounds, but Mythbusters did a segment on the, er, segmenting of the arrow in the 1938 film. Turns out that the shafts were made of that favourite medieval English wood - bamboo.
[/QUOTE]
Are you talking about the arrow Robin split with one of his own? If yes, why say as much so sarcastically?
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/9 "2007-04-29T03:33:38Z")
The single greatest swashbuckler of all time. One of the top maybe three soundtrack scores of all time. One of the greatest Technicolor films of all time.
When I took it out of “Classics” and put it in the store’s “Recommended” section, suddenly we can’t keep it in the store. Had to buy an extra copy.
---
### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/10 "2007-04-29T03:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C]
Robin Hood, for my generation, will forever be Kevin Costner.
[/QUOTE]
For me, Robin Hood is Cary Elwes. Unlike other Robin Hoods, he speaks with an English accent.
---
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/11 "2007-04-29T04:07:19Z")
_The Adventures of Robin Hood_ was directed by Michael Curtiz, who later directed _Casablanca_. In the same year as _Robin Hood_ (1938), he also directed _Angels with Dirty Faces_, starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. Those are three truly great films.
Michael Curtiz was the complete opposite of a Woody Allen or a Martin Scorsese. He was not an auteur, but rather the compleat studio man. He would be given assignments about what films to direct, then do a bang-up job.
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/12 "2007-04-29T04:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam]
_The Adventures of Robin Hood_ was directed by Michael Curtiz, who later directed _Casablanca_. In the same year as _Robin Hood_ (1938), he also directed _Angels with Dirty Faces_, starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. Those are three truly great films.
Michael Curtiz was the complete opposite of a Woody Allen or a Martin Scorsese. He was not an auteur, but rather the compleat studio man. He would be given assignments about what films to direct, then do a bang-up job.
[/QUOTE]
Yes. He did some great Doris Day musicals, and a movie I hate but most people love: _Yankee Doodle Dandy._
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/13 "2007-04-29T12:10:19Z")
[QUOTE=lissener]
Yes. [Michael Curtiz] did some great Doris Day musicals, and a movie I hate but most people love: _Yankee Doodle Dandy._
[/QUOTE]
Speaking of Yankee Doodle Dandy…
I liked him as an actor, but Cagney’s dancing in that film always embarrassed me a little. To me it was weird and ugly. Who was the choreographer?
---
### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/14 "2007-04-29T12:28:01Z")
For me, Robin Hood will always be the Disney version, accompanied by his foxy Maid Marian.
---
### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/15 "2007-04-29T16:48:31Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl]
I’m taping an old Errol Flynn version of the movie above (gets 4 stars from the cable reviewer).
One of the things I heard or read about this film is the sounds of the arrows is unlike any other film. Turns out a special effects guy mad special arrows for the movie.
[/QUOTE]
Here’s multiple Oscar-winner sound designer Ben Burtt (_Star Wars_) on the topic:
> [@](#):
>
> What’s your favorite sound effect?
>
> My tastes vary. It’s pretty esoteric, but I’d say my favorite sound effect was made by the arrows in the 1938 version of The Adventures of Robin Hood. I just love that sound effect. It took me years to find out how it was done. Since a real arrow is designed for minimum friction, it is totally soundless, but in Robin Hood the arrows had this great singing sort of zing. I tracked down who did them and researched arrows of different dimensions and weights and types and thickness of feathers. We had a fletcher make one and our arrow had exactly the same sound. I used that arrow sound in Raiders for the dart trap and the Hovitos’ blowguns. We’ll probably need it too for the sound of a new vehicle in Revenge of the Jedi. It has a sharp cutting edge that subconsciously makes you feel like you’re moving as fast as an arrow.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/16 "2007-04-29T17:15:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> The Adventures of Robin Hood was directed by Michael Curtiz, who later directed Casablanca. In the same year as Robin Hood (1938), he also directed Angels with Dirty Faces, starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. Those are three truly great films.
I’ve read that Cagney was the first choice for Robin Hood as well. I love James Cagney and think he was a great actor, but Robin Hood? That I don’t see.
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/17 "2007-04-29T17:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
I’ve read that Cagney was the first choice for Robin Hood as well. I love James Cagney and think he was a great actor, but Robin Hood? That I don’t see.
[/QUOTE]
Well, after his god-awful dancing In Yanke D D, maybe appearing in tights might have been suitable. 😃
---
### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/18 "2007-04-29T17:22:19Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl]
Well, after his god-awful dancing In Yanke D D, maybe appearing in tights might have been suitable. 😃
[/QUOTE]
(1) _YDD_ was 4 years after _AoRH_.
(2) Cagney was a [terrific dancer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwslZZBk6Ag&mode=related&search=) (though distinctively non-traditional).
---
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/19 "2007-04-29T17:28:50Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
Here’s multiple Oscar-winner sound designer Ben Burtt (_Star Wars_) on the topic:
[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the info. I knew I heard the arrows in TAORH were unique.
---
### Author:  [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004/20 "2007-04-29T17:56:40Z")
Did you see the part where Bugs Bunny meets the Sherrif? That part always kills me!!
What??
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robin-hood/402004.md?page=2)