The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is a classic, and I am hopefully unlikely to get in copyright trouble if I use huge chunks of it. So prepare for an exhaustive (or possibly exhausting) fight breakdown, and a few minor comments about Errol Flynn and parrying.
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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 😁
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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!
hello! random, did I miss why you do not like Errol Flynn? I feel like I missed it?
Loved this as always!
I am really looking forward to your Captain Blood commentary. I watched it a some time ago when I had just started watching black and white movies and was amazed at how much better some of the old movies age in terms of stories and action scenes.
Love your videos and especially appreciate that you liked the sword fight even with its flaws. As a girl, it was the first I ever saw and was mesmerized by swordplay. Good memories…. but totally agree about the hair. Ugh
I finished your book in three days. It would have been one day, but I had to be a responsible adult and do adulting things. I am looking forward to your Captain Blood video! Might I also suggest you make a review of Disney's animated Robin Hood? You might find parts of it feel familiar after watching this 1938 version. 😉
I was expecting a comparison with the sword-fighting scene featuring not-Flynn from THE ROCKETEER, especially given the real-life plot connection, but otherwise was not disappointed.
You should make a The plot goeth thusly hoodie
Saved this for breakfast before work. A fun way to start the day!
Love your book, too!
Have you ever thought of analysing anything Highlander?
One of my school friends villages does yearly pantos in the village hall and his dad usually plays the dame. It was rather amusing the last time I was invited over there to be sitting down for dinner and his dad coming in with thick makeup and his normal clothes.
"This video was still sponsored by me. Buy my book."
I like this line so much, I might just go get another copy.
I'm a writer and love the videos. Might I suggest the three Musketeers, 1973. There's a fight in an Abbey amongst sheets of white linens. A fight in the woods with lanterns. Many to choose from. Oliver Reed, Michael York, Christopher Lee, Faye Dunaway… It's just a great movie with half of my favorite sword fights of all time.
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.
My favorite movie. You got me to subscribe with "Captain Blood." In the States I live very close to Los Gatos, California home of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Oh, you missed the Robert Hale senior versus junior mention — come on… Little John was the Skipper's dad. For love of God do not watch They Died with their Boots On, Dodge City or Charge of the Light Brigade. Just pretend those movies never happened. Psst…. Watch the animated Disney Robin Hood… Scene for Scene to the 1938 movie.
Captain Blood is a damn good movie; anyone who hasn't seen it should. Jill, if you're looking for more screen fights to analyze, might I suggest the Richard Lester Three Musketeers movies, particularly the first two. The scene in the laundry room is just great!
Ehem, Actor Combatant, and Author…
On the subject of continuity errors, anyone else love the magically self-repairing table leg at around 12:56? lol. Wonderful video as always – I love these detailed breakdowns of sword fights – it makes me appreciate them all the more, even the ones that aren't as complex.
Oh, I absolutely love this movie
This and the Disney version were my only Robin Hoods when I was young, and I still love them to death
I did not know Errol Flynn’s reputation and crimes though ^^’
I liked Friar Tuck! That man had a voice two octaves lower than Louie Armstrong…. And he'd bless you before he knocked you goofy with his cudgel.. We're looking at true talent here!!!!
YES!!! I was just going to ask you to do Captain Blood!
I’ve bought your book & enjoyed it immensely. Well done!
I’m hoping now to take heart by your self-publishing journey follow with my own book.
Your little giggle and smile about "on point" at 12:18 is possibly the most adorable thing I have seen on this channel.
Always love the content, but those little touches are beautiful. 💖
I had this on videodisk in the early 1980s as a teen and must have watched it 100 times. It's fun to see it broken down like this, especially after a few decades of learning a little bit more about sword work.
Great movie, 5 out of 5.
My first thought watching the fight, was the MASSIVE amount of swords fighting at once that ALL must have been fight coordinated. Thats epic!
another movie suggestion The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
Errol Flynn IS Robin Hood. He was one of the greatest actor of his day. I love his movies. And Olivia who was also wonderful.
Oh, my word! While I was delighting in that, I was also sadly lamenting the absence of Captain Blood vs. Captain Levasseur. And now I am not!
Apparently I have been conditioned as a teenager by Richard Armitage and some very questionable
but prettyadaptational choices to expect sexy brooding, so being met by swashbuckling mastery of Basil Rathbone instead was a tiny jolt of shock each and every time I hear the words "Guy of Gisborne" or any part of the phrase. This has been an unexpected though not uninteresting aspect of watching this video for me.I love how much work that box must have gotten trying to cheat the close ups between Marion and Robin Hood bahaha it really should have gotten a nod in the credits as the actor playing Marion is easily 18 inches shorter than him.
I grew up watching this and other Errol Flynn movies (Prince the the Pauper, Footstep in the Dark, Don Juan, Sea Hawk) and didn't learn about…"in like Flynn" until I was much older making rewatches definitely guilty pleasures though I haven't watched them in recent years.
Claude Rains (Prince John) always had me enthralled because of his soft spoken nature he brought to both good and bad guy roles. He played a very tortured Phantom in Phantom of the Opera; and had the best maniacal laugh for the Invisible Man. <3
And Basil is just sublime as the main villain. The older I get, the more I understand WHY he's in everything. 1 – he's a damn professional. 2 – his expertise with a sword ALLOWED the heroic leads to look WAY better than they were – meaning the studio could hire the trending actor w/out totally compromising the big finale fight scene (ie wide shots). In modern movies, they get around this by tighter shots and edits so the leads can be paired with professional stand-in (i.e. the stunt team) to make the leads look good and to keep everyone safe. Imagine being an actor during that time expected to step in and have to act AND manage whatever bonehead lead that may or may not be drunk or hung over and work to not get stabbed in every freaking phrase!
Great video! Have you seen The Black Swan with Tyrone Power? That one has a couple of really good sword fights to.
First; the use of shadows was a device frequently employed by this director, Michael Curtiz and is something of a trade mark. Second; to give Errol Flynn his fair due you should check out The Adventures of Don Juan from ten years later. His character even assumes the role of fencing master so you can expect lots of swordplay.
Um, jeez, your descriptions of the fights are "three five three five five four"? Somehow you've managed to take one of those most exciting cinematic experiences of the twentieth century and make an unpleasantly boring video about it. Not your best work here IMHO.
Swodfights like this is the reason why my father had to explain to me that in a duel you are supose to hit the other person, not their sword, to win. (I was 6)
You should review the fight from Cyrano De Bergerac 1950
Please review Scaramouche. Nice build up and cool climatic fight. One of my favorite sword movies.
Jill: Is this a pantomime? Yes it is…
Me: OH NO IT ISN'T!
Even as a kid, I loved Basil over Errol. XD
Jill, you're not an actor. You're an actress! Be proud of your feminine heritage… There's no need to redefine the English language and turn it into a convoluted travesty of itself. Actors and actresses have existed side-by-side since 1585. Do women really want to claim the masculine sphere, too? Are ye so bent on conquest that ye must seize not just the feminine, but the masculine, too? Shame on thee, on guard!!
👨⚔️👱♀️
The shadow moment just… All I can see is the Men in Tights interpretation with the dog and duck!!
What bothers me about this clip isn't so much the sword fighting (just not my area) but the terrible character decisions?? They are so obviously not trying to hurt each other*. Guy is against the wall. Robin has a spear, with which he could kill Guy without getting within reach of his sword. There is a massive pause, during which Robin *doesn't stab Guy*. Then Guy is *pinned against the wall, at which point Robin runs from him because… why??? Then they're running down the stairs, with Guy above Robin. Robin stops while he still has the disadvantage, rather than continuing down to where they'll be on even ground again. It's just… what on earth are they even trying to do???