Welcome to Sherwood! The Story of 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'

A typically solid and thorough Turner Classic Movies documentary about the making of this classic film: running for some 56 minutes, it's highly informative - but, given the subject matter, it's also done in an entertaining way.

Of course, it deals with several behind-the-scenes anecdotes that I mentioned in my review of the film itself...but it's also easy to see how, 70 years on, all the participants are still in awe of the film's achievement: the wondrous use of color, the spectacle, the stuntwork involved in the action highlights - in essence, the sheer professionalism of Hollywood at its best.

This is the second-to-longest, feature-length documentary on the DVD of The Adventures of Robin Hood from 1938, and while it isn't possible to talk to most of the people who worked on it(...R.I.P., you bunch of talents... you won't be forgotten anytime soon), this is a rather good retroactive making-of on it. Consisting of clips from it and other movies, interviews with several film historians including Rudy Behlmer(who also provided the fact-heavy commentary track on the disc), Leonard Maltin and a literary person, this is interesting throughout the 55 minutes sans credits(one extra if you count them) running time. They go into the development of the project(Cagney was once slated to star!), the cast, the addition of Technicolor, the archery, budget, score and the director situation. We get a ton of information, and this keeps your attention nicely from start to finish. It's edited and researched well, and I didn't feel like anything had been omitted. Honestly, I had no questions left about the picture when this was over. I recommend this to anyone who likes the subject of this production. 7/10

The archival research in this documentary is terrific. They obviously went to great lengths to delve into the Warners archives. I wonder why more DVDs of old movies don't do this kind of work? There is certainly enough material.

Welcome to Sherwood! (2003)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Very informative documentary that can be found on Warner's 2-disc Special Edition of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. Film historians Rudy Behlmer, Leonard Maltin, Bob Thomas and Robert Osbourne add their thoughts about the making of the classic film and by the time this film is over you feel as if you know everything there is to know. We learn that originally Warner wanted James Cagney to play Robin Hood but the film went into production during the infamous stage when the actor was refusing to work. They then decided to turn the film into an operetta with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy but this too fell apart so after the success of CAPTAIN BLOOD the studio gave the part to Errol Flynn. From here we learn about the original direction, the failed first script, the music, the casting and the eventual release of the movie, which was a hit across the country. All four historians do a fantastic job at making sure every detail is discussed. Some of the most interesting aspects are those dealing with the early days of Warner and their gangster pictures and how the Hayes Office forced them to find entertainment without the violence. The stories about Cagney and original director Rowland V. Lee were also very entertaining. Fans of the classic film are certainly going to enjoy hearing all of these stories and if you're not familiar with the film then after watching this you'll certainly be tracking it down.

This is a 'making of' featurette included with the DVD release of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD--one of the truly great pictures of the 1930s. However, unlike many such films, this one is rather long--at almost an hour in length. Sadly, this film has no closed captions nor DVD captions.

Unfortunately, since the original film came out 65 years before this featurette, there is a weakness of the film--you don't get interviews with those involved with actually making the film. Almost all of them have died and Olivia de Havilland apparently wasn't available or perhaps wasn't interested in participating. However, despite this, the people who did contribute seemed to know quite a bit about the film and provided a few interesting tidbits that I have never heard of--though I won't spoil the film by discussing them further. In addition to these interviews, extensive clips of the original movie, the Douglas Fairbanks version and stills were used in addition.

Overall, a very interesting little film and a must-see for anyone, like myself, who loves THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.