dual personalities

Tag: The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938

“My husband and I have never considered divorce… murder sometimes, but never divorce.”*

by chuckofish

As you know, today is Valentine’s Day. We thought it would be fun to look at some of our favorite couples in history since we’ve already looked at favorite movie couples/kisses in years past.

  1. William and Mary, King and Queen of England, who rocked the Glorious Revolution together.

Screen Shot 2018-02-13 at 10.47.14 AM.png

2.  Simon and Ann Bradstreet, “questing puritans”…She wrote, “If ever two were one, then surely we/If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.”

1607_puritans_going_to_church.jpg

3. Calvin and Grace Coolidge, President and First Lady. He said, “I do not know what I would do without her.”

coolidges-at-garden-party-030626.jpg

Calvin was devoted to his wife; he never cheated on her like some presidents we will not mention! Theodore Roosevelt and his wife Edith would be another example of devoted presidential couples, as would Ulysses and Julia Grant.

3. Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poets. She wrote, “I love thee with the breath,/Smiles, tears, of all my life; and if God choose,/I shall but love thee better after death.”

browning1.jpg

4.  Katie von Bora and Martin Luther, reformers, who famously said, ” There is no more lovely, charming and friendly relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.”

ehepaar_luther.png

5. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, actors, who proved that a long marriage in Hollywood is not impossible…unlikely, but not impossible.

27_1_o.jpg

Well, our advice yesterday was to do your best in Lent, and that is good advice for love and marriage as well.

As for what to watch on Valentine’s Day, nothing tops The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland for romance. This movie turns 80 years old this year! All the stars were aligned when this movie was made. It is perfect.errol-flynn-435.jpg

Sigh.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

*Joyce Brothers

Friday’s child, joyeux anniversaire!

by chuckofish

Today the boy turns 28 on the 28th! We wish him a glorious birthday. He was actually born on the day after Thanksgiving, shortly before midnight.

IMGP1147

And now a this-is-how-my-mind-works side-note. Recently I watched The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) on TCM and the host noted that Errol Flynn was 28 years old when he made this film seventy-six years ago. I paid attention, because I was thinking about the boy turning 28. Errol, of course, is at the top of his game at age 28–handsome, athletic, smart–before he started that early slide precipitated by drugs and alcohol and a reckless lifestyle. Sadly, there has never been anyone quite like Errol Flynn in the movies since.

reg_634.RobinHood.ErrolFlynn.mh.042612

Anyway, I highly recommend watching this great film tonight. I really think it is one of the all-time best movies ever made and one of my top-five favorites.

robin

The cast is perfect.

cast1

Melville Cooper, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains

errolflynnasrobinhood

Herbert Mundin, Errol Flynn and Alan Hale

aventures-de-robin-des-bois-1938-14-g

Cooper, Rathbone, Olivia de Havilland, Rains, and Flynn.

The script is tip-top–so witty and sophisticated, yet action-packed. The sets and costumes are un-paralleled and designed for technicolor which is–and so early in the game–vibrant and dazzling. The music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is terrific and oft-copied. At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made, and it shows. The studio’s money (for once) was not wasted. The director Michael Curtiz (one of my favorites) is the best.

It won Oscars for Art Direction, Editing and Score, but lost the Best Picture Award to You Can’t Take It With You. Please. You’ve got to be kidding.

It really is perfect on every level. I should also note that this movie boasts one of the all-time great female characters–Lady Marian Fitzwalter.

annex-de-havilland-olivia-adventures-of-robin-hood-the_nrfpt_01

As portrayed by Olivia de Havilland, Maid Marian is beautiful, smart, brave, and chaste. Buttoned up in high-necked gowns at all times, she is also undeniably sexy.  She stands up bravely to the villains in the film and does not run off with Robin when things start to get dangerous. No, she stays in the castle where she can do the most good spying for the good guys. She is wonderful. Please note: this is a type of woman Hollywood is completely unable to get right anymore.

So happy birthday to the boy

wrc robin

Robin and Marian circa 1991

and have a great weekend!