The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures . It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke , directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley , and written by Norman Reilly Raine and Seton I. Miller .
99-478: Flaming Feather is a 1952 American Technicolor Western film directed by Ray Enright and starring Sterling Hayden . The film was shot on location around Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona, Arizona , and at the Montezuma Castle National Monument near Sedona. The local Yavapai Indians, who were employed as extras on the production, refused to enter the cliff dwellings because they represented
198-524: A Radio Picture entitled The Runaround (1931). The new process not only improved the color but also removed specks (that looked like bugs) from the screen, which had previously blurred outlines and lowered visibility. This new improvement along with a reduction in cost (from 8.85 cents to 7 cents per foot) led to a new color revival. Warner Bros. took the lead once again by producing three features (out of an announced plan for six features): Manhattan Parade (1932), Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of
297-424: A beam splitter consisting of a partially reflecting surface inside a split-cube prism , color filters , and three separate rolls of black-and-white film (hence the "three-strip" designation). The beam splitter allowed one-third of the light coming through the camera lens to pass through the reflector and a green filter and form an image on one of the strips, which therefore recorded only the green-dominated third of
396-477: A mordant solution and then brought into contact with each of the three dye-loaded matrix films in turn, building up the complete color image. Each dye was absorbed, or imbibed, by the gelatin coating on the receiving strip rather than simply deposited onto its surface, hence the term "dye imbibition". Strictly speaking, this is a mechanical printing process most closely related to Woodburytype and very loosely comparable to offset printing or lithography , and not
495-404: A Technicolor cartoon sequence "Hot Choc-late Soldiers" produced by Walt Disney. On July 28 of that year, Warner Bros. released Service with a Smile , followed by Good Morning, Eve! on September 22, both being comedy short films starring Leon Errol and filmed in three-strip Technicolor. Pioneer Pictures , a movie company formed by Technicolor investors, produced the film usually credited as
594-546: A black-and-white picture again." Although Disney's first 60 or so Technicolor cartoons used the three-strip camera, an improved "successive exposure" ("SE") process was adopted c. 1937 . This variation of the three-strip process was designed primarily for cartoon work: the camera would contain one strip of black-and-white negative film, and each animation cel would be photographed three times, on three sequential frames, behind alternating red, green, and blue filters (the so-called "Technicolor Color Wheel", then an option of
693-554: A few select shots in the duel between Robin and Guy of Gisbourne. In 1938, Erich Wolfgang Korngold was conducting opera in Austria when he was asked by Warner Bros. to return to Hollywood and compose a score for The Adventures of Robin Hood . Music historian Laurence E. MacDonald notes that many factors made the film a success, including its cast, its Technicolor photography, and fast-paced direction by Michael Curtiz , but "most of all, there
792-511: A friendly wager over which one will get to the Sidewinder first. A wealthy saloon entertainer, Carolina ( Arleen Whelan ), tries to persuade Tex to also go after Lucky Lee, a mine owner who owes her $ 20,000. She also tries to seduce Tex, but he is not interested. After he changes hotel rooms with Lucky's longtime sweetheart, Nora Logan ( Barbara Rush ), an ambush is attempted by gambler Showdown Calhoun ( Richard Arlen ) and his partner, who come to
891-536: A generally romantic manner. Korngold's original and distinctive style was influenced by the Wagnerian leitmotif , the orchestral virtuosity of Richard Strauss, the delicacy and broad melodic sweep of Puccini , and the long-line development of Gustav Mahler. In reply to Warner Bros.’ request, Korngold told studio head of production Hal B. Wallis that he was a composer of drama and the heart, and felt little connection to what he perceived as "a 90% action picture." Wallis
990-450: A green filter and one behind a red filter. The difference was that the two-component negative was now used to produce a subtractive color print. Because the colors were physically present in the print, no special projection equipment was required and the correct registration of the two images did not depend on the skill of the projectionist. The frames exposed behind the green filter were printed on one strip of black-and-white film, and
1089-414: A much closer range than from which Robin Hood is portrayed as shooting), but it did not look good enough on film, so the shot was redone with some effects trickery. Stuntman Buster Wiles, a close friend of Errol Flynn's and his frequent on-set stand-in, maintained that the arrow-splitting stunt was carried out using an extra-large arrow (for the target) and that the second arrow had a wide, flat arrowhead and
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#17331050626071188-642: A musical comedy starring Danny Kaye , is in great measure a spoof of Robin Hood. Basil Rathbone even appears as the villain and has a climactic sword fight with Kaye. Most of the Mel Brooks parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights relied on this film for its aesthetics, although the plot was almost completely a riff on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves , as well as referencing the 1973 Disney version . Mel Brooks also spoofed
1287-445: A photographic one, as the actual printing does not involve a chemical change caused by exposure to light. During the early years of the process, the receiver film was preprinted with a 50% black-and-white image derived from the green strip, the so-called Key, or K, record. This procedure was used largely to cover up fine edges in the picture where colors would mix unrealistically (also known as fringing ). This additional black increased
1386-588: A possible shot-in-the-arm for the ailing industry. In November 1933, Technicolor's Herbert Kalmus and RKO announced plans to produce three-strip Technicolor films in 1934, beginning with Ann Harding starring in a projected film The World Outside . Live-action use of three-strip Technicolor was first seen in a musical number of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature The Cat and the Fiddle , released February 16, 1934. On July 1, MGM released Hollywood Party with
1485-486: A slain villager was who Robin Hood brought in and dumped on Prince John's table. Wallis felt the use of a dead villager expended all the tension of the scene in "a momentary kick", and preferred the use of a deer from an earlier draft, which allowed the tension to simmer with the threat of an explosion at any moment. During the brawl where Robin escapes from the banquet hall, Basil Rathbone was trampled by an extra whose spear cut his foot badly, requiring eight stitches to close
1584-468: A special camera (3-strip Technicolor or Process 4) started in the early 1930s and continued through to the mid-1950s, when the 3-strip camera was replaced by a standard camera loaded with single-strip "monopack" color negative film. Technicolor Laboratories were still able to produce Technicolor prints by creating three black-and-white matrices from the Eastmancolor negative (Process 5). Process 4
1683-737: A synchronized score and sound effects. Redskin (1929), with a synchronized score, and The Mysterious Island (1929), a part-talkie, were photographed almost entirely in this process also but included some sequences in black and white. The following talkies were made entirely – or almost entirely – in Technicolor Process 3: On with the Show! (1929) (the first all-talking color feature), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), The Show of Shows (1929), Sally (1929), The Vagabond King (1930), Follow Thru (1930), Golden Dawn (1930), Hold Everything (1930), The Rogue Song (1930), Song of
1782-473: Is Korngold's glorious music". Also, film historian Rudy Behlmer describes Korngold's contribution to this and his other films: Korngold's score was a splendid added dimension. His style for the Flynn swashbucklers resembled that of the creators of late 19th-century and early 20th-century German symphonic tone poems. It incorporated chromatic harmonies, lush instrumental effects, passionate climaxes—all performed in
1881-633: Is captured and sentenced to be hanged. Marian aids Robin's Men in a scheme to save him. After his daring escape, he scales the palace walls to thank her, and the two pledge their love for one another. Marian declines Robin's marriage proposal, electing to instead remain in the castle as a spy. King Richard returns with several of his knights. The Bishop of the Black Canons sees through Richard's disguise and alerts John. John sends disgraced former knight Dickon Malbete to kill Richard, promising Dickon Robin's title and lands. Marian overhears and writes to Robin, but
1980-555: Is found out by Gisbourne and sentenced to death. Her nursemaid, Bess, tells Much everything. He intercepts Dickon and kills him after a fight. Richard and his men, disguised as Norman monks, travel through Sherwood and are stopped by Robin. Assuring Robin they are on the king's business, Richard accepts Robin's offer of hospitality and his condemnation of Holy Crusade, but does not reveal his identity. Much relays Bess' news. Robin orders his men to find and protect Richard; now certain of Robin's loyalty, Richard reveals himself. Robin coerces
2079-533: Is sent to recruit men to join their band. Robin and Will encounter John the Little on a log bridge , and after a quarterstaff contest, welcome him into their ranks. Dozens more men join Robin's band, swearing an oath to despoil the rich while aiding the poor, to fight injustice, and to show courtesy to all oppressed. They start a war against John and Gisbourne, dispatching those who abuse their power. Robin's band encounters
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#17331050626072178-436: Is the man they are after. Turquoise ( Carol Thurston ), a Ute woman who loves Lucky, knows for a fact he is the outlaw. Now the marshal for the territory, Tex and a posse go after Lucky, who has snatched Nora and ridden off to a hideout. Lucky conspires with a band of Utes to attack the posse. Carolina and Showdown are killed. Tex and Blaine get to the hideout, but the jealous Turquoise has already killed Lucky, beating them to
2277-745: The Saxons ' taxes under the pretense of gathering a ransom for Richard. The Normans exploit and oppress the Saxons. Sir Robin of Locksley , a Saxon noble, opposes the brutality and rescues Much the Miller's Son from being executed for poaching , earning Gisbourne's ire. Robin later confronts Prince John at a Nottingham Castle banquet, telling the assembled guests that he regards John's declaring himself regent as treason. John orders Robin's execution, but he escapes and flees with Much and Will Scarlet into Sherwood Forest . John seizes Robin's lands and names him outlaw. Much
2376-455: The Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies similarly included original symphonic scores. Composer John Williams has cited Korngold as his inspiration in scoring the Star Wars series. The love theme of Robin and Marian went on to become a celebrated concert piece. Contemporary reviews were highly positive. "A richly produced, bravely bedecked, romantic and colorful show, it leaps boldly to
2475-404: The spectrum . The other two-thirds was reflected sideways by the mirror and passed through a magenta filter, which absorbed green light and allowed only the red and blue thirds of the spectrum to pass. Behind this filter were the other two strips of film, their emulsions pressed into contact face to face. The front film was a red-blind orthochromatic type that recorded only the blue light. On
2574-438: The "dwelling place of the dead." Consequently, production was delayed while a band of Navajos was brought in from a reservation 137 miles (220.5 km) away, to replace them. A mysterious outlaw, known only as the Sidewinder ( Victor Jory ), is terrorizing Arizona settlers. A rancher whose property was raided, Tex McCloud (Hayden), and a U.S. Cavalry officer named Blaine ( Forrest Tucker ) both decide to seek justice. They even make
2673-700: The 1949 Bugs Bunny animated short film , Rabbit Hood , Bugs is continually told by a dim-witted Little John, "Don't you worry, never fear; Robin Hood will soon be here." When Bugs finally meets Robin at the end of the film, he is stunned to find that it is Errol Flynn, in a spliced-in clip from this film (he subsequently shakes his head and declares, "It couldn't be him!"). Other parodies were Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in Robin Hood Daffy (1958) and Goofy and Black Pete in Goof Troop episode "Goofin' Hood & His Melancholy Men" (1992). The Court Jester ,
2772-510: The Acme, Producers Service and Photo-Sonics animation cameras). Three separate dye transfer printing matrices would be created from the red, green, and blue records in their respective complementary colors, cyan, magenta and yellow. Successive exposure was also employed in Disney's "True Life Adventure" live-action series, wherein the original 16mm low-contrast Kodachrome Commercial live action footage
2871-835: The Bell Tolls : The Adventures of Robin Hood (film) It stars Errol Flynn as the legendary Saxon knight Robin Hood , who in Richard I 's absence in the Holy Land during the Crusades , fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla band against Prince John and the Norman lords oppressing the Saxon commoners. The cast also includes Olivia de Havilland , Basil Rathbone , Claude Rains , Patric Knowles , Eugene Pallette , and Alan Hale . Upon its premiere on May 14, 1938, The Adventures of Robin Hood
2970-534: The Bishop of the Black Canons to allow them to join his monks in disguise so they can enter Nottingham Castle. Once inside, Richard announces his presence, and a huge melee erupts. Robin kills Gisbourne after a lengthy duel, frees Marian, and prompts John's men to surrender. Returned to his throne, Richard banishes John and restores Robin's rank, raising him to Baron of Locksley and Earl of Sherwood and Nottingham. The king also pardons Robin's men, and commands Robin to take
3069-742: The Flame (1930), Song of the West (1930), The Life of the Party (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Bride of the Regiment (1930), Mamba (1930), Whoopee! (1930), King of Jazz (1930), Under a Texas Moon (1930), Bright Lights (1930), Viennese Nights (1930), Woman Hungry (1931), Kiss Me Again (1931) and Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931). In addition, many feature films were released with Technicolor sequences. Numerous short subjects were also photographed in Technicolor Process 3, including
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3168-517: The Light Brigade ). They would ultimately star together in nine films, the aforementioned and Four's a Crowd (1938), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), They Died with Their Boots On (1941) and Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943), although they shared no scenes in the last film. Scenes and costumes worn by the characters have been imitated and spoofed endlessly. For instance, in
3267-526: The Robin Hood legend in his 1975 television series When Things Were Rotten . A fragment of one of the film's sword fighting scenes was converted to sprites by Jordan Mechner and used for his 1989 platform game Prince of Persia . Errol Flynn's acrobatic swordplay became a crucial touchstone for the light-saber duels choreography in Star Wars movies. In Disney ’s 2010 animated film Tangled ,
3366-517: The Saxons. Robin sends the convoy back to Nottingham Castle, telling them that they have Marian's presence to thank for their lives being spared. Having noted Robin's focus on Marian during the Sherwood banquet, the sheriff suggests hosting an archery tournament, with the Lady Marian presenting a golden arrow as the prize to entrap Robin. Robin enters the tournament, is recognized by his archery skill, and
3465-506: The Wasteland , was released in 1924. Process 2 was also used for color sequences in such major motion pictures as The Ten Commandments (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), and Ben-Hur (1925). Douglas Fairbanks ' The Black Pirate (1926) was the third all-color Process 2 feature. Although successful commercially, Process 2 was plagued with technical problems. Because the images on
3564-481: The Wax Museum (1933). Radio Pictures followed by announcing plans to make four more features in the new process. Only one of these, Fanny Foley Herself (1931), was actually produced. Although Paramount Pictures announced plans to make eight features and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer promised two color features, these never materialized. This may have been the result of the lukewarm reception to these new color pictures by
3663-615: The Wind (1939), the film Blue Lagoon (1949), and animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Gulliver's Travels (1939), Pinocchio (1940), and Fantasia (1940). As the technology matured, it was also used for less spectacular dramas and comedies. Occasionally, even a film noir – such as Leave Her to Heaven (1945) or Niagara (1953) – was filmed in Technicolor. The "Tech" in
3762-437: The action sequences but finding the "excellent collection" of supporting actors to be "somewhat buried under the medieval panoply". Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of critics gave the film a positive rating based on 50 reviews, with an average score of 8.94/10. The film is 13th on their list of the 100 best classic films. Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the critical consensus as, "Errol Flynn thrills as
3861-544: The additive Kinemacolor and Chronochrome processes, Technicolor prints did not require any special projection equipment. Unlike the additive Dufaycolor process, the projected image was not dimmed by a light-absorbing and obtrusive mosaic color filter layer. Very importantly, compared to competing subtractive systems, Technicolor offered the best balance between high image quality and speed of printing. The Technicolor Process 4 camera, manufactured to Technicolor's detailed specifications by Mitchell Camera Corporation, contained
3960-426: The appearance and personality of Flynn Rider are partly inspired by that of Errol Flynn, with his surname also being used in homage. Knockout Comic (weekly picture paper, Amalgamated Press , London) No 434, June 21, 1947 – No 447, September 20, 1947, 14 issues, 28pp in black-and-white and drawn by Michael Hubbard) Produced when the film was first revived after World War II , with several deviations made from
4059-460: The areas corresponding to the clearest, least-exposed areas of the negative. To make each final color print, the matrix films were soaked in dye baths of colors nominally complementary to those of the camera filters: the strip made from red-filtered frames was dyed cyan-green and the strip made from green-filtered frames was dyed orange-red. The thicker the gelatin in each area of a frame, the more dye it absorbed. Subtle scene-to-scene colour control
Flaming Feather - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-543: The balsa wood to create the illusion of bodily penetration. Hill, although listed as the archer captain defeated by Robin, was cast as Elwyn the Welshman, an archer seen shooting at Robin in his escape from Nottingham Castle, and later, defeated by Robin at the archery tournament. To win, Robin splits the arrow of Philip of Arras, a captain of the guard under Gisbourne, who had struck the bullseye. Hill did, in fact, split one arrow with another during filming (albeit while firing from
4257-441: The casting of Flynn. "Excellent entertainment!" wrote Harrison's Reports . "Adventure, romance, comedy, and human appeal have been skilfully blended to give satisfaction on all counts ... The duel in the closing scenes between the hero and his arch enemy is the most exciting ever filmed". John Mosher of The New Yorker called it "a rich, showy, and, for all its tussles, somewhat stolid affair", praising Flynn's performance and
4356-635: The company's name was inspired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where Herbert Kalmus and Daniel Frost Comstock received their undergraduate degrees in 1904 and were later instructors. The term "Technicolor" has been used historically for at least five concepts: Both Kalmus and Comstock went to Switzerland to earn PhD degrees; Kalmus at University of Zurich , and Comstock at Basel in 1906. In 1912, Kalmus, Comstock, and mechanic W. Burton Wescott formed Kalmus, Comstock, and Wescott, an industrial research and development firm. Most of
4455-454: The company, and Technicolor Inc. was chartered in Delaware. Technicolor originally existed in a two-color (red and green) system . In Process 1 (1916), a prism beam-splitter behind the camera lens exposed two consecutive frames of a single strip of black-and-white negative film simultaneously, one behind a red filter, the other behind a green filter. Because two frames were being exposed at
4554-530: The contrast of the final print and concealed any fringing. However, overall colorfulness was compromised as a result. In 1944, Technicolor had improved the process to make up for these shortcomings and the K record was eliminated. Kalmus convinced Walt Disney to shoot one of his Silly Symphony cartoons, Flowers and Trees (1932), in Process 4, the new "three-strip" process. Seeing the potential in full-color Technicolor, Disney negotiated an exclusive contract for
4653-413: The cupped ones could be shipped to their Boston laboratory for flattening, after which they could be put back into service, at least for a while. The presence of image layers on both surfaces made the prints especially vulnerable to scratching, and because the scratches were vividly colored they were very noticeable. Splicing a Process 2 print without special attention to its unusual laminated construction
4752-552: The early patents were taken out by Comstock and Wescott, while Kalmus served primarily as the company's president and chief executive officer. When the firm was hired to analyze an inventor's flicker-free motion picture system, they became intrigued with the art and science of filmmaking, particularly color motion picture processes, leading to the founding of Technicolor in Boston in 1914 and incorporation in Maine in 1915. In 1921, Wescott left
4851-404: The elder Korngold suggested that themes from his 1920 symphonic overture "Sursum Corda" ("Lift Up Your Hearts") would serve splendidly for much of the most demanding action-scene music, and Erich agreed. It also gave him his second Academy Award for Best Original Score and established the symphonic style that was later used in action films during Hollywood's Golden Age. Modern-day epics such as
4950-487: The feature film industry would soon be turning out color films exclusively. By 1931, however, the Great Depression had taken its toll on the film industry, which began to cut back on expenses. The production of color films had decreased dramatically by 1932, when Burton Wescott and Joseph A. Ball completed work on a new three-color movie camera. Technicolor could now promise studios a full range of colors, as opposed to
5049-459: The film had an extremely slow speed of ASA 5. That, and the bulk of the cameras and a lack of experience with three-color cinematography made for skepticism in the studio boardrooms. An October 1934 article in Fortune magazine stressed that Technicolor, as a corporation, was rather remarkable in that it kept its investors quite happy despite the fact that it had only been in profit twice in all of
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#17331050626075148-412: The first color sound cartoons by producers such as Ub Iwerks and Walter Lantz . Song of the Flame became the first color movie to use a widescreen process (using a system known as Vitascope , which used 65mm film). In 1931, an improvement of Technicolor Process 3 was developed that removed grain from the Technicolor film, resulting in more vivid and vibrant colors. This process was first used on
5247-406: The first live-action short film shot in the three-strip process, La Cucaracha released August 31, 1934. La Cucaracha is a two-reel musical comedy that cost $ 65,000, approximately four times what an equivalent black-and-white two-reeler would cost. Released by RKO , the short was a success in introducing the new Technicolor as a viable medium for live-action films. The three-strip process also
5346-483: The forefront of this year's best", wrote Frank S. Nugent of The New York Times . The movie premiered at the Radio City Music Hall . "It is cinematic pageantry at its best", raved Variety . "A highly imaginative retelling of folklore in all the hues of Technicolor, deserving handsome box office returns". Film Daily called it "high class entertainment" with "excellent direction" and an "ideal choice" in
5445-422: The frames exposed behind the red filter were printed on another strip. After development, each print was toned to a color nearly complementary to that of the filter: orange-red for the green-filtered images, cyan-green for the red-filtered ones. Unlike tinting, which adds a uniform veil of color to the entire image, toning chemically replaces the black-and-white silver image with transparent coloring matter, so that
5544-442: The gate, it cooled and the bulge subsided, but not quite completely. It was found that the cemented prints were not only very prone to cupping, but that the direction of cupping would suddenly and randomly change from back to front or vice versa, so that even the most attentive projectionist could not prevent the image from temporarily popping out of focus whenever the cupping direction changed. Technicolor had to supply new prints so
5643-487: The hand of the Lady Marian in marriage. As Robin exits the castle with her, he responds "May I obey all your commands with equal pleasure, sire." Uncredited: The Adventures of Robin Hood was produced at an estimated cost of $ 2 million, the most expensive film Warner Bros. had made up to that time. It was also the studio's second film utilizing the three-strip Technicolor process. The film was, in fact, planned to be shot in black and white for most of its development;
5742-520: The highlights remain clear (or nearly so), dark areas are strongly colored, and intermediate tones are colored proportionally. The two prints, made on film stock half the thickness of regular film, were then cemented together back to back to create a projection print. The Toll of the Sea , which debuted on November 26, 1922, used Process 2 and was the first general-release film in Technicolor. The second all-color feature in Process 2 Technicolor, Wanderer of
5841-447: The introduction of color did not increase the number of moviegoers to the point where it was economical. This and the Great Depression severely strained the finances of the movie studios and spelled the end of Technicolor's first financial successes. Technicolor envisioned a full-color process as early as 1924, and was actively developing such a process by 1929. Hollywood made so much use of Technicolor in 1929 and 1930 that many believed
5940-404: The latter would have been the concluding scene of the film, and appears in the theatrical trailer despite not appearing in the film itself. All the arrows in the film were shot by professional archer Howard Hill . Those shot with arrows wore clothing padded with balsa wood on protective metal plates; the metal plates prevented injury (though impact was fairly painful), and the arrows lodged into
6039-467: The legendary title character, and the film embodies the type of imaginative family adventure tailor-made for the silver screen". The Adventures of Robin Hood became the sixth-highest-grossing film of the year , with just over $ 4 million in revenues at a time when the average ticket price was less than 25 cents. According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $ 1,928,000 domestically and $ 2,053,000 overseas. In 1938 , The Adventures of Robin Hood
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#17331050626076138-418: The limited red–green spectrum of previous films. The new camera simultaneously exposed three strips of black-and-white film, each of which recorded a different color of the spectrum. The new process would last until the last Technicolor feature film was produced in 1955. Technicolor's advantage over most early natural-color processes was that it was a subtractive synthesis rather than an additive one: unlike
6237-702: The location sites for the Fairbanks production of Robin Hood . Several scenes were shot at the Warner Bros. Burbank Studios and the Warner Ranch in Calabasas . The archery tournament was filmed at the former Busch Gardens , now part of Lower Arroyo Park, in Pasadena . Scenes which were filmed, but not included in the final cut include the disguised King Richard brawling with Friar Tuck, and Robin riding off with Maid Marian;
6336-629: The materials. Original Technicolor prints that survived into the 1950s were often used to make black-and-white prints for television and simply discarded thereafter. This explains why so many early color films exist today solely in black and white. Warner Bros., which had vaulted from a minor exhibitor to a major studio with its introduction of the talkies , incorporated Technicolor's printing to enhance its films. Other producers followed Warner Bros.' example by making features in color, with either Technicolor, or one of its competitors, such as Brewster Color and Multicolor (later Cinecolor ). Consequently,
6435-464: The only movie made in Process 1, The Gulf Between , which had a limited tour of Eastern cities, beginning with Boston and New York on September 13, 1917, primarily to interest motion picture producers and exhibitors in color. The near-constant need for a technician to adjust the projection alignment doomed this additive color process. Only a few frames of The Gulf Between , showing star Grace Darmond , are known to exist today. Convinced that there
6534-430: The operatic stage. The Adventures of Robin Hood was, therefore, a large-scale symphonic work, and despite the studio music department's providing a team of orchestrators, including future Oscar-winner Hugo Friedhofer , to assist Korngold, the amount of work was immense, especially for the limited time he was given to compose. In describing this dilemma to his father, Julius Korngold, one of Vienna's foremost music critics,
6633-432: The projection print made of double-cemented prints in favor of a print created by dye imbibition . The Technicolor camera for Process 3 was identical to that for Process 2, simultaneously photographing two consecutive frames of a black-and-white film behind red and green filters. In the lab, skip-frame printing was used to sort the alternating color-record frames on the camera negative into two series of contiguous frames,
6732-501: The public. Two independently produced features were also made with this improved Technicolor process: Legong: Dance of the Virgins (1934) and Kliou the Tiger (1935). Very few of the original camera negatives of movies made in Technicolor Process 2 or 3 survive. In the late 1940s, most were discarded from storage at Technicolor in a space-clearing move, after the studios declined to reclaim
6831-534: The punch. The men call off their wager. This 1950s Western film–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to an American film of the 1950s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Technicolor Technicolor is a family of color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and-white films running through
6930-441: The red-filtered frames being printed onto one strip of specially prepared "matrix" film and the green-filtered frames onto another. After processing, the gelatin of the matrix film's emulsion was left proportionally hardened, being hardest and least soluble where it had been most strongly exposed to light. The unhardened fraction was then washed away. The result was two strips of relief images consisting of hardened gelatin, thickest in
7029-485: The rotund Friar Tuck , a renowned swordsman. Tuck joins the band and assists in capturing a company of Normans transporting a shipment of gathered taxes. In the company are Gisbourne, the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham , and King Richard's ward Lady Marian . After their capture, the men are humiliated at a celebratory woodland banquet, with Marian given a seat of honor. Initially scornful, she comes to share Robin's views after he shows her examples of Norman brutality against
7128-560: The same time, the film had to be photographed and projected at twice the normal speed. Exhibition required a special projector with two apertures (one with a red filter and the other with a green filter), two lenses, and an adjustable prism that aligned the two images on the screen. The results were first demonstrated to members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in New York on February 21, 1917. Technicolor itself produced
7227-400: The scene was to be at a jousting tournament with Robin tilting against Guy of Gisbourne, mimicking the 1922 Douglas Fairbanks production of Robin Hood , but screenwriter Norman Reilly Raine pointed out that a banquet scene would be much less expensive to produce, and so long as Technicolor was employed, would look just as lavish to the average moviegoer. In another draft, instead of a deer,
7326-551: The success of Captain Blood established the pairing of Flynn and de Havilland as a safe bet to help ensure box-office success. Location work for The Adventures of Robin Hood included Bidwell Park in Chico, California , which substituted for Sherwood Forest , although one major scene was filmed at the California locations "Lake Sherwood" and "Sherwood Forest", so named because they were
7425-480: The surface of its emulsion was a red-orange coating that prevented blue light from continuing on to the red-sensitive panchromatic emulsion of the film behind it, which therefore recorded only the red-dominated third of the spectrum. Each of the three resulting negatives was printed onto a special matrix film. After processing, each matrix was a nearly invisible representation of the series of film frames as gelatin reliefs, thickest (and most absorbent) where each image
7524-491: The switch to Technicolor happened just three months before production started. It was an unusually extravagant production for the Warner Bros. studio, which was known in the 1930s for socially conscious crime films. Producer Hal B. Wallis is generally seen as the film's creative helmsman. The first draft of the script was written by Rowland Lee, but Wallis objected to its heavily archaic and fanciful dialogue (one line he cited
7623-486: The three-strip process. One Silly Symphony , Three Little Pigs (1933), engendered such a positive audience response that it overshadowed the feature films with which it was shown. Hollywood was buzzing about color film again. According to Fortune magazine, " Merian C. Cooper , producer for RKO Radio Pictures and director of King Kong (1933), saw one of the Silly Symphonies and said he never wanted to make
7722-475: The two sides of the print were not in the same plane, both could not be perfectly in focus at the same time. The significance of this depended on the depth of focus of the projection optics. Much more serious was a problem with cupping. Films in general tended to become somewhat cupped after repeated use: every time a film was projected, each frame in turn was heated by the intense light in the projection gate, causing it to bulge slightly; after it had passed through
7821-595: The use of the process in animated films that extended to September 1935. Other animation producers, such as the Fleischer Studios and the Ub Iwerks studio, were shut out – they had to settle for either the two-color Technicolor systems or use a competing process such as Cinecolor . Flowers and Trees was a success with audiences and critics alike, and won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . All subsequent Silly Symphonies from 1933 on were shot with
7920-416: The wound. James Cagney was originally cast as Robin Hood, but walked out on his Warner Bros. contract, paving the way for the role to go to Errol Flynn . The filming was postponed three years as a result. Though Olivia de Havilland was an early frontrunner for the role of Maid Marian, for a time, the studio vacillated between Anita Louise and her for the part. De Havilland was ultimately chosen because
8019-436: The wrong room. Nora is the one they are after, and she becomes a kidnap victim on the stagecoach. For the second time, though, Tex rides to her rescue. Nora explains that she is involved with Lucky only out of gratitude for one saving her from a similar assault. Lucky offers a theory that Tombstone Jack is the notorious Sidewinder, but after Carolina sneaks up on Tombstone and kills him, Tex and Blaine begin to suspect that Lucky
8118-405: The years of its existence, during the early boom at the turn of the decade. A well-managed company, half of whose stock was controlled by a clique loyal to Kalmus, Technicolor never had to cede any control to its bankers or unfriendly stockholders. In the mid-'30s, all the major studios except MGM were in the financial doldrums, and a color process that truly reproduced the visual spectrum was seen as
8217-436: Was "Oh my lord, tarry not too long, for I fear that in her remorse she may fling herself from the window. Some harm may befall her, I know."). At Wallis's insistence, the script was heavily rewritten to modernize the dialogue, and whether any of Lee's work survives in the completed film is unclear. The scene in which Robin Hood first meets Prince John, Guy of Gisbourne, and Maid Marian went through several iterations. Initially,
8316-432: Was announced, but never developed. Other honors: The film's popularity inextricably linked Errol Flynn's name and image with that of Robin Hood in the public eye, even more so than those of Douglas Fairbanks , who had played the role in 1922. The film became a benchmark for later movie adaptations of Robin Hood. This was the third film to pair Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (after Captain Blood and The Charge of
8415-412: Was apt to result in a weak splice that would fail as it passed through the projector. Even before these problems became apparent, Technicolor regarded this cemented print approach as a stopgap and was already at work developing an improved process. Based on the same dye-transfer technique first applied to motion pictures in 1916 by Max Handschiegl, Technicolor Process 3 (1928) was developed to eliminate
8514-412: Was darkest and thinnest where it was lightest. Each matrix was soaked in a dye complementary to the color of light recorded by the negative printed on it: cyan for red, magenta for green, and yellow for blue (see also: CMYK color model for a technical discussion of color printing). A single clear strip of black-and-white film with the soundtrack and frame lines printed in advance was first treated with
8613-644: Was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation by the National Film Registry . Richard , the Norman King of England, is taken captive in 1191 by Duke Leopold while returning from the Third Crusade . Richard's treacherous brother Prince John , aided by fellow Norman Sir Guy of Gisbourne , names himself regent of England, increasing
8712-414: Was fired along a wire. This wire can briefly be seen attached to the fletching of the arrow, in the final film. Wiles discusses the scene in his autobiography, My Days with Errol Flynn . Flynn performed most of his own stunts in the film; exceptions include Robin jumping onto a horse with hands tied behind his back (during the hanging scene), scaling the fortress gate and coming down the other side, and
8811-638: Was first duplicated onto a 35mm fine-grain SE negative element in one pass of the 16mm element, thereby reducing wear of the 16mm original, and also eliminating registration errors between colors. The live-action SE negative thereafter entered other Technicolor processes and were incorporated with SE animation and three-strip studio live-action, as required, thereby producing the combined result. The studios were willing to adopt three-color Technicolor for live-action feature production, if it could be proved viable. Shooting three-strip Technicolor required very bright lighting, as
8910-399: Was managed by partial wash-back of the dyes from each matrix. Each matrix in turn was pressed into contact with a plain gelatin-coated strip of film known as the "blank" and the gelatin "imbibed" the dye from the matrix. A mordant made from deacetylated chitin was applied to the blank before printing, to prevent the dyes from migrating or "bleeding" after they were absorbed. Dye imbibition
9009-433: Was no future in additive color processes, Comstock, Wescott, and Kalmus focused their attention on subtractive color processes. This culminated in what would eventually be known as Process 2 (1922) (often referred to today by the misnomer "two-strip Technicolor"). As before, the special Technicolor camera used a beam-splitter that simultaneously exposed two consecutive frames of a single strip of black-and-white film, one behind
9108-548: Was no longer safe in his home country. As Korngold feared, Austria was annexed by the Nazis , and his home in Vienna was confiscated. This meant that all Jews in Austria were now at risk, so Korngold stayed in America until the end of World War II . Korngold called his film scores " Opern ohne Singen ", operas without singing, but otherwise approached their composition just as he would for
9207-423: Was not suitable for printing optical soundtracks, which required very high resolution, so when making prints for sound-on-film systems the "blank" film was a conventional black-and-white film stock on which the soundtrack, as well as frame lines, had been printed in the ordinary way prior to the dye transfer operation. The first feature made entirely in the Technicolor Process 3 was The Viking (1928), which had
9306-518: Was only used indoors. In 1936, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine became the first color production to have outdoor sequences, with impressive results. The spectacular success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), which was released in December 1937 and became the top-grossing film of 1938, attracted the attention of the studios. Film critic Manny Farber on the 1943 Technicolor film For Whom
9405-405: Was persistent, and Korngold finally agreed to begin composing on the condition that he not have a contract, and work on a week-by-week basis so that he could withdraw if he were dissatisfied with the music he composed. However, Korngold later admitted that the real reason he changed his mind was Adolf Hitler 's November 1937 meeting with Austrian ministers, which convinced Korngold that the situation
9504-433: Was the eighth-highest-grossing film nationally in the U.S., and the highest-grossing film the same year in the southern states of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Warner Bros. was so pleased with the results that the studio cast Flynn in two more color epics before the end of the decade: Dodge City and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex . A sequel, Sir Robin of Locksley,
9603-677: Was the second major color process, after Britain's Kinemacolor (used between 1909 and 1915), and the most widely used color process in Hollywood during the Golden Age of Hollywood . Technicolor's three-color process became known and celebrated for its highly saturated color, and was initially most commonly used for filming musicals such as The Wizard of Oz (1939), Down Argentine Way (1940), and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), costume pictures such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with
9702-432: Was used in some short sequences filmed for several movies made during 1934, including the final sequences of The House of Rothschild ( Twentieth Century Pictures / United Artists ) with George Arliss and Kid Millions ( Samuel Goldwyn Studios ) with Eddie Cantor . Pioneer/RKO's Becky Sharp (1935) became the first feature film photographed entirely in three-strip Technicolor. Initially, three-strip Technicolor
9801-415: Was very well received by critics. The film was a commercial success; it grossed around $ 4 million at the box office, making it one of the highest grossers of 1938 . At the 11th Academy Awards , it received four nominations, winning three— Best Art Direction ( Carl Jules Weyl ), Best Film Editing ( Ralph Dawson ) and Best Original Score ( Erich Wolfgang Korngold ). In 1995, The Adventures of Robin Hood
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