Robin and Marian - 1976
Love is the greatest adventure of all.
Director(s)
Richard Lester
Writer(s)
James Goldman
Producer(s)
Denis O'Dell producer
Richard Shepherd producer
Ray Stark executive producer
Cast
Sean Connery - Robin Hood
Audrey Hepburn - Lady Marian
Robert Shaw - Sheriff of Nottingham
Richard Harris - King Richard
Nicol Williamson - Little John
Denholm Elliott - Will Scarlett
Kenneth Haigh - Sir Ranulf
Ronnie Barker - Friar Tuck
Ian Holm - King John
Bill Maynard - Mercadier
Esmond Knight - Old Defender
Veronica Quilligan - Sister Mary
Peter Butterworth - Surgeon
John Barrett - Jack
Kenneth Cranham - Jack's Apprentice
Victoria Abril - Queen Isabella
Montserrat Julió - 1st Sister
Victoria Hernández Sanguino - 2nd Sister
Margarida Minguillón - 3rd Sister (as Margarita Minguillón)
Review By Theo Robertson
Robin and Marian (1976)
Check this out for a cast :
Sean Connery - Scotland's greatest ever movie star
Audrey Hepburn - An iconic actress
Nicol Williamson - Many critics choice as Scotland's greatest ever actor
Robert Shaw - Perhaps one of cinema's most overlooked actors when it comes to playing convincing bad guys
Richard Harris - Another screen legend
Ian Holm - In an early screen role . Can anyone think of a more convincing and consistent English actor alive in 2004 ?
A great cast indeed but one that is not used to its full potential . Both Harris and Holm are very underused and their appearances at little more than cameos , and having a couple of heavyweight Scots playing the heroes does bring consistency to the characters ( Remember they've been together for years so why shouldn't speak with similar accents ? ) but their performances tend to cancel each other out
There is another slight problem and that's the script . It seems to go against the legend of who Robin Hood was . People like to imagine that he was a good guy communist robbing the rich and giving the proceeds to the poor not someone who was a right hand man of Richard the Lionheart . I much preferred the mythical figure of the 1980s TV series that mixed myth and mystical plots . I also got slightly bored when the story started concentrating on the romance between Robin and Marion
There was also a slight problem with the directing from Richard Lester where he tries to inject humour into the proceedings and it often fails . If I remember correctly this is something that spoiled his collabarition with Connery in CUBA , another movie that mixes action and romance with slight off beat humour
Having pointed out these criticisms there's nothing much else wrong with ROBIN AND MARION , it's just that when you've got a bunch of butch men in a forest who dabble in swordplay in 2004 you're instantly reminded in some small way of a certain film trilogy that was released at the turn of the century which does spoil the positive aspects of this movie when watching it today . Having said that it's one of Connerey's better movies and Robert Shaw is very good as the villain with the battle between the two protagonists being every bit as violent and memorable as that seen in FROM Russia WITH LOVE
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