History Trivia / TheAdventuresOfRobinHood

* AnachronismStew: The five coloured target that the competitors aim at during the archery competition was first recorded as being used in the late 1700’s, making it highly unlikely that it would have been used during the 1100’s.

* PlayingGertrude: Claude Rains (Born 1889) played John Lackland, the younger brother of Richard, who was played by Ian Hunter (Born 1900).

* FakeBrit: Creator/ErrolFlynn was Australian and Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck) was American.

* TroubledProduction: {{Averted}} at first, with filming going smoothly (outside of a delay caused by poor weather in the forest location), and notoriously temperamental star Creator/ErrolFlynn getting on quite well with director William Keighley. At least until the studio saw the daillies, and were horrified to find that Keighley was delivering an unimaginitively-filmed, lethargically-paced film with action sequences that, by all accounts, were simply abysmal. The studio immediately fired Keighley and replaced him with Michael Curtiz, regarded as a much more capable director, but one with a notoriously uncompromising atittude towards actors. As a result, production progressed much more to the studio's satisfaction, but tempers frequently flared between Curtiz and not only Flynn, but co-stars Creator/OliviaDeHavilland and Creator/ClaudeRains. It eventually culminated in Flynn coming to blows with Curtiz after the latter failed to tell Flynn that his opponent in a swordfight was using a ''real sword'', nearly getting him injured. In the end, Curtiz was responsible for an estimated 70%+ of the finished film -- normally enough that Keighley wouldn't have been entitled to a screen credit, but the studio gave him one anyway, largely to keep Flynn happy -- which nonethess ended up being a smash hit at the box-office, and arguably Flynn's most famous role.

** One of the original story concepts had Robin Hood die at the end of the film.

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Thrills: #100
** AFIS100Years100HeroesAndVillains:
*** #18 Hero, Robin Hood
** AFIS100YearsOfFilmScores: #11

* UsefulNotes/ListOfFilmsYouShouldSeeByTheAgeOf14: #11

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

* TroubledProduction: {{Averted}} at first, with filming going smoothly (outside of a delay caused by poor weather in the forest location), and notoriously temperamental star Creator/ErrolFlynn getting on quite well with director William Keighley. At least until the studio saw the daillies, and were horrified to find that Keighley was delivering an unimaginitively-filmed, lethargically-paced film was action sequences that, by all accounts, were simply abysmal. The studio immediately fired Keighley and replaced him with Michael Curtiz, regarded as a much more capable director, but one with a notoriously uncompromising atittude towards actors. As a result, production progressed much more to the studio's satisfaction, but tempers frequently flared between Curtiz and not only Flynn, but co-stars Creator/OliviaDeHavilland and Creator/ClaudeRains. It eventually culminated in Flynn coming to blows with Curtiz after the latter failed to tell Flynn that his opponent in a swordfight was using a ''real sword'', nearly getting him injured. In the end, Curtiz was responsible for an estimated 70%+ of the finished film -- normally enough that Keighley wouldn't have been entitled to a screen credit, but the studio gave him one anyway, largely to keep Flynn happy -- which nonethess ended up being a smash hit at the box-office, and arguably Flynn's most famous role.

* FakeBrit: Creator/ErrolFlynn was Australian and Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck) is American.

* FakeBrit: Creator/ErrolFlynn was Australian and Creator/OliviaDeHavilland is American.

** Prince John was played by a total three different actors.

** Ronald Howard played Will Scarlet when the character was an occasional guest; when he was promoted to regular, Paul Eddington took over the role in a striking case of YouLookFamiliar - Eddington had played dozens of minor parts in earlier seasons, including several appearances as Howard.

* HostilityOnTheSet: This was one of twelve films Creator/ErrolFlynn and Creator/MichaelCurtiz made together despite the fact that they couldn't stand each other. During one fight sequence, Flynn was jabbed by an actor who was using an unprotected sword--he asked him why he didn't have a guard on the point. The other player apologized and explained that Curtiz had instructed him to remove the safety feature in order to make the action "more exciting". Flynn reportedly climbed up a gantry where Curtiz was standing next to the camera, took him by the throat and asked him if he found that "exciting enough".

** Creator/JamesCagney was originally cast as Robin Hood, but for some reason, he dropped out. The film was shelved until Jack L. Warner saw Creator/ErrolFlynn in ''Film/CaptainBlood'' and the rest is history.

* CreatorBacklash: Despite it being his best known role, Creator/ErrolFlynn thought the role of Robin Hood was a boring one.

* HollywoodHomely: In the episode, "A Husband For Marian", Marian's servant is described as "the homeliest woman in Britain". While certainly no Marian, the woman is rather nice looking in a plain sort of way.

* StillbornFranchise: A sequel, ''Sir Robin of Locksley'' was announced but never developed. The US government wanted to restrict the amount of money invested in filmmaking at that point in anticipation of joining UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, so it was delayed. By 1945, when the war was over, the project was scrapped because Creator/OliviaDeHavilland and Creator/ClaudeRains were no longer employed at Creawtor/WarnerBros.

** Ronald Howard played Will Scarlet when the character was an occasional guest; when he was promoted to regular, Paul Eddington took over the role in a striking case of YouLookFamiliar - Eddington had played dozens of minor parts in earlier seasons, including several appearances as Howard.

** Also Little John: Archie Duncan was replaced for several episodes in the first series after suffering injuries [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome saving some of the child actors from falling scenery]].

* WagTheDirector: Creator/ErrolFlynn and Creator/MichaelCurtiz made 12 films together despite the fact that they couldn't stand each other.
** Flynn had some of his own design ideas, notably complaints about the fringed wig designed for his character. After a convincing note from Flynn to Hal B. Wallis back at the studio, the wig was redesigned according to the actor's needs and suggestions. Reshooting was unnecessary since up to that point, the offending hairpiece had only been photographed under a hat.
** During one fight sequence, Flynn was jabbed by an actor who was using an unprotected sword--he asked him why he didn't have a guard on the point. The other player apologized and explained that Curtiz had instructed him to remove the safety feature in order to make the action "more exciting". Flynn reportedly climbed up a gantry where Curtiz was standing next to the camera, took him by the throat and asked him if he found that "exciting enough".