The earliest surviving ballads telling his story are dated to the 15th century or early 16th century. And, of course, Robin Hood has long been a cinematic favorite, dating back to 1909's silent "Robin Hood and His Merry Men." With Russell Crowe playing the hero in Ridley Scott's new version of the adventure, "Robin Hood," opening Friday, we take a look at a few of the actors who would be Robin.
The winner and still champion
Errol Flynn
James Cagney was originally cast to play Robin for Warner Bros., but after he left the studio due to a contract dispute in 1935, the production was halted for three years. By 1938, Errol Flynn was the studio's go-to swashbuckling hero thanks to his roles in "Captain Blood" and "Charge of the Light Brigade." And he achieved superstar status with "The Adventures of Robin Hood," one of Warner Bros.' first films in Technicolor.
Dripping with sexuality, good humor, panache and swagger, Flynn's Robin of Locksley captures not only the derring-do of the character, but also the more dramatic side of his fight for injustice, uttering such delectable lines as "Men, if you are willing to fight for our people, I want you!" and "It's injustice I hate, not the Normans."
"The Adventures of Robin Hood" has the distinction of being the only movie about the legend nominated for the best film Oscar.
Silence is golden
Douglas Fairbanks
The athletic silent film superstar was in his element in the lavish 1922 epic "Robin Hood," directed by Allan Dwan, that was one of the most expensive films of the 1920s. Though Fairbanks wasn't the greatest actor of his time, he had charisma, an amazing smile and was able to leap, well, flowing rivers with a single bound.
In this version, he plays the dashing earl of Huntington, who goes with Richard the Lionhearted to fight in the Crusades only to return to Nottingham, where he learns that the vile John has usurped the throne and that Maid Marian is — gasp! — dead.
The underrated Robin
Richard Todd
When one thinks of Disney's Robin flicks, the 1973 animated musical "Robin Hood," in which the hero is a sly fox, immediately comes to mind. But in the early 1950s, Disney made several films in England including 1952's solid Technicolor adventure, "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men." And in this outing, Robin is played by the very capable Irish-born actor Richard Todd. Todd's Robin had heart, soul and knew his way around a bow and arrow.
What were they thinking?
Kevin Costner
The Oscar-winning actor-director was at the peak of his popularity when he starred in 1991's "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." But what a big, big mistake to cast an all-American, boy-next-door Jimmy Stewart/Gary Cooper-type as the veddy British Robin of Locksley (one review said Costner was more Sherman Oaks than Sherwood Forest). But movie audiences 19 years ago didn't seem to care and the film was one of the year's biggest blockbusters.