Robin and Marian (1976)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by James Goldman
Directed by Richard Lester
Starring Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris, and Sean Connery

Features:

• theatrical trailers
  
• digitally mastered audio
  
• remastered in High Definition
  
• English, French, Spanish, Portugese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai subtitles
  

Rating: PG

Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Rent it.

Robin and Marian is a Robin Hood film with a twist: rather than concentrating on the struggle between Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin and Marian takes place many years later, when Robin and his Merry Men (and Marian) are getting old.

The plot is suitable for a medieval tale, but different than what you might expect from a Robin Hood piece. For one thing, Marian is a nun when Robin finds her, having taken Orders when Robin and Little John went off to the Crusades with Richard. Robin must gather his band back together in order to fight the Sheriff, who has been ordered by John to remove all clergy from the land. The ending may confuse and frustrate some viewers, due to its suddenness and the nature of what happens (avoiding plot leaks here...), but give it a chance.

The acting is everything you would expect from Hepburn and Connery. Hepburn is luminous as a nun, yet her love for Robin shows. Connery, not usually asked to be emotionally vulnerable, actually pulls off the complexity of a loving hero, while also being believable as a rougher sort of protagonist. Richard Harris pulls off the encroachment of insanity very well as King Richard, and Nicol Williamson as Little John is surprisingly funny at times.

The production values are consistently strong. The music and sound are well-managed, never becoming too heavy or too maudlin. The soundtrack doesn't show its age, and neither does the visual quality. There was none of the fading or streakiness that sometimes accompanies poorly remastered old movies. The subtitles are readable without being obtrusive (try the Thai).

The extras are rather minimal; the disc includes the original trailers, which are always fun, and that's about it. I appreciate that Connery is probably too busy for a commentary track, but what about some of the other living actors? How about Hepburn's screen test--is that still around? Maybe some notes from the writer about what it was like to write a new ending for the Robin Hood saga, as well as why he kept what he kept? How about some dusty narratologist talking about the impact of Robin and his Merry Band on Western culture? You can bet such a person would work cheap...

All in all, Robin and Marian is too little known as a part of Connery's and Hepburn's corpus. Blending historicism with some tongue-in-cheek laughter, a little bit of romance, and some tragedy, Robin and Marian is a fine addition to anyone's classic movie library. While Hepburn is of course the star of any movie she graces, the movie happening around her frames her talents perfectly.