Packaging Back
Packaging Bookend Spine
Packaging Front

Robin and Marian

Catalog Number
60097
-
Primary Distributor (If not listed, select "OTHER")
Release Year
Country
VHS | N/A | Slipcase
N/A (NTSC)
N/A | N/A | N/A
N/A | N/A
Robin and Marian (1976)

Additional Information

Additional Information
Love is the greatest adventure of all.

Though the story told in Robin and Marian is unfamiliar to most audiences, it is actually quite faithful to several of the ancient Robin Hood legends. During the Crusades, Robin (Sean Connery) is still loyal to King Richard the Lionheart (Richard Harris), but even he has trouble adjusting to the monarch's ever-increasing paranoia and lunacy. After Richard's death, Robin returns to England, his first visit to his home turf in 20 years. He looks up his beloved Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn, last seen in 1967's Wait Until Dark), who is now a middle-aged nun. No sooner do Robin and Marian renew their relationship than the aging Merry Men demand Robin's services in thwarting their old foe, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). Marian is aghast that the long-standing feud between Robin and the sheriff threatens to expand into wholesale bloodshed. The two venerable enemies agree to one last mano a mano battle -- only to watch helplessly as the all-out war they'd tried to avoid commences anyway. Both the tragic climax and Robin's last, defiant arrow shot are drawn directly from authentic Robin Hood ballads of the 14th and 15th centuries.

Robin and Marian is a 1976 British-American romantic adventure period film directed by Richard Lester and written by James Goldman, based on the legend of Robin Hood. It stars Sean Connery as Robin Hood, Audrey Hepburn as Lady Marian, Nicol Williamson as Little John, Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Richard Harris as King Richard. It also features comedian Ronnie Barker in a rare film role as Friar Tuck. It was filmed in Zamora, Spain. The film marked Hepburn's return to the screen after an eight-year absence.[1]
Richard Lester made Robin and Marian amid a series of period pieces, including The Three Musketeers. The original music score was composed by John Barry. The film was to have originally been titled The Death of Robin Hood but was changed by Columbia Pictures to be more marketable,[2] and perhaps give equal billing to Hepburn.

The film was generally given a positive review by critics. Roger Ebert was positive towards Connery and Hepburn as Robin and Marian although he was uncertain about "history repeating itself" in regards to the plot. According to Ebert, "What prevents the movie from really losing its way, though, are the performances of Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn in the title roles. No matter what the director and the writer may think, Connery and Hepburn seem to have arrived at a tacit understanding between themselves about their characters. They glow. They really do seem in love. And they project as marvelously complex, fond, tender people; the passage of 20 years has given them grace and wisdom."[3] He also approved of the cinematography of the film in comparison to early films of the genre noting that, "Lester photographs them with more restraint than he might have used 10 years ago. His active camera is replaced here by a visual tempo more suited to bittersweet nostalgia. He photographs Sherwood Forest and its characters with a nice off-hand realism that's better than the pretentious solemnity we sometimes get in historical pictures

Release Date: March 11, 1976

Distrib: Columbia Pictures

Related Releases1

Robin and Marian (1976)
Release Year
Catalog Number
60097
Primary Distributor (If not listed, select "OTHER")
Catalog Number
60097
Format
Packaging
N/A
Country

Comments0

Login / Register to post comments

1

0