Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 9: There Will Be Blood

The first DVD I watch to give me a complete view of a 1930s cinematic experience is the one for Captain Blood. This one has a lot of elements that were similar to The Adventures of Robin Hood, director Michael Curtiz and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland and Basil Rathbone. However Captain Blood was made three years previously to Robin Hood, sees Flynn in his first leading role and his first of six screen collaborations with De Havilland. The main problem I had with Captain Blood is that we have to buy the fact that Flynn is a doctor at least for the first part of the movie. After treating a man involved in the rebellions against James II Flynn is forced into slavery and whilst in the Caribbean commandeers a pirate ship that has rocked up to pillage the governor's land. Meanwhile Blood has fallen for the niece of a wealthy landlord who has designs on being governor but double crosses her for a life of piracy. From here it is usual Errol Flynn territory swashbuckling and a sword fight plus a quick appearance from Rathbone as a French pirate who wants to have De Havilland's character for himself. The finale is a high octane fight as the British fight the French for supremacy as Blood is happy that William of Orange is now in the throne. This is a very much us and them film as the aristocracy are portrayed as fancy clothes wearing cowards and the rebels are portrayed as hardworking, loyal and brave. Flynn is a captivating lead even in his early films and his chemistry with De Havilland is winning and it is easy to see why he was paired with her time and time again. As previously mentioned the DVD comes with a newsreel and a cartoon and gives the idea that this kind of cinema was pure escapism for the American depression era as the crowds would get to cheer on Flynn and boo the villains.

In terms of Oscar success this was nominated in the 1936 ceremony, I don't think it is as accomplished as the other film I have already watched from that year - Top Hat but it is still a pretty well made film. In fact it was nominated for five Oscars - Curtiz's direction of course is one of them as is picture alongside script (a bit dubious) and sound recording and music the former sounds ropey by today's standards but obviously was advanced at the time and the latter was a brilliant accompaniment to the swashbuckling adventures of Flynn and co. Despite being nominated it won nothing which is a shame as this was obviously the early forerunner to the big screen action blockbuster that we know today.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 3: Back in the Hood

As previously stated the first part of this project is looking at films that were nominated for Best Picture in the Oscar ceremonies held from 1929 to 1939 and made in the years between 1927 and 1938. The last film I watched was 1929 winner, Wings made in 1927 which as I previously discussed was a silent film made in black and white. Fastforward just over 10 years and the next film I watch is The Adventures of Robin Hood made in 1939 and what a difference those years made.Now the film is available in technicolour, with a terrific score and fantastic sound as well as great ensemble cast. I think I may have seen this when I was very young but since I have developed my love of films I haven't tried to watch it again. It has become famous because of Errol Flynn's lead performance, Flynn was of course heralded for his swashbuckling nature and was one of the stars of the era. In fact the most famous scenes involve his sword battles and various action stunts but thing that wowed me was the use of colour. Its the first film I've watched on this challenge that is filmed in colour and it certainly makes use of this new phenomenon. Every piece of clothing is incredibly colourful and striking from Robin's green tunic to Guy of Gisbourne and Prince John's finery and Maid Marion's dress. The sets are also brilliantly designed and one of the three Oscars that the film won was for the art direction. The score also won an Oscar and sound plays a big part in the film and adds to the mood of the action. 

 

The story itself is very traditional and is possibly the big screen version of Robin Hood that sticks most notably to the actual legend of Robin Hood it is much about the wars between Normans and Saxons as it is between The Merry Men and Prince John and the rest of them. Usually in filmic versions of Robin Hood it is The Sherrif of Nottingham who is the main villain but in this film he has been made into a comic henchman instead it is the snivelling Prince John in charge and Guy of Gisbourne who does all his handiwork, meanwhile the Maid Marian character is quite strong but at the same time quite cold for most of the film. The film is very theatrical and has big performances, its no surprising that Flynn was one of the stars of the time as he is a commanding presence and plays a very good hero while Basil Rathbone, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes, exceeds as Guy. Olivia De Havilland is a perfect leading lady glamourous and able to hold her own with the men while Casablanca's Claude Rains is perfectly suited to the role of Prince John. The film flits from comedy to action to romance and is probably akin to today's blockbusters this technicolour spectacular having the same effect on 1930s cinemagoers as Avatar had on us last year. 

 

However just like Avatar, Adventures of Robin Hood only picked up minor awards for Editing, Art Direction and Score. What surprised me was that no performances were nominated from the film as I thought the acting was great. Again though I cannot judge whether this was the best film in the category until I've seen the other nine films that accompanied it including that year's winner You Can't Take it With You. What I do know though is that I thoroughly enjoyed Flynn and co's retelling of the classic Nottingham-based adventure.