This weekend (June 20th) marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Errol Flynn, the sound era’s master swashbuckler and the definitive Robin Hood in the 1938 classic The Adventures of Robin Hood, a wondrous and ageless film, the quintessential Hollywood adventure. Flynn, irresistibly dashing and handsome, was perfectly matched to the role, an ideal showcase for his ease and humor and charming light touch.  And who looked better in green tights than Flynn?  No wonder Olivia de Havilland’s Maid Marian couldn’t resist him.  Their on-screen romance is one of the more affecting of Hollywood’s Golden Age, gentle and intimate, especially in their glowing scene in her room and at her window (their “balcony” scene).  It is especially nice to have an actress as wonderful as de Havilland as Marian, instead of some vacant starlet.  Her talent brings out the best in Flynn, and she also makes a deeply felt transition to Robin’s side, against villains Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone, two legendary and sophisticated bad guys for the price of one!

The movie, in rapturous Technicolor, is a storybook come to life, a glorious pageant, and studio-system craftsmanship at its peak.  With its prankish, playful tone, there is nothing dated or campy here.  Funny, touching, and rousing, it is blessed with an amazing supporting cast of beloved character actors like Eugene Pallette, Una O’Connor, and Alan Hale.  Has fighting evil ever been this much fun?  Or set so thrillingly to an Erich Wolfgang Korngold score?

A far less well-known Flynn film to be on the lookout for is the 1944 WWII picture Uncertain Glory, directed by Raoul Walsh and co-starring Paul Lukas.  Set in France, it is a tense and absorbing drama of courage and sacrifice.  The two leads have a “Les Miserables” sort of relationship.  The film is pure war propaganda, but it’s entertaining and not too shameless, with Flynn in his appealing bad-boy mode.

Flynn died at 50, fifty years ago, though hard living made him look so much older.  But at least he gets to be Robin Hood forever.