Main Cast: Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris, Nicol Williamson
Release Year: 1976
Country: UK
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
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. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Boundless energy characterized director Richard Lester's career from the start, making it hard to think of a director better suited to deal with the point at which such energy hits the boundaries of age. With Robin and Marian, Lester crafted an English equivalent to the revisionist Westerns of the '60s and '70s, offering a new look at a story whose impact has become somewhat blunted by familiarity. One scene says it all: after a feat of derring-do shot with typical Lester exuberance, Robin (Sean Connery) attempts to flee the scene by climbing a wall, only to find that what in the past he could have done in the blink of an eye now takes much longer, almost losing his life in the process of discovery. Lester could simply have played this for laughs, but while the film contains its fair share of humor, he has other aims in mind. Though some dismissed Robin and Marian as coldhearted for tampering with the Robin Hood myth, the accusation doesn't hold up in light of the director's obvious affection for his well-known characters and Connery's and Audrey Hepburn's excellent turns as the aging lovers. By its end, it's revealed itself as a moving examination of aging, the ending of eras, and the ways history and folklore can conceal the ugliness of violence. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
Gil Parrondo - Art Director, Mary Selway - Casting, Yvonne Blake - Costume Designer, José Lopez Rodero - First Assistant Director, Richard Lester - Director, John Victor Smith - Editor, John Barry - Composer (Music Score), José Antonio Sanchez - Makeup, David Watkin - Cinematographer, Richard Shepherd - Producer, Raymond Stark - Producer, Denis O'Dell - Producer, Eddie Fowlie - Special Effects, Roy Charman - Sound/Sound Designer, Gerry Humphreys - Sound/Sound Designer, William Hobbs - Stunts, Miguel Pedregosa - Stunts, Joaquin Parra - Stunts, Ian McKay - Stunts, James Goldman - Screenwriter
An aging Robin Hood (Connery) is a trusted captain fighting for Richard the Lion-Heart (Harris) in France, the Crusades long over. Richard orders him to take a castle that is rumoured to hold a gold statue. Discovering that it is defended by a solitary, one-eyed old man (Esmond Knight) who is sheltering harmless women and children and convinced that there is no statue, Robin and his right-hand man, Little John (Williamson), refuse to attack. King Richard, angry at their insubordination, orders the pair's execution, but before his orders can be carried out, he is fatally wounded by an arrow thrown by the old man. Richard has the helpless residents massacred, with the exception the old man, because Richard likes his eye. The King asks Robin to pray for mercy for him. When Robin refuses, Richard draws his sword, but lacks the strength to strike him and falls to the floor. Robin helps him, and moved by his loyalty, with his last words, Richard frees Robin and Little John.
Robin and Marian
After Richard's death, Robin and Little John return to England and are reunited with old friends Will Scarlet (Denholm Elliott) and Friar Tuck (Barker) in Sherwood Forest. When Robin casually inquires about Maid Marian (Hepburn), they tell him she has become a nun. When he goes to see her, she finds him as impossible as ever.
He learns that his old nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Shaw), has ordered her arrest in response to the King's order to expel the Roman Catholic Church from England. Marian wants no trouble, but Robin rescues her against her will, injuring Sir Rundolph (Kenneth Haigh), the Sheriff's arrogant guest, in the process. Ignoring the Sheriff's warnings, Sir Rundolph pursues Robin into the forest. His men are ambushed and decimated by arrows; Sir Rundolph is left unharmed only because Robin orders him spared. When the news of Robin's return spreads, old comrades and new recruits rally once more to him. Sir Rundolph asks King John for 200 soldiers to deal with Robin.
Robin's band is caught in an open field by the Sheriff and Sir Rundolph's forces. The Sheriff and Robin agree on a personal duel to settle the issue, despite the protests of Sir Rundolph. After a long fight, the Sheriff has the wounded Robin at his mercy and demands his surrender. Refusing, Robin manages to kill the Sheriff with the last of his strength. Led by Sir Rundolph, the soldiers attack and scatter Robin's ragtag band. Little John swiftly kills Sir Rundolph. Then he and Marian take Robin to a nunnery.
Robin believes he will recover to win future battles. Little John stands guard outside while Marian tends to Robin's wounds. Marian prepares a draft and takes a drink of it herself before giving it to Robin. He drinks the medicine and notes that the pain has gone away and his legs have gone numb. Then, realising that she has poisoned them both, he cries out for Little John. However, he comes to understand that Marian has acted out of love because he would never be the same man again. She tells him:
I love you. More than all you know. I love you more than children. More than fields I've planted with my hands. I love you more than morning prayers or peace or food to eat. I love you more than sunlight, more than flesh or joy, or one more day. I love you...more than God.
Little John crashes through the door and weeps at Robin's bedside. Robin shoots an arrow from his deathbed through the open window and tells Little John to bury them both where it lands.
The film was generally given a positive review by critics. Roger Ebert on reviewing the film was positive towards Connery and Hepurn as Robin and Marian although he was uncertain about "history repeating itself" in regards to the plot. According the 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."[1] 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."[1]
