I had no idea that Sean Connery starred as the legendary Robin Hood in a 1976 movie called Robin and Marian. It has a stacked cast that includes Audrey Hepburn as Marian, Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Richard Harris as King Richard the Lionhearted, among others. King Richard, of course, is who Connery cameoed as in 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and until recently, that was the only Robin Hood movie I thought Connery appeared in. I just had to watch this ‘70s version of the story, directed by Richard Lester, so I rented it using my Prime subscription. Here are my spoiler-free thoughts.
It’s An Epic Love Story
At the heart of Robin and Marian is the love story between…well… Robin and Marian. This is an older version of both characters than most Robin Hood stories. Robin has returned from the Third Crusade, just as he does in Prince of Thieves, and he wants to rekindle his romance with Marian. That is harder said than done for a few reasons, not the least of which is his long-running feud with the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The love story is a little frustrating. Marian has good reason not to revive her previous love with Robin, even if he is desperate to do the same. She isn’t sure Robin will ever be there for her like she wants him to be, and Robin makes it clear that he won’t be. Yet, they continue to fall for each other again. I get it, love is blind, and we don’t always allow for rational reasons to interfere with it, but that is really stretched to the limit here. Connery and Hepburn do have excellent chemistry, which helps the audience along, but it still felt forced.
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It Feels More Like A ‘60s Epic Than A Film From The Mid-’70s
I’ve been watching a lot of movies from 1976 this year, and this one feels like a throwback. It’s not as gritty as one might expect from a movie of the era. By 1976, New Hollywood and directors like Martin Scorsese and Sam Peckinpah had taken over, but Robin and Marian is a throwback. It has much more in common with the epics of the ‘60s like Lawrence of Arabia and another Robin Hood movie from that era, Sword of Sherwood Forest, than it does the graphic rawness of Taxi Driver (which also turned 50 this year) or Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
As much as I love a good ‘60s epic (The Great Escape is a movie I can watch over and over), it threw me for a little bit of a loop when I went into Robin and Marian expecting something closer to Ridley Scott’s The Duelist, and getting something more like Spartacus. The violence is surprisingly chaste for a ‘70s movie, and the scope is much broader than what was common in the era. It doesn’t feel like a ‘70s epic, like A Bridge Too Far (another great Connery film from the time) or Patton either. It really is a throwback.
The Cast Is Phenomenal
Like any great epic, the cast is stacked. At the top of the billing, you have two of the biggest stars in any era, in Connery and Hepburn. Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham is perfect casting. Shaw had such a great ability to be menacing even when doing simple, everyday things, like eating breakfast. In fact, one reason I think that I felt like this was an older movie than it is is because of how young Shaw looks in it. Despite coming one year after his legendary performance in Jaws, he looks 10 years younger here. He looks even younger than he did in another one of my favorite movies, The Sting, which came out a half a decade before Robin and Marian.
Richard Harris, although not one of the main characters (just like Connery wasn’t as King Richard in Prince of Thieves), is, as always, wonderful in his moments. Ian Holm, who plays King John, also plays a smaller supporting role, yet is as great, too. Denholm Elliott plays one of Robin’s most famous Merry Men, Will Scarlet (played by Christian Slater in Prince of Thieves), and the always under-appreciated Nicol Williamson plays Robin’s right-hand man, Little John. All in all, it’s an impressive cast worthy of making an epic film.
I Still Don’t Think There Has Been A Perfect Robin Hood Movie
There have been many movies based on the legend of Robin Hood. Prince of Thieves and the 1938 classic The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, are probably the two most famous (along with the Disney animated version, of course). The Flynn version is still my favorite, but none of them are perfect. It’s fair to say the Flynn-led film is pretty dated and feels out of place even among the other movies of its era. The Kevin Costner-led Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves has a bunch of problems, like Costner’s accent and that terrible Bryan Adams song.
In fact, I still don’t think there has been a truly great Robin Hood movie yet. It seems like a story ripe for a truly grand and fantastic adaptation. Instead, we’ve mostly gotten movies like the forgettable Robin Hood from 2010, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe in the titular role, or the even more forgettable movie with the same bland name from 2018 starring Taron Egerton as Robin.
That hasn’t stopped Hollywood from trying, however. Later this year, the upcoming A24 film The Death of Robin Hood, starring Hugh Jackman as the famous thief, will be released on the 2026 movie schedule. I have to say, I do have high hopes, but tempered expectations, given how hard it has been to adapt these old folktales.
