Shot in bright-as-a-button Technicolor, this swashbuckler is an action picture that, over 70 years on, still delights people of all ages, even youngsters weaned on computer games. It was intended to star James Cagney (oh, yes), but seems tailor-made for Errol Flynn as Sherwood's noblest outlaw. Flynn woos Olivia de Havilland and crosses swords with Basil Rathbone's Sir Guy of Gisbourne and Claude Rains's Prince John, while Erich Wolfgang Korngold's music goes brassily heraldic. A few weeks into production, studio boss Jack Warner thought the rushes lacked sparkle and replaced director William Keighley with Michael Curtiz. The result was a box-office smash and Oscars for the score, editing and interior decoration.

Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.