Robin Hood is Douglas Fairbanks at his most spectacular: a crusader who returns to England to find his people oppressed, and who becomes the outlaw hero of Sherwood Forest.
Robin Hood (1922), directed by Allan Dwan, stars Fairbanks as the Earl of Huntingdon, who joins King Richard on crusade and returns to find Prince John ruling unjustly. Huntingdon becomes Robin Hood, leading his men from Sherwood Forest in defence of the poor, and the film builds to a spectacular castle siege.
Fairbanks’s Robin is athletic, joyful and commanding, and the film’s sets, especially Nottingham Castle, were among the largest built for a silent film. His leaps, sword fights and archery, all played with a smile, made Robin Hood a landmark of silent spectacle.
It is a signature role because it is Fairbanks’s most ambitious silent production, and because his Robin, generous, daring and unbowed, became the model for many later versions of the legend.