{ "id": "epeveesg33", "slug": "robin-hood-1922-film", "title": "Robin Hood (1922 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent", "label": "Early and silent cinema", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926", "label": "Released 1914 to 1926", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945: Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800", "label": "United States · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent", "label": "Early and silent cinema", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features", "label": "Silent feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1800.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Robin Hood (1922), on-screen title Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, is a silent United Artists adventure directed by Allan Dwan, starring Fairbanks, Wallace Beery, and Sam De Grasse, the era's largest production with a 90-foot castle set.", "snippet": "Robin Hood (1922), on-screen title Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, is a silent United Artists adventure directed by Allan Dwan, starring Fairbanks, Wallace Beery, and Sam De Grasse, the era's largest production with a 90-foot castle set.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.early-silent.silent-features.yr-1914-1926", "markdown": "# Robin Hood (1922 film)\n\n**Robin Hood** is a 1922 American silent historical adventure film directed by Allan Dwan, produced by and starring [Douglas Fairbanks](https://www.edgepedia.org/douglas-fairbanks), and distributed by [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists). Its on-screen title is *Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood*, and it tells the [Robin Hood](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood) legend with Fairbanks as the Earl of Huntingdon, who becomes the outlaw hero when Prince John usurps the throne of King Richard the Lion-Hearted.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1054796-robin_hood) It was the biggest production made to that date, and it is regarded as one of the major accomplishments of the silent era.[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/robinhood1922/) • [4](https://cohenmedia.net/product/robin-hood)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Production | Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corp., directed by Allan Dwan, distributed by United Artists; working title *The Spirit of Chivalry*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) • [5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html) |\n| Cast | Douglas Fairbanks (The Earl of Huntingdon/Robin Hood), Wallace Beery (Richard the Lion-Hearted), Sam De Grasse (Prince John), Enid Bennett (Lady Marian Fitzwalter), Alan Hale (Little John)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) |\n| Physical format | Silent, black and white, 133 minutes, 11 reels, 10,680 feet, 35mm 1.33:1[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) • [5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html) |\n| Release | Premiered 18 October 1922; general release 28 January 1923; copyright 1 November 1922 as *Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood* (LP18416)[5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html) |\n| Scale | Sets erected by 500 carpenters towered 90 feet in the air; the castle was one of the largest standing sets ever constructed for a Hollywood film[4](https://cohenmedia.net/product/robin-hood) • [6](https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/oft-filmed-adventures-robin-hood) |\n| Cost | Fairbanks put up $1 million to fund the production; a 1922 trade account describes a 2 million dollar cost with $500,000 insurance, then the largest on a single film[7](https://www.barbican.org.uk/read-watch-listen/a-silent-classic-robin-hood) • [8](https://omeka.dah.soton.ac.uk/s/FILM2002-22/item/89) |\n| Survival | The film is extant; a 4K restoration scanned from a 35mm fine grain positive with 175 hours of digital clean-up has been released[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) • [4](https://cohenmedia.net/product/robin-hood) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and cast\n\nDuring the king's absence on the Crusades, Fairbanks's character, the Earl of Huntingdon, discovers via Lady Marian Fitzwalter (Enid Bennett), the woman he loves, that Prince John (Sam De Grasse), King Richard the Lion-Hearted's ([Wallace Beery](https://www.edgepedia.org/wallace-beery)) deceitful brother, has taken over the throne. Huntingdon adopts the name Robin Hood and gathers a band of merry men, led by [Little John](https://www.edgepedia.org/little-john) (Alan Hale), to fight the prince and his henchman, the High Sheriff of Nottingham (William Lowery).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1054796-robin_hood) The supporting cast included Paul Dickey as Sir Guy of Gisbourne, Willard Louis as [Friar Tuck](https://www.edgepedia.org/friar-tuck), Maine Geary as Will Scarlett, and Lloyd Talman as Allan-a-Dale.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) • [5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html)\n\nAt the center of the film was Fairbanks's own personality, engaging in his acrobatics as the hero of a boy's adventure story, supported by pageantry, tournaments, and swordplay researched for accuracy to 12th-century England.[6](https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/oft-filmed-adventures-robin-hood)\n\n## Production\n\nFairbanks was at the peak of his career in 1922. Having established himself as the preeminent star of swashbuckling action adventures, he was a founding partner in United Artists and produced his own films, mounting them on an extravagant epic scale.[6](https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/oft-filmed-adventures-robin-hood) For *Robin Hood* he put up $1 million of his own money and made the film at the studio he co-owned, so he was ultimately responsible for its success or failure.[7](https://www.barbican.org.uk/read-watch-listen/a-silent-classic-robin-hood) A 1922 account in the Exhibitor's Trade Review describes a 2 million dollar cost of production and $500,000 of insurance on the film, which made it the largest insurance on a single film at the time.[8](https://omeka.dah.soton.ac.uk/s/FILM2002-22/item/89) The movie was the most expensive of its time.[9](https://www.hesperus.org/films/robinhood/robinhood-expandedprogramnotes.pdf)\n\nThe scenario was credited to Elton Thomas, a pseudonym under which Fairbanks, Allan Dwan, and Lotta Woods wrote the story, with Lotta Woods as scenario editor and Edward Knoblock as literary consultant. Arthur Edeson was the cinematographer, William Nolan the editor, Mitchell Leisen the costume designer, Wilfred Buckland the supervising art director, and Victor Schertzinger composed the music score. A research director, Doctor Arthur Woods, worked on the production.[5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html)\n\n## Scale and design\n\nThe production's defining feature was its size. A workforce of 500 carpenters built the castle sets, which rose 90 feet high, spread across acres of ground, and reproduced historical details with precision.[4](https://cohenmedia.net/product/robin-hood) The castle ranked among the biggest permanent sets ever built for a Hollywood picture, and observers noted that even its banquet hall exceeded the size of the concourse at New York's Pennsylvania Station.[6](https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/oft-filmed-adventures-robin-hood) For the exterior footage showing jousts and the outlaws in the woods, the production used a ten-acre lot, an area exceeding that of seven football fields.[9](https://www.hesperus.org/films/robinhood/robinhood-expandedprogramnotes.pdf) Filming took place from April 3 to July 28, 1922, at locations including Lake Sherwood and Bronson Canyon in [Griffith Park](https://www.edgepedia.org/griffith-park), California.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013556/locations/?item=lc0264627)\n\nSpecial effects were developed for the film, including split-screen shooting, used in the scene where Marian thinks she sees Robin Hood's profile on the wall.[9](https://www.hesperus.org/films/robinhood/robinhood-expandedprogramnotes.pdf) Fairbanks performed his own stunts, the most noteworthy being a slide down a two-story tapestry.[3](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/robinhood1922/)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nThe film premiered on 18 October 1922; the Silent Era film list records the premiere in Chicago, Illinois, while the AFI Catalog records the Hollywood opening on the same date at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, where the film was the opening attraction.[5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) Fairbanks and his wife [Mary Pickford](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-pickford) traveled east to New York to promote the film.[8](https://omeka.dah.soton.ac.uk/s/FILM2002-22/item/89) General release followed on 28 January 1923.[5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html)\n\nThe Film Year Book 1922-1923 named *Robin Hood* one of the year's \"Ten Best.\"[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) The Walt Disney Family Museum writes that it still stands as the most spectacular and lavishly produced film version of the story.[6](https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/oft-filmed-adventures-robin-hood) The film was quickly parodied in the two-reel comedies *Rob'em Good* (1923) with Bull Montana and *Big Moments From Little Pictures* (1924) with [Will Rogers](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-rogers).[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography)\n\n## Place in film history\n\nThe 1922 film was not the first feature-length version of the Robin Hood legend, as an earlier four-reel version had been released in 1913, following other short subjects such as the 1908 Kalem one-reeler, and it was a spectacular success released after a sharp post-World War I recession.[11](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-new-robin-hood-rises-every-generation-180970844/) • [13](https://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Filmography_files/0u0bcq.htm) It preceded [Errol Flynn](https://www.edgepedia.org/errol-flynn)'s 1938 *The Adventures of Robin Hood*, and Alan Hale, who played Little John in 1922, played the same role again in *Rogues of Sherwood Forest*, released by Columbia in 1950.[12](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3983-THE-ADVENTURES-OF-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=ymal)\n\nThe film survives. The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Database lists it as extant, a 35mm print exists in the holdings of Cohen Media Group (the Raymond Rohauer collection), and the film is in the public domain in the USA.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography) • [5](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html) Cohen Media Group's restoration scanned a full-frame 35mm fine grain positive at 4K, with 175 hours of digital clean-up at 2K, and paired the picture with a new score compiled from historic photoplay music by Rodney Sauer, performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.[4](https://cohenmedia.net/product/robin-hood)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Robin Hood (1923), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11747-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=filmography)\n2. [Robin Hood (1922), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1054796-robin_hood)\n3. [Robin Hood (1922), Dennis Schwartz Reviews](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/robinhood1922/)\n4. [Robin Hood, Cohen Media Group](https://cohenmedia.net/product/robin-hood)\n5. [Robin Hood (1922), Progressive Silent Film List, Silent Era](https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RobinHood1922.html)\n6. [The Oft-Filmed Adventures of Robin Hood, Walt Disney Family Museum](https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/oft-filmed-adventures-robin-hood)\n7. [A Silent Classic: Robin Hood, Barbican](https://www.barbican.org.uk/read-watch-listen/a-silent-classic-robin-hood)\n8. [Exhibitor's Trade Review (Sep-Nov 1922), University of Southampton](https://omeka.dah.soton.ac.uk/s/FILM2002-22/item/89)\n9. [Robin Hood expanded program notes, Hesperus Young Audiences](https://www.hesperus.org/films/robinhood/robinhood-expandedprogramnotes.pdf)\n10. [Robin Hood (1922) filming locations, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013556/locations/?item=lc0264627)\n11. [Why a New Robin Hood Arises Every Generation, Smithsonian Magazine](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-new-robin-hood-rises-every-generation-180970844/)\n12. [The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3983-THE-ADVENTURES-OF-ROBIN-HOOD?cxt=ymal)\n13. [ROBIN HOOD - PARTS 1 AND 2](https://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Filmography_files/0u0bcq.htm)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Early and silent cinema › Silent feature films › Released 1914 to 1926*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Robin Hood (1922 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Robin Hood (1922 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Robin Hood (1922 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood-1922-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Robin Hood, on-screen title Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, is a silent United Artists adventure directed by Allan Dwan, starring Fairbanks, Wallace Beery, and Sam De Grasse, the era's largest production with a 90-foot castle set." }