Bovie Movie

Robin Hood, Douglas Fairbanks’ biggest (though not necessarily best) production of the silent era, represents the first time that many familiar of the elements of the Robin Hood legend were presented on screen. To bring the project to full fruition, Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford purchased the old Jesse Hampton studio in Santa Monica, and on that site constructed a near-lifesized replica of 12th century Nottingham. The humongous castle set was so awesome that Fairbanks became worried that his own performance might be dwarfed. It wasn’t: take our word for it. When first we meet Robin Hood, he is still the Earl of Huntington, preparing to joust with his bitter enemy Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Paul Dickey). Despite Sir Guy’s propensity for cheating, the Earl is victorious. Shortly thereafter, Huntington rides off to the crusades with Richard the Lionhearted (Wallace Beery). Upon learning that Prince John (Sam De Grasse), goaded on by Sir Guy, has usurped his brother Richard’s throne, Huntington returns to Nottingham in a new guise: dashing righter-of-wrongs Robin Hood. While robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, and bedevilling the villains, Robin romances the fetching Maid Marian (Enid Bennett). The film’s singular highlight is Fairbanks’ slide down a two-story tapestry, a bit of bravado accomplished by hiding a playground slide behind the huge cloth. As in all of Fairbanks’ films, Charlie Stevens, a grandson of Geronimo and Doug’s “mascot”, appears in several minor roles. Also appearing is Alan Hale Sr. as Little John, a role he’d repeat in the 1938 Errol Flynn Robin Hood, not to mention the 1950 swashbuckler Rogues of Sherwood Forest. Long thought lost, Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (as the film was so copyrighted) was rediscovered in the early 1960s. Most current prints fail to do justice to Arthur Edeson’s glistening photography; also, some versions are stretch-framed to slow down the action to “normal” speed, a process that retards the marvelously fast pace instilled by star Fairbanks and director Allan Dwan. We recommend that you seek out a good-quality, tinted print of Robin Hood, processed at the slightly faster-than-life speed at which it was originally filmed.

In this parody of James Bond movies, a dullard of a spy novelist finds himself the subject of an English sociology student’s term papers. She travels to his Paris apartment to do her research and their relationship is interspliced with episodes from the writer’s newest book that features his popular hero Bob St. Clair, master spy and anithesis to the writer, and his lovely assistant Tatiana, (who is of course, the lookalike of the lovely student). The spy’s nemesis is in reality, his pushy publisher.

One of the most popular kung fu films ever, and perhaps the peak of the famed Bruce Lee’s career, Enter the Dragon achieved success by presenting a series of superbly staged fighting sequences with a minimum of distractions. The story finds Lee as a martial-arts expert determined to help capture the narcotics dealer whose gang was responsible for his sister’s death. This evil villain operates from a fortified island manned by a team of crack martial artists, who also host a kung fu competition. Lee uses his skills to enter the contest and then tries to chop, kick, and otherwise fight his way into the dealer’s headquarter. The story is, of course, merely an excuse for showdown after showdown, featuring masterly fighting by Lee in a wide variety of martial arts styles. Essential viewing for martial arts fans, the film was also embraced by a larger audience, thanks to a fast pace and higher-than-usual production values.

Roger Moore makes his first appearance as “Bond…James Bond” in 1973’s Live and Let Die. Bond is dispatched to the States to stem the activities of Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), who plans to take over the Western Hemisphere by converting everyone into heroin addicts. The woman in the case is Solitaire (Jane Seymour in her movie debut), an enigmatic interpreter of tarot cards. The obligatory destructive-chase sequence occurs at the film’s midpoint, with Bond being chased in a motorboat by Mr. Big’s henchmen, slashing his way through the marshlands and smashing up a wedding party. Clifton James makes the first of several Bond appearances as redneck sheriff Pepper, while Geoffrey Holder is an enthusiastic secondary villain. The title song, written by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, provides the frosting on this 007 confection.