Arguably the world's greatest archer, Howard Hill, attempted all of the archery shots you see in this film. He used to shoot prunes off a person's head at 60 feet. And no, Errol Flynn didn't shoot a single arrow in this film, he couldn't have hit the broad side of a barn, I suspect.
shareI didn't think Flynn did any of the actual archery haha. I'm sure he attempted it for the making of film and couldn't do it.
shareNot sure if that's true about Flynn-- Hill taught him to shoot, and he and Hill were great friends, and used to go hunting together using bows and arrows. Flynn couldn't do what Hill did, but I think he was a pretty good shot with a bow, and was a successful hunter. Flynn was an amazing athlete, too-- about the best tennis player in Hollywood, a great boxer, swimmer, etc., and I think he did learn to use the bow and arrow for this film. He just wasn't the incredible marksman that Hill was. So, IMHO, it's an exaggeration to say he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
shareIt IS an exaggeration, one which I believe derives from the fact that Flynn, unfortunately, is mostly remembered by some as a notorious drunk. At the time of The Adventures of RH though, he was a heavy-drinker, but not an alcoholic to the point of coming to work drunk.
"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."
I agree, pol-edra. At the time of TAORH, Flynn was in pretty good shape, and not as self-destructive as he became later on. I think he drank for fun, at parties and with his buddies, but not to the extent he did later on. Many folks seem to agree that his 1943 rape trial really did him in, and set him off on a downward spiral. He was never the same after that trial, and his performances and films really fell off after that. He was his own worst enemy, seems to me.
But when playing Robin Hood, he was at his peak, and still a wonderful athlete. I believe he trained pretty hard, and took the role fairly seriously, working on his swordfighting, shooting, and fighting with quarterstaffs. Flynn became such a wreck at the end of his life, it does make it easier to play down his earlier performances. But in his prime, he was pretty great.
He was absolutely great. I'm 35 now, so I grew up in an era of completely different-looking movie-icons, and yet, I still find Flynn to die for. Not many actors of his generation can still do that, the beauty canons have evolved so much. But Flynn truly is timelessly handsome. My only regret is that gratuitous shots of the shirtless hero weren't fashionable at the time; I could very well do without most of these shots today, all the more so since Flynn didn't get one in this movie; so unfair...
"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."
Check out the Google Images search for Errol Flynn: there are several bare torso shots and even in one full shot in a 40's type speedo. I've used many of these for screen savers!
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