The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

 "You speak treason?"

"Fluently!"

I've been meaning to watch this rather fascinatinhg film for some time, anfd it doesn't disappoint. The very Hollywood Middle Ages; the decidedly swashbuckling slant; the very peculiar Technicolor... none of these surprise me. But the wit of the script was a pleasant surprise, and both Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland, the prettiest young lady ever to utter the words "I'm a hundred and four, you know" are absolutely triumphant. Basil Rathbone is also a revelation as Not Sherlock Holmes.

This is very much a faithful telling of the myth, to the extent that the myth is consistent, with Little John and Friar Tuck getting their traditional entrances and the famous archery contest for Maid Marian's heart, although the Sheriff of Nottingham is notably sidelined. Yet it's also a swashbuckling film, with Robin as much a swordsman as an archer- the early set piece with Robin cheekily inviting himself to feast with Prince John and his daring set piece escape is utterly magnificent, but it's nevertheless clear that the swashbuckling angle is crowbarred in somewhat. This is, of course, no bad thing, but it's very notable.

The attitudes of the time raise an eyebrow on occasion- Richard the Lionheart is off crusading against "infidels"- and the film portrays the England of 1191 as very much an apartheid state with "Normans" against "Saxons". But why are the English so loyal to Richard, that absentee landlord of a king? But this is, of course, Hollywood, and such things are of a piece with the very fairytale mediaeval visuals on display here, and it all fits the mood of the film.

This is enormous fun, in no way trying to be big and clever but just to entertain and wow us, which it does superbly.

The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham

It is commonly assumed that, of all the writers of whodunit novels during that golden age of the 1920s and ‘30s, Agatha Christie was the unquestioned queen of them all.

Now, I haven’t read any of her works for a decade or two, and before long I shall remedy that and see if my opinion remains. But read a lot of Christie in my youth, until I reached an age where the prose, the characterisations and the snobbery of the authorial voice made it impossible for teenage me to continue. Her plotting may be second to none, but prose and characters do sort of matter.

And that is why Margery Allingham is the true queen of the whodunit, and Albert Campion a much better character than Hercule Poirot, with actual non-superficial character traits. The plotting may be excellent, but the characters are real people and the prose is wonderful- witty, ironic, joyous to read.

There are a couple of bits of dialogue that make one wince: there’s talk of colonial affairs in what was then the Gold Coast where the n-word is bandied about. The word wasn’t as taboo in 1938 as it is now, but one should not go to the other extreme in excusing it. The whiff of the forbidden surrounding the word may have been less strong than today, but it was their. It is, to say the least, unfortunate. Nor can one simply gloss over the fact that Campion tells his sister Val, who is “hysterical”, that she needs “a nice rape”.

Yet, such moments aside, this is a hugely enjoyable read, masterfully plotted and involving three dimensions characters. And this isn’t even a particularly well known example of Allingham’s Campion novels. I must read, or re-read, some more soon. 

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

"I never think you should judge any country by its politics. After all, we English are quite honest by nature, aren't we?"

I've seen a fair few Hitchcocks but, shockingly, this is the first film helmed by the great Sir Alfred that I've blogged. It's an early, pre-Hollywood film, but all his gifts for suspense are already on evidence. Engaging characters, a worry script and a solid presence- an old lady mysteriously vanished from a moving train and people start denying that she was ever there- make this a bloody good film. Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave are superb as leads.

The characterisation, direction, dialogue and acting come across as fresh and mover considering the film's age, and I love the two cricket-obsessed Englishmen. The plot twist is also handled extremely well and successfully as the conspiracy unravels and peril (I love that word) ensues. This isn't perhaps one of the best known Hitchcocks but it's certainly a bloody good film.