Robin Hood Gallops onto Academy’s Screen

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will screen a Warner Bros. digital restoration of the 1938 classic “The Adventures of Robin Hood” on Sunday, June 1, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The program also will explore behind-the-scenes secrets from the making of the film.

Presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the evening will be hosted by Academy Award®-nominated visual effects supervisor Craig Barron and Oscar®-winning sound editor Ben Burtt. Following the screening, Leith Adams, a Warner Bros. studio archivist, will display a rare matte painting used in the film and discuss its history. Joining Adams will be archery expert Dale Smith, who will reproduce the arrow sounds from the film-using replica arrows designed by Burtt.

“The Adventures of Robin Hood” features Errol Flynn as the quintessential hero matching wits – and blade and arrow – with villainous Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone), the scheming Prince John (Claude Rains) and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper). Complementing the action is the love story of Robin and Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland).

The film garnered Academy Awards for Art Direction (Carl Weyl), Film Editing (Ralph Dawson) and Music – Original Score (Erich Wolfgang Korngold) as well as a nomination for Outstanding Production. The most expensive Warner Bros. production to that point, the feature was an early Technicolor hit.

Barron is a veteran of Industrial Light & Magic and currently heads the Marin-based effects company Matte World Digital. He also serves on the Academy’s Board of Governors (Visual Effects Branch).

Burtt won Oscars® for his sound effects work on the original “Star Wars,” two Indiana Jones movies and “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” He also served as film editor on the latest “Star Wars” trilogy.

In conjunction with this program, the Academy’s exhibition “Playing God: The Art and Artists of Matte Painting” will be open for viewing. The exhibition displays the matte artists’ cinematic “tools of the trade” and features several of the matte paintings created for such films as “The Wizard of Oz” (1939), “Spartacus” (1960) and “The Birds” (1963).

Established in 2003 by the Academy’s Board of Governors, the Science and Technology Council provides a forum for the exchange of information, promotes cooperation among diverse technological interests within the industry, sponsors publications, fosters educational activities and preserves the history of science and technology of motion pictures.

Tickets to “The Adventures of Robin Hood” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office, or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open at 6 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue).