Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion
I recently raved about the wonderful film The Adventures of Robin Hood, so I’ll keep it short and sweet today… with the focus entirely on the radiantly beautiful, sublime, and otherworldly talented Olivia de Havilland. When we think of actresses in iconic roles (roles in which they make the character larger than life with their performance), we often think of..
- Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz
- Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce
- Bette Davis, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
- Audrey Hepburn, My Fair Lady
- Maureen O’Hara, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde
- Dorothy Dandridge, Carmen Jones (she should have won the Emmy)
- Barbara Stanwyck, Double Indemnity
- Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind
… and (deservedly) Olivia de Havilland is often mentioned by film lovers for her performance in Gone with the Wind. I have zero problem with that – I simply think she deserves to ALSO be mentioned for her lovely performance in The Adventures of Robin Hood as well. Frankly, I don’t think the movie would work nearly as well with a different actress in the role – she was, in all ways, perfect for the role of Maid Marion and I don’t think another actress has even come close.
Okay, the Disney version’s Maid Marion rivaled her.. but other than that animated fox, no one else can touch her!
You can buy the iconic The Adventures of Robin Hood on dvd (Amazon link) or watch the movie on Prime Video.
Olivia de Havilland, The Adventures of Robin Hood