“Robin Hood,” starring Douglas Fairbanks, was the top box office attraction of 1922, and it will be on the big screen Sunday, March 27, at 2 p.m. at Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, 40 Main St.
The screening will be accompanied with live music by Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free, and a donation of $10 per person is suggested to help defray expenses.
Set in Medieval England, “Robin Hood” tells the tale of the Earl of Huntingdon (Fairbanks), a dashing nobleman who joins King Richard the Lion-Hearted (Wallace Beery) on a crusade to the Holy Land. Huntingdon later returns to England to find Richard’s cruel brother, Prince John (Sam De Grasse), falsely claiming the throne, enriching his aristocratic cronies and tyrannizing the citizenry. Huntingdon takes to the woods and becomes “Robin Hood,” soon joined by a band of merry men who undermine Prince John’s reign by robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Along the way, Fairbanks demonstrates his skills in archery, fencing and acrobatics. Directed by Allan Dwan, “Robin Hood” cost $1 millon to produce at a time when $200,000 was a hefty movie budget. The film earned $2.5 million in its initial release through United Artists, the distribution company Fairbanks formed with fellow stars Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and his wife, Mary Pickford.
Also in the cast is Alan Hale, who made such an impression at Little John that he was cast in the same role in the 1938 remake starring Errol Flynn. (Hale’s son, Alan Hale Jr., played the role of the Skipper on the 1960s television series “Gilligan’s Island.”)
The screening of “Robin Hood” is part of the Town Hall Theatre’s ongoing series honoring the 100th anniversary of significant motion pictures that debuted in 1922. Upcoming programs in the Town Hall’s 100th anniversary series include:
— Sunday, April 3, at 2 p.m.: Chaney/Houdini Double Feature. In “Flesh and Blood,” escaped convict Lon Chaney hides out in Chinatown and plots revenge. In “The Man From Beyond,” illusionist Harry Houdini plays an Arctic adventurer frozen for 100 years.
— Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m.: Emil Jannings in “Othello.” William Shakespeare’s tragedy is brought to the screen in this early German version.
For information, visit wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call 603-654-3456. For more about the music, visit jeffrapsis.com.