Robin Hood (1912)

Étienne Arnaud: Robin Hood (Éclair-America 1912) with Robert Frazer (Robin Hood) and Arthur Hollingsworth (Richard the Lion-Hearted). Photo: IMDb.

ROBIN HOOD (Éclair-America, US 1912)
    Dir: Etienne Arnaud; cast: Robert Frazer, Barbara Tennant, Alec B. Francis, Muriel Ostriche, John Adolfi; rel. 22.8.1912.
    16 mm, 720 ft /18 fps/ 27 min, Fort Lee Film Commission, Al Dettlaff Collection.
    English intertitles.
    Grand piano: Donald Sosin.
    Viewed at Cinema Ruffo, Sacile, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM): Fort Lee, 15 Oct 2004   

Richard Koszarski (GCM): "This work print represents a restoration in progress based on a now decomposed tinted nitrate original from the collection of Al Dettlaff. The Éclair studio, opened in 1911, was the first to be built in downtown Fort Lee, literally down the block from parts of Main Street frequently used by Biograph and other producers. The stated policy of Éclair’s president, Charles Jourjon, was to combine French dramatic and technical skills with American players, subjects, and scenery. To accomplish this Jourjon imported Étienne Arnaud, Ben Carré, Lucien Andriot, Émile Cohl, Maurice Tourneur, and many others, but Éclair suffered, especially in comparison with Pathé, from a lack of adequate distribution (at the time Arnaud filmed Robin Hood Éclair’s product was being distributed by Universal, but this relationship was never satisfactory). The slight lack of clarity in the narrative might have been less of a problem for audiences familiar with the apparent source, Reginald De Koven’s 1890 comic opera." – Richard Koszarski (GCM)

AA: Primitive gesticulation. Unintentionally comical. A good 16 mm print.