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Revision as of 03:44, 19 February 2007 by 207.69.139.9 (talk) (split overly long section)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 1993 film| Robin Hood: Men In Tights | |
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 Poster from the film | |
| Directed by | Mel Brooks |
| Written by | Mel Brooks Evan Chandler J. David Shapiro |
| Produced by | Mel Brooks |
| Starring | Cary Elwes Richard Lewis Roger Rees Patrick Stewart Dave Chappelle Mark Blankfield Megan Cavanagh Amy Yasbeck Eric Allan Kramer Matthew Porretta Tracey Ullman Isaac Hayes |
| Cinematography | Michael D. O'Shea |
| Edited by | Stephen E. Rivkin |
| Music by | Hummie Mann Mel Brooks (lyrics) |
| Distributed by |  20th Century Fox Columbia Pictures |
| Release dates | July 28, 1993 |
| Running time | 104 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993) is a parody of the story of Robin Hood, particularly parodying Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Other Robin Hood films, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Disney's Robin Hood, are also parodied. It was directed by Mel Brooks and stars Cary Elwes in the title role. The film is reminiscent of Brooks's 1975 Robin Hood based sitcom When Things Were Rotten.
The film also does minor parodies and references on previous Mel Brooks films, modern-day jokes, and other popular films and people. Template:Spoiler
Plot
Robin Hood (Cary Elwes) is captured during the Crusades and is imprisoned. With the help of fellow inmate Asneeze (Isaac Hayes), he escapes and makes his way back to England. He is asked by Asneeze to find his son, Ahchoo (Dave Chappelle, in his first major role). When he arrives, he discovers that Prince John (Richard Lewis) has assumed control over England while King Richard (Patrick Stewart) is away fighting in the Crusades and, unbeknownst to Richard, John is abusing his power. With the help of his bumbling blind servant Blinkin (Mark Blankfield), the big, strong, and rather dumb Little John (Eric Allan Kramer), Little John's friend Will Scarlet O'Hara (Matthew Porretta), and exchange student Ahchoo, he attempts to form a band of thieves to right the wrongs of the Prince. At the same time, he attracts the anger of the Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees), as well as the love of reluctant virgin Maid Marian (Amy Yasbeck). His band of thieves turns out to be a large contingent of village idiots, so he must train them for battle, with great difficulty.
Characters
Robin Hood, the titular character, is portrayed by Cary Elwes. His character makes a specific reference of Kevin Costner's character in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when Robin says that "Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent," which mocks Costner's obvious American accent in the aforementioned film. The joke is modified in translated versions of the film so as to make the connection to Costner more obvious. In German, it was changed to "Because I, unlike some other Robin Hoods, do not cost the producers 5 million" while in Italian version "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves", referring to another Costner movie Dances with Wolves. However, in the French version, Robin says "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I accept to wear tights".
Maid Marian, played by Amy Yasbeck, is the chaste object of Robin's desire. The film puts heavy emphasis on her virginity ("the greatest treasure in all the land") and her strong desire to lose it, which is a parody of the usual Marian character in other films, who, while sexually desirable, is mainly focused on finding love, not lust. To further emphasize this struggle for her virginity loss, she wears a chastity belt, much to the frustration of the Sheriff and Robin.
In keeping with Mel Brooks' fondness for jokes relating to Judaism, the familiar character of Friar Tuck is replaced by Rabbi Tuckman, purveyor of sacramental wine and moyel extraordinaire. Tuckman is portrayed by Brooks himself and his few scenes in the movie revolve around circumcision jokes. Upon meeting Robin for the first time, he offers to circumcise the Merry Men and, for the wedding scene at the end of the film, he has to finish a circumcision before performing the wedding ceremony. Tuckman also delivers the familiar Brooks line "It's good to be the king" as King Richard exercises his right to kiss the bride at the end of the film. This line had previously been used in Brooks' film History of the World Part I.
The character of the Sheriff of Nottingham, present in all Robin Hood legends, is here given the title of Sheriff of Rottingham, an obvious pun. He is played by Roger Rees, a veteran British actor. He is Robin's main rival for Maid Marian's hand, even to the point of blackmailing her into marrying him to save Robin from hanging. He also has a speech impediment which causes him to rearrange all the words in a sentence when frustrated, which elicits confusion from everyone, including his own men. His given first name, Mervin, is also poked fun at during the wedding to Maid Marian. The Sheriff, despite his obvious attraction to Maid Marian, is sexually pursued by another character, Latrine, played by Tracey Ullman, though her desirability is questionable at best.
Prince John, the usurper of the throne, is played by Richard Lewis, a well-known comedian. Though he plays a British monarch, Lewis has a heavy New York Jewish accent. In Italian version, he has a Roman accent. John is a constant worrier, due mainly to his stealing the throne from his brother Richard. This is shown when he asks the Sheriff of Rottingham to tell him bad news in a good way so as to make it less stressful. John also reuses a previous Mel Brooks joke as his mole constantly changes position on his face, just as Igor's hump constantly changed sides in Young Frankenstein. The Sheriff of Rottingham points this out to him, to which John responds incredulously, "I have a mole?" The same way as in "Young Frankenstein", when Dr. Frankenstein points out to Igor that he is a surgeon and he can remove his hump if he wishes, Igor asks, "What hump?"
The Merry Men in the film are numerous, but the familiar characters are present:
- Little John, played by Eric Allan Kramer
- Will Scarlet, played by Matthew Porretta, though in this film he is known as Will Scarlet O'Hara, as a combination of the names Will Scarlet and Scarlett O'Hara, the heroine of Gone with the Wind.
- Blinkin, played by Mark Blankfield. A parody of a similar character in Robin and Marian and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, who was also blinded. Blinkin's blindness is often used to comical effect, such as during his reunion with Robin, when he rushes to embrace Robin, but passes him completely and instead embraces a statue of Venus de Milo. He immediately laments the loss of "Robin's" arms in the Crusades, and comments on his apparent acquisition of new breasts, until Robin says, "Blinkin, I'm over here!"
- Ahchoo, played by Dave Chappelle in his feature film debut. Ahchoo is a parody of Azeem, Morgan Freeman's character in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Ahchoo's jokes focus on stereotypes of American black men. When he's being beaten by the Sheriff of Rottingham's men, he asks if it's being videotaped, a reference to the Rodney King beatings in Los Angeles. He then says, in the midst of a fight,"hang on I gotta pump up" and pumps up his Reebok pumps. Also, when Ahchoo is appointed the new Sheriff of Rottingham, everyone gasps, "A black sheriff?!", to which Ahchoo responds, "Why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles", another Brooks film (Chappelle delivers the line in a canny impersonation of Cleavon Little's voice). In another scene, Ahchoo quotes Malcolm X, the radical black leader, in an attempt to rouse the Merry Men to action. The scene where Robin Hood attempts to jump on his high horse but falls, and Ahchoo says "White man can't jump!", is a reference to the film White Men Can't Jump.
As it happens, several of the people involved with the film were involved in other Robin Hood productions.
- Mel Brooks and Dick Van Patten, who plays the Abbot in the film, previously collaborated in a Robin Hood television parody titled When Things Were Rotten, in which van Patten played Friar Tuck. While critically acclaimed, the show ran for only half a season in 1975. Van Patten also appeared as King Roland in Brooks's 1987 comedy Spaceballs.
- Dom DeLuise's brief role as Don Giovanni in Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a parody of Marlon Brando's performance in the film The Godfather. DeLuise has appeared in the Mel Brooks movies Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World: Part I and Spaceballs.
- Amy Yasbeck has also played in Brooks' most recent film, Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
- Robert Ridgely, who played the Hanger, somewhat reprised his role from Blazing Saddles.
- Matthew Porretta would go on to play Robin Hood in the television series The New Adventures of Robin Hood.
- Patrick Stewart, who appears briefly as King Richard, once assumed the Robin Hood role while portraying Jean-Luc Picard on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (episode "Q-pid").
There are also several other references to previous Brooks films, in addition to those already mentioned. The musical number, "Men in Tights", recycles the tune used for the musical number, "Jews in Space", from the film History of the World: Part I. Also used is a joke in which the film refers to its own sequel, in the reprise to the "Robin Hood Rap". This had previously been used by Brooks in History of the World: Part I and Spaceballs. Another recycled joke is the "Walk this way" gag, here delivered by the Sheriff of Rottingham. This had previously been used in Young Frankenstein and History of the World: Part I.
More Referencing
Characters
- A wedding guest shouts out, "Hey, Abbot!" in an imitation of Lou Costello to Dick Van Patten's Abbott character. This is a gag based on comedians Abbott and Costello, where Costello's catchphrase was "Hey, Abbott!", in reference to Bud Abbott.
- There was a scene where the sheriff organizes a secret meeting of men who will kill Robin Hood. During an introduction one of the Don's henchmen, Filty Luca, quotes Luca Brasi from the movie The Godfather:
- "I am thanking you... for inviting us... on the day of your daughter's wedding. I pray that your first child... be a masculine child."The Don,Giovanni tells him: "Shut up,will you? We didn't even have a meeting yet."The other henchman is Dirty Enzio,who had his tounge cut by the Don's enemy.
- Filty Luca's name is a reference to both Luca Brasi and a wordplay on "filthy luchre."
- Dirty Enzio is named after Dirty Harry, but since this is the time of Robin Hood, he uses a cross-bow instead of a Magnum. In addition, "Enzio" is most likely taken from Enzo Ferrari,of the Ferrari car company, a high-end Italian sports car company.
Real people
- The scene where Robin tries to rouse the commoners, parodies the famous Blood, Sweat and Tears speech given by Winston Churchill during the Battle of Britain. The commoners all fall asleep and are roused again by the Malcolm X parody.
Brands
- While forming his band of merry men, the supply line for the clothes and weapons distibuted to the men includes a table full of large plastic eggs containing pantyhose, a clear reference to the L'eggs brand of pantyhose, owned by Hanes, itself owned by the Sara Lee Corporation.
- Then while instucting the men on how to joust, the targets are mannequins on horseback whose heads are constructed of various anachronistic large food cans, including such brands as Campbell's soup.
- Ahchoo's shoes and the scene where he pauses a fight to pump air into them are modern references to the 1980s-early 90s popularity of the air pumped shoes,famous for their pump technology, which were marketed by competitors Reebok (The Pump) and Nike (The Air Pressure). The small button on the shoes' tongue was the air pump and when pressing it (which Ahchoo is seen doing), the shoes would inflate internally, causing the shoes to fit tighter to the feet.
Films
- After Robin apparently loses the archery contest, he remarks that he's not supposed to lose. He produces a copy of the script from behind his back, and comes to the conclusion that he indeed gets another shot. Others in the film, most notably Prince John and the Sheriff, also check their scripts, and admit that, according to what's written, Robin does indeed get another shot. This is slightly similar to Spaceballs, when the villians can't think of what to do next, and decide to consult the home video version of Spaceballs, which has surprisingly already been released and is contained within the movie collection onboard.
- As the Sherriff captures Robin and his crew, he haughtily tells them, "Walk this way;" and turns with a flourish and struts off. The other characters comply and follow him in the exact same mannerism. This is a recurring gag in virtually every Mel Brooks movie.
- When the Merry Men burst into Prince John's banquet to assist Robin, Blinkin shouts, "Hoowah!!" This is a reference to Lt. Col. Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman, who is also blind.
- The Young Lad's (Corbin Allred) scene of slapping his hands onto his face and screaming is a reference to the movie Home Alone, which featured a scene of Macaulay Culkin in the same pose and on the ad campaign. The Young Lad also mentions that he needs to go "home alone" after Robin saves him.
Historical
- The plan to kill Robin was to have Filthy Luca engage Robin in an archery contest while Dirty Enzio is to kill him by firing a crossbow from a nearby tower. The room in the tower is shown to be called the folio depository, a reference to Texas School Book Depository, from where Lee Harvey Oswald purportedly shot President Kennedy. However, as the arrow is about to hit Robin, Blinkin miraculously catches the arrow in mid-air, exclaiming that he "heard it coming from a mile away!" Robin the procedes to attempt to beat Filthy Luca's dead-center bull's-eye shot with a Patriot arrow, a clear reference to the U.S. military's anti-ballistic missiles popularly used, among other things, to shoot down Iraqi SCUD missiles during the Persian Gulf War.
Judaism
- There are numerous references to Judaism, as there are in all Mel Brooks' films.
- There is the very prominant Rabbi Tuckman, who is both a rabbi and a ritual circumscisor whose mule's name is Molly, a classicly Jewish name.
- When Robin drops the wild pig on the table in front of Prince John, John remarks, "traif", a reference to the pig not being a kosher animal.
- After being served his breakfast omelet by the Latrine, Prince John remarks how "this reminds of me of a seder at Vincent Price's house."
Sports
- During the archery contest, when it is established that Robin gets another shot, a man in the stands rallies the crowd to support Robin by giving him "The Chop," a clear reference to the "tomahawk chop" motion made during the war chant by fans of the Atlanta Braves and Florida State Seminoles football fans.
Trivia
- Despite demand from fans, the film remained unavailable on Region 1 DVD until April 2006 when a Mel Brooks box set became available. The film was released as a stand-alone Region 1 DVD on 2006-09-05. Region 2 and Region 4 versions have been available for several years.
- The scene where Latrine tries to get the Sheriff of Rottingham to sleep with her was entirely improvised by Tracey Ullman (Latrine) and Roger Rees (Sheriff).
- Despite being portrayed as a sickeningly old woman, Tracey Ullman (who plays Latrine) was born in 1959, while Roger Rees (who plays Sheriff, someone meant to be much younger than Latrine) was born in 1944, making her fifteen years younger than Rees.
- During the scene where Blinkin gives Robin the locket containing the key to Maid Marian's "heart", the locket flips open as Robin puts it on, briefly revealing that it does indeed contain a key. This is an obvious error, though, as it is not supposed to open until the end of the movie, and Robin quickly flips it shut again. It likely remained in the film as it is very difficult to notice.
- When King Richard returns from battle in the middle of Robin's wedding to Maid Marian, he asks Rabbi Tuckman to hold his sword by saying, "Hold this, Father," and Rabbi Tuckman corrects him with, "Rabbi." King Richard replies, "Whatever." After King Richard finishes kissing Marian, Rabbi Tuckman returns his sword by saying, "Here's your knife back," and King Richard corrects him with, "Sword." Rabbi Tuckman replied, "Whatever."
- There are a few instances of the "breaking of the fourth wall" during the dual scene between Robin and the Sheriff near the very end of the movie. To begin, Robin informs the Sheriff to "prepare for the fight scene." Secondly, at one point when Robin thrusts his sword forward and it goes out a window as the Sheriff moves to the side, Robin skewers the bagel of a crew member who is standing outside of the scene.
Technical data
- sound: Dolby Analog SR
- aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1
- MPAA rating: PG-13
See also
External links
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