A big-screen spectacle that ranks as one of the monumental accomplishments of the silent era, ROBIN HOOD is a timeless story of romance and intrigue, staged on a herculean scale. Its sets were erected by an army of 500 carpenters and towered 90 feet in the air, covering acres of land – historically accurate to the smallest detail. For this restoration, a full frame 35MM fine grain positive was scanned at 4K, with 175 hours of digital clean-up at 2K completed.

Shot in two-strip Technicolor, Fairbanks had conceived of THE BLACK PIRATE years before it was finally made. According to Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance, it was “the most carefully prepared and controlled of Fairbanks’s entire career,” certainly in no small part due to the expense and limitations of the early color process. The resulting film earned high praise from The New York Times, which praised its “unrivalled beauty…mindful of the paintings of the old masters.” A 35MM color negative was mastered in HD for this presentation.

For thoughts on A Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

Robin Hood and The Black Pirate makes their Blu-Ray debut thanks to the Cohen Film Collection with a pair of rich transfers from recent restorations. Robin Hood was finished in 2K from a 4K scan with gorgeous color-tinted photography that shimmers in high definition with natural grain intact. The Black Pirate is presented in its original two-color Technicolor from a new master derived from the 35mm negative. Both of these transfers should be considered a win for fans of silent films.

The transfers show off a significant amount of depth and enhanced detail within the composition of the films. There is an agreeable amount of nuance present with nice textures on the period clothing and within the setting. The contrast is decently defined, but the transfer still experiences a good amount of flicker and specks of damage to the print. You will also find stray vertical lines and small stretches of more intensive damage that make a quick appearance without ruining the overall aesthetic of the films. Black levels present with fine depth and no egregious occurrences of black crush or compression artifacts. The Cohen Film Collection has done some really strong work given the age of these features.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray presents the films with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track which represents them well. Robin Hood is graced with a score from Rodney Sauer, while The Black Pirate is provided with a score conducted by Robert Israel in 1996. Both of these tracks suit the spirit of the films with an adventurous tone that gets you excited. As these are silent films, the music is the only element to contend with in these tracks, and it sounds powerful with no clipping or age-related wear and tear. Silent film fans should be pleased with the sound quality of these tracks, as they complement the experience famously.

Special Features

The Black Pirate Audio Commentary: Film Historian Rudy Behlmer provides a very enlightening commentary track in which he discusses the preservation efforts for this film, how this feature fares as a Technicolor spectacle, the background of the performers, the Hollywood landscape during this silent era and more.

The Black Pirate Outtakes with Commentary by Rudy Behlmer: An 18-minute collection of unused footage is provided here with insights from Behlmer to put everything into context.

Additional Outtakes from The Black Pirate: An additional 29 minutes of unused footage is provided here without any commentary.

Final Thoughts

Robin Hood and The Black Pirate are a good representation of what star Douglas Fairbanks wanted to accomplish on screen. Like the Tom Cruise of his day, Fairbanks put his heart and soul into these productions, fearlessly leaving every bit of blood, sweat, and tears on screen. The result is impressive, even if decades of action filmmaking have numbed our expectations for what to expect from an on-screen adventure. Robin Hood is unnecessarily long, but The Black Pirate strikes the balance better and never leaves you wanting to check your watch. These are both good efforts, but you need to be primed for this era of filmmaking or else you might find some elements a bit dull. Cohen Media Group has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty wonderful A/V presentation and a few cool special features. If you are a fan of the era, this is a great restoration effort. Recommended

A Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Cohen Media Group has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.