Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights
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.

Plot

Introduction

A group of villagers are being subjected to the fiery arrows of Robin Hood's Merry Men. Angry and upset that their village is burned down during every Robin Hood film, they yell at Mel Brooks to leave them alone. A group of rappers then proceed to tell the tale of Robin.

Return to England

Robin Hood (Cary Elwes) is captured during the Crusades and is imprisoned at Khalil Prison in Jerusalem. With the help of fellow inmate Asneeze (Isaac Hayes), he escapes from the prison, and frees all the other inmates. He is asked by Asneeze to find his son, Ahchoo (Dave Chappelle, in his first major role). Robin then swims from Jerusalem to the Atlantic and then to England, where he lands near Hollywood-esque letterings spelling E-N-G-L-A-N-D.

Problems Back at Home

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. He finds out from his family's blind servant Blinkin (Mark Blankfield) that his parents died, his brothers died of the Plague, his dog was run over by a cart, his goldfish was eaten by the cat, the cat choked on the goldfish and that his family's castle has been taken by Prince John because of their failure to pay backtaxes. However, Robin's dad left him a necklace, which holds the key to the greatest treasure in all the land. The two leave to search for the treasure.

Enemies and Allies

After Robin makes a fool of the Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees) who has an embarrassing habit of mixing up words, he decides he must help free England from Prince John's tyranny. He meets the large and ignorant Little John (Eric Allan Kramer) who can't swim in six inches of water, and his friend Will Scarlet O'Hara (Matthew Porretta), who is an amazing and cocky fighter. Prince John is warned by his cook Latrine (Tracey Ullman) to beware of Robin.

Robin also attracts the attention of the lovely Maid Marian (Amy Yasbeck), who wants to find the man who has the key to her heart - and her Everlast chastity belt. After he trashes the dinner party Prince John throws, Robin decides to build an army to fight him back. The villagers are idiots at their best, and are barely worthy of wearing their tights. They are helped by the crass Jewish Rabbi Tuckman (played by Mel Brooks himself).

The Tournament

While Robin is training his army, the Sheriff of Rottingham hires Don Giovanni, an Italian mobster, to take Robin out at the Spring Festival Archery Tournament. Maid Marian hears of the evil plot, and sneaks out of her castle to warn Robin, accompanied by her grumbly German maid Broomhilde. Robin and Marian confirm their affections, and Broomhilde refuses to let them kiss unless Robin proposes, much to the chagrin of the two.

Robin goes to the archery tournament, and makes it to the final round. After hitting the center of the bullseye, he unmasks himself. however, the Don's archer splits his arrow in two. After everyone consults the script for Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Robin takes another shot and wins. He is arrested, and Marian gives her body to the Sheriff in exchange for Robin's life.

A Wedding and/or a Hanging

Whilst a hangman debates which size noose to use on Robin, the Abbot comes out of the castle to marry Marian and Rottingham. Before she can say "I Do", the castle is attacked by the Men in Tights, led by Little John, Achoo, Blinkin, and Will. While a battle ensues, Marian is carried off to the tower by the Sheriff, who wants to deflower her. However, he has to remove her chastity belt, which he tries to do with a jackhammer.

Robin enters the chamber, and the two have an intense swordfight (and, in one part, a shadow-puppet fight). The Sheriff breaks Robin Hood's necklace, which is really the key to Maid Marian's chastity belt. By accident, Robin runs the Sheriff through, but he is revived by his admirer Latrine, and he is forced to marry her. Robin and Maid Marian attempt to consummate, but Broomhilde arrived, insisting they get married first. Before Rabbi Tuckman can complete the ceremony, they are interrupted.

The Return of the King

It is King Richard (played by Patrick Stewart), who has returned from the Crusades. He shames his little brother, and says that all toilets shall now be called johns in shame for his brother. He also knights Robin before kissing Marian, as is his right, during which, Rabbi Tuckman states a line from one of Brooks' old movies (History of the World, Part I): "It's good to be the king!". After the ceremony, Robin makes Achoo the new Sheriff, to the surprise of the entire community. Achoo reminds them that a black sheriff worked in Blazing Saddles, and everyone agrees.

The Robin Hood Rappers reappear, and say the story is done. Robin attempts to turn the key, but it gets stuck in the chastity belt. He calls for a locksmith to help the very angry Marian.

Characters

Robin Hood

Robin Hood, played 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 (Elwes is English). 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 and French versions "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves", referring to another Costner movie Dances with Wolves.

• The scene where Robin tries to rouse the commoners, parodies the Friends, Romans, Countrymen speech in the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar and also 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 Ahchoo's Malcolm X parody.
• During the archery contest, Robin disguises himself as an old man, Prince John says "He looks like Mark Twain". After Filthy Luca makes a perfect shot impressively splitting Robin's arrow, a man from the stand says "He split Robin's arrow in twain!"

Maid Marian

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 the script required that Maid Marian was "blond, british, and buxom". Amy wore a wig, faked a British accent, stuffed a huge bra, and won the part.

Rabbi Tuckman

Rabbi Tuckman, played by Mel Brooks, is the Jewish portrayal of the familiar character Friar Tuck and is the purveyor of sacramental wine and mohel extraordinaire.

Tuckman keeps up with Mel Brooks' fondness for jokes relating to Judaism. Tuckman's 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.

Sherriff of Rottingham

Sheriff of Rottingham, played by Roger Rees, 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. His name is a pun on the name of the character Sheriff of Nottingham, present in all Robin Hood legends. The Sheriff of Rottingham 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, the ugly witch Latrine, played by Tracey Ullman, though her desirability is questionable at best. She later saves his life in return for his agreeing to marry her, and he winds up regretting his decision.

Prince John

Prince John, played by Richard Lewis, is the usurper of the throne. Though he plays a British monarch, Lewis has a heavy New York Jewish accent. In the 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?"

Don Giovanni & Men

• Don Giovanni, played by Dom DeLuise, is a parody of Marlon Brando's performance of the character Vito Corleone in the film The Godfather and is named after the title character of the Mozart opera.
• Filthy Luca's name is a reference to both Luca Brasi and a wordplay on "filthy lucre."
  • 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, Filthy 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."

• Dirty Ezio, played by Joe Dimmick [1] who had his tongue cut out by one of the Don's enemies, is named after Dirty Harry; since this is the time of Robin Hood, he uses a crossbow instead of a Magnum. In addition, "Ezio" is taken from Ezio Greggio, who is an Italian actor, film director, and friend of Mel Brooks.

The Young Lad

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. He then runs off screaming. Robin then remarks, "What an unusual child."

The Merry Men

Little John

Little John, played by Eric Allan Kramer. He is portrayed as being good-natured, if a bit thick. He and Broomhilde seem to form a relationship.

Will Scarlet O'Hara

Will Scarlet O'Hara, played by Matthew Porretta. His name is a combination of Will Scarlet, of Robin Hood legend, and Scarlett O'Hara, the heroine of Gone with the Wind. He's from Georgia, and whenever he puts up his daggers, he cuts his belt.

Blinkin

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. 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 blind. 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 an armless 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!" In another scene, Blinkin is up in a lookout platform, and accidentally falls off. He gets back up and realizes that he can see again, and promptly turns and slams right into a tree. He stops and suddenly says, "No, I was wrong." Finally, when Robin names Ahchoo the new Sheriff, Blinkin blurts out, "He's black?!" Also, when Ahchoo asks Blinkin to hold the horse for him he says "hey Blinkin!", which is wrongly interpreted and results in the answer "did you just say Abe Lincoln?" Blinkin has an incredibly powerful sense of hearing as he was able to hear and catch a crossbow bolt that had been fired at Robin, though seconds later when he is complimented on such a feat he turns and says "what? who's talking?".

Ahchoo

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,"I am running out of air!" 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 "Man, white men can't jump!", is a reference to the film White Men Can't Jump. After the Merry Men are formed and costumed, he wears his hat backwards, revealing a baseball cap-like adjuster. Another joke is his name where, three times in the movie, his name is said and whoever is spoken to replies "Bless you!". And when he is introduced to Blinkin', mistaking "Ahchoo" as "a Jew?!".

Mel Brooks films

There are also several other references to previous Brooks films, in addition to those already mentioned above.

• 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 The Producers, Young Frankenstein and History of the World: Part I.
• 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 villains 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.
• A camera breaks a window in the same manner as a memorable scene from High Anxiety.
• After King Richard kisses Maid Marian, Mel Brooks exclaims, "It's Good to be the King!", a phrase used in History of the World: Part I.by King Louis numerous times.

Robin Hood appearances

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.
• 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").

Other Mel Brooks collaborations

• Dom DeLuise has appeared in the Mel Brooks movies The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World: Part I and Spaceballs.
• Amy Yasbeck, Mark Blankfield, Megan Cavanagh & Matthew Porretta have also played in Brooks' most recent film, Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
• Hummie Mann also composes the music for Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
• Robert Ridgely, who played the Hanger, somewhat reprised his role from Blazing Saddles.

More Referencing

Real people

• 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. Van Patten's Abbot would then turn to the camera and say, "I HATE that guy!".
• The sounds made by Robin Hood and Achoo while fighting the Sheriff of Rottingham's men in the beginning of the movie (Claiming to use Praying Mantis Kung-Fu techniques) are a reference to the high-pitched sounds made by Bruce Lee in his Kung-Fu flicks.

Brands

• While forming his band of merry men, the supply line for the clothes and weapons distributed 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 instructing the men 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 and V8.
• 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.
• Marian's chastity belt is made by Everlast.
• After Maid Marian overhears the plans to kill Robin, she turns on the light in her room by clapping, which is a reference to the 1980s-90s device of The Clapper, owned by Joseph Enterprises.
• Robin's castle gets taken away by a realtor from H.M.R Blockhead, a company reference to H&R Block. This is also a joke, as normally, any English acronym beginning with H.M. means "His" or "Her Majesty's". Thus, H.M.R. Blockhead stands for "His Majesty's Royal Blockhead"!
• 20th Century Fox itself is also parodied in this film when Robin's friends decide to send a fox into the village (with a message for the villagers asking for their help--a pun on the fax machine). The box the fox is introduced in reads the words, "12th-Century Fox".
• Immediately before Prince John's party, a man can be seen securing his horse with The Club.
• The "magic pill" Latrine uses to save the Sheriff of Rottingham's life at the end of the final fight scene appears to be a mint lifesaver, (similar to the UK Polo).

Heraldry

• The men of Prince John wear coats which bear the arms of kingdom of Castile and Leon
• The thrones of Prince John and Rottingham in the archery contest are decorated with France modern (three fleurs-de-lis)
• King Richard wears quartered arms of England and France, adopted by Edward III
• When the Sheriff demands that knights "surround the great hall," in order to defend against Robin, two lines of full-armour-clad knights run out from a common doorway and entirely surround the room, but do nothing but stand in line and literally surround the great hall. They go so far as to stand on each step of the staircase. In the next frame, though, approximately five of these knights are cornering Robin's men.
• When Robin sees that the hall is surrounded, and his band has been effectively cornered, he grabs a rope and swings down towards the exit to the hall, knocking over an armoured knight, which produces a domino-effect, causing the ring of knights surrounding the great hall to topple one by one. Previously, Robin attempts to cut a rope which will cause a chandelair to fall on his assailants, but he cuts the wrong rope, and another chandelair falls on himself. When he is at the top of the staircase ready to swing down on a rope, he pulls on the rope, remarking, "Right rope." A green-lit "EXIT" sign can be seen above the doorway behind him before he swings down.

Historical

• The plan to kill Robin was to have Filthy Luca engage Robin in an archery contest while Dirty Ezio is to kill him by firing a crossbow from a nearby tower. The room in the tower is shown to be called the Royal 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 then proceeds 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 prominent Rabbi Tuckman, who is both a rabbi and a ritual circumscisor.
• 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."
• When Robin introduces Ahchoo to Blinkin, Blinkin mistakes Ahchoo's name as "A Jew". Robin then says "Not a Jew. Ahchoo."
• Rabbi Tuckman comments on how good a match Maid Marion of Bagelle and Robin of Loxley would be ("Loxley and Bagelle - you can't miss!"). This is a reference to a bagel and lox, a stereotypical Jewish food.

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, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Florida State Seminoles.
• When Robin's Patriot Arrow travels under the crowd's seats, this causes everyone to successively stand up and raise their arms. The motion created by the crowd is a reference to an audience wave, which occurs at sporting events.

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.
• In the scene where Robin Hood meets Asneeze in the prison dungeon, Asneeze appears to be wearing a gold wristwatch underneath his shackles.
• When the knights surrounding the great hall begin their domino-effect collapse, the knights near the exit door to the hall can be seen falling while bending at their necks, waists and knees. However, as the ring of knights ascends the staircase and proceeds around the perimeter of the room, the knights can be seen falling down without any bending of their joints, because empty armour suits were used.
• The hangman with the eye patch appears to be the same character--and was played by the same actor--as the hangman with an eye patch in "Blazing Saddles".
• The necklace that Robin's father gave to him came open while Robin was putting it on, revealing the key to Marian's chastity belt ("The greatest treasure in all the land").
• When Marian sneaks out of the castle, she jumps onto a horse in a way similar to the way Buttercup does at the end of The Princess Bride, another movie in which Elwes starred as a roguish outlaw (The Dread Pirate Roberts).
• ABC Family aired this movie on August 16, 2007. The film will return to Cinemax on November 2007.

Technical data

• sound: Dolby Analog SR
• aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1
• MPAA rating: PG-13

See also

• 1990s in film
• 1993 in film

External links

• Robin Hood: Men In Tights at IMDb
• Images
• All Movie Guide entry for Robin Hood: Men In Tights
• Movie stills