Robin Hood is no picture for me

In January 1938, composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold was in his native country Austria when he received a telegram from Hal Wallis, head of production at Warner Brothers, which read: "Can you be in Hollywood in ten days time to write the music for Robin Hood?" (i.e. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland as Robin and Marian). Korngold, who had left Hollywood for Vienna in May 1937 to work on his opera Die Kathrin, immediately left on the next ship that sailed for America. Although he had not read the film's script, producer Henry Blanke had told him that the love story between Robin and Marian was similar to that in Captain Blood (1935), a film Korngold had also scored.

The day after his arrival in Hollywood, Korngold went to the studio to attend a screening of a rough cut of the film. During the screening the composer grew increasingly concerned and distressed, seeing a fast-paced adventure film filled with action unfold before him. Convinced that he was not the right man for the job, he wrote a letter to Hal Wallis, informing him of his decision not to go through with it.

Shortly thereafter, however, something happened in Europe which made the composer change his mind. On 12 February 1938, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg met with Adolf Hitler, their meeting ultimately leading to the "Anschluss", Austria's annexation into Nazi Germany. Korngold had just heard about the meeting when he received a visit from Leo Forbstein, head of Warners' music department, who had been sent to the composer's LA home to beg him to reconsider his decision. Due to the explosive situation in Austria, Korngold eventually gave in to Forbstein's pleas and agreed to write the score after all. (Korngold's home in Vienna was later confiscated by the Nazis and the composer would not return to Austria until after the war.)

While still plagued with doubts and on the verge of giving up several times, Korngold ultimately delivered a fantastic score. I think it's safe to say that The Adventures of Robin Hood wouldn't be the masterpiece it is without Korngold's music. Quite deservedly he won an Oscar for it, his second after winning for Anthony Adverse two years earlier. Other film scores by Korngold include Juarez (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940) and Kings Row (1942). Korngold would influence many others composers, among them John Williams who cited him as the inspiration for his music for the Star Wars series.

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Here is Korngold's letter of rejection to Hal Wallis after attending the screening of Robin Hood on 8 February 1938.

February 11, 1938

Dear Mr. Wallis:

I am sincerely sorry to have to bother you once more. I do appreciate deeply your kindness and courtesy toward me, and I am aware of the fact that you have made all concessions possible to facilitate my work.

But please believe a desperate man who has to be true to himself and to you, a man who knows what he can do and what he cannot do. Robin Hood is no picture for me. I have no relation to it and therefore cannot produce any music for it. I am a musician of the heart, of passions and psychology; I am not a musical illustrator for a 90% action picture. Being a conscientious person, I cannot take the responsibility for a job which, as I already know, would leave me artistically completely dissatisfied and which, therefore, I would have to drop even after several weeks of work on it and after several weeks of salary.

Therefore let me say "no" definitely, and let me say it today when no time has been lost for you as yet, since the work print will not be ready until tomorrow. And please do not try to make me change my mind; my resolve is unshakable. 

I implore you not to be angry with me and not to deprive me of your friendship. For it is I who suffers mentally and financially. I ask you to weigh the pictures for which I composed the music, such as Midsummer Night’s Dream, Captain Blood, Anthony Adverse, Prince and [the] Pauper, against the one I could not make, Robin Hood. And if during the next few weeks you should have a job for me to do, you need not cable all the way to Vienna.

With my very best regards, I am,

Gratefully and sincerely yours,

Erich Wolfgang Korngold 

Source: Inside Warner Bros. (1935-1951) (1985), selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer. 

Above: Recording session for The Adventures of Robin Hood with Erich Korngold and Basil Rathbone who played Robin Hood's arch-enemy Sir Guy of Gisbourne. Below: Korngold at the Oscar Ceremony in February 1939 receiving his prize from Jerome Kern. A few years earlier Korngold had written the Oscar-winning score for Anthony Adverse, but it was Leo Forbstein who was awarded the prize; at the time it was customary to award the head of the music department instead of the composer.