“Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993) was one of my regular rewatches as a kid, vastly more so than “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (1991), which I’m not sure if I’ve seen. For some reason I set it aside for 30 years, but all the funny scenes had stuck with me, down to the cadences of the lines, many of which I subconsciously yearn for opportunities to say.
- “That’s terrible news!”
- “It’s good to be the king.”
- “Man, white men caaaan’t jump!”
Director/co-writer Mel Brooks guides a well-oiled machine – and he knows that the audience knows what he’s doing, starting with villagers being annoyed that a Brooks film has invaded them. Brooks went too far with the fourth wall in “Blazing Saddles,” made the perfect straight parody in “Young Frankenstein” and then settled into a compromise.
“Men in Tights” lands in that middle ground. A camera lens crashes through a window to capture Marian (Amy Yasbeck) bathing; a guard with a staff crashes into a camera. It’s weird that Brooks is still obsessed with reminding us a movie is a movie, but easy to brush past.
“Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993)
Director: Mel Brooks
Writers: J.D. Shapiro, Evan Chandler (screenplay, story); Mel Brooks (screenplay)
Stars: Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, Roger Rees
The cast includes many actors new to Brooks, but they acquit themselves well, and the camaraderie among heroes (and humorous haplessness of the villains) matches perfectly with the Robin Hood mythology. Deftly leading the way as Robin of Loxley is Cary Elwes (“The Princess Bride”), a serious actor who can speak with an English accent and is blessed/cursed with a natural smirk. Within a decade, he played a suit on “The X-Files” and I always expected him to say something funny.
Funny, but also goofy
Comedians Richard Lewis (as a king who grabs the throne while his brother is fighting in the Crusades) and Dave Chappelle (as Robin’s friend Ahchoo) do their thing, looking bored except when they smoothly deliver their lines. Tracey Ullman gets to be showy as tower witch Latrine, a role Cloris Leachman would’ve had in the past, and Robert Ridgely is snort-worthy as a hangman who acts like a tailor.
The unsung standout is Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham. He plays it both comedically and earnestly – showing the frustration of a reasonably competent man who is slightly too ridiculous to have the respect of his men or the woman he desires.
It’s obvious that Robin and Marian are the match, and when Elwes “sings” a solo to Marian, it’s equally obvious (as part of the joke) he is lip-synching. And the musical numbers by the Men in Tights Dancers aren’t memorable, although it’s notable that – via their breaking into rap — Brooks totally embraces the humor of modern culture inserted into a period piece, something he flirted with in “Blazing Saddles.” More out-of-time comedy comes via Ahchoo pumping up his sneakers and horses being treated like automobiles (valet parking, etc.).
The Brooks- and Diane Warren-penned “Marian,” as sung by Cathy Dennis and Lance Ellington over the end credits, serves as a parody of Warren’s ballads that the Oscars loved at the time, but it’s also legit gorgeous. I have no doubt “Men in Tights” could’ve played fine on a straight emotional level like “Young Frankenstein.”
Brooks is feeling too goofy to do that, yet when I watched the film as a youth, my affection for Robin and his allies didn’t run all that far behind the jokes. Marian’s heart might be on the lock of her chastity belt, but “Men in Tights’ ” heart is in the right place.
For Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday year, RFMC is looking back at his catalog on some Mondays.