T hirty-five years ago, two films about the legend of Robin Hood – stealer from the rich, giver to the poor – met and duelled in cinemas; we all know who won, Kevin Costner’s big-budget blockbuster, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But what about the other one? It was titled simply Robin Hood, directed by John Irvin and starring Patrick Bergin in the title role alongside a pre-Pulp Fiction Uma Thurman as Maid Marian. “It was very much a stand-alone film with the aim of giving Kevin Costner’s version a good kicking if we could,” says Irvin, now 85. “The studio wanted to go immediately because they wanted to pre-empt the Costner.” Ironically, this Robin Hood might never have existed if it weren’t for Costner’s heavily Americanised version, released two months after Irvin’s film in 1991. Before being appointed as chair of 20th Century Fox in 1989, American film executive Joe Roth had been developing a Robin Hood movie.…