The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writer:

Lawrence Edward Watkin (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 June 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family

Plot:

Young Robin Hood, in love with Maid Marian, enters an archery contest with his father at the King's palace...

Plot Keywords:

Contest | Archery | Robin Hood | Bow And Arrow | King Richard I

Cast

Richard Todd	...	Robin Hood
Joan Rice	...	Maid Marian
Peter Finch	...	Sheriff of Nottingham
James Hayter	...	Friar Tuck
James Robertson Justice	...	Little John
Martita Hunt	...	Queen Eleanor
Hubert Gregg	...	Prince John
Bill Owen	...	Stutely
Reginald Tate	...	Hugh Fitzooth
Elton Hayes	...	Allan - a - Dale
Anthony Eustrel	...	Archbishop of Canterbury
Patrick Barr	...	King Richard
Anthony Forwood	...	Will Scarlet
Hal Osmond	...	Much the Miller
Michael Hordern	...	Scathelock

Also Known As:

The Story of Robin Hood (Philippines: English title) (USA)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1992)

Filming Locations:

Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This was Disney's first take on the Robin Hood legend, which was made with British funds that had been frozen during World War II.

Quotes:

Maid Marian: [dressed as a page boy being held back by Little John] Let me go, you monster! Let me go!
Robin Hood: Hey, John. Give me that lad.
Maid Marian: [Marian is tossed to Robin] Let me down, you... you white faced...
Robin Hood: Well, you're a pretty lad and sweetly tempered. Like a lady I used to know.
Maid Marian: And I used to know a gentleman called Robin Fitzooth who would scorn to be a common thief.

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Disneyland: The Story of Robin Hood: Part 1 (#2.8)" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Whistle My Love

Stands Up on it's Own

I remember as a small lad seeing this on Walt Disney's hour television show where he regularly segmented his feature films for broadcast. Unfortunately this Robin Hood gets overlooked next to Errol Flynn's and the silent with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. but it has enough merit to stand on its own.

Richard Todd is a dashing Robin Hood and he was at the height of his career when he did this film for Walt Disney. Todd was a fine performer and should have had a much bigger career than he did.

The cast is filled out with a fine group of British performers. Two in my opinion really stand out. Peter Finch gets his first real exposure to American audiences as the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham. He probably had the biggest career of all the cast members.

Secondly the booming James Robertson Justice as Little John is never bad in any film he was ever in. The classic battle between Robin Hood and Little John with staffs on a log bridge was never done better.

During the 1950s this version also had competition from television where Richard Greene had a successful series for about seven years. The TV series was a good one, but this film doesn't have to yield to it either.

A fine adventure film, the kind just not being made any more.