The Men of Sherwood Forest

Hammer's first film in colour, and the first of a trio of Robin Hood adventures they made over the years.

The woodland around Bray, familiar from Hammer's later gothic horrors, here serves as Sherwood Forest. The film has a jolly script, done justice by the cast, which contains none of the later Hammer regulars; although some (like Ballard Berkeley and Leonard Sachs) later became familiar on TV, and several of the cast were to appear soon afterwards in 'The Quatermass Experiment' (notably David King Wood, who here plays the saturnine Sir Guy). An uncredited Bernard Bresslaw who plays a gormless guard was later up for the role of Frankenstein's monster, and only lost out to Christopher Lee because his agent asked for more money.

Lanky Don Taylor, the then obligatory American star, does a good job of emulating the impishness and grace of Errol Flynn; while Eileen Moore's mischievous 'Lady Alys' (with lips more blood red than any of Dracula's later brides) looks good both in tights and on horseback.