Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)

While King Richard is away at the Crusades, some Nottingham nobles and their Sheriff plot to confiscate estates of fallen Crusaders but Robin Hood and Maid Marian foil their plan.

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writer:

Alan Hackney (screenplay)

Stars:

Richard Greene, Peter Cushing, Niall MacGinnis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Greene	...	Robin Hood
Peter Cushing	...	Sheriff of Nottingham
Niall MacGinnis	...	Friar Tuck (as Niall McGinnis)
Richard Pasco	...	Edward, Earl of Newark
Jack Gwillim	...	Archbishop of Canterbury Hubert Walter
Sarah Branch	...	Maid Marian Fitzwalter
Nigel Green	...	Little John
Vanda Godsell	...	The Prioress
Edwin Richfield	...	The Sheriff's Lieutenant
Charles Lamb	...	Old Bowyer
Dennis Lotis	...	Alan A'Dale

Storyline

The sheriff of Nottingham plots to confiscate the estate of the Lord of Bortrey, who has died on Crusade. The Archbishop of Canterbury speaks against this plot, and the sheriff plans to eliminate him. Robin Hood pretends to undertake the assassination of the Archbishop for the plotters; Maid Marion, meeting him thinks him the leader of a gang of murderers, and leads him into a trap.

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Plot Keywords:

archbishop | archbishop of canterbury | pardon | chancellor | earl | 

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Taglines:

All-New Adventures of Robin Hood! The world's most fearless fighter faces his greatest challenge!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Schwert des Robin Hood

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Hammer Films, Yeoman Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolour)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening credits: The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the names, characters or history of any persons is entirely accidental and unintentional.

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Goofs

It is fairly obvious that the film was made in Ireland and that much of the smaller part casting was done there; the people in the inn in Bawtry and the nuns in the priory all spoke with Irish accents.

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Crazy Credits

The movie begins and ends with a short song so as to be consistent with the TV series. The song at the end of the movie goes like this: "Friar Tuck his blessing now will give,/The outlaws spare the poor, /And Robin Hood and Marion live/In Sherwood evermore."

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Connections

Version of Robin Hood (1913)

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Soundtracks

Songs
Composed by Stanley Black
Sung by Dennis Lotis (uncredited)

User Reviews

Swashbuckling , action , romance and dueling in this entertaining adventure movie

Passable version based on the legendary character with spectacular fights and average production values . In 13th century England, Robin (Richard Greene) , the World's Most Renowned Swordsman , along with band of marauders as Nigel Green as Little John , Niall MacGinnis as Friar Tuck and Darren Nesbitt as Martin confront local corruption and lead an uprising against the Sheriff that will forever alter the balance of world power . Robin lives again , a hero of every villain , friend to those who have friends . The movie now opens with a man (Desmond Llewelyn as wounded fugitive) riding into the forest on horseback and his identity is never revealed . Robin and his men rescue an unnamed rider seriously wounded who is fleeing to Sherwood Forest on his horse , being chased by the Sheriff's men . Robin absolutely refuses to turn him over to the Sheriff who offers him a full pardon in exchange for the wounded . The sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing) schemes to confiscate the estate of the Lord of Bortrey, who has deceased on Crusades . The Earl of Newark (Richard Pasco) takes an interest in Robin's skill with a arch and puts him through a number of proofs . The Archbishop of Canterbury speaks against this scheme , and the sheriff plans to eliminate him . Robin Hood pretends to avoid the killing of the Archbishop of Canterbury ,Hubert Walter (Jack G. Willim), who is blocking their plans to confiscate a dead nobleman's ownership in the shire for the schemers ; Maid Marion (Sara Branch), meeting him thinks him the leader of a gang of murderous , and leads him into a masquerade .

The movie has acceptable action sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , adventure , romance and is pretty entertaining ; however being realized in TV style . There are some nice action sequences including the battles in forests and the ending confrontation at the climax of the film . Richard Greene was the only actor to reprise his role from the TV series , the other roles were played by an entirely new set of actors. The series formed by 143 episodes were starred and mostly produced by Richard Greene . The movie was shot on natural sets and Irish woods , Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland and interior scenes in Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland with functional production design by Joh Stoll who subsequently took in charge the settings of ¨Laurence of Arabia¨ and ¨The collector¨.

Robin Hood, also known Robin O'Locksley and the Earl of Huntingdom, is probably and sadly a creation of romantic imaginations . If Robin Hood did exist, it's almost certain that he was not a Saxon , though his enemies may well have been the Norman sheriff of Nottinghan and Prince and later king John Lackland.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Terence Fisher . He was an expert on terror genre for Hammer production , his best films were the following : "So Long at the Fair", Portrait from Life (1948), "Dracula", ¨The Revenge of Frankenstein¨ (1958), ¨The mommy¨ (1959), The Stranglers of Bombay (1959), "Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll", ¨The brides of Drácula¨ (1960), "Curse of the Werewolf", ¨The phantom of opera¨(1962), "The Gorgon", "The Earth Dies Sceaming", "Dracula ,Prince of Darkness" and "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed".

Other versions about this famous personage are the following : ¨Robin Hoos and his Merrie men ¨(1952) by Ken Annakin with Richard Todd and Peter Finch ; ¨Robin Hood price of thieves (1991) ¨ by Kevin Reynolds with Kevin Costner , Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman , the same year was exhibited ¨Robin Hood¨ by John Irvin with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman but was a flop though the critics considered best adaptation. The classic rendition is ¨The adventures of Robin Hood¨ by Michael Curtiz with Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland and recent rendition Robin Hood by Ridley Scott with Russell Crowe , Oscar Isaac and Cate Blanchet.