The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954) YTS

Reviewed by richardchatten 7 / 10

Frolics in the 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.

Reviewed by ccmiller1492 7 / 10

Low-budget and modest in production values, but an amiable successor to Flynn

Although this film is on a modest, low-budget scale, it is an amiable and worthy successor to Erroll Flynn's more spectacular heroics. Handsome and agile Don Taylor inhabits the character of Robin as naturally as if he were born for it. Even though he's an American actor among an otherwise totally British cast, the doughty Taylor never strikes a wrong note and is perfectly at ease carrying on his exploits at a brisk pace in a strikingly comfortable medieval ambiance.

Reviewed by Coventry 6 / 10

So, Are you a gambling man?

Now, I haven't seen that many Robin Hood movies at all (actually, I've only seen two: the superior animated Disney version and Kevin Costner's rather boring "Prince of Thieves") but that isn't even necessary to notice this is a pretty good and unjustly obscure version about the legendary English folklore hero. This is the first of at least three Robin Hood movies produced by the awesome Hammer Studios – coincidentally also their very first film in color – and I'm ready to check them all out if they're as entertaining as "The Men of Sherwood Forest". The story is fast-paced, full of ecstatic characters and vivid adventure and steadily directed by the ever reliable Val Guest. He can pretty much be considered as Hammer's second best director, right behind Terence Fisher who incidentally also directed one of the other Hammer Robin Hood flicks, namely "Swords of Sherwood Forest" starring Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed. This earlier and obviously low-budgeted gem doesn't tell the conventional Robin Hood fable, but an entirely new one that hardly involves any looting, corrupt Sheriffs of Nottingham or Maid Marians. Robin and his loyal gang, including Little John and Friar Tuck, learn that the one true king of England – Richard Lionheart – will soon return home after being in prisoner in Germany. Eminent accomplices of his malignant brother Prince John intend to assassinate King Richard on his way home and put the blame on Robin Hood and his gang, but naturally the jolly hero in green is always several steps ahead of them. Don Taylor is really excellent in the role of Robin Hood. He's the ideally handsome, charismatic and heroic performer you'd expect. Taylor retired from acting in the mid 60's already, but became a respectable director and made some really cool genre films like "The Island of Dr. Moreau", "Damien: The Omen II" and "Escape from the Planet of the Apes". The one person to steal the show completely is Reginald Beckwith as Friar Tuck. He escapes from every perilous situation by luring his opponents into various sorts of gambling schemes. Undemanding, light-headed 50's entertainment for the whole family.

The Men of Sherwood Forest

1954

Adventure

The Men of Sherwood Forest

1954

Adventure

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Movie Reviews

Frolics in the Forest

Low-budget and modest in production values, but an amiable successor to Flynn

So, Are you a gambling man?

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