Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950) Reviewed

Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950) begins with the following statement:

The Bill of Rights and the Liberty and Justice we enjoy today stem from the Magna Carta, the great charter which the oppressed people of England forced from their tyrannical King John. In the year 1215, King John was secretly planning to crush all who stood in the way of his ruthless ambition.

The statement itself is ambitious, but the film falls short of being anything other than a vehicle for the son of Robin Hood to influence the course of British history and, as a result, American history as well. We'll return to that in a moment.

Robin Hood's son is played rather like an American athlete in a high school play by John Derek, and his love interest (and stand-in for Maid Marian), Lady Marianne de Beaudray, is played like a character from Father Knows Best by Diana Lynn. George Macready gives a standard villainous performance as King John. And for the third time in his life, Alan Hale plays Alan Hale as Little John.

It begins with a fiendish plot by King John to slay the son of Robin Hood (also known as Robin) in what Robin thinks is an innocent joust for sport against a Flemish knight. We also learn that Robin is besotted with Lady Marianne de Beaudray, that he and Little John have recently returned from the Crusades, and that King John is negotiating with the Count of Flanders for the use of Flemish mercenaries for suitably villainous purposes. King John blames his ills on Robin Hood, Sr. and the "democratic reign" of his late brother, King Richard. Once again, Richard the Lion-Hearted becomes the nucleus of a fantasy Golden Age, when in reality he was largely absent from England and couldn't be bothered by his subjects except when they needed to be taxed to fund his ransom. In this tale, however, he is apparently the father of democracy. By failing to be assassinated, Robin Hood, Jr. earns the further ire of King John and hastens to return to Nottingham, but not before igniting a classic love-hate misunderstanding between himself and Lady Marianne.

I shan't recount the typical goings-on that went about, but I will say that it took me three or four nights to get through this relatively short film. I could have done it in one night, but I would have slept through 75% of it. It is, to put it bluntly, boring by any measure.

Writing: Poor
Directing: Mediocre
Acting: Mediocre
Cinematography: Mediocre
Stunts: Mediocre
Swordplay: Poor
Panache: Mediocre

Overall Rating: Poor/Mediocre
Swashbuckling Rank: Poor/Mediocre

Written by: George Bruce and Ralph Gilbert Bettison
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Performed by: John Derek, Diana Lynn, George Macready, Alan Hale, et al.

Robin Hood (1912) Reviewed

The first depiction of Robin Hood on screen occurred in 1912 in the short film Robin Hood. Filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey with a runtime of 30 minutes, it amounts to little more than a pantomime with its simplistic plot, cartoonish characters, and rudimentary fight choreography (which one might suspect was limited to instructions on the order of, "Just wave your sword about and try not to hurt anyone"). Cinematography was still in its relative infancy, but there is nothing remotely innovative or adventurous on display here. The camera is stationary in every scene, indoors or outdoors, as if the viewer is attending a play, except a play would flow more naturally and be easier to follow. The acting is exaggerated, the pacing is awkward, the scene changes are jarring, and the action sequences are laughable. In one static scene, Robin Hood's merry men hastily arrange an ambush for their pursuers by holding up tree branches and lying down behind them in an open field. I doubt it would fool a blindfolded man, let alone a mounted man-at-arms, but the ambush succeeds, there's a general kerfuffle of pulling soldiers off their horses, and soon their antagonists are all tied to trees. All of the conflict in this version of Robin Hood's adventures is caused by Guy de Gisbourne's unrequited lust for Maid Marian and her father's disapproval of Marian and Robin's dalliances. So much does he disapprove of Robin that he informs Guy that if he can apprehend Robin, he is more than welcome to his daughter. Fights and flights ensue. The characters are all caricatures, and the revelation that the unknown personage is King Richard the Lion-Hearted is clumsy and anticlimactic. Fortunately, the legend of Robin Hood is too powerful to be consigned to oblivion by this half-hearted effort. The only value this film holds is historical. It was the first, and may well be the worst (or one of the worst). At least it is short.

Writing: Poor
Directing: Poor
Acting: Poor
Cinematography: Poor
Stunts: Poor
Swordplay: Terrible
Panache: Poor

Overall Rating: Poor
Swashbuckling Rank: Terrible/Poor

Written by: Eustace Hale Ball
Directed by: Étienne Arnaud
Performed by: Robert Frazer, Barbara Tennant, Alec B. Francis, Lamar Johnstone, Arthur Hollingsworth, et al.

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946) Reviewed

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946) is a passable and largely forgettable tale in the history of Robin Hood's various modern-concocted progeny, which, in this case, is Robert of Nottingham (played by Cornel Wilde). Early in the film, the master plan is revealed. The King's Regent, William of Pembroke (Henry Daniell), is plotting the assassination of the young King Henry III (Maurice Tauzin) and his own ascension to the throne, which will culminate in the destruction of the Magna Carta and anything else that stands in the way of his assumption of absolute power. The threat of autocratic rule was painfully fresh in the memories of those who survived the Second World War, and this is by far the most powerful and memorable scene in the film. Unfortunately, the film devolves rapidly into a series of standard genre clichés conveyed with generic adequacy (except for Henry Daniell's outlandish scenery-chewing that may have directly inspired Henry Polic's Sheriff of Nottingham in When Things Were Rotten and Edgar Buchanan's wiley prospector take on Friar Tuck). The only surprise is the quality of Cornel's fencing (which wouldn't surprise those who know that Cornel once turned down a place in the U.S. Olympic fencing team), but it is, alas, compromised by its brevity. Other action scenes are rendered less effective by being shrouded in darkness. What could have been a rousing swashbuckling parable against tyranny is instead a hasty romp through the usual Robin Hood wardrobe and sets.

[Slightly edited on 15 March 2025.]

Writing: Mediocre
Directing: Mediocre
Acting: Mediocre
Cinematography: Mediocre/Fair
Stunts: Fair
Swordplay: Good
Panache: Mediocre

Overall Rating: Mediocre
Swashbuckling Rank: Fair

Written by: Wilfrid H. Pettitt and Melvin Levy
Based on: Son of Robin Hood by Paul A. Castleton
Directed by: Henry Levin and George Sherman
Performed by: Cornel Wilde, Anita Louise, Jill Esmond, Henry Daniell, Russell Hicks, Edgar Buchanan, George Macready, Maurice Tauzin, et al.

Haphazard Chandelier-Swinging in 2025

I admit I am disappointed that I have been unable to fulfill my Theoretical Swashbuckling goals at the beginning and middle of 2024, but I shall strive to achieve them however long it takes in this topsy-turvy world (even if it means continuing the blog in an alternate format such as physical zine, podcast, or video). In this era, until further notice, I am abandoning my self-imposed blogging quota, but I shall continue to blog as circumstances permit. In addition to the lists of goals mentioned above, I am adding several more.

1. Discuss GURPS Robin Hood.
2. Find, watch, and review more Robin Hood movies.
3. Research, play, and review Robin Hood board games.
4. Reread Robin Hood and books written about the subject.

The Black Arrow (1948) Reviewed

The Black Arrow (1948) is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel of romance and revenge set in England during the Wars of the Roses. It begins with the unexpected return of Sir Richard Shelton (Louis Hayward) to his father's castle and his discovery of his father's murder. Conspiracies abound, mysterious assassinations occur, and underground movements are revealed. In the midst of it all, he meets Joanna Sedley (Janet Blair), the daughter of the man accused of killing Sir Richard's father.

Despite the shadowy plots of both the powerful and the rebellious, the film is fairly straightforward, the pace is brisk, and the action scenes—although not staggering in their scope or execution—are adequately enjoyable. It is not a big budget blockbuster by any means, but it is reasonably entertaining as a swashbuckling flick if one can forgive its brevity and the inordinately western folksiness of Edgar Buchanan's portrayal of Lawless, the archer with the black arrows.

Writing: Fair
Directing: Good
Acting: Good
Cinematography: Good
Stunts: Good
Swordplay: Fair
Panache: Good

Overall Rating: Good
Swashbuckling Rank: Good

Written by: Richard Schayer, David P. Sheppard, and Tom Seller
Based on: The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
Directed by: Gordon Douglas
Performed by: Louis Hayward, Janet Blair, George Macready, Edgar Buchanan, et al.