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

Expected more

As Good As It Gets

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

1st watched 9/13/2013 -- 7 out of 10(Dir-Ken Annakin): *DVD I watched entitled just "The Story of Robin Hood"* Entertaining and informative telling of the Robin Hood story does a good job of keeping your interest and helping the viewer to understand why Robin became the outlaw Hood, and placed himself in the position of the leader of the group in the Sherwood Forest.(Aka. The Merrie Men) This is a Disney live action movie that actually has less fluff than others and is pretty straight-forward in the telling of the tale. Richard Todd plays the main character as a playful yet purposeful hero of the poor folk in the area after King Richard goes on a crusade and his brother takes advantage of his position by over-taxing everyone and trying to rid the forest of what he considers riff-raff(the Forresting folk). The first culprit of his arrows is Robin's father(thus providing the primary purpose of Robin's exile and revenge mindset initially). Quickly though the stealing from the rich and giving to the poor became a necessity for the poor folk to survive. The sheriff of Nottingham is the primary vehicle for brother Richard's type of thievery and justice, and eventually Maid Marion(played by Joan Rice) finds out what's going on and begins to help the Merrie Men. This live action piece seems to be a possible guide to the later animated Disney film, but some of the stronger emotional pieces were removed. I haven't viewed many of the versions of this story, but this is the best I've encountered so far because you understand Mr. Hood's plight and purpose. There is a little fun to be had with the Merrie Men and Robin & Marion's teasing, but primarily the completeness and clarity of the story is what makes this film work.

In the 1950's Disney made several live action feature films of variable quality,some such as Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Great Locomotive Chase were actually rather good but perhaps the best of all was The Story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.For a start it was actually filmed in Sherwood Forest in England and Richard Todd who plays Robin Hood had an impeccable upper class English accent.Peter Finch who plays the evil Sheriff of Nottingham was of course Australian but manages a reasonable English accent.The Merry Men and peasants all seem to have acquired an undefined West Country accent which is personified by James Robertson Justice who plays Little John.Watching the film recently one is reminded of what a big brawny chap he was before he started to get corpulent.The film itself has all the usual plot elements,e.g.Robin and Maid Marion played by the delectable Joan Rice,the archery contest and of course the usual comic appearance of Friar Tuck played by James Hayter,a part he was born to play.The story continues with the collection of King Richard's ransom which the dastardly Sheriff and his men try to steal disguised as Robin Hood's men.Hooray! The real Robin Hood and his Merry Men come to the rescue in the nick of time much to the relief of The Archbishop of Canterbury and Queen Eleanor the King's mother,a tough old bird played by Martita Hunt.There is plenty of action,energetic sword fights and last minute rescues all very tastefully done apart from two quite violent scenes.The first when two peasants played by Michael Hordern and Bill Owen who can't or refuse to pay their taxes are taken to the town square and hung up over heated braziers while the Sheriff's men ride around beating them with cudgels.Fortunately for them they are soon rescued by Robin Hood @ Co and become it has to be said not particularly happy Merry Men.The other is when,at the end,The Sheriff is squashed between the drawbridge and the castle wall,a grisly end which serves him jolly well right.I have nothing but praise for the entire cast,this is a wonderful adventure film for schoolboys of all ages and all in glorious color and brilliantly directed by Ken Annakin.In the final scene Robin and Marion are married with the blessing of King Richard who turns up at the last minute, yes I know the story is only a legend but I wonder how the couple would have fared in the years to come when King Richard is killed in The Crusades and the villainous Prince John becomes the legitimate King.In history he wasn't known for forgiving and forgetting.

Personally I do not think it is as good as The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn which is the epitome of what an adventure film should be. However, it is solid and truly excellent family entertainment, if a tad too short. The locations are authentic and the Technicolour photography is very fine. The score is suitably rousing, and the script has its fair moments of wit and light-hearted humour while the story never meanders or feels dull. Ken Annakin directs briskly and there is some lively sword-fighting as well. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men also benefits from a fine cast. Richard Todd is enjoyable as Robin Hood, and there is a tuneful Allan-a-Dale. And Joan Rice is an alluring Maid Marion. However, the best of the lot are a stately Martita Hunt, a robust James Robertson-Justice, a wicked Peter Finch and a delightful Hubert Gregg. On the whole, not quite classic status but great fun and recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This was an outstanding film, with superb acting, a wonderful musical score, and colourful scenes that unfold from the Disney picture book of life in the middle ages. I remember seeing it around 1956 as a 10 yer old, and was fascinated by the lives of the outlaws, sheltering in the glades of Sherwood Forest from the wicked Prince John and his cunning assistant the Sheriff of Nottingham.The script was tight and delivered in impeccable olde English by actors who often went on to become household names in the acting profession later on in life. The beautiful scenes of woodland glades, the sun shimmering brightly as it cascaded through the trees into the outlaws' camp, brought to life the story of their fight for freedom and justice, and added a strangely surreal visual effect.There are a number of memorable scenes, friar tuck singing with himself as he munched his capon pie among the most notable. The most captivating for me, however, was the sight of Tuck walking behind Robin and Marian out of an eerie Sherwood Forest, with the lilt of Alan A Dale's voice as he sang a pleasant, melodic little tune .Yes, a very pleasant, uncomplicated film.