dwpollar 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.

rogerblake-281-718819 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.

screenman Richard Todd's first full-length outing into the world of medieval England isn't half bad. There's a great all-British cast featuring Peter Finch as a very believable baddie in the form of Nottingham's Sheriff, whilst James Robertson Justice weighs-in as John Little.The script is quite good for such an otherwise heroic tub-thumper. There's one or two nice subtle exchanges, reminiscent of a more academic work like 'Becket'. There's some fine castle set-pieces that are obviously 'worked' with a little imagination. Colours are vibrant, with sly little shifts from sepia B&W intros.Action scenes and sword fights are a wee bit stilted. They lack the enthusiasm of Errol Flynn's version, and Todd himself seems a little reticent in the athletics department. One or two scenes are needlessly long, like the introductory sparring between Robin & Friar Tuck at the river. Whereas the archery contest, which could have been much more fun, passed in a bit of a flash. That's an editing/directing/production issue. There were probably worthy pieces that finished-up on the cutting-room floor.All in all, not a bad version, if a little bit pedestrian in the swash-buckling department.

loza-1 This is a later version of Robin Hood, made a decade and a half after The Adventures of Robin Hood. It follows the Disney formula of using good actors rather than well-known stars, and a terrific attention to detail.This film does not take as many liberties with known history as does The Adventures. If you are an expert historian, you can find faults, but they are kept to a minimum.In many places, this film is as good as, and sometimes surpasses The Adventures. But it lacks Michael Curtiz's touch, and - sorry to say - Richard Todd is no match for Errol Flynn.