User Reviews

Two competent Hollywood helmers—George Sherman of "Big Jake" and Henry Levin of "The Man from Colorado"--teamed up for the above-average Columbia Pictures' release "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest," yet another saga about Robin Hood and his merry men in their battle with an autocratic tyrant. Scenarists Wilfred H. Petitt of "A Thousand and One Nights" and Melvin Levy of "The Robin Hood of El Dorado" have adapted Paul A. Castleton's 1941 novel "The Son of Robin Hood" in a rustic outing that tampers with British history. The chief difference is Robin Hood is gray-haired, and Will Scarlet, Allan-A-Dale, Little John and Friar Tuck appear a mite long in the tooth, too. The son of Robin Hood, Earl of Huntington, must now eclipse his father's legendary standing. Whether he is romancing a lady or crossing swords with the dastardly foe, Cornel Wilde appears to be in his element. He has no end of self-confidence, and his superb skills as an archer, an equestrian, and a swordsman testify to his expertise with these weapons of warfare. Mind you, Wilde is no Errol Flynn. He lacks Flynn's charisma. Moreover, he doesn't have any outstanding scenes. Nevertheless, Wilde was a champion fencer on the U.S. Olympic fencing team during the 1930s, and he appears to be performing his own fighting in the finale when he battles bad guy Henry Daniell. Unfortunately, the dames here are nothing delectable. Wilde's romantic interest, former Warner Brothers starlet Anita Louise is a decent actress but no pin-up girl. Jill Esmond makes only a minor impression as the Queen Mother.

"The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" opens with green clad archers on horseback of every description assembling in the eponymous woods to hear an elderly Robin Hood (Russell Hicks of "Tarzan's New York Adventure") address them about the tyranny that has loomed up in the personage of the Lord Regent, William of Pembroke (Henry Daniell of "The Sea Hawk"), who intends to repeal the Magna Carta. Later, after Pembroke has abolished the Magna Carta, Robin Hood delivers a passionate speech at the Council of Barons in Nottingham Castle against Pembroke's actions. The other barons capitulate to Pembroke, but Robin refuses to accommodate him. Consequently, Pembroke banishes the former outlaw and confiscates his wealth. Robin warns the Queen Mother to watch over her son because Pembroke may try to kill him. Naturally, the Queen Mother refuses to believe that Pembroke could behave so monstrously.

Meantime, the wily Pembroke plots his strategy. First, he separates the Queen Mother from the young King of England (Maurice Tauzin of "The Piped Piper") and orchestrates the demise of the monarch at the castle. Pembroke plans to have the young king plunge to his death from the tower where he has arranged for the youngster to lodge. Pembroke's best-laid plans go awry when the Queen Mother (Jill Esmond of "The White Cliffs of Dover") and Lady Catherine Maitland (Anita Louise of "A Midsummer Night's Dream") escape from the castle. Pembroke dispatches search parties, but they return to the castle at dusk. Instead, Robert (Cornel Wilde of "High Sierra") stumbles upon them in the woods. Lady Catherine and the Queen Mother try to masquerade as scullery maids. Robert doesn't believe a word of it, especially after he gets a glimpse of Lady Catherine's silk stocking. Eventually, our hero discovers the identities of the women, and Robin sends Allan-A-Dale in the guise of a minstrel to the castle. Allan-A-Dale eavesdrops on Pembroke and the Sheriff of Nottingham as they discuss murder.

Before this can happen, our heroes masquerade as religious figures who request shelter for the night at Nottingham Castle. Lady Catherine poses as the ill Prioress of Buxton. Initially, Fitz-Herbert (perennial villain George Macready of "Gilda") believes that the appearance of church people will derail their plans. On the contrary, argues Pembroke, the church people will serve as "witnesses to the fact that the king died by accident." Later, Fitz-Herbert leaves with a regiment to scour the countryside for the heroes when he runs into the real religious figures. Although they manage to rescue the king, Robert, Lady Catherine and Allan-A-Dale are captured. Pembroke plans to hang them, including Lady Catherine. Robert demands his right as a nobleman in the law of trial by combat. Pembroke accedes to Robert's wishes and then locks the protagonist up with no food or water for three days. The sly Pembroke also orders Fitz-Herbert to assemble the archers and have them ready to fill Robert with arrows if he gains the upper hand. Little do the villains know that Lady Catherine has been sharing her food and drink with Robert while he maintains a starved attitude. Meantime, Robin and his men take the king to safety and infiltrate the castle while Robert and Pembroke clash swords.

Clocking in at a trim 86 minutes, "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" is a brisk swashbuckler on a budget. Presumably, neither Sherman nor Levin collaborated on this epic. The question is who replaced whom? Interestingly, when the arrow sinks into the screen credit for the two directors, it lands solidly on George Sherman's name. Sherman may have been the alpha director. Undoubtedly, Sherman and Levin helmed separate scenes, perhaps like director Michael Curtiz did after he replaced William Keighley on "The Adventures of Robin Hood." Incidentally, lenser Tony Gaudio photographed not only the Flynn classic, but also he was one of three photographers on the Wilde version. Lensers George Meehan of "The Black Parachute" and William E. Snyder of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" also received credit as directors of photography on "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest." Some of the casting choices are quite novel: western tough guy Ray Teal plays Little John and Edgar Buchanan portrays Friar Tuck. The scene where Buchanan's Friar Tuck tangles with Robert has got to be the only time that Buchanan worked up a sweat on screen. Typically, Buchanan specialized in slippery, conniving, sedentary supporting characters, but here he displays incredible agility.

It's been a few decades since Robin Hood went up against the evil Prince John and the nasty sheriff of Nottingham, and now along with his son, he's out to rescue the late John's son Henry, now a boy king. John's widow and her lady in waiting, Lady Catherine, are under house arrest by the evil regent and plot to escape so Robin can rescue her son. Still strong but far from young, Robin utilizes his son, and this sets up a new starcrossed romance between him and Catherine.

The virile Cornel Wilde is cast as Robert Hood, while Russell Hicks is the still attractive Robin. Anita Louiseseems a little too Max Factored to be believable as a 12th Century lady in waiting with her mid 1940's bob, but Jill Esmond is perfect as the widowed queen mother. When Eva Moore appears, you will recognize her voice instantly from "The Old Dark House" and expect her to shout "No beds! They can't have beds!" when Wilde stops to drop Esmond and Louise off in her care. An interesting connection: Moore is the mother of Esmond!

Pretty much the rest of Robin's crew is back including Friar Tuck played delightfully by Edgar Buchanan, and getting to repeat the scene with the Sun that Robin had in the Errol Flynn film with Eugene Pallette. John Abbott, who usually played villains, is another of Robin's merry men. Playing the villains this time out are Henry Danielle as the regent and George MacCready as his associate. The sheriff of Nottingham, played by Lloyd Corrigan, is a minor character here.

While not a classic like the Warner Brothers version, this is quite enjoyable and nicely filmed in color. It utilizes a lot of the same devices as the previous versions of the classic tale, and so a lot of it seems to be a retread or remake rather than a follow-up. No mention of Maid Marion though although legend indicates that she became a nun. This obviously provided a lot of colorful nonsense for world war weary audiences who enjoyed seeing familiar villains taken down once again.

"The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" is a sequel of sorts to the highly successful "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) which starred an athletic Errol Flynn. We fast forward a generation where Robin, now the Earl of Huntington (Russell Hicks) has found new tyrants to replace the Prince John of old.

William of Pembroke (Henry Daniell) has somehow become appointed as the Regent of England ruling on behalf of the young King (Maurice Tauzin). At his side are the villainous Fitz-Herbert (George Macready), Lord Mortimer (Ian Wolfe) and the spineless Sheriff of Nottingham (Lloyd Corrigan). Robin assembles his merry men now middle aged warriors: Friar Tuck (Edgar Buchanan), Little John (Ray Teal), Will Scarlett (John Abbott) and Alan- a - Dale (Leslie Denison), (no Maid Marian here) to rid the country once again of the tyrants.

The Earl send for his son Robert of Nottingham (Cornel Wilde) to lead the revolt. He too becomes known as Robin Hood. The Queen Mother (Jill Esmond) and her lady in Waiting Lady Catherine Maitland (Anita Louise) watch over the young King. When the Regent imprisons the King, his mother and Lady Catherine escape to Sherwood Forest in search of Robin Hood.

Robin Jr. meets the two in the forest and becomes enamored with Lady Catherine. He takes them to the safety of Mother Meg's (Eva Moore) cottage while he goes in search of his father. He finds the camp and after a sword fight with the portly friar is identified as the son of Robin Hood.

The men of Sherwood begin to plan their rescue of the King. Allan - a -Dale is sent to gain entrance to the Regent's castle and learn of the Regent's plans. He overhears the Regent's plan to murder the King and assume the throne himself. He reports back to the group. Robin Jr. formulates a plan whereby Lady Catherine will pose as a nun in distress along with her disguised entourage in order to gain entrance to the castle.

While Robin Jr. and Lady Catherine execute their plan and rescue the King, they are captured by the Regent and jailed. Robin Jr. challenges the Regent to a "Death by Combat" duel, a right to which he as a noble is entitled. Meanwhile Robin Sr. and his men wait outside the gates for a signal to attack. The duel commences and..............................................................

This isn't a bad movie. Mind you it doesn't have Errol Flynn but the cast nevertheless up to the task. Henry Daniell and George Macready, two of the most formidable villains of the 40s, are dandy bad guys here. Cornel Wilde, al in his early 30s at the time, makes you believe he is the robust younger Robin of the story.

There's a couple of questions left unanswered. First, What was the King's name? It is never mentioned. Second, How did the Regent get appointed and by whom? And lastly, What DID become of Lady Marian, presumably the mother of Robin Jr.?

Among the unbilled players that I spotted in minor roles were: Lane Chandler, Dick Curtis, Ross Hunter, Francis McDonald, Gene Roth and Philn Van Zandt.

Worth a look.