Columbia Pictures
Robin Hood Collection (Bandit Of Sherwood Forest (1946)/Prince of Thieves (1948)/Rogues Of Sherwood Forest (1950)/Sword Of Sherwood Forest (1960)/Sony
DVDs)
Picture: B-/C+/B-/C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Films: C+
It is
taking Ridley Scott’s new 2010 Robin Hood film to get the other studios to dig
into their archives for similar material and in the case of the four films Sony
is releasing from their vintage Columbia Pictures holdings, it is long overdue. Their simply dubbed Robin Hood Collection offers four very interesting, fun, different
and must-see films that have not been available as they should be. All are in color, ambitious and offer
interesting surprises that many will be pleasantly surprised with.
Originally
conceived as a Son Of Robin Hood
project, Bandit Of Sherwood Forest
(1946) shamelessly wants to be a sequel of sorts to the 1938 Michael
Curtiz/Errol Flynn/Warner Bros. Adventures
Of Robin Hood (reviewed elsewhere on this site) from the amazing costume
design to hiring Director of Photography Tony Gaudio as one of three to lens
this film. Made only 8 years later, it
was assumed by writers Wilfred H. Petitt and Melvin Levy (based on Paul A.
Castleton’s work) that everyone has sent he film, but Columbia likely changed the title so Warner
would not retaliate.
However,
this is the most energetic of the four films with longtime actor Russell Hicks
as the new Robin Hood, Anita Louise as Lady Catherine, Edgar Buchanan well cast
as Friar Tuck and Cornel Wilde as Robert of Nottingham. Henry Levin and George Sherman co-directed
this entertaining production and Hugo Friedhofer offers a really good music
score.
Prince of Thieves (1948) offers Jon Hall in an
interesting turn as Robin Hood in a film that has little in common with the
Kevin Costner film despite the title. He
still defends Maid Marian (Patricia Morrison) and her brother (didn’t know she
had one) from the powers that be until Robin’s gang goes into action. This was a lower-budget production with less
money on the screen, including using cheaper CineColor, but Columbia knew they could not make a black
& white Robin Hood film after 1938, so they settled for this. Director of Photography Fred Jackman, Jr.
(see the Earth vs. The Flying Saucers
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) pushes the format as far as he can and
co-writers Charles Schnee and Maurice Tombragel offer a semi-memorable script
that is only so distinctive. This is one
of the last feature films by Director Howard Bretherton before moving on to TV
work.
Rogues Of Sherwood Forest (1950) has the late John Derek as
the poorest of the Robin Hood’s here, who can move, but cannot even act in this
B-movie, but it is still interesting with future Gilligan’s Island star Alan
Hale, Jr. as Little John, w role he played twice before, including in the 1938
classic. Back to three-strip
Technicolor, Columbia
had Ralph Gilbert Bettison and George Bruce (the 1939 Man In The Iron Mask) create a good script and capable director
Gordon Douglas (Walk A Crooked Mile,
Them!, Tony Rome) helm the ambitious project. Robin and company battle King John’s taxes
and the result is as awkward as it is amusing.
George Macready shows up as a different character than he played in Bandit Of Sherwood Forest and the rest
of the cast is also a plus, including Diana Lynn, Bill Bevan and uncredited
John Dehner. Director of Photography
Charles Lawton, Jr. (the original 3:10
To Yuma)
handles the lensing chores and color very well.
Sword Of Sherwood
Forest
(1960) is interesting in that it is a big screen version of the hit 1950s
British TV series The Adventures Of
Robin Hood with Richard Greene. That
was in black and white, but this is in both MegaScope and EastmanColor
processed by Pathe, so with the Hammer Studios, this was an ambitious attempt to
possibly recreate the TV success on the big screen. Terence Fisher directed, Peter Cushing plays
the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, Greene is Robin Hood again, Oliver Reed, Sarah
Branch, Nigel Green, Niall MacGinnis, Derren Nesbitt and yes, that is Q from
the James Bond films Desmond Llewelyn as the man who gets hit with an arrow in
the very beginning also star. Alan
Hackney from the series wrote the screenplay and did a good restart here. Director of Photography Ken Hodges (Behemoth The Sea Monster, The Ruling Class) also worked on the
series, but has no trouble at all with either color or the scope frame.
Along
with an Italian production of the same year, this is the first ever widescreen
Robin Hood film.
Cover art
is usually something I do not discuss, but I have to say that the art for all
four DVDs is unfortunately far from representative of the higher quality images
the four DVDs offer. All are in
three-strip, dye transfer Technicolor, except Thieves in CineColor and Sword
in EastmanColor processed by Pathe as already noted. All are also 1.33 X 1 except Sword, here in anamorphically enhanced
2.35 X 1 and a MegaScope shoot. Bandit has the best color and image
quality of the four, followed by Sword
and the others with Bandit so good it shames many Blu-rays I have seen
lately. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
not bad across the four films, cleaned up about as well as can be expected,
though a lossless codec might yield even better fidelity.
Extras
include a plug for Columbia Classics and Heath Leger’s hit A Knight’s Tale on all four DVDs, while the Rogues and Sword discs
have original theatrical trailers.
For more
classic Robin Hood, start with these links:
Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7474/The+Adventures+Of+Robin+Hood+(19
Adventures Of Robin Hood 1950s British TV Series
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8938/The+Adventures+Of+Robin+Hood+%E
- Nicholas Sheffo
