9/11/2022

A colourful and enjoyable Disnification of the tale from 12th century English folklore. This time, we have a tousled Richard Todd in the title role. He travels to Nottingham to take part in an archery contest with his father (Reginald Tate). They win, but say some rather disparaging things about the new Sheriff (Peter Finch) and his father is killed as they return home. This drives our hero to outlawdom, and the traditional good v evil battles commence. We are introduced to James Robertson Justice as "Little John" and a jovial James Hayter as "Tuck" and all engage in a battle with the evil Sheriff and his devious patron Prince John (Hubert Gregg). In this version, "Maid Marian" (Joan Rice) is the daughter of the previous Sheriff who has accompanied Richard the Lionheart to the Crusades; she defects with her beau to live in the forest and there, their romance blossoms. Sadly, the narrative is all to frequently augmented by the rather annoying singing of Alan-a-Dale (Elton Hayes) and the action scenes are a bit theatrical - as is the performance of the imperious Martita Hunt as Queen Eleanor, but it's still a fun historical costume romp that is an easy family film to watch.