Sword of Sherwood Forest

1961 "All-New Adventures of Robin Hood! The world's most fearless fighter faces his greatest challenge!"
5.8| 1h20m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 25 January 1961 Released
Producted By: Hammer Film Productions
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Robin of Loxley and his men stumble on a plot to overthrow Hubert Walter, King's Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. The plotters, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the Earl of Newark, have set an ambush for Walter and Lady Marian Fitzwater. Will Robin get to them before it is too late?

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Reviews

Wordiezett So much average
Pluskylang Great Film overall
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
sykespj Judging by existing reviews, individual opinion seems to rely very heavily on the views of fans of the 50s TV series (i.e. old blokes like me), versus those who came in cold and took it on face value. It is important to note that the film was never intended to have any relationship to the TV version. Richard Greene, of course, starred in both... and that's about the extent of it.The Sapphire Films television series was a whole different kettle of fish. American writers blacklisted in the McCarthy era wrote under pseudonyms and packed the first two seasons with subtle left-wing ideology. The last two seasons fell into a more formulaic adventure groove, but still managed the occasional political overtone.The movie was typical of the Hammer production philosophy... take what little budget there was, invest heavily in production costs (vivid colour, widescreen ratios), and hire a passable cast with what's leftover (including at least one bonza babe). I'm betting Greene came pretty cheap and had the added bonus of drawing in fans of TV series.What you see is what you get. It still looks great, the storyline is good enough to last out the whole 77min, and there isn't a political statement in sight. For mine, 6.5 stars out of ten.
one-nine-eighty A Hammer film unlike a Hammer film; based on the cult 1950's TV series "The Adventures of Robin Hood" Richard Green reprises his role as the famous fictitious outlaw in a cheap film spin off movie. While the main star of the series stayed the majority of the cast where replaced, when you consider what they appeared in it makes this seem a whole lot more amusing: Peter Cushing, one time Dr Baron Von Frankenstein and also Sherlock Holmes, stars as the Sheriff of Nottingham meaning that the main face off is one time Sherlock Holmes chasing one time Dr Henry Baskerville. Various other actors don tights and join the story, including: Nigel Green who once played Hercules in Jason and the Argonauts (as Little John) , Jack Gwillim who once played King Aeetes in Jason and the Argonauts (is the Archbishop of Canterbury), Niall MacGinnis who played Zeus in Jason and the Argonauts (playing Friar Tuck). With other stars of famous films littered in this, if you are a fan of film you may certainly recognise a face or two. Hell, even Oliver Reed (Leon "The Curse of the Werewolf", and Athos one of "the three musketeers") features in this despite being overdubbed throughout.Don't expect something epic or convincing as this is a pretty poor rendition of the Outlaw by today's standards but for the time it was well created and received. Like so many other versions this film avoids telling an origin story of Robin Hood, the only origin situation is in meeting Maid Marion (Sara Branch). The film itself though takes a situation from the time line of Robin Hood and runs with that instead, in this instance there are two main focal stories, Martin of Eastwood's (Derren Nesbitt) requital and a plot to kill the Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Willim) from a deadly plot devised and set in motion by the Earl of Newark (Richard Pasco) and the Earl of Mowbray (played by, not but not credited, Oliver Reed). It all starts with a stranger being chased and killed by the Sheriff's men, he has in his possession a brooch showing a falcon with a daisy in it's talons. Robin try's to find out what the brooch symbolises but before he can find out he takes a job working for Newark as this may or may not help his detection work. This all goes wrong when the Sheriff turns up one day. It transpires that the Sheriff is in league with Newark and Mowbray. Can Robin save the Archbishop, England and the day? Probably with him being the hero of the film ;) This is not the greatest Hammer film by a long way but an easy film to watch on a lazy Sunday - although there are a lot better. This is one of the poorest film's I've seen bearing Terence Fisher's name as director unfortunately. The plot is easy to guess and the script doesn't improve the story in any way. The acting is hammy at best and it's only Cushing that delivers with any authenticity making the Sheriff scheming and sneaky while giving him a regal presence. Despite the downfalls the filming techniques used makes this a very bright and colourful rendition of the outlaw of Sherwood. One thing that baffled me was the title, in the film Robin mentions that his weapon of choice it the long bow and he's seen with it throughout, then why is the film called "The Sword of Sherwood Forest"? He does use a sword, more so towards the end of the film but not much, certainly not enough to warrant the film being called "The Sword of Sherwood Forest". Again this is just a minor thing and you'll soon forget the title when you start watching. 4 out of 10
ma-cortes Passable version based on the legendary character with spectacular fights and average production values . In 13th century England, Robin (Richard Greene) , the World's Most Renowned Swordsman , along with band of marauders as Nigel Green as Little John , Niall MacGinnis as Friar Tuck and Darren Nesbitt as Martin confront local corruption and lead an uprising against the Sheriff that will forever alter the balance of world power . Robin lives again , a hero of every villain , friend to those who have friends . The movie now opens with a man (Desmond Llewelyn as wounded fugitive) riding into the forest on horseback and his identity is never revealed . Robin and his men rescue an unnamed rider seriously wounded who is fleeing to Sherwood Forest on his horse , being chased by the Sheriff's men . Robin absolutely refuses to turn him over to the Sheriff who offers him a full pardon in exchange for the wounded . The sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing) schemes to confiscate the estate of the Lord of Bortrey, who has deceased on Crusades . The Earl of Newark (Richard Pasco) takes an interest in Robin's skill with a arch and puts him through a number of proofs . The Archbishop of Canterbury speaks against this scheme , and the sheriff plans to eliminate him . Robin Hood pretends to avoid the killing of the Archbishop of Canterbury ,Hubert Walter (Jack G. Willim), who is blocking their plans to confiscate a dead nobleman's ownership in the shire for the schemers ; Maid Marion (Sara Branch), meeting him thinks him the leader of a gang of murderous , and leads him into a masquerade .The movie has acceptable action sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , adventure , romance and is pretty entertaining ; however being realized in TV style . There are some nice action sequences including the battles in forests and the ending confrontation at the climax of the film . Richard Greene was the only actor to reprise his role from the TV series , the other roles were played by an entirely new set of actors. The series formed by 143 episodes were starred and mostly produced by Richard Greene . The movie was shot on natural sets and Irish woods , Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland and interior scenes in Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland with functional production design by Joh Stoll who subsequently took in charge the settings of ¨Laurence of Arabia¨ and ¨The collector¨.Robin Hood, also known Robin O'Locksley and the Earl of Huntingdom, is probably and sadly a creation of romantic imaginations . If Robin Hood did exist, it's almost certain that he was not a Saxon , though his enemies may well have been the Norman sheriff of Nottinghan and Prince and later king John Lackland.The motion picture was professionally directed by Terence Fisher . He was an expert on terror genre for Hammer production , his best films were the following : "So Long at the Fair", Portrait from Life (1948), "Dracula", ¨The Revenge of Frankenstein¨ (1958), ¨The mommy¨ (1959), The Stranglers of Bombay (1959), "Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll", ¨The brides of Drácula¨ (1960), "Curse of the Werewolf", ¨The phantom of opera¨(1962), "The Gorgon", "The Earth Dies Sceaming", "Dracula ,Prince of Darkness" and "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed".Other versions about this famous personage are the following : ¨Robin Hoos and his Merrie men ¨(1952) by Ken Annakin with Richard Todd and Peter Finch ; ¨Robin Hood price of thieves (1991) ¨ by Kevin Reynolds with Kevin Costner , Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman , the same year was exhibited ¨Robin Hood¨ by John Irvin with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman but was a flop though the critics considered best adaptation. The classic rendition is ¨The adventures of Robin Hood¨ by Michael Curtiz with Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland and recent rendition Robin Hood by Ridley Scott with Russell Crowe , Oscar Isaac and Cate Blanchet.
brownish33 ...and that is looking at the main actress Sarah branch who plays maid Marian. she is just oh so beautiful and its a shame she didn't do much acting work, even if she wasn't that great, i thought she was one of the most beautiful hammer women and i wish she did more films. other then that, the film like others have said is not nearly on par with other hammer productions. this was pretty boring and at times just plain silly. but I'm glad i got to see this for peter cushing cuz he is always good. i think this must have been one of his few villain roles, i always see him as the hero. anyway, thats all, worth a watch if you like these films, which i do.