The Story of Robin Hood (film)

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ken Annakin
Written by	Lawrence Edward Watkin
Produced by	Perce Pearce; Walt Disney
Starring	Richard Todd; Joan Rice; Peter Finch
Cinematography	Guy Green
Music by	Clifton Parker
Production; companies	Walt Disney Productions; RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Release dates	March 13, 1952 (Premiere-London); June 26, 1952 (US);
Running time	84 minutes
Language	English
Box office	$2.1 million (US rentals)

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is a 1952 live action Disney version of the Robin Hood legend made in Technicolor and filmed in Buckinghamshire, England. It was written by Lawrence Edward Watkin and directed by Ken Annakin. This is the second of Disney's complete live-action films, after Treasure Island (1950), and the first of four films Annakin directed for Disney.

Plot

In 1190 in England, King Richard the Lion Heart summons his knights from their countryside provinces to accompany him on a holy crusade. One of the loyal respondents is the Earl of Huntingdon, who, upon readying to leave for London, can't find his daughter, Maid Marian. Her nursemaid, Tyb, finally locates her in a nearby field flirting with her beloved, Robin Fitzooth, a noted bowman who playfully refuses to return her affection.

At the palace, Huntingdon requests that the Queen mother, Eleanor, keep the motherless Marian as her charge, and the Queen consents with pleasure. After Richard instructs his brother, Prince John, to rule during his absence over the midland counties, exercising temperance and parity, the Archbishop of Canterbury blesses the expedition.

As soon as the King has departed, John names a new Sheriff of Nottingham and secretly commands him to assemble an army of expert bowmen who can forcibly collect high taxes from the peasants. The Sheriff arranges an archery competition, attended by the Queen, Marian, Robin and his father, Lord Hugh Fitzooth. Despite the presence of the Sheriff's brawniest men like Red Gill, Hugh and Robin effortlessly win the match, after which Robin presents the award, a golden arrow, to a delighted Marian. The Sheriff then announces that all of the proficient archers are invited to join his army, but after Hugh publicly refuses to use his talent against his fellow countrymen, many others follow suit. Furious, the Sheriff commands his men to follow Hugh and Robin home through Sherwood Forest, where they shoot Hugh in the back. Robin manages to kill his father's murderer, who is none other than Red Gill, and escape the other henchmen, but is denounced by John as a traitor, and forced to live as an outlaw in the forest.

Soon, the peasants, already feeling the sting of John's cruel taxes, delight in tales of how "Robin Hood" and his band of like-minded fugitives, the Merrie Men, steal from the rich and give to the poor. One day, one of the Men spies the Sheriff arresting a destitute man, Stutely, for poaching a deer, and signals to Robin to come to his aid. The Men follow the Sheriff back to the town square, where he makes an example of Stutely by covering him in the deer's hide, stringing him up, and whipping him mercilessly. After rescuing Stutely and another prisoner named Scathelock who was captured for refusing to reveal Robin Hood's whereabouts to the Sheriff after finding himself unable to pay the tax, having his cattle stolen, and his eye bruised, Robin exhorts the crowd to pelt the Sheriff with fruit, prompting him to vow to kill Robin himself.

Later, when a large stranger, John Little, is spotted traveling through the forest, Robin duels with him, but soon finds himself bested and thrown into the lake. As the others join them, the man proclaims his desire to join the Merrie Men, and Robin, pleased with the other man's strength, introduces himself. He then allows his men to initiate the big man by dubbing him "Little John" and throwing him into the river. When the men express their wish to have a holy man to bless them, Little John leads Robin to portly Friar Tuck. Robin teases the clergyman by forcing him to carry him over the river, but the friar bests Robin on the other side and receives a ride back. The two men duel, but when the Sheriff interrupts, the friar joins Robin in capturing him.

At the gang's forest hideout, Stutely helps Robin force the bound Sheriff to dine with them and pledge allegiance to Richard. Afterward, Friar Tuck calculates the "bill" for the meal, which includes payment to each fugitive. In order to give courage to the poor the Sheriff has persecuted, Robin ties him to his horse backward and rides him through the countryside.

Two years later, Richard's crusade fails and he is held for a 100,000-mark ransom in an Austrian prison. Queen Eleanor and the Archbishop turn to their outlying counties for help raising the money, but when they visit John, he claims extreme poverty and blames Robin Hood. Marian, who has accompanied the Queen, defends Robin's honor, and after Eleanor refuses to let her leave the castle, the girl disguises herself as a page and flees to the forest. There, she joins balladeer Allan-a-Dale and a miserly miller named Midge. The trio is soon confronted by Robin and his men, who appall Marian by insisting that Midge, who is notorious for hoarding gold, pay a toll. The Men cheerfully abduct the trio back to the hideout, where Robin recognizes Marian and quickly convinces her of the integrity of their behavior. Marian devises a plan in which she will present the Men's riches to the queen during the next day's money-raising ceremony, in order to prove their loyalty to Richard. While she does so, Robin and his men stir up the crowd to denounce the Sheriff, who has declared himself impoverished. They then steal all of the gold the Sheriff has pilfered for John and dump it in the village square for the Queen to see.

Later, John and the sheriff scheme to send henchmen disguised as Merrie Men to rob the Queen of the riches during her trip back to London. To silence Marian, who would recognize the robbers as impostors, John imprisons her at Nottingham castle. Robin's watchmen soon discover the plan, and when the phony Merrie Men attack, Robin's men ambush them and return the money to the grateful Queen, who promises to tell Richard of their bravery. When she forgives him for having "stolen" Marian, Robin realizes that the maid has been taken hostage, and races to the castle to free her. There, dressed as guards, the Men take the Sheriff at knife point, imprison the prince and free Marian. Robin insures that his men are safely gone before dueling with the Sheriff. When Robin overtakes him, the Sheriff promises to let him leave quietly in return for his life. Although Robin agrees, the Sheriff soon calls out to his guards, forcing Robin to flee over the drawbridge. While pursuing Robin, the Sheriff is crushed by the closing bridge, but Robin manages to survive.

Over the next weeks, the wounded Robin is tended to by Marian and Friar Tuck, but when a stranger in black garb approaches the lair, he struggles to his feet to confront him. The knight, stating that he came to rid the forest of outlaws, reveals himself as Richard and appoints Robin as the Earl of Locksley. He then informs Marian that the Queen has ordered her to marry an Earl. Marian protests until she realizes that this means she can marry Robin, after which she leaps into his arms and kisses him.

Cast

Richard Todd as Robin Hood
Joan Rice as Maid Marian
Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham
James Hayter as Friar Tuck. Hayter would later reprise his role as Friar Tuck in the 1967 Hammer film A Challenge for Robin Hood.
James Robertson Justice as Little John
Martita Hunt as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
Hubert Gregg as Prince John
Elton Hayes as Alan-a-Dale
Anthony Eustrel as the Archbishop of Canterbury
Patrick Barr as King Richard I
Anthony Forwood as Will Scarlet
Bill Owen as Will Stutely
Louise Hampton as Tyb, aged nurse of Maid Marian
Richard Graydon as Merrie Man

Production

Production began in April 1951 at Denham Film Studios in London. This was the second movie Disney made in the United Kingdom, the first being Treasure Island (1950). These and several other Disney films were made using British funds frozen during World War II. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men was filmed in 3-strip Technicolor.

Release

The world premiere was in London on March 13, 1952; the New York opening was on June 26, 1952. In the wake of this film a promotional short entitled The Riddle of Robin Hood was produced.^[4]

The film was one of the most popular in Britain in 1952.^[5]

Home releases

A Laserdisc was released in 1992, a VHS tape was released in 1994 (the Walt Disney's Studio Film Collection) and a limited Disney Movie Club DVD was released in July 2006. All releases are 1.33:1 fullscreen in monaural (as shot).

A Disneyland Records LP of four songs from the soundtrack with narration by Dallas McKennon was released in 1963.

References

^ ^a ^b "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
^ Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 266. ISBN 0-517-546566.
^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
^ http://disneyfilmguide.page.tl/Disney-Shorts-d--1950ies.htm
^ "Robert Beatty in boxing picture". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 31 January 1953. p. 3 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 10 July 2012.

External links

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[AFI-1] "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2014.

[RKO-2] Jewell, Richard B.; Harbin, Vernon (1982). The RKO Story. New York: Arlington House. p. 266. ISBN 0-517-546566.

[3] 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953

[4] ttp://disneyfilmguide.page.tl/Disney-Shorts-d--1950ies.htm

[5] "Robert Beatty in boxing picture". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 31 January 1953. p. 3 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 10 July 2012.

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