This is a bumper edition this time, and not because it's Christmas, but because we have had such a fantastic response from you all.  Thank you all very much.

Our cover image this time is especially for the ladies, taken from 'The Dream' which is the subject of one of the reviews in this edition. 

As one of our national legends, Robin Hood is a hero for children of every generation. The story of a man and his colourful followers who robbed the oppressive and unjust rich to help the needy poor, has an obvious appeal, which is enhanced by its setting in medieval England, with its castles and Sherwood Forest. Each generation has placed its own interpretation on the story through art, books and music and during the last century through film and television. The nineteen fifties were no exception and indeed produced two successful and influential versions of the story, which kept Robin Hood at the forefront of popular culture.

The first of these versions was a film. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures in England in 1952 and directed by Ken Annakin, ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ starred Richard Todd as Robin. Todd was an up and coming British actor who had received an Academy Award nomination in1949 for his performance as a young Scottish soldier in ‘The Hasty Heart’. He would go on to establish himself as a leading man in several memorable British films, notably ‘The Dam Busters’ in 1955, when he played the R.A.F. hero Guy Gibson. Indeed his interpretation of Robin Hood owed much to the real life British heroes of the Second World War just a few years previously. This was further emphasised by Todd’s clean cut appearance as Robin. He was the first actor to play him as clean shaven and with short hair.

Todd’s Robin was certain of his moral position and unhesitating in carrying out his mission against injustice. He was not such a high born nobleman as previous film ‘Robins’ had been . His father was a forester, so this Robin, like many of his R.A.F. role models was a middle class hero. His social position informed his relationship with his merry men. He was not a noble leading an uneducated rabble, as Errol Flynn had played in the 1938 Warner Brothers film ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’. He led men who were in some cases his social equals. James Hayter’s well spoken Friar Tuck was an intelligent man who contrasted strongly with Eugene Pallet’s gruff Tuck in the Errol Flynn film. James Robertson Justice dressed in a simple rough tunic as Little John, but his voice and bearing as always depicted a strong, shrewd and able figure. There was no doubt that Robin led his band because of his personal leadership qualities – his intelligence, his vision and his ability to plan and organise. To be fair, Flynn too was imbued with many of these qualities in the1938 film, but his authority and initiative emerged from the fact that he was an educated and sophisticated nobleman, whereas Todd’s Robin was one of the people. 

Partly as a result of this approach, in the 1952 film Robin’s men make a strong impression and the notion of achieving through teamwork is an important feature of the film. Even the title of this film gives credit to the ‘Merrie Men’. It is not through specific events in the story that Robin’s men are shown to be important , but through more subtle techniques. The plot follows a very similar path to the 1938 film, but the differences are in emphasis. One memorable scene which illustrates this clearly has Robin in his hideout with his men on either side of him confronting the captured Sheriff of  Nottingham and presenting the picture of a small group of men united against injustice. This contrasts strongly with a similar scene from the Flynn film in which Robin’s large band of men mock the captured Sheriff and Sir Guy of Gisborne, poking fun at their social and indeed intellectual superiors, under the protection of  their leader Robin, who, when not actually taller than the men around him, stands on a log or branch to address them. Although Little John (played by Alan Hale) and Friar Tuck are presented as intelligent competent followers, many of Robin’s men in the 1938 film are childlike simpletons. Much the Miller’s son is a notable example. Richard Todd’s Robin has a small but able team whereas Errol Flynn leads a large band which would be an incompetent rabble without his leadership.

A further example of the importance of Robin’s band to the Disney film is the pivotal role played by Alan A’Dale, who appears right from the start of the film as a travelling minstrel, touring the countryside singing about the exploits of Robin Hood and spreading his legend. He does not actually meet Robin until the second half of the film but keeps the story flowing  with his musical links and demonstrates the contribution of strolling minstrels to the creation of the Robin Hood legend in the Middle Ages. Our earliest historical records of Robin Hood are in the old minstrels’ songs, which have been passed down as poetry. This aspect of the film adds a strong touch of authenticity which is absent from the 1938 film. In addition, Alan A’Dale, who is played by Elton Hayes, also sings the song ‘Whistle My Love’ in the film, which successfully attempts to emulate the style of a medieval love song and makes an effective contribution to the tone of the film. 

While Robin was a forester’s son in the Richard Todd film, Maid Marian was the daughter of an Earl, who had been his father’s lord. Consequently, while Robin and Marian are friends at the beginning of the film there are no romantic links between them. The feudal system is still in full swing. Later in the film Robin wins Marian’s love by his deeds of valour. He earns his nobility by noble acts and is rewarded with Marian’s hand in marriage by King Richard at the end of the film. He is the common man who has proved himself to be just as good as any nobleman and no doubt better than most. This strong egalitarian message does not come across as strongly in the 1938 film, because of course Errol Flynn’s Robin is a nobleman to start with. 

Marian is played by Joan Rice as an impetuous young girl, imbued with a true spirit of adventure.  She is strong willed and bold, disguising as a boy to venture into the forest to find Robin’s band. As Robin reflects the spirit of the daring pilots of the Second World War, Marian recalls the brave role played by so many women in the conflict. She serves as a positive role model for girls and has set the tone for all subsequent portrayals of Marian in film and television.   

Although made by Disney, the 1952 film was in every other sense a British film. A notable British cast also included Peter Finch as the Sheriff and Hubert Gregg, who devised and still presents the long running radio series ‘Thanks for the Memory’, as Prince John. Michael Hordern and Bill Owen played members of Robin’s band and Reginald Tate, who later played the first Professor Quatermass on television, played Robin’s father. This was the first Robin Hood film to be actually filmed in Sherwood Forest.

While ‘The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men’ was not as acclaimed as the 1938 version, which was directed by Michael Curtiz in Hollywood had been, it was nevertheless a financial and critical success on both sides of the Atlantic. The director Ken Annakin went on to make ‘The Sword and The Rose’, a Tudor swashbuckler, in 1953, also for Disney and also starring Richard Todd. He later directed Disney’s ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ in 1960. Todd also starred in Disney’s ‘Rob Roy’ in 1954, about the famous Scottish outlaw. All of this suggests that Walt Disney was well pleased with their efforts on ‘Robin Hood’, as indeed were the young fans in the 1950’s who went to see it.

Although I claim Robin Hood as a childhood hero and present Richard Todd’s film as a factor in this, I did not actually see the Disney film until the early 1980’s when it was finally shown on television! What I did have was a  full colour hardback story book of the film, illustrated with photographs and this helped form my own image of Robin Hood. I also believe that the film had a significant influence on the second successful version of the legend. This was a television series, which began in 1955 and was shown on the new Independent Television stations in Britain and sold all over the world. 

In the next part of my examination of Robin in the 1950’s, I will explore in detail the Sapphire Films television series, starring Richard Greene as Robin Hood.

Steve Winders

of danger lurking for the bold                             

but Robin scoffs until it's plain

his fate has been foretold"

Screenwriter:  Anne Rodney

Director:  Terence Fisher

Guest Stars:

Patrick Troughton – Sir William Fitzwalter

Marie Burke – as Nanny

Shaun O’Riordan – as sailor

Paul Eddington – as lookout

Lady Marian is visited by her cousin Sir William Fitzwalter, he has come to Nottingham to seek her help in search of Robin Hood.  At first Marian is uneasy with this news, but William tells her that the Queen knows of Robin’s loyalty to King Richard, and that he is being held for ransom by the Emperor of Austria.  The Queen wants Robin’s help to save the King.  He asks Marian if she knows Robin Hood to which she replies “that’s a question one doesn’t ask, even of one’s friends”…. She is able to convince him to ride out to Sherwood Forest and be captured by the outlaws, because of their loyalty to King Richard that no harm would come to them.  Her plans works, and Robin and the outlaws pretend they don’t know her.

Over an Outlaw dinner William reveals his mission to the outlaws and they agree that Robin should go with William.  That evening Marian has a frightening nightmare involving Robin and William fighting in the Crusades.  She sees William wearing a tunic with a large embroidered serpent on it and fears this is a warning!  Marian awakens Robin and tells him of her nightmare and begs him not to go, that it may be a trap.  Robin tells her that dreams are for the superstitious.  Against Robin’s wishes, for fear of safety, Marian manages to go along on the trip to get to the ship.  When William leaves them alone for a moment Marian tells Robin that her dream was silly and that everything is fine, and she promises him she will even stop dreaming.  She then returns to shore to where she has Little John and Derwent waiting for fear of an ambush.  As they are leaving Marian sees the flag on the ship has the same serpent as in her dream and she is very alarmed and warns Little John and Derwent to alert the men as she rushes to find answers.  On board the ship William has taken Robin prisoner to be turned over to the Sheriff.  Marian manages to get the information from the Sheriff and is able to alert the outlaws where Robin is being held.  Little John shoots an arrow into the hold of the ship and Robin is rescued.  Robin thanks Little John but he says, “Don’t thank me, thank Lady Marian.”  She tells Robin that when she saw the serpent on the flag her fear overcame her judgement.  Robin tells her that her judgement is good enough for him and he also makes her promise to

Never stop dreaming……….. 

This is one of my very favorite episodes, with its combination of humor and danger.  Marie Burke as Nanny is such a great character actress, she has great expressions, always wringing her hands and worrying about Marian being with Robin Hood.  Patrick Troughton does a wonderful job as William, he is pure evil but also laughable!  He acts so superior and obnoxious.  He is so out of place in the forest it really is funny.  The tenderness between Marian and Robin is touching.

Lucy Carpenter.

Turn science to their evil ends,

Albertus keeps his secret

Until all men are friends.” 

Screenplay: Neil R. Collins

Director: Terry Bishop

The Cast:

Miles Malleson – Albertus

Charles Lloyd Pack – Abbot

Paul Hansard – Gervaise (soldier)

Willoughby Gray – Roger of Danby

Peter Bennett – Librarian (Brother Donatus)

Andrew Crawford – Hugh (Outlaw)

Edward Mulhare – 1^st Soldier

 Albertus of Oxford has invented a fearful weapon – “a great lens of glass, so shaped as to concentrate the heat of the sun unto a single spot, and make it burst into flame”.  Prince John wants to use it against King Richard, to destroy his fleet at sea.  He orders Albertus to build the weapon, but Albertus refuses, and goes into hiding in the Abbey. The Abbot asks Friar Tuck for help to get Albertus to a safe place - the remote house of Roger of Danby, a scholar and a recluse.   Friar Tuck brings Albertus to Sherwood, and Robin agrees to act as his guide. Before they set off, Albertus leaves the plans of his invention with Tuck. It turns out that Roger has betrayed his friend Albertus, and the Sheriff and his men are waiting for him in Roger’s house.  Albertus refuses to tell the Sheriff where his notes about the weapon are hidden, and the Sheriff threatens him with torture. He takes Albertus to Nottingham under escort.  Robin and his men organise a rescue, during which Albertus is fatally wounded by one of the Sheriff’s soldiers.  Before he dies, he destroys the only existing record of his invention.

***

 To me, watching “The Adventures” has always meant the perfect escape - from everything.   Not this time: “The Scientist” proved surprisingly topical.  Tyrants, weapons of mass destruction, infidels and scientists – they have all been in the news lately…  Albertus presents us with a disturbing vision: “I can see whole cities in flames”. No doubt, the weapon was originally a reference to The Bomb; in the 1950s Hiroshima was yesterday. 

The outlaws found it difficult to understand how the invention of Albertus could work.  “I’ve heard that the Arabs use glass for many purposes”, said Robin, “but I’d still like to know how you’d destroy a ship with it”.  Friar Tuck asked Albertus whether other experts had written anything on the subject.  Albertus mentioned Claudius of Paris: “He thought it was too frightful to use, except against the infidels”. We can see Robin looking away for a moment, and the expression on his face is difficult to describe. Did that remark bring back a memory of some horrors witnessed during the crusade?   We remember his admission in “The Coming of Robin Hood”: “I’ve had my fill of bloodshed in the past four years”…  He intended to retire from his career as a warrior at a relatively young age. Could it be that Robin of Locksley was “invalided out” of the crusade?  Did King Richard decide that the brave knight had “done his bit”, and let him go home after he recovered from his wounds?… But let us return to Albertus: for the sake of fairness, he mentioned an Arab scholar who thought that the weapon was “too frightful to use, except against Christians”.

“The Scientist” is one of the few episodes without an upbeat ending.  In the final, rather sombre scene the outlaws are kneeling around the dying Albertus.  His last words are “Too frightful to use - on anyone”.  And Friar Tuck says a prayer…  (A.F.)

I think we all know that in the earliest ballads Robin Hood was a yeoman.  This, of course, may mean many different things, but the scholars have more or less agreed that it was the medieval equivalent of the middle class.  Later (from the 16^th century onwards) Robin Hood turned into a Saxon nobleman, Robin of Locksley (or Loxley), or even – Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (or sometimes Huntington).  But still no mention of the crusades – not until the 20^th century! 

The very first Robin Hood character who went to the Holy Land was not the hero of some ballad or poem, but Douglas Fairbanks Senior.  He (or his team of researchers) found inspiration in the novel “Ivanhoe” by Walter Scott.  In the book the knight Ivanhoe and the outlaw Robin Hood are two separate characters, of course.  Douglas Fairbanks made them into one, a nobleman and a crusader knight, who was outlawed and took the name of Robin Hood. He justified the inclusion of the crusade theme as necessary for the presentation of his hero’s character, but the critics suspected that the real reason was to introduce some visually stunning scenes - the march of the crusaders, and the tournament sequences. 

The crusade idea proved surprisingly popular for such a recent addition to the legend.  It had been enthusiastically picked up by film-makers and novelists (Nicholas Chase, Jennifer Roberson), and became an established part of the Robin Hood myth (there were exceptions, of course, with the most notable one - Errol Flynn’s Robin).  One reason for its popularity could be the influence of Romanticism on the Robin Hood myth.  The Romantic hero (in the writings of Byron, Walter Scott, and others) often had secret or mysterious past; he often returned from a journey to a distant land, where he faced danger, difficult moral choices, sometimes suffering or even tragedy.  The image of a crusader fits in very well with these characteristics of the Romantic hero. 

Another reason could be what I have called “the veteran motive”.  The story of a returning soldier was a common theme in the 20^th century literature and film, reflecting the experiences of the two world wars, and later – Vietnam.  Perhaps this theme, under the guise of a crusader’s story, found its way into the Robin Hood myth? 

Certain critics have interpreted the crusades as a metaphor for other wars – The Second World War in “The Adventures”, and the Vietnam War in “Robin and Marian” with Sean Connery.  If a new version of the Robin Hood story appears, could we expect it to contain some references to the war in Iraq?  Unfortunately, this time the analogy would be only too obvious.  So it is quite possible that the subject will be avoided as too controversial, and Robin will never be a crusader again…  (A.F.)  

(With thanks to Allen Wright of www.geocities.com/puckrobin/rh for sharing his thoughts on the subject with me last year)

The following article is reproduced from a US TV Guide from circa 1956 and in it Richard Greene explains his appeal to both American adults and children alike.  Sadly we are unable to reproduce the photographs that accompanied the article, one of which featured Richard sailing on Southampton Water. 

The dashing young hero of The Adventures of Robin Hood, the 20^th century version of the 12^th century valor is a quiet-spoken English actor in his early 40’s, with thinning black hair - Richard Greene.  A good part of his youth was spent about as far from Sherwood Forest as it is possible to be - in Hollywood, where he put in time as a glamour boy of the movies. 

Sitting in a New York hotel room, 3000 miles from Walton-on-Thames, where Robin Hood is filmed, and wearing a dark blue suit instead of the familiar forest green, he bore a suspicious resemblance to an ordinary businessman. 

Greene speculated on the show’s success in this country.  “Kids love pageantry and costume plays.  But the most important single thing is: Robin can be identified with any American hero.  He’s the British Hopalong”. 

In the strictest “cowboy” fashion, Robin Hood is a swashbuckling protector of the underdog.  But instead of six-shooters, he aims a lethal arrow and turns a vigorous parry.  Like the cowboy, he always leaves his fair Maid Marian waiting (Did this tradition start with Mr Hood?).  He is the idol of children and surprisingly popular with their parents. 

Through the centuries, there has been controversy over whether Robin Hood was a real person.  Greene is a believer.  “Hardly anyone wrote during Hood’s time,” he said. “He wasn’t written about until so much later that a certain amount of legend had grown ups concerning him.  He was first sung about by the troubadors, and that’s why I think he did live.  Troubadors never sang of fictional characters.”  

With no authenticated evidence of Robin Hood’s existence the script writers have few restrictions on the exploits they contrive for their hero.  “One time, I had to scale a high wall and shoot an arrow at the same time,” Greene recalled, “I clung to the wall with one hand and pulled the bow, using my other hand, feet and teeth, and let go”. 

Asked if there was any danger of falling, Greene smiled “A camera is quite deceptive.  The top of the wall wasn’t much higher than my head, though it certainly looked as though it were”. 

Born into a theatrical family and an actor since he was three years old, Greene was “discovered” on the English stage by a Hollywood scout when he was 24.  He spent a few years in the film capital playing romantic leads and, in 1940, he returned home to join the Royal Armoured Corps.  After four years he returned to the London stage.  He has since acted in movies and on TV in both countries. 

In preparation for Robin Hood, Greene, who is as gallant as any modern man, has steeped himself in 12^th century lore and by this time, may know as much about it as any historian.  He explained that stage fencing is more flamboyant than real fencing and that he had to unlearn all the nuances of the sport that he had picked up through the years. 

“In real fencing, a parry is just a twist of the wrist and the better you are, the less action is seen,” he said, “Most people expect a lot of action from stage fencers.  We use copies of 12^th century swords, which have no points, look short and stubby and were designed to hack through armour”. 

Greene reflected upon the fact that he doesn’t appear overly graceful, hacking away with his stubby, though authentic, sword.  But so far, this hasn’t brought any consternation among viewers.  “If you serve them something realistic, viewers won’t question what you do I suppose,” he speculated, “they only expect that I win”.

(Our thanks go to Elaine Brulinski who did the research to unearth this article)

Set One

Set Two