Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Robin Hood, Vol. 1 (4 episodes)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Adventures of Robin Hood," starring British actor Richard Greene was broadcast on CBS from 1955 through 1958 and later had a successful run in syndication for a number of years. The series featured good acting by a variety of British character actors, innovative set design (for its time), and interesting scripts, a number of which were written by blacklisted Hollywood writers like Ring Lardner, Jr. using aliases. It was also one of the very first series produced in England that aired in the United States and paved the way for the "British Invasion" of the Sixties for shows like "Secret Agent (a/k/a "Danger Man"), "The Saint," and "The Avengers," among many others.

While "The Adventures of Robin Hood" has had an official release of its first three seasons (of four) in Great Britain, many of the episodes have fallen into "public domain" status in the U.S. and, consequently, different episodes from the series have been sporadically released by a variety of companies specializing in public domain material. Having seen most of these public domain releases of the Robin Hood series that have been released on DVD to date, I can say that Alpha Video's Robin Hood episodes are among the best available on the market at present. Unlike most of the other Robin Hood DVD releases, the prints used by Alpha are relatively defect-free in terms of scratches, dirt, etc. and audio is fine for a series that is nearly 50 years old. The prints are clean with mostly solid contrast.

Volume 1 features the series' premiere episode, "The Coming of Robin Hood." This episode was previously released on a DVD from another company, but was missing about a minute and a half of footage. Not so with Alpha's print . . . it's complete and uncut. The other three episodes included on this DVD are all from Season 2 and are making their U.S. debut on DVD. They are "The Borrowed Baby," "The Final Tax," and "The Ambush."

Perhaps the only negative on this disc is the fact that on one of the episodes, the end credits are incorrect, i.e., they have been spliced in from a different episode, perhaps as a way of including the famous Robin Hood theme song at the end.

My rating is closer to **** ½ for this release.

Richard Greene lives again in Volume one of the Adventures of Robin Hood. We get 4 episodes of the series including the first episode: "The Coming of Robin Hood".

Since the complete seasons are not available in US format (you can buy them at Amazon UK) this is the best way to fill up your collection with these public domain offerings.

It is worth noting that episode #3 "The Borrowed Baby" is one of the few episodes where Richard Greene doesn't appear at all. Film fans will recognize Donald Pleasence as Prince John in the 4th episode "The Ambush" along with Edward Mullhare who you might recognize from the series "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" who appeared off and on during the series run.

All in all a first rate start to the the collection (now on Volume 10).

I purchased from Amazon.co.uk each of the four seasons of "The Adventures of Robin Hood" - all 143 episodes - for about $20 per season.

Digital transfer was excellent and our entire family has enjoyed the series. Packaging involved sturdy plastic cases, each containing 2 DVD's, with 8 episodes per disk. I found this a great value and wanted to recommend it to others interested in the Robin Hood series.

Some vintage episodes in this great old series from my youth. Sort of crude by today's standards, but crisp dialog, nifty plot twists, wonderful character developement and a terrific and nefarious collection of villains and rogues. Splendid entertainment for those cold, rainy weekends.
Enjoy a touch of the old days when programs like this were the thing to watch and enjoy.

It is a good souvenir from my Youth. It is in black and white and the sound is not perfect but it always remember me the time when I was only 8 years old. If you do not know the classic series of Robin Hood, buy at least the DVD #1 to learn of Robin of Loxley is become Robin Hood.

Except for sound quality in the first episode, everything else including picture quality were fine. A great bargain.

Written by Communist labelled actors and writers during the corporate fuelled McCarthy era when rhey could find no work; (I wonder if that included that ethereal beauty Bernadette O'Farrel?)
These CDs were made for today; the poor outlaws flourish while the greasy
rich stew in their own conspiracies. The acting and scripts are brief but reek of talent. 11 CDs... I believe we are on our third trip through Sherwood!

I got this for my 7 and 10 year old boys who are really into Robin Hood now. They watched the old disney movie of Robin Hood and loved it. However, the picture in this is often very dark making it difficult to see the actors. Also the sound is very bad. Some of the plots are a little boring. But I think my kids would still be okay with watching them if it was better quality. I wanted something not so violent or fraught with sexual innuendo, which this isn't. I just wish it was easier to watch.

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD was a children's program that ran four seasons on the CBS-TV network. Between September 26, 1955 and November 12, 1960, 143 half-hour episodes aired. This show was unusual for casting-- the same actors appeared in different roles, or different actors were used for recurring characters. The main plot was straighforward enough: Robin and men were charged with protecting England from evil Prince John while King Richard was away fighting the Crusades.

REGULAR CAST MEMBERS:
Richard Greene (Robin Hood)
Donald Pleasence (Prince John 1955-1958)
Rufus Cruikshank (Little John 1955-1956)
Archie Duncan (Little John (1956-1958)
Alan Wheatley (Sheriff of Nottingham 1955-1959)
Alexander Gauge (Friar Tuck)
Ian Hunter (Sir Richard)
Bernadette O'Farrell (Maid Marian Fitzwater 1955-1957)
Patricia Driscoll (Maid Marian Fitzwater (1957-1960)
Gillian Sterret (Lady Genevieve)

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Program list includes episode numbers, seasons, airdates and guest actors.

(#82) The Charter (S.3, 10/21/57) - Harry H. Corbett/Sean Lynch/Philip Ray
(#69) Food For Thought (S.2, 4/22/57) - John Sharplin/Emrys Layshon/Meredith Edwards
(#23) Ladies of Sherwood (S.1, 2/27/56) - Walter Hudd/Laurie Main
(#8) Queen Eleanor (S.1, 11/14/55) - Jill Esmond/Ballard Berkeley/Gerald Cross