Customer Reviews

Sword of Sherwood Forest

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

 

 

Well worth a viewing is this nicely-done ROBIN HOOD film with Richard Greene and Peter Cushing. New and fresh locations, excellent sets and photography and a typically polished Hammer production all contribute to make this film very entertaining.

The acting is credible all the way through, the only disappointment being a rather lacklustre leading lady. But fine English thespians more than make up for that. Peter Cushing does the villainy, as always, superbly while Niall McGinnis is probably the screen's finest Friar Tuck. McGinnis makes more of the character than the usual gluttonous bufoon characterization of so many other interpreters.

A good film which belongs in your collection.

SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST makes its American debut on DVD courtesy of Sony. The Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe Robin Hood film is probably the real reason for this release. In any event, it's great that this little-seen Hammer adventure is now available. Richard Greene, who played Robin in a British 1950s TV series, stars here under the direction of Terence Fisher, best known for his helming of most of Hammer Films classic horrors. Fisher had actually directed some of Greene's TV episodes, so he was familiar with the character. The story concerns Robin's discovery of a plot to kill the Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Gwillim). Peter Cushing makes a dangerous Sheriff of Nottingham, and Hammer veterans Richard Pasco and Oliver Reed portray other villians. There are many other great British character actors in the film, including Nigel Green (as Little John), Niall MacGinnis (as Friar Tuck), and Desmond Llewelyn (better known as Q from the James Bond films).

Maid Marian appears as well, played by the cute and feisty Sarah Branch. However, Branch appears young enough to be Richard Greene's daughter, and they don't seem to have the chemistry that a Robin and Marian should have. The film's storyline has a bit too much plot for a simple old-fashioned adventure. There are times when Robin seems almost a minor part of the tale. The action sequences will be a disappointment to those used to in-your-face violence and video game style editing. Greene seems a bit old and too laid-back. He's not a bad Robin, but many will expect a Robin Hood with more pizazz.

Despite this, SWORD is not a bad production, if one looks at it for what it is. It's not the greatest Robin Hood tale of all time, but it supplies 80 minutes of decent entertainment for those veiwers who will accept classic film fare. The film was shot in Ireland, and it looks spectacular. Sony's DVD picture quality is fantastic. The colors are vibrant, which brings out the fine costumes. Hammer movies always looked more expensive than they really were, and SWORD is a perfect example.

This DVD will definitely be on the want list of Hammer Film fans, Peter Cushing followers, and Robin Hood buffs. Those looking for a adventure film the entire family can watch may want to purchase this as well.

I was rather disappointed in this movie. After Richard Greene did the Adventures Of Robin Hood series, I expected much more from the movie.
Instead, it seems like the movie was done as an afterthought. None of the great characters like the series had. The plot even seemed to be a bit.....contrived.
Even Richard Greene's performance seemed a bit muted compared to that of the series.
On it's own, it was an adequate movie, just disappointing compared to the series.

As a child, I had a beautiful volume of Robin Hood stories which I used to read by torchlight when my parents thought I was asleep. It was a big, hardbacked book; filled with brightly colourful pictures and printed in fine romantic Gothic. The wronged Sir Robin of Loxley, defiant elf, became an early hero of mine, the book responsible.
That won't mean anything to you, bargain hunter, but believe me when I tell you that 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' of all the Robin Hood movies I've seen, is the one that comes closest to capturing the spirit and stylised sumptuousness of my glorious book.

Hammer movies always look good, like they were following an imaginary brief to make every up for low budgets with Constable-worthy scenery, but this one is truly exceptional.

Richard Greene plays Hood as a stereotypical, square-jawed hero and Sarah Branch is delicious as a (VERY) reluctant Marian but it's the villains on this particular stage that make the work interesting. Peter Cushing is superb as the conniving Sheriff of Nottingham - a role pre-empting one of his best performances as the similarly conspiritorial Dr. Namaroff in 'the Gorgon'. Richard Pasco (CBE, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and, fascinatingly, married to Barbara Leigh-Hunt of Hitchcock's 'Frenzy') as his accomplice the Earl of Newark; and a young, squeaky-voiced Oliver Reed as the nasty back-stabber Lord Melton. This is probably why 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' was filmed on location in Ireland rather then Bray Studios: the amount of scene-chewing these three get through would've endangered the next batch of production. Cushing, in particular, is a riot. No act is too despicable: he awards Martin of Eastwood a free pardon AFTER he's shot him dead; plots a similar fate for Robin after lying through his teeth to a spiky but dense Marian, before finally orchestrating a 'Soldier Blue' style attack on some thatch-roofed cottages - hiding well back in the bushes himself, of course.
Pasco is determination personified as "a ruthless man of intrigue ! " and Ollie squints shiftily, hisses like Peter Lorre, and only bellows once when Robin nonchalantly shoots down his peregrine.

Anyway, the plot is uncomplicated to say the least - various nobles plot to assassinate a Lord Chancellor - but it doesn't mean much. Just a foil for the visuals.
Directed by Terence Fisher, 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' unsurprisingly never resorts to back-slapping singalongs by the fire after jolly venison hunts (there is one atrocious ballad sung by jazz great Dennis Lotis) but concentrates instead on unpleasant images of floggings, longbow dry-gulching and village burnings. Even Friar Tuck (Niall MacGuinness) is a less frivolous figure than usual, solemnly wandering the countryside with nary a rosy cheek nor raucous guffaw.

No, Cushing and co and the main reasons for the 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' dvd. The beautiful transfer helps; lit magnificently by the interesting Ken Hodges in intriguing 'MegaScope' (!), rural Eire never looked so sharp - not even when it's posing as the East Midlands !
Look out for Sarah Branch's repulsed look when she has to kiss Richard Greene. He'd either halitosis - or was as sexist and condescending in real life as he was in character.
Either way, it's fun.

For a happy and enjoyable evening get-together of the family, I recommend this movie - our family enjoyed it so much, we decided to watch it once a month with a bucket of pop corn, as we do with other similar movies.... Sword of Sherwood Forest, is fun, adventurous, great to see Richard Greene again, done really beautifully - if you like oldies to enjoy with your family members, including your children and grandchildren, a movie that includes various exploits but uncomplicated, religious yet with cunning scenes, colorful and entertaining, this is the movie for you

Hammer Films pretty began and ended their glory days with quickie movie adaptations of TV and radio series, so it wasn't that surprising that Richard Greene's Robin Hood should make the leap to the big screen in 1960's Sword of Sherwood Forest, but despite some capable talent in front of and behind the camera and adding colour and CinemaScope to the mix the low budget and drawn out script render it a flat night out in Sherwood. Greene, who co-produced, is the only member of the TV show's cast to make the leap to the big screen (the famous theme song is gone too), with Little John played by Nigel Green, Friar Tuck by Niall MacGinnis, Marian by an underwhelming Sarah Branch and Peter Cushing giving the film's best turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, while Richard Pasco and the unbilled Oliver Reed (quite badly dubbed), Desmond Llewellyn and Derren Nesbitt lend support. Sadly there's little color or personality to the story - with Robin trying to stop the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury - for any of them to work with. Under Terence Fisher's competent but rather unenthusiastic direction it just ambles along, feeling much longer than it actually is without ever hitting any highs. There are certainly plenty of worse Robin Hood films out there, but that's not much of a recommendation for watching this run of the mill effort.

Sony's DVD offers an acceptable but unexceptional 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with the original trailer as the only extra.

As a child of the 1950s, I grew up truly believing there were TWO Robin Hoods; the young, dashing Errol Flynn, and the more fatherly, reliable TV 'Hood', Richard Greene. I loved the TV series, and knew the theme song by heart! I never realized, however, that Greene had made a movie as the outlaw, until Sony released their library of Sherwood-themed titles (in conjunction with the release of the Russell Crowe/Ridley Scott "Robin Hood").

"Sword of Sherwood Forest", released by Hammer Films, isn't actually 'related' to the TV show, other than through Greene's participation, but I enjoyed the low-budget, but well-crafted feature, directed by one of my favorite 'horror' directors, Terence Fisher. While, at 42, Greene may seem a bit old to be dwelling in the greenwood, he is, understandably, very comfortable in the role, and is actually four years younger than Crowe, in the role. Lovely Sarah Branch, as Lady Marion, is introduced through a G-rated nude swim (why do these nude swims occur so frequently in 'Hood' films?); at 22, her immediate attraction to a man old enough to be her father is a bit strange (as are his equally spontaneous romantic leanings towards her), but fortunately, the film doesn't dwell on THAT subplot. The story really involves a land scheme, to usurp a village so that the evil Sheriff of Nottingham can sell the land to a wealthy lord to build a castle upon, intertwined with a nobleman's plot to murder missing King Richard's trusted adviser, Archbishop Hubert Walter. Things get a tad too complicated, at times; the evil nobleman (Richard Pasco) actually hires Robin (under an alias), to murder the Archbishop; only the arrival of the Sheriff (played with 'Rathbone'-like aloofness, by legendary Hammer star Peter Cushing), who reveals the 'assassin's' true identity, prevents Robin from foiling the plot, too soon.

While budgetary constraints are sometimes obvious (in one battle, I saw an evil henchman killed four different times!), and some plot twists had me scratching my head (Peter Cushing is out of the film FAR too soon), the welcome participation of Niall MacGinnis as Friar Tuck and Nigel Green as Little John, lifts the film, considerably! If you aren't familiar with their names, both were superb in 1963's "Jason and the Argonauts", with MacGinnis as Zeus, and Green, Hercules. Also, watch for young Oliver Reed, complete with a sinister lisp, as an evil nobleman...

The climax of "Sword of Sherwood Forest", with Robin still an outlaw, seems to leave a door open for a sequel that was never made, but even as a child, I thought that Robin Hood should never return to a boring, conventional life, as the outlaw's life was so much more fun!

Thought it was based on the TV show. Don't particularly like the replacement characters.

I have almost every movie Hammer Studio's made but I had never heard of this one.
I am not a fan of Robin Hood movies but since it was a Hammer movie and Peter
Cushing and other Hammer actors were in it I had to have it. It is actually a
very good movie. As usual it is well written and acted by all. The scenery of
the forest give it a very real look. Naul McGinnis from Curse of the Demon is
great as Friar Tuck. Not so crazy about Richard Greene as Robin Hood he has
a comic tone to his acting I found off but it doesn't ruin the movie. Peter
Cushing is great as the cruel Sheriff and is murdered before the showdown
with Robin Hood. I was hoping they'd have a duel to the death but ? why not?
I still think this is as good as the pirate pictures Hammer made. It is not
a cheap copy. Widescreen very good quality. I hope I can find more lost Hammer.

There is no other Robin Hood than Errol Flynn and no group more merry than his merry men with Alan Hale (Little John) and Eugene Pallette (Friar Tuck). And who was more evil and formidable than Basil Rathbone who was a world class expert swordsman. Then there's the lovely Olivia de Havilland who gave us our very best Marion.

That being said, Robin Hood was one of the most popular film characters dating back to the early silent films. In addition to Flynn, he's been played by Douglas Fairbanks (1922), Cornel Wilde (1946), John Derek (1950), Richard Todd (1952), Sean Connery (1976), John Cleese (1981), Kevin Costner (1991), Patrick Bergin (1991), and Russell Crowe (2010). The one person who played Robin the most was Richard Greene, who stars in this film and who played Robin for 5 years (143 half hour episodes) on the popular TV series.

Prior to the TV series Greene (1918-85) appeared in a few dozen films like "Kentucky" (1938), "The Hound of Baskervilles" (1939), and "Little Old New York" (1940). Beginning with "Forever Amber" (1947) he appeared in a series of costumed swashbuckling roles ("The Desert Hawk", "Shadow of the Eagle", "The Black Castle") and this earned him the role on the TV series. He once said - "This swashbuckler stuff is rough on the anatomy, but I find it more exhilarating than whispering mishmash into some ingenue's pink little ear."

The film has an impressive list of supporting actors including Peter Cushing, Nigel Green, Oliver Reed, and Desmond Llewellyn. Unfortunmately none of them seem committed to their respective roles.

Peter Cushing (1913-94) is best remembered as a key played in "Hammer Horror" films for roles in Frankenstein and Dracula films, but he also did the Dr. Who character and also ended up in "Star Wars IV" (1977).

Nigel Green (1924-72) plays "Little John". Green was primarily a TV actor and had a continuing role on "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot" (1956-7) and "William Tell" (1958-9). Among his films he's probably best known for "The Ipcress File" (1965) and "The Ruling Class" (1972).

Oliver Reed (1937-99) made nearly 100 films. He's probably best known to younger viewers for his BAFTA nominated role in "Gladiator" (2000): older viewers will remember him best from films like "Oliver" (1968), "The Three Musketeers" (1973), and "Tommy" (1975).

Desmond Llewellyn (1914-99) is best known as Q from the 18 Bond films he appeared in. Along with Nigel Green he had been a guest star in one of the Robin Hood TV series episodes.

Terrence Fisher (1904-80) directed for Hammer Films. He made more than 50 films and also worked on the first year of the Robin Hood TV series. Fisher was responsible for the full color look and sexual innuendo that sparked horror films in the last half of the 20th century with films like "Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), "Horror of Dracula" (1958), and "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1960).

In 1960, the top money earners were "Swiss Family Robinson", "Psycho", "Spartacus", "Exodus", and "The Alamo". The big Oscar winners were "The Apartment" (Picture, Director) and "Elmer Gantry" (Actor, Supporting Actress). Other notable releases that year were "La Dolce Vita", "Inherit the Wind", "The Magnificent Seven", "Oceans 11", "Two Women", and "The Virgin Spring".

The NY Times said "a nicely tinted Sherwood Forest is as pretty as could be, and Sarah Branch is certainly the curviest Lady Marian we've ever seen. Mr. Greene is aptly limber, and Peter Cushing, Richard Pasco... are excellent."

Of course you know that when a review leads with the scenery there isn't much to the picture. And unfortunately that's true here. This film really isn't much more than an extended version of one of the TV episodes, and more times than not they seem to be using the studio outdoor set which may look OK on TV, but doesn't come off so well in color. Then, of course, there is Richard Greene himself, who did a great job on TV in the 50s, but here in 1961 at 42 years of age, a slight paunch, and in living color, the "legend" of Robin Hood gets a bit stretched.

Fans of Robin Hood need to go back to the original. That is so far superior to anything else it stands alone. Special mention needs to be made for Sean Connery's "Robin and Marion" (1976) in which Sean intentionally plays an older, paunchier Robin.