The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)

The Men of Sherwood Forest (Dir: Val Guest, 1954). 

An early production from Hammer Films, The Men of Sherwood Forest is a low budget but spirited romp with Don Taylor as the legendary Robin Hood. 

Deviating somewhat from the usual retelling of the legend, the simple plot involves Robin and his Merrie Men attempting to thwart an ambush attack on Richard the Lionheart on his return from the Crusades.

More famous for their Horror movies, Hammer also did a nice line in swashbucklers; the studio produced four Robin Hood movies, of which this was the first. 

Although clearly working with a meagre budget, director Val Guest makes decent use of outdoor locales and the movie feels less studio bound than might be expected. It also benefits from being shot in colour and whilst the action is not as well staged as in a more lavish production, Guest generally elicits decent performances from his actors, not all of whom are perfectly cast.

In the leading role, Don Taylor makes for a slightly bland hero. There is nothing essentially  wrong with his performance and with an athletic build he certainly looks the part of Robin. However with an accent that is more Hollywood than Sherwood, Taylor lacks both the authenticity and charisma of earlier Robin Hoods such as Errol Flynn or Richard Todd. Likewise, Leonard Sachs is not ideally cast as The Sheriff of Nottingham, lacking both the authoritative air and any real sense of menace to make a truly memorable villain.

The best performances are to be found in the supporting cast. Maid Marian is inexplicably missing from The Men of Sherwood Forest; her replacement here is Lady Alys in a nice performance by Eileen Moore. A loyal ally to Robin, she holds her own with the best of the Merrie Men, but there is no romance between the two. Robin’s most significant relationship here is with Friar Tuck. As the wily man of the cloth cum con artist Reginald Beckwith gives a marvellous comic performance which is arguably the movie's highlight.  

There are slicker swashbucklers than this; The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtis, 1938) is still the definitive cinematic take on the legend and star Errol Flynn the definitive Robin. Yet, while The Men of Sherwood Forest is no masterpiece, as an example of the sort of boys own adventure that once filled matinees, it is invaluable. Cheap and cheerful maybe, but also engagingly innocent, old fashioned fun.