phil allen Trawling the channels last evening, I came upon "Sword of Sherwood Forest" (oddly titled..) and hung around. One expects little more from the Richard Greene takes on the personified Unforgetting Saxon than hearty words, unerring aim and quick execution of an instantly thought-up plan of action. And let's not forget the power of British accents, which ennoble the weak and render villains extra creepy. The Earl of Newark (read Walter Scott's short poems on football), as played by Mr. Pasco, was not a villain; he was a lordly lord who rode while they walked. He makes a wonderfully filled-out SOB noble, and his greasy hair is an all-timer. Incidentally, note the Sheriff's possibly-anachronistic mounted soldiers scattering villains in the priory burning. He who has horses, has power.. This is a light bit of adventurous fun, set in some gorgeous surroundings. Well by '60, there was no more Sherwood Forest; they had to go to Ireland to shoot it which, in Robin's time, was being 'subdued' by the early Plantagenets. The producers by my guess wanted little more than a big-screen TV adventure, targeted for the Saturday-afternoon matinée crowd, but seen generations later on an 'old movie' channel by now-aging tots.

timsmith37 This is not as bad as all that. Terence Fisher as ever does a competent job, there are reasonable production values and some rather fetching photography. I always thought Richard Greene a little too schoolmasterly for an outlaw, and he is here rather portly, but he can certainly handle a bow. Nigel Greene and Niall McGinnis are well cast as Little John and Tuck, Peter Cushing is an excellent Sheriff, and Richard Pasco does well as the ambiguous Lord Newark. Oliver Reed's camp henchman is perhaps less successful.The conspiracy plot unfolds at a relaxed pace and resolves satisfyingly. The weakest element is the tacked on romance with Sarah Branch's rather bland Maid Marion.All in all a rather charming period piece, that gets closer to the spirit of the original ballads than most versions.

Michael_Elliott Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) ** (out of 4) Hammer made their name by reworking Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy but here they try their hand at Robin Hood. Richard Greene plays Robin Hood while Peter Cushing tackles the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham but the end results are rather dull. Like their horror films, this film has the sexuality and violence picked up but director Terence Fisher doesn't bring anything else to the table. The 2.35:1 aspect ratio makes for some good looking scenes but none of the scenes contain any energy to keep the viewer going. Greene is pretty forgettable as Robin and Sarah Branch as Maid Marian comes off even worse. Cushing is good in his role and keeps the film from being worse than it is. Oliver Reed also has a small role.

Neil Doyle This is Robin Hood without any zest...just plain dull.If you're going to do the Robin Hood story, at least a filmmaker should blend in all the proper elements that make the legendary story so popular, as the 1938 film did with Errol Flynn. But here we have Hammer trying to justice to the tale and unable to disguise the fact that it's done on a low-budget scale with less than impressive actors in all the important character roles.RICHARD GREENE would have been a suitable choice if he'd played the role on the big screen some fifteen years earlier, but he's clearly too mature (and a bit tired looking) to be the dashing outlaw of Sherwood Forest and this faulty bit of casting extends to the other roles too. I never saw the television series starring Greene so I can't comment on it or make a comparison.It gets off to a dull start with a meeting between Robin and Marian (SARAH BRANCH) that (as in the Flynn film) has them on less than amicable terms at first sight. The difference here is that she's been bathing in the nude before Robin and his men come along but quickly dresses modestly and has her first rude encounter with the outlaw.There's no "ye olde English" flavor to the dialog--it sounds more 20th Century than anything else. PETER CUSHING turns up as the Sheriff of Nottingham who wants a wanted criminal that Robin Hood is sheltering. He promises Robin a free pardon if he delivers the criminal to him, but Robin refuses the bargain.Just as well. The Sheriff turns out to be untrustworthy and never keeps his word. NIALL MacGINNIS doesn't seem rotund enough to play Friar Tuck but he shows up midway through the film to form an alliance with Robin. A further plot device involves the Archbishop of Canterbury, but it's a muddled bit of plotting that seems insufficiently interesting and takes attention away from Robin and Marian.Summing up: Handsomely photographed in color with some interesting archery scenes, but a lackluster script and so-so performances do nothing to make the film anything but plodding and dull. The story simply has no focal point.Trivia note: SARAH BRANCH's hair-style and make-up looks straight out of the 1960s--a very modern looking Maid Marian.