It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Blistering performances.

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.

A real oddity from Hammer Films, SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1960) is their only film based on a popular UK TV series which actually features the star of the show in the movie. The rest of the cast has still been replaced, however, and because of the nature of the story, it almost has to be an "alternate universe" continuity as I see no way it could fit into the run of the TV show.Robin Hood (Richard Green) faces off mostly against the Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing), which means you've got "Sir Henry Baskerville" fighting "Sherlock Holmes"-- although Cushing comes across more like "Baron Frankenstein" in this one.Also in the cast, I realized on my 3rd viewing, are no less than 3 actors who were in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS-- Little John is Nigel Green (Hercules), the Archbishop of Canterbury is Jack Gwillim (King Aeetes of Colchis), and Friar Tuck (the film's comic relief) is Niall MacGinnis (Zeus). Of course, having Richard Green & Nigel Green together also means you have 2 different "Sir Dennis Nayland Smiths" side-by-side for most of the picture! Oddly enough, the REAL villain turns out to be "Edward, Earl of NewarK", played by Richard Pasco, who I've never seen in anything else, but apparently played baddies in 3 different episodes of the TV series.Also in the cast are Derren Nesbitt (WHERE EAGLES DARE) in one of his rare "good guy" roles, Edwin Richfield ("The Sea Devils") as a minor villain, and Oliver Reed (THE BIG SLEEP) as a total bastard, who, inexplicably, had his entire performance dubbed by another actor.It's a "nice" film, but not a great one, as the plot tends to ramble and never quite builds any kind of momentum, resembling more than anything a 30's serial with the cliffhangers removed. Richard Green was one of the producers, and it's not by one of Hammer's regular writers, either. Still, anything with Peter Cushing, directed by Terrence Fisher is worth a look.

Hammer Film Productions delivered more than great horror. It produced this (short) movie based on the 1950's television series, "The Adventures of Robin Hood." Most of the television cast were dumped. Richard Greene reprises his role as Robin Hood. Little John is Nigel Green and the Sheriff of Nottingham is Peter Cushing, looking weird in a mod wig. Maid Marian changed from a brunette on television to a blonde (Sarah Branch). The one television cast member who is missed is Alexander Gauge's Friar Tuck; he has been replaced by Niall MacGinnis.Also of note in the cast are Richard Pasco, and a very young Oliver Reed. Reed plays such an effete character he even affects a lisp. Derrin Nesbitt, my favorite no. 2 from "The Prisoner", has a small but pivotal part in this movie as Martin of Eastwood.The amazing thing is that this movie does not try to track Robin Hood's tale from his outlawry to the arrival of King Richard. This is just one incident in Robin's life. Robin has to secure a pardon for Martin of Eastwood so his family can inherit his lands. But the Sheriff of Nottingham wants the land to revert to himself. There is also a sub-plot, involving Richard Pasco and Oliver Reed, about an attempt to assassinate the Archbishop of Canterbury. For a movie of less than ninety minutes long, it has a lot going on.Though it is not another life of Robin Hood "Sword of Sherwood Forest" does include the obligatory meeting with Marian. This time, she's bathing in a river (in a strangely exposed place).But why "Sword of Sherwood Forest" when Robin's favorite weapon is the longbow? If you are familiar with Richard Greene's Robin Hood, this movie is worth checking out. The color is gorgeous after all this time.

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.