Robin Hood may have died, but he left a son to follow in his footsteps in the person of John Derek. England has need of the Rogues Of Sherwood Forest because Prince John is now King John and ruling like the tyrant we had a hint of when he was Regent and Richard I his older brother was on the throne.
Now John is King in fact and he's proving to be as bad as he promised and he's played by George MacReady which is never good in most films. MacReady wants to put onerous new taxes to pay for troops that are to be supplied by MacReady's new good friend the Count of Flanders played by Lowell Gilmore. They're to enforce John's will.
Derek as the Earl of Huntington opposes John and is branded a traitor. After this it's time to send a clarion call out for the Merry Men, those who rode with Dad and newer and younger ones.
Making his third appearance in the role of Little John is Alan Hale. Hale played the part with both Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. This film isn't quite up to those standards.
In fact as do so many Hollywood epics it rewrites history quite a bit. The upshot of it all is the Magna Carta, but it was never arrived at quite like in this film.
Derek's love interest is a new Maid Marianne in the person of Diana Lynn. She's MacReady's royal ward and when she falls of Derek she agrees to be his spy at court.
One thing that was really dumb in my opinion was Lowell Gilmore's change in attitude. Throughout most of the film Gilmore is presented as a cold fish who's just interested in money. Than toward the end to spice things up Gilmore says he's willing to let MacReady have those Flemish mercenaries if he can just marry Lynn. A really dumb script idea.
The action sequences aren't bad though, but the film isn't as good as either the Douglas Fairbanks silent or the Errol Flynn sound classic. Not even Alan Hale's presence can change that.
Now John is King in fact and he's proving to be as bad as he promised and he's played by George MacReady which is never good in most films. MacReady wants to put onerous new taxes to pay for troops that are to be supplied by MacReady's new good friend the Count of Flanders played by Lowell Gilmore. They're to enforce John's will.
Derek as the Earl of Huntington opposes John and is branded a traitor. After this it's time to send a clarion call out for the Merry Men, those who rode with Dad and newer and younger ones.
Making his third appearance in the role of Little John is Alan Hale. Hale played the part with both Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. This film isn't quite up to those standards.
In fact as do so many Hollywood epics it rewrites history quite a bit. The upshot of it all is the Magna Carta, but it was never arrived at quite like in this film.
Derek's love interest is a new Maid Marianne in the person of Diana Lynn. She's MacReady's royal ward and when she falls of Derek she agrees to be his spy at court.
One thing that was really dumb in my opinion was Lowell Gilmore's change in attitude. Throughout most of the film Gilmore is presented as a cold fish who's just interested in money. Than toward the end to spice things up Gilmore says he's willing to let MacReady have those Flemish mercenaries if he can just marry Lynn. A really dumb script idea.
The action sequences aren't bad though, but the film isn't as good as either the Douglas Fairbanks silent or the Errol Flynn sound classic. Not even Alan Hale's presence can change that.