The Men of Sherwood Forest is a 1954 British adventure film directed by Val Guest and starring Don Taylor, Reginald Beckwith, Eileen Moore and David King-Wood. The film follows the exploits of Robin Hood and his followers. Doreen Carwithen wrote the score for the film. Produced by Hammer Films it was shot at the company's Bray Studios with sets designed by the art director J. Elder Wills. Exteriors were shot at Bodiam Castle in Sussex.
Plot
In 1194, on his return from the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart is taken prisoner in Germany. Disguised as a troubadour, Robin Hood builds a plan to rescue him from this tight spot but is captured. The Merry Men then have to fulfil a double mission: find Robin Hood and save the King.
Cast
Don Taylor as Robin Hood
Reginald Beckwith as Friar Tuck
Eileen Moore as Lady Alys
David King-Wood as Sir Guy Belton
Douglas Wilmer as Sir Nigel Saltire
Harold Lang as Hubert
Ballard Berkeley as Walter
Patrick Holt as King Richard
Wensley Pithey as Hugo
Leslie Linder as Little John
John Van Eyssen as Will Scarlett
Leonard Sachs as Sheriff of Nottingham
Raymond Rollett as Abbot St. Jude
Toke Townley as Father David
Vera Pearce as Elvira
John Kerr as Brian of Eskdale
John Stuart as Moraine
Bernard Bresslaw as Garth
Edward Hardwicke as Outlaw
Jack May as Villager
Crew
Director: Val Guest
Assistant director: Jack Sangster
Screenplay by Allan MacKinnon
Photography: Walter J. Harvey, B.S.C
Music by Doreen Carwithen
Musical director: John Hollingsworth
Art director: J. Elder Wills
Editor: James Needs
Production manager: Jimmy Sangster
Produced by Michael Carreras
Sound recording: Sid Wiles and Ken Cameron
Continuity: Renee Glynne
Camera operator: Len Harris
Make-up: Phillip Leakey
Hairdresser: Monica Hustler
Costume designer: Michael Withaker
Wardrobe mistress: Molly Arbuthnot
Production company: Hammer Film Productions
Country: England
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1 - Eastmancolor - Mono (RCA Sound Recording) Runtime: 77 mn Release date: 17 November 1954 Produced at Bray Studio, England
Production
Val Guest called it " a merry romp, it was a send-up of all the Robin Hood things... It was a fun picture, but nothing really riveting or historical."
Critical reception
David Parkinson noted in the Radio Times "a cheap and cheerful Hammer outing to Sherwood, with production values on a par with the infamously parsimonious ITV series starring Richard Greene", concluding "Val Guest directs with little feel for the boisterous action, but it's a tolerable frolic all the same", while TV Guide wrote that "this low-budget swashbuckler is good fun for the undiscriminating".