The Bandit of Sherwood Forest | |
---|---|
Directed by | Henry Levin George Sherman |
Written by | Wilfred H. Petitt Melvin Levy |
Story by | Paul A. Castleton & Wilfred H. Petitt |
Based on | Novel Son of Robin Hood by Paul A. Castleton |
Produced by | Leonard S. Picker Clifford Sanforth |
Starring | Cornel Wilde Anita Louise Jill Esmond Edgar Buchanan |
Cinematography | Tony Gaudio William Snyder George B. Meehan |
Edited by | Richard Fantl |
Music by | Hugo Friedhofer |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | >$1 million [1] |
Box office | $3 million (US rentals) [2] 3,410,235 admissions (France) [3] |
The Bandit of Sherwood Forest is a 1946 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Henry Levin & George Sherman and starring Cornel Wilde, Anita Louise, Jill Esmond and Edgar Buchanan.
Robin Hood's son (Cornel Wilde) returns to save Magna Carta , flirt with Lady Catherine (Anita Louise) and protect a boy king.
The film is based on a 1941 novel, Son of Robin Hood by Paul Castleton. [4] In 1941, Don "Red" Barry was attached to star in a serial called The Son of Robin Hood but it was not made. [5]
Producer Clifford Sanforth said he got the idea to make the film when his little son saw The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) asked his father whether Robin Hood had a son. Sanforth tracked down and bought the film rights to the novel. [6] In April 1944 Sanforth had intention to make a series of films about the son of Robin Hood for Republic Pictures starring archer Howard Hill. [7]
In early 1945 the project moved to Columbia Pictures where Sanforth was to produce with Leonard Picker. [8] MGM objected to the title The Son of Robin Hood claiming they had the rights to use the words "Robin Hood" as they had bought screen rights to an operetta of that name by Reginald de Koven. This resulted in Columbia deciding to use the title The Bandit of Sherwood Forest. [9]
The casting of Cornel Wilde and Anita Louise was announced in March 1945 and filming began in April. [10]
The film featured the first cinema use of helicopter mounted cameras used during the scene of the storming of the castle. [11]
Variety wrote: "There is considerable ineptness in writing, production and direction but it still stands up as okay escapist film fare for the not-too-critical. There is a concentration of chases and 'they-went-thata-way' flavor about the doings that hints at the western feature training of producers and directors. Wilde is properly swashbuckling as the hero, and probably had himself a time enacting the dare-and-do". [12] The New York Times wrote: "Cornel Wilde is dashing and flashes a toothsome smile as the virtuous "bandit" of Sherwood and Anita Louise is beautiful, though perhaps a bit more coquettish than a maiden fair should be. All the rest, including Russel Hicks as the elder Robert, pitch into their roles with picturesque extravagance. The Bandit of Sherwood Forest is the kind of entertainment that makes one wish one could be a boy again—if only for an hour and a half". [13]
The film was a sizable box office hit. It earned over $3 million in the US and was the 14th most popular film of the year in France in 1948. [3] [2]
The sets built for the film were reused in the Three Stooges shorts Squareheads of the Round Table , Fiddlers Three , and The Hot Scots , and again for the 1948 film The Prince of Thieves .
Richard Marius Joseph Greene was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1959.
Cornel Wilde was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Jill Esmond Moore was an English stage and screen actress.
John Derek was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He appeared in such films as Knock on Any Door, All the King's Men, Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950), and The Ten Commandments (1956). He discovered actress Bo Derek and she became his fourth wife.
Charles John "Tim" Holt III was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures.
William John Eythe was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage.
Jean Wallace was an American television and film actress.
Charles Henry Pywell Daniell was an English actor who had a long career in the United States on stage and in cinema. He came to prominence for his portrayal of villainous roles in films such as Camille (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Holiday (1938) and The Sea Hawk (1940). Daniell was given few opportunities to play sympathetic or 'good guy' roles; an exception was his portrayal of Franz Liszt in the biographical film of Robert and Clara Schumann, Song of Love (1947). His name is sometimes spelled "Daniel".
George Sherman was an American film director and producer of low-budget Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment industry."
Sword of Sherwood Forest is a 1960 British Eastman Color adventure film in MegaScope directed by Terence Fisher and starring Richard Greene, Peter Cushing, Niall MacGinnis and Sarah Branch. Greene reprises the role of Robin Hood, which he played in The Adventures of Robin Hood TV series 1955–1959. It was produced by Sidney Cole and Greene for Hammer Film Productions.
Henry Levin began as a stage actor and director but was most notable as an American film director of over fifty feature films. His best known credits were Jolson Sings Again (1949), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and Where the Boys Are (1960).
Edward Russell Hicks was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant colonel in the California State Guard.
Seton Ingersoll Miller was an American screenwriter and producer. During his career, he worked with film directors such as Howard Hawks and Michael Curtiz. Miller received two Oscar nominations and won once for Best Screenplay for the 1941 fantasy romantic comedy film, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, along with Sidney Buchman.
Hector William "Harry" Cording was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films The Black Cat (1934) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
Forever Amber is a 1947 American adventure drama romance film starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the same title by Kathleen Winsor. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, and Jessica Tandy.
At Sword's Point, also known as Sons of the Three Musketeers, is a 1952 American historical action adventure film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara. It was shot in Technicolor by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was completed in 1949, but was not released until 1952.
Philip Wyndham Friend was a British film and television actor.
The Black Arrow is a 1948 American adventure film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Louis Hayward and Janet Blair. It is an adaptation of the 1888 novel of the same title by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The Prince of Thieves is a 1948 American adventure film nominally inspired by Alexandre Dumas' 1872 novel Le Prince des voleurs. Produced by Sam Katzman for Columbia Pictures and starring Jon Hall as Robin Hood with stuntwork by Jock Mahoney, the film was shot in the Cinecolor process that features an inability to reproduce the colour green. Sequences were shot reusing several of the sets of Columbia's The Bandit of Sherwood Forest and at Corriganville. Patricia Morison and Adele Jergens co-star.
Clifford Sanforth was a film director and producer in the United States. See also Clifford S. Elfelt, his birth name and the name he used prior to the 1930s. He produced and directed under that name through 1926.