The Prince of Thieves | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Directed by | Howard Bretherton |
Screenplay by | Charles H. Schneer Maurice Tombragel |
Based on | Le Prince des voleurs by Alexandre Dumas |
Produced by | Sam Katzman |
Starring | Jon Hall Patricia Morison Adele Jergens |
Cinematography | Fred Jackman Jr. |
Edited by | James Sweeney |
Music by | Various |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 72 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $400,000 [1] |
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. [2] Patricia Morison and Adele Jergens co-star. [3]
After fighting in the Crusades alongside King Richard I of England, Sir Allan Claire is returning home to marry his betrothed Lady Christabel. He and his sister Lady Marian Claire are intercepted by Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. Recognising a friend of King Richard, Robin informs them that Lady Christabel is to be married to another against her will in the interest of politics and her father's fortune. The three team up to rescue the fair lady.
Alexander Dumas' 1872 novel was translated into French from an 1836 romance by Pierce Egan. [1]
The idea for making the film came from Charles Schneer who worked for producer Sam Katzman. Katzman enjoyed making films from books in the public domain and Schneer discovered the title listed among the works of Alexander Dumas. Schneer's original intent was to write an original scenario just using the title, but once he had the work translated into English, Katzman wanted an adaptation of the book. [1]
At this stage in his career, Katzman specialised in shooting musicals for Columbia over nine days with a budget of $140,000. He was so enthused by this project but he arranged to secure a budget of $400,000, including $100,000 for cast, and colour photography. [1]
George Plympton was reported as working on the script in January 1947. [4] Jon Hall's casting was announced in March. [5]
At one stage three people were directing the film - Max Nosseckwith the main cast, Derwin Abrahams on the silent sequences, and Howarth Bretheron with the action sequences. [6]
The censor objected to depictions of Friar Tuck being interested in worldly pleasures and the character had to be toned down. [1]
Allmovie called the film a "decided B-picture effort" and wrote that its Cinecolor "lacked the glowing luster" of the Technicolor used in the earlier The Bandit of Sherwood Forest; he also noted that the soundtrack was mostly stock music from the Columbia library. The reviewer also noted the movie's aim at younger audiences and male filmgoers, and concluded: "The one true oddity in the movie, and its most offbeat element, is the presence of Patricia Morison as Lady Marian, who seems to be exercising some of the shrewishness that would finally put her on the map as an actress, by way of the Broadway stage, a year later in Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate . All of these disparate elements may not hold together ideally, but with a running time of scarcely more than an hour and a cast that is trying hard to make it all fun, it's impossible for a picture like this to go far wrong, even if it gets nowhere near to being high art, either". [7] TV Guide called the film "mainly a kiddie picture" and noted that "of the Merry Men, it is Mowbray as Friar Tuck who steals the show with a performance that borders on slapstick". [8]
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American Technicolor epic swashbuckler film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, and Alan Hale. The film is particularly noted for its Academy Award-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 American action adventure film based on the English folk tale of Robin Hood that originated in the 12th century. Directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by Pen Densham and John Watson, the film stars Kevin Costner as Robin Hood, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Marian, and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne is a character from the Robin Hood legends of English folklore. He first appears in "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne", where he is an assassin who attempts to kill Robin Hood but is killed by him. In later depictions, he has become a romantic rival to Robin Hood for Maid Marian's love.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a 1993 adventure comedy film and a parody of the Robin Hood story. The film was produced and directed by Mel Brooks, co-written by Brooks, Evan Chandler, and J. David Shapiro based on a story by Chandler and Shapiro, and stars Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle in his film debut. It includes frequent comedic references to previous Robin Hood films, particularly Prince of Thieves, and the 1938 Errol Flynn adaptation The Adventures of Robin Hood. Brooks himself had previously created the short-lived sitcom When Things Were Rotten in the mid-1970s, which also spoofed the Robin Hood legend.
Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason, she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the early strong female characters in English literature.
Robin Hood is a 1973 American animated musical adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Produced and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it is based on the English folktale "Robin Hood". The story follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John, and the inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John, and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian. The film features the voices of Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Peter Ustinov, Pat Buttram, Monica Evans, Terry-Thomas, Roger Miller, and Carole Shelley.
Robin Hood is a 1922 silent adventure film starring Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery. It was the first motion picture ever to have a Hollywood premiere, held at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on October 18, 1922. The movie's full title, under which it was copyrighted, is Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood. It was one of the most expensive films of the 1920s, with a budget estimated at one million dollars. The film was a smash hit and generally received favorable reviews.
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
Robin and Marian is a 1976 romantic adventure film from Columbia Pictures, shot in Panavision and Technicolor, that was directed by Richard Lester and written by James Goldman after the legend of Robin Hood. The film stars Sean Connery as Robin Hood, Audrey Hepburn as Lady Marian, Nicol Williamson as Little John, Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Richard Harris as Richard the Lionheart, and Denholm Elliott as Will Scarlet. It also features comedian Ronnie Barker in a rare film role as Friar Tuck. Robin and Marian was filmed in Zamora, as well as Artajona, Urbasa, Quinto Real and Orgi, all small medieval villages in Navarre, Spain. It marked Hepburn's return to the screen after an eight-year absence.
Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on the stage, and amongst her most renowned were The Fallen Sparrow, Dressed to Kill opposite Basil Rathbone and the screen adaptation of The Song of Bernadette. She was lauded as a beauty with large blue eyes and extremely long, dark hair. During this period of her career, she was often cast as the femme fatale or "other woman". It was only when she returned to the Broadway stage that she achieved her greatest success as the lead in the original production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate and subsequently in The King and I.
Alan-a-Dale is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became a member of Robin's band of outlaws, the "Merry Men".
Adele Jergens was an American actress.
Princess of Thieves is a romantic adventure television film starring Keira Knightley, produced by Granada Productions; it premiered on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney in the United States in 2001.
Robin Hood is a 1991 British adventure film directed by John Irvin, executive produced by John McTiernan, and starring Patrick Bergin, Uma Thurman, Jürgen Prochnow, Jeroen Krabbé, and Edward Fox. Although originally intended for a theatrical release in the United States and South America, the film instead premiered on television, on the Fox network in those territories a month before the release of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It was released in cinemas in several countries in Europe and elsewhere, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Rogues of Sherwood Forest is a 1950 Technicolor adventure film from Columbia Pictures, directed by Gordon Douglas, and starring John Derek as Robin, the Earl of Huntingdon, the son of Robin Hood, Diana Lynn as Lady Marianne, and Alan Hale, Sr. in his third Robin Hood film role as Little John during a 28-year period; he had played the part opposite Douglas Fairbanks in 1922 and Errol Flynn in 1938, one of the longest periods over which a film actor played the same major character. It was also Hale's final film before his death. Rogues of Sherwood Forest was written by George Bruce and Ralph Gilbert Bettison. The supporting cast features George Macready as King John, Billy House as Friar Tuck and John Dehner in an early appearance as Sir Baldric, billed fourteenth in the cast list.
Charles Hirsch Schneer was an American film producer, best known for working with Ray Harryhausen, the specialist known for his work in stop motion model animation.
Friar Tuck is one of the Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.
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.
The Mutineers is a 1949 American adventure film directed by Jean Yarbrough starring Adele Jergens, George Reeves and Jon Hall. It was produced by Sam Katzman for release by Columbia Pictures. The film was also known under the alternative title Pirate Ship.