Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood | |
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Directed by | John Hough |
Written by | David Butler |
Produced by | Bill Anderson |
Starring | David Warbeck Ciaran Madden Kathleen Byron David Butler Kenneth Gilbert |
Cinematography | David Holmes |
Edited by | Robert C. Dearberg |
Music by | Bernie Sharp Jack Sprague |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Anglo-EMI Film Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 56 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood is an adventure film directed by John Hough and starring David Warbeck, Ciaran Madden, Kathleen Byron, David Butler and Kenneth Gilbert. [1] [2] The film was the debut movie of actor David Warbeck as Robin Hood. [2] [3] The film was originally a 1969 television series pilot but was released in movie theatres in 1973, as a support feature to the musical Take Me High . [2] [4] The film was also released on VHS under the title The Legend of Young Robin Hood. [5]
The film's title comes from the medieval term Caput lupinum or "Wolfshead", meaning an outlaw. [2]
The film is set in the year 1190AD. Robert of Loxley, a simple farmer, is working his land when a fellow Saxon runs through their property attempting to escape Sir Jeffrey and the Royal Game Warden. Robert denies seeing the alleged poacher, and the fight, which ensues, is destined to seal his fate.
When Sir Jeffrey's brother, Roger of Doncaster, learns that Robert of Loxley was not killed for his insolence, he determines to use the incident to have him arrested and his lands confiscated. Sir Roger's ulterior motive is that his intended bride Lady Marian Fitzwater has had feelings for Robert from childhood and this stands in the way of his marriage to her. So he enlists the help of the Abbott to have Robert made a Wolfshead: an outlaw whose head is worth that of a wolf's, dead or alive.
Howard Maxford, in his book Hammer Complete praised Wolfshead as a "brisk and entertaining variation on an over-familiar tale." [2] Maxford added that "the film's only drawback is its rather abrupt ending." [2]
Writer Richard Carpenter later described Wolfshead as an influence on his own series, Robin of Sherwood . Carpenter stated "What [Wolfshead] did was to have a very realistic look at being an outlaw in the 13th century and I wanted to have that element as well as the occult and humor." [6]
Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more recent past. It became one of Scott's best-known and most influential novels.
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depicted as being of noble birth, and in modern retellings he is sometimes depicted as having fought in the Crusades before returning to England to find his lands taken by the Sheriff. In the oldest known versions, he is instead a member of the yeoman class. Traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green, he is most famous for his attribute of stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
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 of Sherwood is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In the United States it was shown on the premium cable TV channel Showtime and, later, on PBS. It was also syndicated in the early 1990s under the title Robin Hood. The show starred Michael Praed and Jason Connery as two different incarnations of the title character. Unlike previous adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, Robin of Sherwood combined a gritty, authentic production design with elements of real-life history, 20th-century fiction, and pagan myth. Robin of Sherwood has been described by historian Stephen Knight as "the most innovative and influential version of the myth in recent times". The series is also notable for its musical score by Clannad, which won a BAFTA award. A video game adaptation, Robin of Sherwood: The Touchstones of Rhiannon, was released in 1985. The series attained cult status worldwide.
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.
David Warbeck was a New Zealand actor and model best known for his roles in European exploitation and horror films.
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.
The folkloric hero Robin Hood has appeared many times, in many different variations, in popular modern works.
The Merry Men are the group of outlaws who follow Robin Hood in English literature and folklore. The group appears in the earliest ballads about Robin Hood and remains popular in modern adaptations. History The Merry Men are Robin Hood's group who work to rob from the rich and give to the poor. They have antagonized the tyrannical rule of Prince John while King Richard is fighting in the Crusades. This also puts them into conflict with Prince John's minions, Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Robin Hood is a 2010 action film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Mark Addy, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, and Max von Sydow.
Son of the Guardsman is an American film serial released in 1946 by Columbia Pictures. It was the 31st of the 57 serials produced by that studio.
The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, stealing from the rich, and the Sheriff, in order to give to the poor; it is this characteristic for which Robin Hood is best known. The Sheriff is considered the archenemy of Robin Hood, as he is the most recurring enemy of the well-known outlaw.
Ivanhoe is a 1997 American/British television mini-series based on the 1819 novel Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. It was produced by the BBC and A&E Network and consisted of six 50 minute episodes.
Lady of the Forest: A Novel of Sherwood is a 1992 historical fiction novel by American author Jennifer Roberson. A re-telling of the Robin Hood legend from the perspective of twelve characters associated with the legend, the story centers around English noblewoman Lady Marian FitzWalter's encounters with Lord Robert of Locksley and his scheming rival the Sheriff of Nottingham amid the backdrop of Prince John's schemes – he aims to increase his own wealth and power at the expense of post-Conquest England and his brother, King Richard.
Robin Hood is a 2018 American action-adventure film directed by Otto Bathurst and written by Ben Chandler and David James Kelly, from a story by Chandler. It is a quasi-contemporary retelling of the Robin Hood legend, and follows his training by John to steal from the Sheriff of Nottingham. The film stars Taron Egerton as Robin, and features Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn, Eve Hewson, Tim Minchin and Jamie Dornan in supporting roles. Returning home to England to learn the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham (Mendelsohn) has seized his family estate, aristocrat Robin of Loxley joins forces with Friar Tuck (Minchin) and Little John (Foxx) – a fierce Arabian warrior who wants to put an end to the Crusades. Armed with arrows and dubbed Robin Hood, Loxley leads a band of oppressed rebels in a daring plan to rob the Sheriff of his money and take away his power.