Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs  A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)
Hammer's final Robin Hood feature film and what a romp this is. The likable Barrie Ingham replaces Richard Greene as Robin Hood in a kind of origins story for the character, starting out a noble betrayed by his cousin over an inheritance and on the run with good friend Friar Tuck (James Hayter) where he meets Alan-a-Dale and his small band of outlaws hiding out in the forest.
What follows is an excellent swashbuckler which i enjoyed just as much as Sword of Sherwood Forest earlier in the week. Peter Blythe and John Arnatt make for excellent villains as the murderous Roger de Courtenay and devious Sheriff of Nottingham and the action is breezily directed by C. M. Pennington-Richards who i'd only previously known from light comedies such as Double Bunk (1961).
Whilst you can't really compare a film like this to more recent takes on Robin Hood i did notice that large swathes of Ridley Scott's 2010 Robin Hood film had been shall we say inspired by A Challenge for Robin Hood.
Hugely enjoyable. I'm absolutely delighted with my purchase of Indicator's Robin Hood at Hammer box set.
On forty nine minutes exactly there's one glaring anachronism in view. See if you spot it. (Actually if you watch it you really can't miss it) |
I enjoyed this a bit more than the other film actually, really fun! The cast was really good and the story, while a bit more traditional, was really engaging and exciting! James Hayter!
As for 49 mins, I did rewind it to make sure I saw what I thought I saw haha
Both look bloody fantastic in the Indicator box set and like you, I'm glad I took a gamble on two unseen films to buy it. 100% staying in my collection, will rewatch multiple times over the years I think.