Walt Disney with James Robertson Justice and a Mystery Man

Philip Glaister, Walt Disney and James Robertson Justice

Back in July 2018, I published this image showing Walt Disney with James Robertson Justice (1907-1975). This was my original post :

“ Neil has kindly shared this interesting image. It shows Walt Disney with James Robertson Justice (1907-1975). The photograph seems to have been taken sometime between June and September 1952, which coincides with the filming of Justice’s second movie for the Disney Organisation, The Sword and the Rose (1953). Justice is looking a lot more portly than when he appeared as Little John in The Story of Robin Hood (1952). This weight-gain was probably in preperation for his role as Henry VIII in the Tudor adventure”.

But who was the man, holding a bird of prey on the other side of Disney?

I recently received this kind answer to our question from Peter Tingey in April this year :

“ The third man is Phillip Glasier, the falconer, who took a minor part as the 'Royal Falconer' in The Sword and the Rose. His role involved flying falcons to add authenticity to the drama. James Robertson Justice later invited Glasier to be his personal falconer. Glasier was also responsible for the flying of falcons for the film Knights of the Round Table starring Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor”.

Many thanks to Peter Tingey for answering our question and also to Neil for supplying the original image.

If you are a fan of films from this period, don’t forget to visit Neil’s fantastic web site Films of the Fifties.

3 comments:

Clement Glen said...

Walt Disney with James Robertson Justice and a Mystery

Many thanks to Peter Tingey for answering our question and also to Neil for supplying the original image.

Vallypee said...

Nice to have the mystery solved :)

Neil said...

Whatever do we make of James Robertson Justice. Was he for real ? The claims he made about his country of birth- which was not the case - and many of the stories in his youth which seem to be almost too preposterous for words. Did he live in this fantasy world all his life or was that just to get him the fame he eventually was successful with - I just don't know. He did have a very good career in films and a long one at that. He was a perfect 'Little John'. He remains a fascinating character in some ways and maybe those characters are needed - even if they embellish their stories a bit too much. I suppose there is just the chance that these stories are true of course.