A while ago Geoff Wait sent some fantastic images of Elton Hayes attending a premiere of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in Cardiff. We now know that several other members of the cast also made personal appearances at selected cinemas. But, the article I have featured in this blog post is a mystery which I hope my readers can solve.
The images I am showing unfortunately do not have a date and come from an unknown source. They feature RKO-Radio’s joint receptions in provinces for Saturday Island and the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men.
Other guests included Claudette Colbert, Donald Peers, Petula Clark, Herbert Wilcox and Anna Neagle.
The Mayor of Westminster also attended, along with the ‘real’ Sheriff of Nottingham who met up with Peter Finch (the Sheriff in the movie) at the reception. The theatre attracted hundreds of sightseers and was covered by the ‘television newsreel cameras’ of the time.
It would be very interesting to know when exactly these RKO Joint Receptions were held.
From the advertisements of the time, we have seen that several films accompanied the showing of Disney’s Story of Robin Hood:
Hammer, The Toff (1952) starring John Bentley and Patricia Dainton was shown with Disney’s Robin Hood at the Gaumont Theatre in Manchester.
Seal Island (1948) an American documentary film directed by James Algar. Produced by Walt Disney, this was the first instalment of the True-Life Adventures.
Saturday Island (1952) (also known as Island of Desire) was an adventure romance war film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter and Donald Gray. Shown during the RKO Joint Receptions.
Do you know when these RKO Joint Receptions were held?
2 comments:
"The RKO Joint Receptions”
Do you have any information on these receptions?
Sorry to say that I have no information to add but it certainly looks as though these could have gone out on the same programme although I am pretty sure that they didn't. As Clement says it does look as though 'Hammer the Toff' was the support which seems so unlikely to me that I doubt it to this day.
We can only go with the information that we are given though. I would love to see a local newspaper advertisement of the day that would give us this information once and for all.
These joint Walt Disney / RKO receptions look so good though from these pictures.
This is a very interesting article.
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