Making The Story II

Ken Annakin starts filming inside Nottingham Castle

This is my second blog post about the short promotional film 'The Riddle of Robin Hood'. My first article described how this 12-minute movie was the idea of Disney legend Bill Walsh (1913-1975), pictured below. The film showed some fascinating behind-the-scenes footage of the making of 'The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men' (1952). The image above is a good example and shows director Ken Annakin starting to shoot a dramatic castle scene.

As you can probably guess, I have always loved the movie, 'The Story of Robin Hood'. It triggered not only my interest in the legend of the outlaw but a love of history. 

There were reports that Warner Brothers, the makers of the classic 1938  'Adventures of Robin Hood' starring Errol Flynn, resented the fact, that an animation studio, was lining up to film a new live-action version in the early 1950s. Producer Perce Pearce admitted that at that time, it would be the 14th film interpretation.

So, Walt knew that he needed to approach the story differently. The main message put across in the 12-minute promotional film, 'The Riddle of Robin Hood,' is that their Robin Hood film would be historically 'accurate' and shows the research crew's trip to England.

One of the team inspected a medieval manuscript

Richard Todd, producer Perce Pearce, scriptwriter Lawrence Edward Watkin, historical advisor Dr Charles Beard and art director Carmen Dillon visited Nottingham City Library, Nottingham Castle, Newstead Abbey, Edwinstowe, Sherwood Forest, Ollerton, Creswell Crags, Nottingham’s Caves, the Salutation Inn and the Trip to Jerusalem Inn. Their quest was to 'bring the REAL story of Robin Hood to the screen.'

Richard Todd explores a limestone cave

The narrator describes how they sifted through hundreds of manuscripts and old documents in museums and libraries across England. Even inspecting the ballads sung by minstrels.

We get to see art director Carmen Dillon's original drawings and model for Nottingham Square (above) that have been inspired by all the historical research. 

One of the research crew and advisors on the film was Dr Charles Beard, seen above, described as a historical scholar and expert on the "mode and the manners and customs of medieval England".  But, I don't think they had cigarettes in those days!

A very interesting moment in the 'Riddle of Robin Hood' is seeing Richard Todd being trained by Rupert Evans, 'England's outstanding authority on ancient and medieval combat'.

"Even the horses typical of Robin's time and place were sought", says the narrator, "not Hollywood cow ponies or Arabian stallions, but English hunters, of a breed familiar to the period."

Evidence of attention to historical detail by Carmen Dillon's art department can be seen in the still above showing an example of a Norman arch of the 11th and 12th Centuries.

It was Perce Pearce, Disney's director on 'The Story of Robin Hood' who was tasked to find a young British actress - 'perhaps someone relatively unknown, who suggests the countryside, but is also aristocratic.' 

Six girls auditioned for the role. Out of the six, it was twenty-one-year-old Joan Rice (1930-1997) who was chosen for a screen test at Denham Studios, in full costume in February 1951. The tests were then sent back to Walt in America. After seeing Joan he told Perce Pearce, that she has quality, a "great little emoter, the camera loves her, she gets my vote!"

 

During the beginning scenes of 'The Riddle of Robin Hood', I spotted Perce Pearce carrying an image of Joan Rice (above). 

The image above of Joan (above) might possibly have been used for a screen test.

I want to thank regular contributor Neil Vessey who originally tracked down the 'Riddle of Robin Hood'.

More to follow.