Shakespeare & Alan-a-Dale

James Hayter as Friar Tuck

“There was a lover and his lass,
Sat ’neath a spreading oak,
And fearing lest his heart might break,
The devoted lover spoke…”

“Come Sing Low, Come Sing High,” written by Elton Hayes (Alan-a-Dale) and Lawrence Edward Watkin (as L.E. Watkin) for Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, reimagines William Shakespeare’s “There Was a Lover and His Lass” from As You Like It as a more lively and characterful piece. While Shakespeare’s original offers a gentle, pastoral celebration of spring and young love, the Disney version—later performed by Friar Tuck (James Hayter)—leans into humour and homely pleasures, highlighting warmth and entertainment over poetic elegance.

Thank You!

Maid Marian would like to thank all our regular readers and contributors!

Joan Rice & Ken Annakin

Joan Rice arrives at Denham Studios

 Joan Rice arrives by bicycle at Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire (pictured above) to film The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men in 1951. Director Ken Annakin later admitted he had doubts about her casting as Maid Marian, calling it his “Achilles’ heel.”

“I tested six other young actresses,” Annakin recalled, “but Walt Disney would not budge, largely because he saw me opposing him. ‘The camera loves her,’ Disney said. ‘Joan has quality.'

Annakin described how "Joan used to ride a bicycle to and from the local hotel and, between shots, would go speeding around the Denham lot. Nearly every day, she fell off and came back bruised and some part of her costume hanging loose. One evening, I saw her standing forlornly outside the studio door and took pity on her. "Where's your bike?" I called. 'Smashed up, as usual," she grinned guiltily, as she climbed into my MG Midget, then the pride of my life. She lit up a cigarette. Sure enough, within five minutes, I smelled burning. The wind had blown the hot ash into my rumble seat, and there was a half-inch hole smoking in the red leather. She staggered into her hotel, crying again. I had to feel sorry for the poor kid!"

So You Wanna Be A Director by Ken Annakin, Tomahawk Press 2001

Rare Disney Jigsaw Puzzles

These extremely rare jigsaw puzzles have attracted significant interest on my blog. They are owned by Neil, a regular contributor, and are beautifully illustrated with scenes from The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, released in 1952 by the Walt Disney Company.

Since I first wrote about these puzzles, I have learned that the illustrations were created by the multi-talented artist Arnold Beauvais (1886–1982). In 1913, he rented a studio in Chancery Lane, London, where he produced artwork for a wide range of clients, including J. Lyons and Co., RKO Radio Pictures, Black & White Whisky, Warner Bros., the Walt Disney Company, and Younger’s Scotch Ale. His work ranged from film posters and magazine illustrations to press advertisements, cartoons and jigsaw puzzles.

His work for film distributors included posters and publicity for well-known films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Swiss Family Robinson, Up in Arms, and several films starring Danny Kaye, as well as Disney classics including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Hans Christian Andersen and Peter Pan, along with several Disney nature films.

 

Nottingham Square

 

"This purse was given freely by Robin Fitzooth and his outlaw band, and with it their prayers for King Richard's safe return". This still from The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men beautifully highlights the remarkable attention to detail in Nottingham Square (above), crafted by art director Carmen Dillon and her talented team. And look closely—did you notice the man peering out from the upstairs window?

8mm Story of Robin Hood

 

Before streaming, DVDs, and even videotapes, there was only the cinema and television. Yes — I’m that old!

If you wanted your own copy of a favourite film, you needed a projector and a reel of cine film, usually 8mm.

After many years of waiting, I finally managed to get hold of the Disney Home Movies 8mm silent colour version of The Story of Robin Hood. I hadn’t seen it on television since I first watched it at the cinema, so owning it felt like winning the lottery.

Even though it was only four minutes long, those precious minutes of seeing that wonderful film again meant everything to me.

Joan Rice meets the 'real' Queen Mother

 

Joan Rice meets the Queen Mother

In November 1951, Joan Rice — Maid Marian — met the “real” Queen Mother at the Royal Premiere of 'Where No Vultures Fly.'

I’ve researched Joan’s extraordinary, almost fairy-tale life story: raised in a Nottingham orphanage near Sherwood after her father’s imprisonment, she moved to London, worked various jobs including waitressing, won a beauty contest, and was personally chosen by Walt Disney to play Maid Marian in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, appearing alongside Queen Eleanor (Martita Hunt), mother of Richard I of England and Prince John.

There are now over 124 pages dedicated to Joan's life on this blog.

Not in Sherwood

 

Although many film websites claim that Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood was filmed in Sherwood Forest, this is not correct. The outdoor scenes were actually shot at Burnham Beeches, a magnificent area of ancient woodland in Buckinghamshire, close to Denham Studios, where the interior scenes were filmed.

Disney’s research team visited Sherwood Forest and Nottingham during pre-production, which may explain how the persistent myth arose that the film was shot there.

Burnham Beeches, designated an area of outstanding natural beauty, has long been a favourite location for film and television productions. On my last visit, filming was underway for a Harry Potter scene. It's remarkable ancient pollarded trees and atmospheric woodland have provided a convincing medieval backdrop for decades.

Disney’s second unit filmed many scenes on a part of Burnham Beeches known as Mendelssohn’s Slope, famed for its striking veteran trees. Nearby, at Middle Pond, Robin (Richard Todd) and Marian (Joan Rice) take their romantic evening stroll, accompanied by Friar Tuck (James Hayter) and Allan-a-Dale (Elton Hayes), who sings “Whistle My Love.”

Burnham Beeches became Walt Disney’s Sherwood Forest not only because it lay just twelve miles from Denham Studios — making it logistically practical — but also because its ancient woodland provided exactly the visual character required for this classic tale. Ironically, several film websites still state that Disney’s live-action adaptation was the only Robin Hood story filmed in Sherwood Forest. This is incorrect, though it does demonstrate just how convincingly Burnham Beeches doubled for the legendary forest.

Valentine's Day

Italian Robin Hood Poster

This is an Italian release poster for Walt Disney’s 1952 film Robin Hood, titled “Robin Hood e i Compagni della Foresta.” Created for the Italian market, it showcases the country’s distinctive mid-century cinema advertising style, with dramatic action, rich colour, and elegant lettering. While the film is American, the poster itself reflects the strong artistic tradition of Italian film promotion.

The Disney Method

Storyboard sketch and final scene

An enlarged sketch from Walt Disney’s continuity board illustrates both the concept and the finished scene from The Story of Robin Hood (1952), showing Richard Todd as Robin Hood and Joan Rice as Maid Marian reunited and openly expressing their love for one another.

Stephen Grimes with the Storyboard for Robin Hood

The recent article shared by Neil from The Cinema Show (1951) featured some fascinating behind-the-scenes shots from the making of Walt Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood (1952). One image showed Stephen Grimes with the film’s continuity sketches, which particularly reminded me of a passage in the book by Ken Annakin, So You Wanna Be a Director? (2001). In it, Annakin reflected that these storyboards often felt like a straitjacket, constraining his artistic creativity as a film director.

Ken Annakin with Perce Pearce

Page 52:

"The preparation for this production introduced me [Ken Annakin] to a completely new way of making movies. Actually, I never met Walt until a few weeks before shooting, but I was introduced to the Disney Method, which was to sketch out practically every move in the picture before designing the set or choosing the locations.

Walt Disney with a Storyboard

At Disney, we have found it's much more sensible and cost-efficient to invest the time and salaries of three or four artists at a drawing board-discussing, sketching and exploring the best ways of telling a story, rather than wasting time doing it on the set or location, said Perce Pearce. Key technicians and all the departments are supplied with a set of sketches, and everyone knows the director's requirements.

It sounded logical, but a little like factory-line production to me. How much room was it going to leave for ‘my’ creative input? I wondered.

When I came onto the Robin Hood production, practically all the camera angles and movements had been designed and storyboarded by Carmen Dillon and Guy Green, the cameraman!”

(So You Wanna Be A Director? by Ken Annakin (2001) Tomahawk Press

Snow in Sherwood

 

The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest rests beneath the snow, its ancient branches holding winter’s silence. Frost traces the deep lines of its bark, and the forest seems to pause around it—my spiritual place, old, watchful, and quietly alive.

Intensive Preperation

Stephen Grimes with continuity sketches

 Since I started this blog twenty years ago, Neil Vessey has regularly provided me with fantastic behind-the-scenes information and rare stills from the production of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952). This exceptionally rare magazine article he has kindly shared with me, is truly one of the best. Featuring never-before-seen behind-the-scenes images and fascinating details, it’s an absolute must-see for all fans of this wonderful film:

“After many weeks of intensive preparation, the new Walt Disney all-action film in Technicolor, “Robin Hood”, has gone before the cameras at Denham Studios. The first shot was made on April 30.

The last two weeks before the unit went into action were a time of great activity among the double-strength set-up, which will be filming inside the studio and on location in different parts of the country.

Daily conferences were held between producer Perce Pearce, scriptwriter Laurence Watkin, art director Carmen Dillon, director Ken Annakin and lighting cameraman Guy Green, to ensure coordination on the floor.

As the first two sets-the exterior of Huntingdon Manor and the Robin Hood cave and forest encampment-took shape and colour on the Denham stages, the plasterers’ shop continued non-stop production of the many other 12th-century Nottinghamshire buildings and interiors for the story.

In the Art Department, walls covered with over a thousand continuity sketches, the works of Stephen Grimes, told the story of the film in minute detail, while enormous tables bearing scale models of the sets, made by Ivor Beddoes, illustrated with great accuracy the landscape and buildings of 12th-century England.

Art Director, Carmen Dillon

Outside the studios, Alex Bryce, directing exterior scenes, has toured the countryside with a camera unit headed by Geoffrey Unsworth, seeking suitable locations for river and forest scenes in which the film abounds.

In the pattern shop, under the supervision of Bill Evans, 12th-century utensils, furniture, carts and carved chests were turned out and mellowed under the watchful eye of historical expert, Dr. Charles Beard.

Bill Evans and Dr. Charles Beard

Hair stylist Vivienne Walker and make-up expert Stuart Freeborne gradually transformed the cast into likenesses of their historical counterparts, and members of the cast, too, were fully occupied in learning and practising the many skilled arts in which the film calls for them to be accomplished.

After months of interviews and tests, casting director Maude Spector finalised the huge cast which the vast scale of the production necessitated….

In addition to Richard Todd, Joan Rice, James Robertson Justice and James Hayter, in leading roles as Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Little John and Friar Tuck, respectively. Hubert Gregg will play the scheming Prince John, Anthony Eustrel the Archbishop-churchman, soldier and advisor of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, played by Martitia Hunt.

Then Walt Disney has signed many other fine actors to play important featured roles: Peter Finch as the notorious Sheriff of Nottingham, Patrick Barr as Richard the Lion Heart, Anthony Forwood as handsome Will Scarlet, guitar playing Elton Hayes as the roving minstrel Allan-a-Dale, Michael Hordern as Scathelock, a persecuted farmer, Bill Owen as Stuteley, a poacher, and Hal Osmond as the celebrated Midge the Miller.

Walt Disney will arrive in England to supervise the production of “Robin Hood.”

THE CINEMA STUDIO May 1951

A New Maid Marian

Perce Pearce, Joan Rice and Richard Todd

 On February 28, 1951, the press photographed Richard Todd at the Dorchester Hotel presenting a bouquet of orchids to twenty-one-year-old Joan Rice, a long-standing theatrical tradition, as the announcement was made that they would appear together in Walt Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood. The photograph shown here captures the pivotal moment of Joan formally signing her contract to portray Maid Marian. Beside her are Richard Todd, cast as Robin Hood, and producer Percival (Perce) Pearce. Just two months later, Joan would begin filming at Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire—an extraordinary turn of events for someone who, only two years earlier, had been working as a waitress.

Merrie Christmas!

Merrie Christmas to all the readers of this blog and my Facebook page! Thank you for your continued support in bringing attention to this often-overlooked film. I’m sure many of you will agree that, even alongside more recent productions, this Technicolor masterpiece truly stands the test of time.

From the Story to the Adventures

Patrick Barr in The Story of Robin Hood

Patrick Barr, resplendent as Richard the Lionheart, prepares to depart for the Holy Land in Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood (1952).

Four years later, Barr revived his role as Richard in the classic television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. In a rare crossover between cinema and television, he appeared alongside Richard Greene in the episodes Secret Mission (1956) and Richard the Lion-Heart (1956), in which Robin Hood meets the mysterious pilgrim Peregrinus, who is revealed to be King Richard. Three other actors from Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood also appeared in the TV series. Do you know who they were?

Patrick Barr in the Adventures of Robin Hood

Patrick—often called Pat—was born in Akola, India, on 13 February 1908. His first brush with the legendary outlaw came in 1932, when he appeared as a torturer in the black-and-white short The Merry Men of Sherwood. Throughout the 1930s, Barr was often cast as dependable, trustworthy characters, a persona he carried through a long career in film and television. After six years of military service during the Second World War, he returned to acting, appearing once again alongside Richard Todd in the classic war film The Dambusters (1955).

Will Stutely

 

Bill Owen (1914-1999), in the role of Will Stutely, stands beside one of the many giant coppiced trees in Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, during the filming of Disney’s The Story of Robin Hood. His later career saw him appear in more than 180 episodes of the television series Last of the Summer Wine, the part of Compo Simmonite becoming his defining signature role.

A Hidden Gem in Sherwood: Whistle My Love

A decade before writing the Christmas classic “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” Eddie Pola and George Wyle were composing songs for Disney’s second live-action film, The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952). “Whistle My Love” is, in my view, a slightly overlooked gem, performed in the film by the minstrel Alan-a-Dale, played by Elton Hayes. As he sings, we see Robin and Marian walking together through the glades of Sherwood, the ballad’s tender lines — “I’ll always find you no matter where you may be” — lending the scene a beautifully romantic, yearning quality.

Robin Hood Stamp Book

 Another fine example of Disney’s impressive promotion for The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) is this collectable book, published in New York in 1955 by Simon and Schuster. The story was adapted from Lawrence E. Watkin’s screenplay by Willis Lindquist and illustrated by Hamilton Greene, whose artwork could be coloured.

What makes the book especially appealing for fans is the set of four pages of titled, numbered colour stamps—sixty in total—that the owner had to place in the correct spots throughout. Many readers of my blog will recognise the images, but seeing them in full colour helps explain why the film was praised as the finest Technicolor production ever made in England.

One stamp is particularly intriguing: No. 32, titled “BRING HIM DOWN” SHOUTS DE LACY. It shows the Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Finch) drawing a bow over a fallen soldier—a moment never seen in the finished film, suggesting it was left on the cutting-room floor.

Cousin Will

Anthony Forwood as Will Scarlet 

I have often lamented the fact that this film never received a sequel. With today’s trend of studios transforming beloved stories into full-fledged franchises, this Technicolor masterpiece would have been an ideal candidate. The Story of Robin Hood had so much potential to continue, not least because it is filled with memorable characters brought to life by a wonderful cast.

Will Scarlet is one of them. Introduced as “Cousin Will,” as Robin Hood (Richard Todd) calls him, he first appears among the outlaws in their Sherwood Forest camp. Yet the screenplay offers no real insight into his background. In fact, the elegantly dressed Will Scarlet—portrayed by Anthony Forwood—has only one notable scene, in which he joins the other outlaws in “christening” Little John (James Robertson-Justice) by tossing him into the river. After this brief moment, Forwood’s time on screen as Will Scarlet comes to an abrupt end. It’s hard not to feel that the narrative could have developed his character further.