The Betrayal of the Sheriff

One of the most exciting scenes in Walt Disney's live-action movie The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) is Robin's escape from Nottingham Castle after rescuing Maid Marian (Joan Rice). 

Sheriff De Lacy (Peter Finch) has gone back on his word as a knight and prevents Robin Hood (Richard Todd) from re-joining Marian and the outlaws in Sherwood Forest. As Robin reaches the drawbridge the treacherous Sheriff seizes a spear from a castle warden and launches it at the outlaw, wounding his shoulder.

There are many stills from this dramatic moment in the film. But one of the most unusual was the picture (below) that appeared in a 1950's magazine. I wonder where the photographer was during this scene?

If you know of any other unusual images from this movie, please get in touch.

Richard Todd and Joan Rice

Richard Todd and Joan Rice

Above is a lovely publicity still of Richard Todd as 'Robin Hood' and Joan Rice as 'Maid Marian' in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. I discovered this on Ebay recently. The picture seems to have been taken either on set at the outlaws camp or during the romantic Whistle My Love sequence.

After the release of Robin Hood in March 1952, Joan Rice (1930-1997) was at the height of her popularity. In June of that year she spent eight days in Hollywood and then flew on to Fiji for the filming of His Majesty O'Keefe with Burt Lancaster. But sadly her film career soon declined. This site is dedicated to her memory and if you want to read more about her 'Cinderella-like' rise to stardom please click here.

Richard Todd's film and stage success would of course, continue. He made two more live-action films for Disney, Sword and the Rose (1953) and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) and his acting career extended into the 1980's. He was named a Disney Legend in 2002.

A little-known fact is that Todd was author Ian Fleming's first choice to play 'James Bond' in Dr No, but due to previous commitments the role eventually went to Sean Connery.

There is now over 49 pages on this blog about Richard Todd (1919-2001) here and a vast collection of images from the movie here.

Walt Disney's Robin Hood Stamp Book

Special thanks this week go out to Vanessa and Christian who have both sent to me images of their copies of the Walt Disney's Robin Hood Stamp Book.

This is Christian's copy of the stamp book  (above and below) which was published in New York in 1955 by Simon and Schuster. The story inside was adapted from Lawrence E. Watkin's screenplay by Willis Lindquist with illustrations by Hamilton Greene (that could be coloured).

But what makes this book a 'must have' for all fans of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) is the four pages of coloured stamps that were each titled and numbered. The owner had to stick these sixty stamps in the correct places on each page of the book.

Christian's copy has the stamp's still intact and his book is nearly in mint condition.

Readers of the blog will be familiar with most of these images on the stamps, but seeing them in colour like this shows why this wonderful movie was described as the best Technicolor film ever made in England. 

It also is another example of Walt Disney's phenomenal amount of promotion and advertising behind his movie production. 

"BRING HIM DOWN," SHOUTS DE LACY

Included among the stamps is an image ( shown above) of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Finch) using a bow and arrow with a dead soldier in the foreground. It is stamp number '32' and has the title, "BRING HIM DOWN"  SHOUTS DE LACY." This is very interesting as the scene must have ended up on the cutting room floor, because it was never used in the movie.

Vanessa has also very kindly sent me a picture of the Spanish version of the stamp book that is in her collection.

I would like to thank both Vanessa and Christian for sharing with us their much-treasured albums.

Elton Hayes as Allan-a-Dale

Elton Hayes as Alan-a-Dale

Above is another still from Walt Disney's movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. It shows Elton Hayes (1915-2001) in his role as the minstrel Allan-a-Dale and I think you will agree that the lighting and atmosphere of this particular picture is quite unusual.

I have been amazed at how many various types of images from the film still exist. This is testament to the promotion and huge amount of publicity that surrounded Disney's second live-action film. The Story of Robin Hood would sadly be the last major movie to be produced at the legendary Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire, England but recent research on this blog has shown it to have been a big box-office success.

Down the years I have managed to accumulate many stills, posters and lobby cards from The Story of Robin Hood . In the Picture Gallery section there are now over 92 images and thanks to the input from my readers there are a lot more to come!

To access the Posters, Lobby Cards, Picture Gallery and the many other sections of this blog, just click on the links below and in the task bar.

Movie Stills

Robin Hood (Richard Todd) attempts to escape from Nottingham Castle

Since starting this blog in 2006 I have been amazed how many stills exist from The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). Down the years those images have been collected and saved on this web site under the link Picture Gallery and there are now 91 pages of them. Please take a look!

Here are two more action shots from the climatic scene in Nottingham Castle when Robin Hood (Richard Todd) and his men rescue Maid Marian (Joan Rice) from her cell. 

Robin Hood (Richard Todd) is trapped on the draw-bridge

If you know of any other rare stills from this wonderful movie please get in touch.

Movie Stills

Here are a couple of unusual movie stills from Walt Disney's live action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, which was released in 1952.

Above we see Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham with Robin Hood (Richard Todd) and Little John (James Robertson Justice) disguised as castle guards. Below that image is Patrick Barr as King Richard the Lionheart summoning his Crusading army from Nottingham Castle. To see more stills from this classic movie please click on the Picture Gallery here.

Maid Marian visits Robin Hood's camp.

This is one of my favourite stills from Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). In this beautifully arranged scene in the outlaws camp, Maid Marian (Joan Rice) explains to Robin Hood (Richard Todd) how Prince John lies to the Queen about raising money for the king's ransom.

To see more images from this wonderful movie, please click here.

Mystery Picture

Mike has recently sent in this unusual movie still from his collection (shown above). It is taken from Walt Disney's live-action film, the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) and he has asked if I was able to confirm the particular scene.

In the background we can see what appears to be the castle walls and the back - end of a cannon. Both men are wearing the Sheriff of Nottingham's livery and the figure being dragged off his horse seems to be Richard Todd (Robin Hood). 

After closer scrutiny and a look through Laurence's excellent picture strip to identify the moment (see Number 37), I have come to the same conclusion as Mike.

The picture was taken during the filming at Denham Studios of Robin Hood's escape from Nottingham Castle after being betrayed by the Sheriff.  Robin is pulled from his horse by one of the castle wardens and this leads to the dramatic scene  near the end of the movie where the Sheriff (Peter Finch) is eventually crushed to death by the closing drawbridge.

Mike was puzzled as to why the image was so light considering the dramatic scene was set during night time? If any readers can help, please comment below.

Joan Rice (1930-1997)

This unusual picture of the actress Joan Rice in a role she will always be fondly remembered for - Maid Marian, was recently sent to me by Mike. It was a publicity still used to promote Walt Disney's second live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men which was filmed in England and released in 1952. Disney had personally picked Joan to play the part of Robin's girlfriend.

This website is dedicated to the memory of Joan Rice (1930-1997) and since 2006 I have been researching her life, which included finding her final resting place. 

Joan was one of four sisters. The early years of her life were spent in Abbey Street in Derby, England. But tragedy hit the family when her father was imprisoned for child abuse and she was sent to a convent orphanage in Nottinghamshire for eight years, where she often played in Sherwood Forest.

After early experience as a lady's maid, housemaid and bar maid Joan left for London with half a crown in her purse and took a job as a waitress with Lyon's for £3 a week.

Joan Rice on the cover of 'Home Chat'

In March 1951, during the early stages of filming Robin Hood at Denham Studios, Joan was chosen as a weekly magazine's cover girl. In five paragraphs, Home Chat printed a very short biography of her introduction to the world of movie making, which I hope my readers will find interesting:

" Home Chat's Cover Girl this week is the pretty new star, Joan Rice, who went rocketing up to stardom in the new film Blackmailed, in which she shares the honours with such illustrious people as Dirk Bogarde, Fay Compton, Robert Flemyng and Mai Zetterling (our cover girl next week.)

I think Joan's story has an almost fairy-tale magic about it, for not long ago this twenty-one year old girl was a Nippy at the Strand Corner House, and before that had been in domestic service.

It was at the Corner House that she was spotted by film agent Joan Rees, and this meeting led to a small part in One Wild Oat.

Joan Rice with Dirk Bogarde in Blackmailed

Soon green-eyed Joan Rice was being considered for a small part in Blackmailed - the role of Mary, the girl injured in a tragic accident. But the director of the film met Joan, decided to give her a big chance right away, and cast her in the part of Alma, the artists model, playing opposite Dirk Bogarde! And not much more than a year ago Joan was still a Nippy!

Ask Joan about her family, and she'll tell you with pride all about the great, great uncle who fought with Wellington at Waterloo."

(Home Chat March 31st 1951)

Joan's movie career was brief and sadly she never found the big role that might have given her international stardom. She smoked heavily and as she grew older began to suffer with asthma and emphysema. In her later years she would often mention the fact that she had once been Walt Disney's first Maid Marian. She sadly passed away on January 1st 1997 aged 66. Incidentally, during the Middle Ages, this particular day of the year was known as Marian's Day (another name for the Virgin Mary).


There are now over 66 posts about the life and movie career of Joan Rice, including glamour photographs and movie stills. To see them please click on the relevant links, or here.

Archie Duncan

A few weeks ago Laurence sent in a picture of his display of autographs and images of the stars of Disney's Story of Robin Hood. To see the whole collection click here.

Many readers  were so impressed, they requested a closer look at his wonderful collection. So he has kindly emailed me individual pictures of each film star. Above is Archie Duncan (1914-1979) in his role as Red Gill. To read more about the colourful life of Archie please click here.

The Archbishop's Blessing

This rare still from Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood was kindly sent in by Mike. It shows the Archbishop of Canterbury played by Anthony Eustrel leading prayers for King Richard (Patrick Barr) and his Crusaders as they leave for the Holy Land.

On the steps of Nottingham Castle can be seen Prince John   (Hubert Gregg) and Queen Eleanor played by Martitia Hunt.

Do you think the young choir boy (front/left of the picture) looks remarkably like the Page (Cavan Malone) who appears later in the movie?

To read more about the stars of this wonderful movie please click on their names on this site.

Hubert Gregg

Hubert Gregg (1914-2004) was an actor, songwriter, author, director and radio presenter - among other talents - as if that isn’t enough. His career spanned 70 years in theatre, film and radio.

The picture above was sent in by Mike and shows Gregg in his role as the evil Prince John in Walt Disney's live-action movie, the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). In my opinion, his performance as the 'sneering' brother of King Richard the Lionheart is very underrated and is up there with the likes of Claude Rains and Guy Rolfe.

This is a excerpt from his autobiography Maybe It's Because... :

'It was during a tour of Agatha Christie's The Hollow that I got a telephone call to say that I had been asked to test for the part of Prince John in the coming Walt Disney production The Story of Robin Hood. I was told that Ken Annakin was directing. He had directed me in a pot-boiler called Vote for Huggett and we got along well together.

I made my first film at Denham Studios - I hadn't set foot there since In Which We Serve - and the final choice seemed to be between Kenneth More, Geoffrey Keen and myself. I won by a short beard.

The Disney Robin Hood was a new screen experience and one I wouldn't have missed for seven whodunits in a row, director or play. Peter Finch was cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham and we shared a crack of dawn car to the studio each day. It was a colour movie with absolutely no expense spared. The costumes were beautiful, if unnecessarily weighty in their adherence to medieval reality. One cloak was heavily embroidered and lined with real fur: it cost more than a thousand pounds (a good deal of money in pre-inflationary days) and took all my strength to wear. In one scene I had to ride into the town square, leap off my horse and enter the treasury building in high dudgeon.

To add to the reality our saddles were fitted with medieval pommels at the back that had to be negotiated carefully when dismounting. In the first take, I lifted my leg as gracefully as I could the necessary six inches higher than usual and leaped beautifully off my steed. As my feet touched the ground the weight of my cloak carried me completely out of frame to the left.

One day on the set, a week or two after shooting had begun; I heard a quiet voice coming from a chair on my left."How are you, Mr. Gregg? My name is Disney." I looked surprised at this modest newcomer to the studio - he had arrived from Hollywood the day before. "I'd like to thank you...." he was saying, adding flattering things about my performance, which however he referred to as 'a portrayal'. The choice of word was typically American and the modesty typically Disney.


I enjoyed every moment of the filming but had to put my foot down over a suggestion from the publicity department. They wanted to send me by car, in costume and make-up, to Alexandra Palace where I would appear on television singing Maybe it’s Because I'm a Londoner!'

To read more about Hubert Gregg click here and scroll down.

Patrick Barr as Richard the Lionheart

Mike has recently sent in this great still of Patrick Barr (1908-1985) as King Richard I in Walt Disney's live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

Like Hubert Gregg who played Prince John, Barr resurrected his role as Richard the Lionheart in two episodes of the classic TV series the Adventures of Robin Hood. In a unique cross-over between the silver screen and television  he appeared once again as King Richard, this time alongside Richard Greene in two episodes; Secret Mission (1956) and Richard the Lion-Heart (1956) .

Patrick (or Pat, as he was sometimes called) was born in Akola, India on 13th February 1908 and had his first brush with the legendary outlaw when he first appeared on the silver screen in 1932 as a torturer in the black and white short, The Merry Men of Sherwood.

During the 1930’s Patrick was very often cast as dependable, trustworthy characters and after six years of military service during WWII he continued to bring those qualities to his roles in a very long career in film and television. His early notable movies included The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940), The Blue Lagoon (1949), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) and The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

In 1950 Patrick had appeared as the Earl of Northumberland in a television production of Richard II and it was in this medium that his popularity was mainly to grow, although he did continue to perform in some celebrated films. He appeared once again alongside Richard Todd in the classic war film, The Dambusters (1955), Saint Joan (1957), Next To Time (1960), The Longest Day (1962), Billy Liar (1963) The First Great Train Robbery (1979) and Octopussy in (1983).

His later television appearances included four episodes of Dr Who, three performances as Lord Boyne in The Secret of Boyne Castle for the Wonderful World of Disney in 1969 and three episodes of Telford’s Change in 1979.
Pat died aged 77 in Wandsworth, London on 29th August 1985.

To read more about Patrick Barr please click here. There are also 84 stills and images from Disney's Story of Robin Hood in the Picture Gallery and more information on the real Richard the Lionheart here.

Joan Rice

Special thanks to Mike for sending in one of my favourite pictures of Joan Rice (1930-1997). Joan was hand-picked by Walt Disney to play Maid Marian in his live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). She was always proud of the fact that she was Disney's first Maid Marian and this blog is dedicated to her memory.

There are now over 62 pages about the life and career of Joan Rice, to read more please click here.

The Outlaws 'Christen' Little John

In this picture, kindly sent in by Mike, we see the moment that Little John  (James Robertson Justice) is thrown into the stream by Robin Hood (Richard Todd) and his outlaws as they 'Christen' him.

This rare still is taken from Walt Disney's  live-action movie, the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

Last year, thanks to some input from my readers, we managed to put names to some of the actors faces, in another scene from this movie. Although we can see Richard Todd, Antony Forwood and Ewen Solon in this picture, can any one put a name to the actor on the far right? If so, please get in touch.

Joan Rice and Richard Todd

This romantic image showing Joan Rice as Maid Marian and Richard Todd as Robin Hood, was kindly sent in by Mike. 

A colour version of this picture appeared on the cover of the French magazine Cinemonde on the 26th September 1952 and was promoting the release of Disney's  live-action movie, the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men.

The wonderful scene where he carries Marian across the stream in Sherwood Forest, is one of my favourite moments of the film. 

Rare Still

Peter Finch as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and Richard Todd as Robin Hood grapple on the drawbridge of Nottingham Castle in this still from Walt Disney's live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood (1952). This is a particularly unusual image as the background seems to show a sheet hanging against the studio wall!

To see more stills and a lot more images from Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, please click here.

German Film Magazine

 

 

 

This lovely picture of Joan Rice as Maid Marian promoting Disney's live action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, appeared in the German film magazine 'Die Filmwoche' in 1952. If my German translator is correct, the title of the magazine means The Film Week.



Robin Receives the Silver Arrow

This still from Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) is a fine example of why the film was voted 'the best Technicolor movie ever made in England'. The design and colour are the work of art director Carman Dillon , who provided Disney with twenty five sumptuous sets.

In this scene we see Robin Fitzooth (Robin Hood) played by Richard Todd collect the Silver Arrow from Queen Eleanor. It was Martitia Hunt who was given the role of elegant Eleanor of Aquitaine, the mother of Richard the Lionheart and John, his evil brother. This was the first time the fascinating historical queen had been portrayed in a  movie about the outlaw of Sherwood Forest. The character would later appear nearly sixty years later in the Ridley Scott production of Robin Hood (2010).

Huntingdon Manor

Above is a rare image of Huntingdon Manor showing the wonderful attention to detail by art director Carman Dillon (1908 -2000) on Walt Disney’s live action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men(1952). Information about the research and attention to detail by this remarkable woman can be seen here.

Huntingdon Manor appears at the opening of the film and the courtyard is full of hustle and bustle as Marian’s father prepares to go on Crusade with the king. It is here we see some of Carmen Dillon’s artistry and the product of her immense research.

Twenty five interior sets were designed by her, including ‘Nottingham Square’ which was constructed both on Denham lot and on one of the huge sound stages.