Robin Hood's Props

 

Did you know about Robin Hood’s Props? In 2011, while watching a re-run of TV’s The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Richard Greene, I recognised those distinct chairs designed by Carmen Dillon for Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952). Later, during an episode of Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986), I noticed the Sheriff (Nickolas Grace) sat in one! 

But, that was not all! I also noticed Allan Wheatley, the Sheriff of Nottingham in TV’s Adventures of Robin Hood series often wore Peter Finch’s ‘Sheriff’ costume from The Story of Robin Hood.

After my blog post about this, my readers noticed those chairs appeared in several other medieval adventure films. These included Men of Sherwood (1954), which used other props and costumes from the Disney movie. 

No doubt, ‘Robin Hood’s Chairs’ were shipped out of Denham Studios with all the other thousands of props after Rank Organisation stopped film production after Disney’s Story of Robin Hood was completed. Probably, they were hired out for various projects for the small and silver screen. Laurence points out that The Black Knight was made at Pinewood, which could explain the availability of the chairs as props. 

With the help of my blog readers, I started a small list of some of the film and television productions that have used props from Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952) up to 64 years later:

The Men of Sherwood Forest (Film:1954)

The Black Knight (Film:1954)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV:1955-58)

The Dark Avenger (Film:1955)

Ivanhoe (TV:1958) Ep.The Night Raiders

(featuring Joan Rice. Joan would have remembered those chairs from her days filming on the sound stages at Denham Studio).

Sword of Sherwood Forest (Film:1960)

Robin of Sherwood (TV:1984-86)

The Mission - Stay With Me (Official Video) 1986

Horrible Histories (TV: 2013-15)

If you can add more, don't hesitate to get in touch with me.

Joan Rice, Ivanhoe & Robin Hood's Chair

Joan Rice as Marcia

Over the past 16 years I have attempted to piece together the life of Joan Rice (1930-1997). This blog is dedicated to her memory.

Joan liked it to be known that she was Walt Disney's 'first' Maid Marian. She was personally chosen by the legendary film producer to appear alongside Richard Todd in the live-action movie The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

I have known for many years that Joan Rice appeared in the TV series Ivanhoe (1958), but until recently I have never had an opportunity to watch it. But at last I have managed to see the particular episode on Youtube and it was good.

In an episode called The Night Raiders, Joan played the part of Marcia, a farmer's daughter who is abducted by a group of night riders terrorising a village. A young Roger Moore plays Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, son of Sir Cedric of Rotherwood. The TV series was based on the novel by Sir Walter Scott and set during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart. The Crusades have ended in disaster for the English king, who is believed dead - and the running plot of this series mostly concerns Prince John's various efforts to claim the English throne and Ivanhoe's attempts to secure justice for the populace despite John's illicit rule.

Joan would have been familiar with this particular time in history after her appearance as the girlfriend of Robin Hood, six years earlier and assisting the outlaw in his duels with the cold-blooded Sheriff of Nottingham and evil Prince John. 

Roger Moore as Ivanhoe

This swashbuckling TV series was typical of the period. Shows like The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Adventures of Lancelot and later the Adventures of Richard the Lionheart were all aimed at the younger audiences of the late 1950's and early 1960's.

While watching this particular episode of Ivanhoe, I was surprised to catch a glimpse of one of 'Robin Hood's Chairs'!

My regular blog readers will know about the 'Robin Hood's Chairs'. They were created by Carmen Dillon's art department for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in 1951 and Joan Rice would have remembered them from her days filming on the sound stages at Denham Studio.

The chair in The Story of Robin Hood

And here it is again below, in the Ivanhoe episode in which Joan Rice appeared.

The chair in the episode of Ivanhoe

Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men was the last major production made at Denham Studios and this huge complex later merged with the Rank Organisation's Pinewood Studios. Laurence points out that The Black Knight was made at Pinewood, which probably explains the availability of the chairs as props. 

Because of our discoveries, I have compiled a list of some of the film and television productions that have used those Robin Hood Chairs:

The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (Film:1952)

The Men of Sherwood Forest (Film:1954)

The Black Knight (Film:1954)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV:1955-58)

The Dark Avenger (Film:1955)

Ivanhoe (TV:1958) Ep.The Night Raiders.

Sword of Sherwood Forest (Film:1960)

Robin of Sherwood (TV:1984-86)

Horrible Histories (TV: 2013-15)

To read more about Joan Rice (1930-1997) and much more click on the labels.

Robin Hood's 2 Chairs

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1958)

Allen Wright, the owner of the fantastic Bold Outlaw site, has been in touch with some excellent examples of those 'Robin Hood chairs' being used in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-58). If you have any information of props from Disney's Robin Hood being used, or know where that are stored, please get in touch.

Behind the two Robin Hood chairs in The Adventures of Robin Hood

The film prop we know as 'Robin Hood's Chair' has been mentioned many times on this blog and the input from my readers has helped chronicle its use for sixty four years. This I believe is unique in the tv and movie world. 

I originally called it Robin Hood's Chair because of its continual appearance in productions about the outlaw. But what must be made clear is that there were originally two chairs designed by Carmen Dillon and her art department for Walt Disney's live-action film 'The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men' in 1951. 

The two chairs in Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952)

This pair of ornate chairs only appear together for a few moments in a scene with Joan Rice as Maid Marian, Hubert Gregg as Prince John, Martitia Hunt as Queen Eleanor and Anthony Eustrel as the Archbishop of Canterbury (above). But the distinct style of these two chairs made them popular with set designers. They appeared two years later in Men of Sherwood (1954) along with other furniture props from the Disney movie.

Men of Sherwood (1954)

We now have a list of movies and tv shows that the Robin Hood Chair or Chairs have appeared in here.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-58)

If you have seen the two chairs being used in any other productions please get in touch.

Robin Hood's Two Chairs!

Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986)

The film prop we know as 'Robin Hood's Chair' has been mentioned many times on this blog and the input from my readers has helped chronicle its use for sixty four years. This I believe is unique in the tv and movie world. 

I originally called it Robin Hood's Chair because of its continual appearance in productions about the outlaw. But what must be made clear is that there were originally two chairs designed by Carmen Dillon and her art department for Walt Disney's live-action film 'The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men' in 1951. 

The two chairs in Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952)

This pair of ornate chairs only appear together for a few moments in a scene with Joan Rice as Maid Marian, Hubert Gregg as Prince John, Martitia Hunt as Queen Eleanor and Anthony Eustrel as the Archbishop of Canterbury (above). But the distinct style of these two chairs made them popular with set designers. They appeared two years later in Men of Sherwood (1954) along with other furniture props from the Disney movie.

Men of Sherwood (1954)

We now have a full list of movies and tv shows that the Robin Hood Chair or Chairs have appeared in here.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-58)

Allen Wright, the owner of the fantastic Bold Outlaw site, has been in touch with an excellent example of those 'Robin Hood chairs' being used in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-58). If you have any information of props from Disney's Robin Hood being used, or know where they are stored, please get in touch.

The Adventures of Robin Hood's Chair

A scene from The Black Knight (1954) showing the chair

I doubt if many film props have had their life chronicled so fully. But since I first noticed a chair designed for Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952) being used in TV's Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-58) and Robin of Sherwood (1984-86) my eagle eyed readers have continued to spot it in many other later productions. 

Just recently, Laurence has sent me yet another instance of what we call Robin Hood's Chair being used. His still (above) shows the chair in The Black Knight (1954), which starred Alan Ladd, Peter Cushing and Patrick Troughton.

The chair in Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952)

The ornate chair was originally designed by the talented Carman Dillon and her art department for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in 1951. This film was the last major production made at Denham Studios and this huge complex later merged with the Rank Organisation's Pinewood Studios. Laurence points out that The Black Knight was made at Pinewood, which probably explains the availability of the chair as a prop. 

Because of our discoveries, I have compiled a list of the film and television productions that have used Robin Hood's Chair (and other props from the Disney film) over the past sixty four years...

• The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (Film:1952)
• The Men of Sherwood Forest (Film:1954)

Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)

Three chairs used from 'The Story of Robin Hood' in 'Men of Sherwood (1954)

• The Black Knight (Film:1954)
• The Dark Avenger (Film:1955)

The chair used in The Dark Avenger (1955)

• The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV:1955-58)

That chair in the Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-58)

• Sword of Sherwood Forest (Film:1960)

Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)

Sword of Sherwood Forest also used costumes from The Story of Robin Hood

• Robin of Sherwood (TV: 1984-86)

The chair in Robin of Sherwood (1984-86)

Robin of Sherwood (1984-86)

• Horrible Histories (TV: 2013-15)

The chair in a scene from the Horrible Histories episode on Richard I

A big thank you to all my readers who have sent in these examples. If you know where this chair is or have seen Robin Hood's Chair in any other productions please get in touch!

Robin Hood's Chair Yet Again !

The chair used in The Story of Robin Hood (1952)

I have recently been sent an email from Christoph, a regular reader of this blog, who says he has seen Robin Hood's Chair being used in an episode from the CBBC series Horrible Histories (2009-2013). If it is the chair (originally designed by Carmen Dillon for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in 1951) it means it has been in used in historical productions for 62 years!

It was while watching the classic television series the Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960) starring Richard Greene, that I noticed a familiar piece of furniture in the Sheriff of Nottingham's chamber. I was sure I had seen the highly decorated chair with its circular headrest and carved pineapples before.



That chair in the Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960)

I immediately paused the DVD and quickly grabbed my illustrated copy of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. I was correct! It was the same chair that had been designed by Carmen Dillon and her art department for Disney's live-action movie in 1951. Somehow it had found its way to Nettlefold Studios and the ground-breaking set of the black and white television series.





The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-60)

As a young lad, these two versions of the Robin Hood legend had a huge influence on me. So you can imagine my surprise when I recently found, what I believe to be that very same chair (over thirty years later) in another all-time favourite of mine Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986).



The chair in Robin of Sherwood

I made a few enquires about this remarkable coincidence and received this message from a member of the Britmovie forum:

“I think it’s quite normal for props and costumes and even whole sets to be used in other films over the years. Studios normally had their own prop stores and there are also several large independent prop hire companies around London that have been on the go for years. I remember visiting one in Acton many years ago while helping a friend find some props for a theatre production; it was like an Aladdin’s cave with the proprietor cheerfully pointing out what other famous plays some of the props had been used for in the past.”

And:

"I guess most of the props these days are located in private rental firms. In the old days before studios went four walls they contained huge prop departments on site. I know Pinewood had a massive prop dept so it’s not unusual for the same prop to pop up in many films and are now privately owned. I know when MGM Borehamwood closed they flogged a lot off in a huge auction and many went down the road to Elstree."



The Robin Hood Chair in The Men of Sherwood (1954)

Another regular blog visitor kindly sent me stills of those chairs being used in The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954). This was the first of a trilogy of Robin Hood  features made by Hammer Film productions and also their first colour movie.

Men of Sherwood (1954)

Brian Varaday sent me another example (below) of the chair being used in The Dark Avenger (1955). This not only starred Errol Flynn, but also had many people involved in its production who would have been familiar with the chair when it was first used on the set of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood at Denham Studios in 1951. Actors such as Peter Finch, Michael Hordern, Ewen Solon, crew members Guy Green, Alex Bryce and technical adviser Charles R. Beard had all previously worked on Robin Hood.



The chair used in The Dark Avenger (1955)

But this is not the end of the story of Robin Hood's Chair and I was amazed to receive this email from Christoph recently:

I'm a frequent reader of your page and have posted some comments on it under the name BobBarnsdale. My name is Christoph and I live in Berlin, having a big intertest in movies depicting the middle ages, particularly in RH movies.

After I've read the articles about the RH chair I've spotted it in some more films like "The Black Knight" with Alan Ladd.

Now I found it a TV piece from 2013, maybe the most recent use of it. It's from BBC's "Horrible Histories" sketches in season 5 episode 1. It is about the coronation of Richard the Lionheart in 1189 and used as his throne. Allthough it is differently painted and the pieces on top of the chairback are missing, it is definetly the RH chair or a replica, best to be seen in the part where Richard wants to sell London.

 

A scene from the Horrible Histories episode on Richard I

Is it the original chair designed and used in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood in 1951? What do you think?

A big thank you to everyone who has helped me trace the various productions that have used this prop. If you know where it is stored, please get in touch. After sixty two years it is nice to think Robin Hood's Chair is still being used during the reign of Richard the Lionheart!

Walt Disney's Robin Hood Props

I am very grateful to Brian Varaday who has been busy hunting down more examples of the props that were designed by Carmen Dillon and her art department for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. The live-action movie was the last of its kind to be made at Denham Studios in 1951. Sadly the huge size of the studios there became its downfall and eventually it merged with Pinewood. Then in 1977 the site was sold to a developer and most of  Alexander Korda's 'Dream Factory' was tragically demolished to make-way for an industrial estate.

One of my regular contributors, Neil Vessey informs me that shortly after Disney's Robin Hood was finished, there was a large sale of props from Denham Studios. This will explain why we have found what we now call 'Robin Hood's Chair' and other items used in the movie in various later productions. Many examples of this can be seen here.

The beautifully designed bench in Disney's 'Story of Robin Hood.'

Brian Varaday explains his latest find:

Another link between "The Dark Avenger" (1955) and "The Story of Robin Hood" (1952). The light coloured bench in the Tower of London with Queen Eleanor (Martitia Hunt) and the Archbishop of Canterbury (Anthony Eustrel) appeared again in "Dark' in a scene with Joanne Dru, Errol Flynn and Peter Finch, Once again Finchie was the chief villain.

'The Dark Avenger' (1955) showing the same bench.

Special thanks to Brian for finding yet another example of Disney props being used in a later movie. If any readers have spotted any more, please get in touch.

Robin Hood's Chair (Again)

Over the last few years, interest in my Disney's Story of Robin Hood Facebook page has been growing and there are now 41 members. One new member, Brian Varaday, has very kindly sent me another example of what has become known on this blog as Robin Hood's Chair.

The chair used in The Dark Avenger (1955)

Brian sent me a still from the movie The Dark Avenger (1955) which not only starred Errol Flynn, but also had many people involved in its production who would have been familiar with the chair when it was first used on the set of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood at Denham Studios in 1951. Actors such as Peter Finch, Michael Hordern, Ewen Solon, crew members Guy Green, Alex Bryce and technical adviser Charles R. Beard had all previously worked on Robin Hood.

The original chair used in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952)

It was while watching the classic television series the Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960) starring Richard Greene, that I noticed a familiar piece of furniture in the Sheriff of Nottingham's chamber. I was sure I had seen the highly decorated chair with its circular headrest and carved pineapples before.

                             

That chair in the Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960)

I immediately paused the DVD and quickly grabbed my illustrated copy of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. I was correct! It was the same chair that had been designed by Carmen Dillon and her art department for Disney's live-action movie in 1951. Somehow it had found its way to Nettlefold Studios and the ground-breaking set of the black and white television series.

The chair used in TV's Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-1960)

As a young lad, these two versions of the Robin Hood legend had a huge influence on me. So you can imagine my surprise when I recently found, what I believe to be that very same chair (over thirty years later) in another all-time favourite of mine Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986).

The chair used over 30 years later in Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986)

I made a few enquires about this remarkable coincidence and received this message from a member of the Britmovie forum:

“I think it’s quite normal for props and costumes and even whole sets to be used in other films over the years. Studios normally had their own prop stores and there are also several large independent prop hire companies around London that have been on the go for years. I remember visiting one in Acton many years ago while helping a friend find some props for a theatre production; it was like an Aladdin’s cave with the proprietor cheerfully pointing out what other famous plays some of the props had been used for in the past.”

And:

"I guess most of the props these days are located in private rental firms. In the old days before studios went four walls they contained huge prop departments on site. I know Pinewood had a massive prop dept so it’s not unusual for the same prop to pop up in many films and are now privately owned. I know when MGM Borehamwood closed they flogged a lot off in a huge auction and many went down the road to Elstree."

The Robin Hood Chair in The Men of Sherwood (1954)

A while ago another regular blog visitor kindly sent me stills of those chairs being used in another movie, The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954). This was the first of a trilogy of Robin Hood features made by Hammer Film productions and also their first colour movie. Recently some critics have described it as the possibly the worst sound film about the outlaw ever made! Although in my opinion, American actor Don Taylor gives a good performance as Robin Hood and Reginald Beckwith is an excellent Friar Tuck in this low budget romp.

The Men of Sherwood (with chairs designed by Carmen Dillon for Disney in 1951)

To read more about the work of art director Carmen Dillon, please click here.

If anybody reading this blog, knows of any other movies in which the props (particularly those chairs) from the Story of Robin Hood can be clearly seen (and if they still exist) please get in touch!