Walt Disney’s ‘Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men’ was the last major film production at Denham Studios. The massive film making complex, covering 165 acres and seven sound stages was built in Buckinghamshire by the Hungarian impresario Sir Alexander Korda. It was finally demolished in the 1970’s.
Richard Todd describes his final days at Denham Studios filming 'Robin Hood' in his autobiography ‘Caught in the Act’:
“The last few days on a happy picture are always a bit scrappy and nostalgic, as one by one the members of the cast and unit come to say goodbye, and 'Robin Hood' was no exception. But my last day at Denham Studios was a particular sad time. Ours was the last film to be made there, ever, as the Rank Organisation who owned it had decided to close film operations there, and had let it go to be used as a supply depot for the US Army. Walking about in the empty corridors and echoing sound stages was a lonely experience, indicative, perhaps, of the decline of film making in England. Much of the cinematic activity in Britain had been kept going by American productions using up frozen sterling earnings, and for that bridging operation many of our actors and technicians had reason to be grateful.
I was at Denham on that final day to film in the afternoon the Associated British trailer for the forthcoming annual Royal Film Performance, and Perce Pearce had arranged a splendid luncheon party for me and the few remaining people still there.
It really was a celebratory farewell ‘do’, as he had just seen a rough-cut of the whole film and was delighted with it.”
For more of the history of Denham Studios, including a map of the complex, click on the label Denham Studios in the right hand column of the website.
It has been my main purpose on this web site, to raise awareness of the largely forgotten film ‘The Story of Robin Hood’ and its wonderful array of talented actors and actresses. Joan Rice is a prime example. In most cinema biographies, Joan Rice is rarely credited with little more than a few lines of text. Normally they basically state that she was a ‘pert British actress who enjoyed a brief flurry of popularity in the 1950’s’. But in my opinion and that of a growing amount of experts, she was the most innovative Maid Marian of all time and deserves far more credit. So after various visits to local libraries and the help of her friend Maria Steyn I began, about a year ago to try to piece together the life of this largely forgotten English rose.
In July 2007 I posted what I had managed to accumulate. It wasn’t a great deal, but what I hoped it would do, would lead to some more information and raise interest in her and of course the role that had catapulted her to stardom-Maid Marian.
This blog is read by people from all over the globe and as my visitors began to grow in those early days, so did my hope of some positive feedback. I was in luck and gradually over time, some more details of Joan’s life began to appear. So this is an update on information that I have gratefully received over the past year, although I must stress it is unofficial.
Dorothy Joan Rice was born at the City Hospital, Derby on 3rd February 1930. She was one of the four daughters of Hilda and Harold Rice. But life in 314 Abbey Street, Derby, became filled with trauma for Joan, Barbara, Roma and Gill, when their father was later imprisoned for child abuse. It was then that young Joan was sent to an orphanage in Nottingham, where it is said she used to play as ‘Maid Marian’ in Sherwood Forest.
As a teenager Joan moved to London where she started work as a Lyon’s tea House ‘Nippy.’ In 1949 she won the ‘Miss Lyons’ beauty competition and this led to her meeting the actor and producer Harold Huth and a screen test for the Rank Corporation. She secured a seven year film contract with them and in her early days went on to appear in ‘Blackmailed’ (pictured above in 1951) alongside Dirk Bogarde.
It was Walt Disney himself, who was keen for Joan to play the part of Maid Marian, in his second real-life adventure film in England. Although there was some reservations. Joan did not let him down. Her portrayal as the lively and independent-minded girl friend of Robin Hood, is now recognised by many film critics, as an innovative step away from the past celluloid Marians, who tended to be little more than a ‘beautiful plot device’.
So after her success as Lady Marian, in Walt Disney’s ‘Story of Robin Hood’ (1952) Joan was offered many film roles. But apart from a major part as the dusky Polynesian, Dalabo aki Dali, alongside Burt Lancaster, in the lavish ‘His Majesty O’Keefe’ (1954), a long notable film career eluded her.
In 1953 Joan married the writer and producer David Greene (1921-2003) but they divorced ten years later and she moved to Cookham in Berkshire. Sadly, according to Joan’s niece, their son Michael, recently committed suicide.
During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Joan’s movie career faded, so she turned to working in repertory theatre and television, including appearing in series such as ‘Zero One’, ‘The New Adventures of Charlie Chan’ and ‘Ivanhoe’ with Roger Moore.
It was about this time that Maureen Bell met Joan Rice. She writes:
“I met Joan when I lived in Windsor. It was 1962/3 if my memory serves me well. Joan lived in the flat next door to mine. At that time she worked at the Tax office in Slough. I think it was Slough. We had many talks and I found her to be a wonderfully warm person. She kept stills of the films she had made, plus a guitar which she played. I accompanied her to Maidenhead one day. I recall it was a mini. We were travelling flat out on the Maidenhead bye pass. I had never travelled so fast in a car before, I was petrified. But not Joan, who handled the car like a professional.”
Joan Rice’s final appearance on the silver screen, was as a grave robbers wife in the 1970 Hammer film ‘The Horror of Frankenstein.’ She then set up her own property and letting agency in Maidenhead, known as the Joan Rice Bureau.
Joan’s friend Maria Steyn writes:
“Joan and I met during 1978 when I rented an apartment through her property office, the Joan Rice Bureau, in Maidenhead.I was immediately fascinated by her person, not knowing anything of her film career at the time. We befriended and I met her several times in her Maidenhead apartment. She kept a lovely dog Jessy, a golden retriever who sadly died, as did her mother, during 1979.Being a very extravert and lively person, she mentioned many of her lovers and an ex-husband, a Mr. David (?) Green(e) ?, who was taking care of her financially. Also she mentioned a son named Jim (?) Green(e), at the time playing in a band called Jam. I never met the son nor ex-husband.After moving from Maidenhead Joan and I kept in touch and I remember seeing her once a year during the mid-eighties.At the time she was living with a gentleman Mr Ken(neth) McKenzie from Stornoway, Isle of Lewis . They had acquired various properties which they let and lived in Cookham (nr. Maidenhead) at the time.Ken was in advertising sales [also a former journalist with the Daily Sketch] and, being optimistic and energetic, kept Joan going. Joan since 1981 or so had become rather depressed and given to drinking and heavy smoking. She looked rather pale and unhealthy by 1986 and had repeated, severe and extended coughing fits. Later, around the late eighties, it became increasingly difficult to communicate with her and we lost touch.It was by checking IMDB I found out she had died January 1st, 1997.I then tried to trace Ken McKenzie but to no avail. The Cookham address did not respond, nor did other links I had. From the Norman Wisdom movie in which Joan played, I keep some good original still photos. I do have the 'The Story of Robin Hood ' on VHS, which I cherish.”
This was recently posted by Joan’s niece:
“It was nice to find something on the internet about my Aunt Joan. I miss her a lot. There is some incorrect facts such as her son's name was Michael Green whom she had with her union with David Green. Sadly Michael committed suicide several years ago. She and I wrote each other up until her death and I still have her letters. My Mum and I went to see her grave shortly after she died... it was a sad trip. Of the four sisters Joan, Roma, Barbara (my Mum) and Gill, only Gill is still alive and living in England.”
I would like to send out a very big thank you to Maureen Bell, Maria Steyn and Joan’s niece for getting in touch. It makes working on this web site so worthwhile. Please, if anyone has any more information on Joan Rice, ever met her, or have any anecdotes they would like to share, please post a message on the blog or email me at disneysrobin@googlemail.com.
(To read more about Joan Rice please click on the label 'Joan Rice' either in the panel opposite or below.)
This is the title-page of William Copeland's edition of the 'Mery Geste of Robyn Hoode' printed in about 1560.
Nottingham Castle is an important element in Walt Disney’s live-action film, ‘The Story of Robin Hood’. As Helen Phillips explains in her paper ‘Forest, Town and Road’ -for the lectures on ‘Robin Hood in Popular Culture,' -the castle, with its massive size and impregnability, gained new prominence with the advent of film, partly because of its potential for sheer visual impact and also because it offered new special theatricality through the shift to visual narrative. This is certainly the case in the Douglas Fairbanks silent version in 1922, the Michael Curtiz classic of 1938 and of course the ‘Story of Robin Hood’ in 1952.
In the planning stages for Disney’s motion picture, Ken Annakin, Carmen Dillon, Perce Pearce and other members of the production team, spent three days with the great man himself, in Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire. They looked over many of the sights associated with the outlaw, but Disney was disappointed, (like so many tourists) to see many of the castles of the midlands in ruins. Nottingham Castle was almost completely destroyed with gunpowder and pick, during the Civil War of 1642-1660. All that remains today for visitors to see, is an outer portion of the barbican, used as an entrance, a small portion of the walls of the outer ballium and the base of what was known as Richard’s Tower. So art director Carmen Dillon recommended the up and coming matte artist, Peter Ellenshaw to work on creating medieval Nottingham and its castle for Disney’s live-action motion picture.
So what was the real Nottingham Castle like?
During the summer of 1068, William the Conqueror (pictured above) rode north to deal with a Saxon rebellion. He stopped at Nottingham to assess its strategic value and decided to build a castle on the huge rocky red sandstone, above the meadows of the River Trent. He left William Peveril instructions for a motte and bailey type castle to be built, ‘in a style that was unknown before’, on the 130 ft high rock. The tower of which would be in an impregnable position.
Nottingham Castle is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, but this may have been due to a delay in construction because of ‘opposition from the men of Nottingham.’ When William re-visited Nottingham a year later the townsmen had been forced into subjection and were compelled to assist in building the new fortress with a handful of Norman supervisors. Peveril was rewarded for his services with a ‘fief’ known as ‘the Honour of Nottingham’ made up from lands in six shires including Sherwood Forest and the Peak.
Castles were unknown in England before the Norman Conquest in 1066. But within five years of the Battle of Hastings, thirty castles were built across the country. The motte, a high mound usually constructed from the earth dug out of the deep surrounding ditch, was constructed on the highest part of the rock. On it would be wooden buildings and perhaps, a wooden watch tower or keep. Below the motte, to the north, was the bailey similarly enclosed by a wooden palisade on an earth rampart. Curling around to the south of the palisade of wooden stakes was the River Leen, which had probably been diverted as an additional form of defence, to supply the garrison with water and power the Castle’s mills. The building would have been probably two or three storeys high and reached by an exterior stairway or wooden ladder. The first floor would have included the Great Hall, sleeping quarters and living rooms of the Lord, including the chapel. But, because the first Nottingham Castle was constructed mainly of wood, cooking would have been done outside as a
fire precaution.
The location for a castle at Nottingham, was ideal for two reasons. First because the rock provided an easily defensible site dominating the country around, including the Saxon town huddled around St. Mary’s Church in what is now the Lace market. Second, Nottingham was on the main road between London and the North and was also only a mile from the River Trent, the dividing line between the North and South of England, so it could be easily supplied and reinforced. Because of its ideal situation, Nottingham castle became the principal royal fortress in the Midlands for five centuries.
The local population would have been forced to build their Conqueror’s castle in whatever materials were available. The rock provided a natural motte or mound and the original walls enclosing the bailey’s or yards, though probably being of wood, may have been supplemented by stone dug out of the surrounding ditch. In the highest part of the Castle, the upper bailey, were rooms and a watch tower. Beyond, to the north, was another bailey, the Middle Bailey. This was enclosed by a palisade placed on the top of a rampart formed by the sand excavated from the surrounding new moat. Subjugation of the local population was completed by the building of a new Norman Town in the shadow of the castle with its own market place-the present Market Square. Land was also taken to the west of the castle to make a park, which would be stocked with deer to provide food and sport, whilst to the south, the King’s Meadow would be used for grazing.
Because the motte was natural rock it would not be necessary to wait for the ground to settle before building high stone walls and towers on its summit. If these walls were not originally built of stone they may have been by the reign of Henry I (1100-35). These great stone walls with towers rising as it were, from the very rock itself and visible for miles in every direction, must have awed the local population. Below it to the north were the palisade walls of the Middle Bailey (now the Castle Green) and beyond them to the north and east more land was enclosed to form the Outer Bailey, though exactly when this was first enclosed we do not know.
© Clement of the Glen 2008
The images above are taken from a book on the Disney artist Peter Ellenshaw, sent to me by Neil Vessey. It shows a frame from the high camera shot of Nottingham Square in The Story of Robin Hood, before and after Ellenshaw’s magical matee work. It is a fine example of not only the huge talent of this wonderful artist, but what could be achieved before the age of computer generated imagery.
About a year ago I discovered Ken Polsson’s highly informative website ‘Chronology of the Walt Disney Company.’ It was whilst browsing through his comprehensive lists of Disney’s historical landmarks and films that I first discovered, under the year 1952, a mention of ‘The Riddle of Robin Hood.’ It simply said-under, month unknown, “Disney releases the film The Riddle of Robin Hood for promotional use [501.470].” I immediately emailed Ken, but he later confessed that he knew very little else. So I put an appeal on this website in September 2007 for anyone that might have seen this mysterious film.
In January an anonymous message appeared under my posting of Hubert Gregg, informing me that they had a copy of the film in their possession and left an email address. It was Neil Vessey, who went on to kindly describe in great detail, scenes from this very rare black and white 13 minute film. I could hardly contain my excitement and when he later went on to post eight images taken from the film, I was ‘over the Moon!’ (A picture from the Riddle of Robin Hood taken by Neil, of Walt Disney and Perce Pearce can be seen above). This is seeing cinematic history at its very best and makes working on this blog so worthwhile.
Neil described to me, how this unique footage, firstly shows Walt Disney in his studio office at Denham, talking to Perce Pearce the producer of the film and Lawrence Edward Watkin the writer of the screenplay. It also shows some ‘still shots' of their ‘fact finding’ visit to Nottingham with Richard Todd (described on this web site under ‘Film Production’) in 1951. There are clips of Richard Todd (Robin Hood) and one of the ‘merrie men,' being driven, by open car to the set. Later two more of the ‘outlaws’ arrive on bikes and possibly Martitia Hunt (Queen Eleanor) on a motorbike! They all make their way over a bridge, close to where Friar Tuck’s dog is later filmed attacking the sheriff.
Friar Tuck’s dog is also shown with its trainer, while the camera crew film Peter Finch, as the Sheriff of Nottingham, running through the river. Richard Todd in his full costume, can be seen practising the quarter staff fight with former Champion at Arms, Rupert Evans and their is even a clip of the lovely Joan Rice (Maid Marian) leaving her house in Denham and cycling to the studios. Carmen Dillon, the set designer, is also shown at Denham Studios, with models of the castle and drawbridge explaining to Walt Disney how those particular scenes would later be filmed.
In one clip, Ken Annakin, the director of the movie, is arranging the dramatic shot of King Richard’s departure for the Crusades, also Guy Green is shown being pushed along on one of the massive Technicolor cameras, filming the climatic scene in which Robin Hood (Richard Todd) leads the Sheriff (Peter Finch) at knife point towards the castle’s drawbridge. Fascinating stuff!
If only Disney could release ‘The Riddle of Robin Hood’ and The Story of Robin Hood’ together!
A very special thank you goes out to Neil Vessey.
And if any one else has information, or memories of this production or Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood, and its cast members, please get in touch at :
disneysrobin@googlemail.com
“Mother!” called a small lad, as he came into the house after a morning’s wandering in the forest.
“Is dinner ready?”
So begins the book, Robin Hood and his Merrie Men published by Dean & Son Ltd. of Ludgate Hill, London, printed sometime in the mid to late 1960’s by Purnell And Sons of Paulton in Somerset. It does not identify an author. But this was the first book I owned and was the start of my life long interest in the legend.
With Richard Greene’s series, The Adventures of Robin Hood, shown weekly on our old black and white television-along with regular airings of Errol Flynn’s classic movie version and Robert and Elizabeth Taylor in Ivanhoe- this young outlaw spent many happy summer holidays with his friends, camping in the local woods, re-enacting sword fights with wooden sticks and dustbin lids for shields. And, of coarse, organising archery contests, with some rather primitive looking bows and arrows!
A few years later The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men was shown at my local Granada cinema, accompanying The Love Bug. I will never forget sitting there completely enthralled with Disney’s live-action version of the outlaw tale. The colour- the story-the characters– the action and of course Joan Rice, totally captivated me. When I got home I begged my parents if I could have some more money to go and watch it again! They eventually relinquished and so began my love of the film and my research into the fascinating legend that inspired it.
Under the label Clement's Collection I will start to list some of the books that I have acquired over the years for my research into the Robin Hood legend and recommend to the reader. Books from Disney’s Story of Robin Hood will eventually be in the Memorabilia section.
