Film Script 2: King Richard at Nottingham Castle

Script From 'The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men'

(From the screen play by Lawrence Edward Watkin)

Scene 2: Nottingham Castle

[The Earl of Huntingdon arrives with his daughter Maid Marian and their retinue on horseback at Nottingham Castle].

[King Richard, Queen Eleanor and Prince John enter the Great Hall at Nottingham Castle].

King Richard: I would you were coming with us brother John.

Prince John: I was not born to conqueror kingdoms Richard.

King Richard: Then while I’m gone you must help me govern mine. Our Midland Counties need the firm guidance of a princely heir.

Prince John: I pledge you my faith, I will uphold your laws with the strictest diligence.

King Richard: Diligence yes, tempered with understanding. The strength of England stems from the well being of her humblest peasant. Let your first care be for our Kingdom, you’re second for our lady mother.

Queen Eleanor: A woman who has reared two sons like you, can look after herself.

[The Earl of Huntingdon approaches].

King Richard: Welcome Huntingdon! Rise up man, do not kneel to a brother knight of the Cross. Now truly we can say the best and bravest of our realm are gathered here.

Earl of Huntingdon: May God make us worthy of you trust Sire. But before we go. I have a boon to ask of the Queen, your mother. I pray you madam, take my girl into your household, ‘till my return?

Queen Eleanor: Come here child.

[Maid Marian approaches and kneels before the Queen].

Queen Eleanor: What is your name?

Maid Marian: Marian, madam.

Queen Eleanor: Marian. A sweet and gentle name, does your nature match it?

Maid Marian: If it pleased the Queen.

Queen Eleanor: Rise then. I will take her and in your absence keep her safe.

Earl of Huntingdon: I humbly thank you madam.

[As the royal party proceed The Sheriff of Nottingham kneels before King Richard].

Sheriff: My lord king, I too would beg a boon.

King Richard: What! Another petitioner! Say on Sir Sheriff.

Sheriff: My men and I would follow our king across the seas?

King Richard: Granted! The King wills it!

[King Richard turns to Prince John].

King Richard: Find a new Sheriff of Nottingham and men to serve him.

Prince John: I will my lord.

[As King Richard and the Royal Family walk down the steps of Nottingham Castle the assembled troops cheer loudly].

King Richard: My Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, we ask a blessing on this our most Holy enterprise.

[The Archbishop of Canterbury turns to the crusading soldiers and raises his hand. The troops kneel in prayer].

Archbishop of Canterbury: Almighty God, Lord of Battles, lead the armies of the cross to the Holy places and give, them we beseech Thee, victory in the coming strife. Grant wisdom and guidance to the princes of Christendom and vouch safe that those who fall, may enter the glory of Thy kingdom.

[Assembled soldiers reply Amen. King Richard removes his sword from its scabbard, kisses its handle and then receives a kiss from his mother Queen Eleanor. He raises his sword].

King Richard: To horse!

[King Richard then mounts his white horse and ceremoniously raises his sword once again].

King Richard: Advance my banner! God wills it!

[The assembled crusaders leave through Nottingham Castle gates].

Hodd by Adam Thorpe

Occasionally I would like to review a book that has links with either the legend of Robin Hood or Disney’s live action movie. The book that I have chosen today is without doubt one of the best tales about the outlaw I have ever read. Hodd is the ninth novel written by British author, Adam Thorpe, who is described by The Times as ‘one of our most fiercely intelligent and intellectual writers'- and I can see why.

Thorpe’s novel uses the earliest surviving ballad of Robin Hood, the ‘talking of the munke and Robyn Hode’ as its base, which is dated at some time after 1450. (You can read this ballad by clicking on the Label ‘Robin Hood Ballads' below). But upon this base we sample amongst the many layers of medieval pastiche, the testimony of the pious monk, Matthew, who as a young minstrel boy describes his encounter on empty heathland with the half-crazed bandit ‘Hodd.’ This, the reader soon discovers is not the romantic merry outlaw portrayed in the modern media, but a ruthless brigand who follows the thirteenth century principles of the ‘heresy of the Free Spirit,’ and believes himself above God and beyond sin.

Matthew is 14 when he encounters Hodd. An orphan serving as a page in a monastery, he’s travelling with his master, a monk, when Hodd’s men rob them at knifepoint, relieving them of £100 and Matthew’s beloved harp. The two should be grateful that they manage to escape with the clothes on their backs and all their limbs intact, but the misguided Matthew is determined to reclaim his harp. His identity is tied up with the instrument, which he stole several years earlier from his first master, a beach-dwelling hermit who taught him Latin.

Back at the monastery, Matthew decides to sneak into Hodd’s camp and retrieve the harp. That he’s caught is no surprise. What is unusual is that unlike Hodd’s other prisoners, who are tortured, murdered or made to dance naked together-not only is Matthew’s life spared after they hear him compose and sing songs in praise of Hodd’s actions - but he becomes Hodd’s favourite confidant. The outlaw gives the young minstrel the nickname Moche (Much).

14 year old Matthew (Moche) is horrified by their lawless ways and, in particular, by the fact that his new master seems to place himself above God. Hodd is a psychopath with mystic moments, a drunk having trouble mumbling through his crooked teeth, who conceals his branded forehead and protuberant eyes under the hood that gave him his name. He is anti-Church, anti-establishment, and clings to a heretical belief in the individual that chimes interestingly with the modern age. "He told me, not that he was God, but that he was more than God" and that "God is merely an invention.... 'There is no sin,' he repeated, his words blurring deliciously [suaviter] inside my head.’ The one who is perfect, who has attained perfection, cannot sin even if he wished to, for everything he does is necessarily perfect.'"

Later, after Matthew has escaped from the malign influence of Hodd and his henchmen, he is appalled to find that his light-hearted ballads about 'Robbing Hodde’ have somehow turned the common felon into a sentimentalised folk hero and have become extremely popular. So although age has buckled his fingers he takes up his goose feather pen in a last attempt to lighten his burdens and correct the popular myth of this outlaw.

It is the translation of Matthew’s Latin manuscript, that has been recovered by a British army officer from the crypt of a bombed out church on the Somme during the First World War, which forms the central theme of Thorpe’s novel. The officer takes it upon himself to translate and annotate the “bulky, stained and occasionally illegible manuscript, stitched crudely together with gut.”

But we also have frequent interjections from the fictional translator and other unknown sources amongst the 408 footnotes. This make the book feel like a genuine source text, especially when concerned with Latin translation or similar and possibly becomes tedious for some readers.

But after a while this all adds to the total authenticity of the experience, and on reflection it wouldn’t be the same book without the academic trappings.

I found Thorpe’s Hodd a thoroughly refreshing and enjoyable experience and recommend it to anyone with an interest in the legend of England’s famous outlaw.

Hodd is written by Adam Thorpe and published by Jonathan Cape in London.

Ken Annakin and Claudette Colbert

My thanks go out again to retired press photographer Horace Ward, who has very kindly sent me yet another rare photograph from his collection; this time taken at the charity premiere of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men at the Leicester Square Theatre on Thursday 13th March 1952.

On the night, Horace just walked casually through the main foyer without any problem. “I had the cheek of the devil in those days,” he said.

His restored photograph shows the director of the movie, Ken Annakin arriving at the glittering premiere, with the legendary film and stage actress Claudette Colbert.

Richard Todd, in his autobiography ‘Caught In The Act,’ describes the first showing of Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ as ,’.....the forthcoming Royal Film Performance.’ This led me to believe originally that it was a ‘Royal Premiere.’ But it was sadly not the case.

"I would have heard on the grapevine if royalty were around," Horace says, "...also the streets around Leicester Square would have been 'blocked off'. Security was tight then, like today. More so 'premieres', perhaps because of all that jewellery more than terrorists. All this talk about 'royals' attending might have been a publicity stunt by Disney. He could only wish...only a star, not a queen!"

If you remember, or even attended the charity premiere of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men at the Leicester Square Theatre on Thursday 13th March 1952 please get in touch at : disneysrobin@googlemail.com. It would be great to hear from you.

Hubert Gregg as Prince John

Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner

On one particular grim day, after seeing the German Doodlebugs devastating his native city Hubert Gregg (1914-2004) composed on the back of a theater program, what later became the popular folk anthem - Maybe it’s Because I’m A Londoner. A copy of the sheet music is pictured above.

"It took me 20 minutes to write it before supper one night", Gregg said. “It's only got 16 bars, but people seem to like it." The song was his second hit-his first was also about the capital city, I’m Going to Get Lit Up When The Lights Go Up In London.

Like Noël Coward’s London Pride, Maybe it’s Because……. was written as a morale booster during the Second World War, although it didn't see the light of day until February 1947. It was the impresario and bandleader Jack Hylton who asked Gregg if he had any songs suitable for Bud Flanagan. At first Gregg couldn’t find anything suitable, but then he remembered the simple little tune he had composed a few years earlier. The song was accepted and used by Bud Flanagan for the West End revue Together Again, in which the Crazy Gang were to reform at the Victoria Palace. Flanagan went on to literally make the song his own during its four-year run.

The song later earned Hubert Gregg the Freedom of the City of London, and was also adapted rather than parodied as "Maybe It's Because I'm From Liverpool", which was popularised in Australia by the English comedian Arthur Askey. It was also chosen by the actor Jack Warner and the producers of the TV series Dixon of Dock Green for its theme music, although it was later replaced by "An Ordinary Copper".

The song was sung by Davy Jones of the pop group The Monkees in 1965 and was also recorded by Billy Cotton & His Band, Chas & Dave, Tessie O’Shea, Tony O’Malley, John Williams, Max Bygraves, Celia Lipton, Alan Mullery and many, many more!

To read a lot more about our multi talented Prince John please click on the Hubert Gregg label below.

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I'M A LONDONER

(Hubert Gregg)

London isn't everybody's cup of tea,
Often you hear visitors complain,
Noisy smoky city but it seems to me
There's a magic in the fog and rain.


Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I love London so.
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I think of her wherever I go.


I get a funny feeling inside of me,
Just walking up and down.
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I love London Town.


People take to sailing as the years go by,
London isn't London anymore.
People may be changing but the town and I,
We are even closer than before.


Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I love London so.
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,
That I think of her wherever I go.


I get a funny feeling inside of me,
Just walking up and down.
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner
That I love London Town. x2

A Heavy-Footed Englishman Trampling Around The Woods!

The International Association of Robin Hood Studies convened a while ago at the University of Rochester. The conference included an exhibition called "An Impression from the Middle Ages," featuring production stills and other items, including these boots, from the 1922 silent film Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks.

I recently purchased a DVD copy of this film and was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this epic production. It was the first feature-length Robin Hood (1922) and was the greatest box office success of Douglas Fairbanks career, although initially he wasn’t interested in making a motion picture about the forest outlaw. When his brother Robert and director Allan Dwan first proposed a film based on the Robin Hood legends in the summer of 1921, Fairbanks immediately shot the idea down saying, “I don’t want to look like a heavy-footed Englishman trampling around the woods!”

But after persuasion and many brainstorming sessions, Fairbanks eventually changed his mind, and under the nom de plume Elton Thomas began to write a screen play based heavily on Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. He spent a quarter million of his own personal fortune in creating a gigantic ‘Nottingham Castle’ at the old Goldwyn Studio and went on to create the most energetic 'heavy-footed' Robin Hood the world has ever seen!

Film Script: 1. Huntingdon Manor

Script From 'The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men'

(From the screen play by Lawrence Edward Watkin)

Scene One: Huntingdon Manor

[Daybreak in Huntingdon Manor courtyard as the Earl prepares for the Crusade, Tyb the old nurse is searching for Maid Marian].

Tyb: Marian! Marian!

Earl of Huntingdon: Tyb, Is that daughter of mine not ready to leave?

Tyb: Aye, my Lord. I have her ready, decked and adorned like any daffodil. There will be no other lady half so fine. When the Queen sets her eyes on my pretty, she’ll take her, never fear.

Earl of Huntingdon: Then find her good Tyb, lest we leave in the hour, I’ll miss the King at Nottingham.

Tyb: Marian! Marian! Plague take that naughty gad-about playing will-o-the wisp at a time like this. Marian, M-Marian!

[Hugh Fitzooth enters the Courtyard. Tyb bows courteously].

Tyb: Master Fitzooth, where’s that harum-scarum son of yours?

Hugh Fitzooth: The Maid’s not with Robin if that’s what you mean.

Tyb: Find one bad penny, you’ll find two!

Hugh Fitzooth: Nay! My lad’s alone in the meadow, drawing his bow against a willow wand.

[Robin is practising his archery and Maid Marian is hidden in a bush meddling with Robin’s target. Eventually he realises and chases her through the trees until he stumbles on a root and falls to the ground. As he looks up at Marian, she laughs at him].

Marian: Did you miss the mark again poor fellow?

[As she starts to run away, Robin trips her up with his bow].

Robin: There’s more than one way to bring down a quarry.

[As they are both laughing on the ground Tyb the nurse maid approaches].

Tyb: Marian! Marian! Saints above now look at you! With the Earl, my Lord kept waiting, while you lie groveling in the dirt, showing your garter. A lady, who’s old enough to serve the Queen, should be old enough to act the lady.

Robin: Tut! Tut!

[Marian drew herself up stiffly].

Marian: Very well then, inform the Earl, my dear lord and father, I will attend to him presently.

[Tyb looks astonished].

Marian: You have my leave to go, good Tyb.

[Tyb bows and starts to make her way back to Huntingdon Manor].

Robin: Well!

Marian: And you good rogue, have my gracious leave to pine and fret till my return.

Robin: Oh! Why should I?

Marian: To please a Lady.

Robin: If I could please myself, I’d take the cross and follow my king to the Holy Land.

Marian: ‘T would come to the same thing in the end. Chop off enough heads; you will come back a knight. As a knight, you would go jousting in a tournament, to please a lady, and have you own head chopped off!

Robin: Ah! It will be worth it!

Marian: Is she so passing fair?

Robin: Aye.

Marian: Describe her to me Robin.

Robin: Well, she’s very………..

Tyb: Marian! Come now!

Robin: Your father’s waiting!

Marian: I know! I know! Tell me quickly!

Robin: Well, she’s tall and stately, with bonnie blue eyes and golden hair. And above all else, she’s sweetly tempered.

[Realising she’s been tricked, Marian kicks Robin in the shin. Robin begins to hop up and down in pain and as she passes him, Marian pushes Robin over and laughing makes her way back to Huntingdon Manor].

Marian: Farewell clod hopper!

[Robin laughs].

Clement's Clanger!

Over Christmas, one of my regular visitors, Christian Roy, informed me of an important omission in my review of the script of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952). This was during the early scene at The Great Hall in Nottingham Castle when the Royal Family are gathered to bid farewell to King Richard and the army as they depart for the Holy Land. I had missed out the section when the old Sheriff of Nottingham asking Richard if he and his men can join his Crusading army. This was a pinnacle moment in the whole film and Clement had dropped a clanger!

So this had left me with a problem, do I delete all the parts and start again or just insert the missing scene. I have opted to repost the scenes gradually in order, on a weekly basis, so as to keep some form of continuity under the Script Label. I hope my regular readers will not mind reading again Lawrence Watkin’s wonderful screenplay and a special thank you to Christian for pointing this out to me.

An 'All Walt Disney' Show

Above is a copy of the advertisement for the American cinema release of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood along with its two accompanying shorts from 1952.

Walt Disney’s Water Birds was released in America on 26th July 1952 along with The Story of Robin Hood. It is basically a 30 minute wild-life documentary written and narrated by Winston Hibler and directed by Ben Sharpsteen. It won an Academy Award in 1953 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries. This is a description of the film by the New York Times on 27th June 1952:

“This time, more than a dozen cameramen, in cooperation with the National Audubon Society and the Denver Museum of Natural History, have trained their Technicolor sights on gannets, fairy terns, pelicans, coots, grebes, snowy egrets, flamingos, curlews and other water fowl to come up with a film document which again both educates and entertains. Especially edifying are such slow-motion shots as gannets plummeting from great heights into the waters below and a mating dance of the Western grebe which is as comic as a Chaplin fandango. And the integration of the musical background and the intelligent and humorous narration by Winston Hibler makes "Water Birds" a treat for both the eye and the ear."


The Little House is a cartoon short directed by Wifred Jackson, based on the book written by Virginia Lee Burton in 1942.It was narrated by Sterling Holloway and tells the story of how a house tries to compete with progress and the encroachment of the big city. It was released on the 8th August 1952.