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.

Rare Robin Hood Scoper and Film Strips

 

Over the years, we have discovered many items connected in some way to Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952). Under the Memorabilia link on this blog, there is a collection of letterheads, tins, records, bows and arrows, cards, posters, books, jigsaw puzzles and much more!

There are plenty more. The Disney Organisation had - and still has an incredible marketing system.

Matt Crandall has recently sent me images of this very rare toy from the 1950s. When I was young, I would have loved something like this. Before the days of videos and DVDs, this was one of the only ways to remember your favourite film. 

If you know of any other memorabilia connected to this Walt Disney live action film, please get in touch.

Joan Rice as Marian

Joan Rice as Maid Marian

 

This beautiful movie still of Joan Rice as Maid Marian has recently appeared on an auction site. I have never seen this before. Regular contributor John Nelson has also made me aware of this.

Joan appeared as Maid Marian in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

Doesn't she look so beautiful and happy?

Recently I featured the design by Michael Whitaker for Joan's costume, which has also been up for auction. 

John has now purchased Whitaker's original drawing and displays it in a quality frame under fade-resistant glass. 

Michael Whitaker's design

Elton Hayes Comic Strip

 

Occasionally a rare item will appear that has connections to Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952). This is a comic strip featuring Elton Hayes ' telling a story.' The item is not dated and only one page survives, it seems to have been printed c.1940's.

How many actors that played the role of Alan-a-Dale in a Robin Hood production were real minstrels? I can only think of one. Elton Hayes (1915-2001).

Elton was a  fascinating person and one of many people involved in The Story of Robin Hood that I would have loved to have met. One person that did meet him was Sallie Walrond and in her book, 'Trot on: Sixty Years of Horses' she says:

When Elton Hayes came to live at Thorne Lodge I was delighted to meet him. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word, incredibly wise and with a kind but quick sense of humour and bright as a button right up until his death. I remember as a child listening to him on the radio singing The Owl and the Pussycat and seeing him as the minstrel Allan-a-Dale in a favourite Robin Hood starring Richard Todd.

(Trot On: Sixty Years of Horses by Sallie Walrond and Anne Grimshaw, Kenilworth Press, 2004) 

Elton Hayes

Below is an article about Elton from 1954:

Elton Hayes has been singing to a small guitar ever since he bought a sixpenny ukulele as a school boy. The smooth easy manner in which he sings those old English ballads and folk songs has come with many years of training in the theatre.

Elton was born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, but spent most of his school days in Leicester. His parents were both in the entertainment business - his father was in the circus and his mother was a singer.

It was natural that Elton should want to follow in his parents footsteps. He toured the country with them, and while they performed on stage, he would sit in the wings watching, and learning how show business worked.

He soon mastered the sixpenny ukulele which he bought with his pocket money, and by the time he was ten years old he could play nearly every stringed instrument.

But Elton wanted to be a straight actor. However fate turned his career in other directions. He became interested in old English folk songs and ballads.

When the war started in 1939 Elton joined the army and became a gunner in the Royal Artillery. He was posted overseas in India and decided to take his guitar with him. He was also given a commission.

While in India he became seriously ill with rheumatic fever. This was a tragedy for Elton. for his fingers began to stiffen.

One day he remembered his guitar. He took it from its case and began strumming it. And soon, after  many hours of painful effort his fingers grew more supple. He could play again. His courage had brought him through.

In 1946 Elton returned to Britain and appeared on In Town Tonight. This was a beginning. For, like thousands of other ex-serviceman, he found that he had to begin building a career again.

Just how successful he has been can be judged from the number of programmes he has appeared in on radio and television.

He has had a record spot on nearly every major radio station on the Continent and the BBC. He has appeared in his own show on television and was a permanent member of Eric Barker's Just Fancy. And of course he makes gramophone records.

When the film Robin Hood  was made in this country, the producers did not have to search far for the man to play the strolling minstrel - Elton Hayes was a  natural choice."

After suffering a stroke in 1995, Hayes had to give up the farm he owned and moved to live with friends, who cared for him until his death. He married in 1942, Betty Inman, who died in 1982. There is much more on the life of Elton Hayes on this site including his discography. Just click on the label for Elton Hayes.

Richard Todd Meets Walt Disney

Richard Todd practices for his role as Robin Hood

 

70 years ago Walt Disney's live action movie The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men had its premiere in London. Sadly, this colourful version of the legend is rarely shown and almost forgotten since the Disney organisation released an animated version in 1973.

But, down the years I have tried to make people aware of this live action movie, with its array of talented actors and actresses and incredible production team.

In his book Caught In The Act, Richard Todd describes his first meeting with Walt Disney in October 1950 and how he wanted his Robin Hood to be portrayed:

"The following Monday I went to Burbank to meet the most legendary of all the movie-world figures, Walt Disney. I don't remember whether the idea had come from Disney himself, or whether Milton Pickman had suggested it, but Walt was planning a film about Robin Hood and wanted me to play the English folk hero.

The atmosphere in the Walt Disney Studios was quite different from any I had so far experienced in the film factories. Walt first took me on a brief tour of his empire, going round acres of sound stages and rows of drawing offices, where animators were busy sketching. And everywhere he went he was greeted with 'Hi, Walt,' and he replied, 'Hi! Jack-or Fred-or Art-or Lou.' He seemed to know every single one of the workforce.

Joan Rice (Maid Marian), Walt Disney and Richard Todd (Robin Hood)

Eventually, we arrived in his office, a large, panelled, comfy room with a bar at one end. Before we settled down to talk, Walt proudly showed me how, at the touch of a button, the bar became a soda fountain for youngsters. He adored children and delighted in surprising them.

We were joined by Perce Pearce, his senior live-action producer, a jolly, rubicund Pickwickian figure, who was going to take charge of the Robin Hood project, and Walt then outlined his ideas for the planned film. With images of Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn in my mind, I simply could not see it as a vehicle for me. I was not physically built to play a larger-than-life swashbuckler, and I could not see myself swinging from the same Sherwood family tree as the mighty Flynn.

Above all, I considered myself an actor; not for me the Lincoln-green equivalent of Tarzan.

Walt was very persuasive. He described the idea of Robin Hood as a quick-thinking welter-weight, not a ponderous heavyweight. But even so, much as I liked and admired him, I felt I could not abandon all my thespian principles for a child's play romp in the forest. I must have been taking myself very seriously at that time.

And it never occurred to me that it might be a darned sight more difficult to make a fantasy character believable than to play some of the straight conventional parts that I had already done."

Thanks to Neil Vessey owner of the fantastic web site Films of the Fifties for the use of the image of Richard Todd with the bow at the top of the page.

From Caught In The Act, The Story of My Life by Richard Todd : Hutchinson 1986

Joan's Maid Marian Costume

 

This site is dedicated to the memory of Joan Rice (1930-1997), so I don't need much of an excuse to write another article about our beautiful Maid Marian. In my last blog post, I featured a costume design for her, created by Michael Whittaker, that has been auctioned recently.

As you can see, Whittaker even tried to capture Joan's features in his illustration. 

John Nelson, a regular contributor to this site, has sent me some images of Joan wearing the finished costume. And doesn't she look stunning!

Joan Rice's Maid Marian Costume

I am continually surprised by items appearing on auction sites connected to my favourite movie. There have been many, including the script from the film! And they have all been featured on this blog.

Here is another discovery:

These are images of the costume designed by Michael Whittaker (1918-1995) for Joan Rice in her role as Maid Marian. He has even attempted to paint her face. 

His artwork, depicting an outfit in violet and lime green with a white veil, was later created by the costume department for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men- a live-action movie released in 1952. 

Joan wearing the costume designed by Whittaker

After a short-acting career, Michael Whittaker was nominated for an Academy Award for his costume design for the movie, The Black Rose in 1950. He later worked on Men of Sherwood Forest in 1954, but he is probably best remembered for designing the iconic black leather look for Honor Blackman in her role as Cathy in The Avengers TV series.

Robin Hood and Me

 

Robin Hood and me in the 1990's outside the Castle Wall.

Robin Hood Artwork

The quality of the image isn't good. But this is another item that was up for auction recently and sent in by Matt Crandall. It is the original artwork for a page from the Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood 20 page colour story book released by Capitol US in 1952. 

Included with the book were two 78 RPM discs - an adaption of the movie by Alan Livingston.

The Billboard from August 1952 announced: 

"This is certain to be treasured by the many youngsters who will be lucky recipients of the album. What is etched on the two discs is just part of attraction. Bound into the album is a superbly illustrated 20 page book telling the Robin Hood story as it is given on the records. It is an excellent adaption of the Walt Disney pic by Capitol exec Alan Livingston. Nester Paiva is the narrator and songs are contributed by Eddie Pola, George Wyle, Elton Hayes and Lawrence E. Watkins with Billy May conducting the work. All do fine jobs. Dealers who tie in with the runs of the movie should move plenty of copies; also the set is capable of doing well enough on its own".

The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men had been released in New York on 26th June 1952 and the Billboard chart (above) was based on reports received for August 6th, 7th and 8th 1952. The records listed were those records selling best in American retail stores at the time. 

To read more about the many LP's and movie soundtracks connected to the film please click on the "Memorabilia" label.