Rogues of Sherwood Forest

Just another adventure with sword fights,acrobatics and a new actor to replace Flynn but not as good as him.Nice music and Hale replays Little John,as hed id int he pervious two films.Watch it once with ow expectations.

This film is centered on the son of Robin Hood who's also named Robin. It's definitely in the spirit of the many other Robin Hood films of the era - though most are rather obscure today. I'd watch this one again on a lazy afternoon - entertaining.

7/10.

Personable John Derek makes a handsome Robin Hood, but he can't overcome a lifeless script and weak direction. What does steal the show are the costumes, scenery and brilliant Technicolor. Otherwise, this is a dull affair full of wooden acting and cardboard characters.

It looks magnificent and the sets are really striking, but the script is the main culprit. Even the villains are given little to do but strike angry poses, making one wish for Sir Guy of Gisbourne to show up in the person of Basil Rathbone.

It's a hodge-podge of Robin Hood elements, with Robin's son rounding up all of the "old guys" who helped his father in the past. Alan Hale is on hand to reprise his Little John role for the fourth and last time. He's a tired looking actor in this one, barely able to summon up enough gusto to get through the role.

Diana Lynn is the pretty spy at court who helps Derek with his fight against the palace stronghold. She's lovely but looks out of place in her period costumes since these kind of roles were never part of her past history as an ingénue. Lowell Gilmore has almost no flair as the man who wants to marry her and even George Macready lacks the dynamic spirit to play a nasty villain.

Gordon Douglas can't be commended for directing this one. Pace and flair are two of the missing ingredients, along with a lifeless script.

Not recommended, except for the kiddies who might enjoy the fights.

I think this could be the third time that I have seen Alan Hale playing "Little John" in a "Robin Hood" adventure and he always manages to do it with gusto and enthusiasm. That is really all there is to say about this otherwise pretty shameless rip off the Flynn/Rathbone version (1938). This time, the nasty King John (George Macready), with the help of his henchman "Sir Giles" (Paul Cavanagh) decides to tax his already poverty-stricken Saxon people and it falls to the second Earl of Huntingdon (John Derek - aka son of the legendary "Robin Hood") to thwart this dastardly plan and to find a way to bring this monarch to book. The adventures are all pretty formulaic, but there is a colourful zeal to the whole thing. Derek has a charming boyishness as he parades around in his spray-on Lincoln green, whilst Cavanagh and Macready make for quite effective baddie double-act and much of it looks as if it was filmed on the same sets as it's more illustrious earlier iteration. There is plenty of swordplay, just a soupçon of romance with Diana Lynn's rather static "Lady Marianne" and it's well worth eighty minutes of your time.

With England suffering under the rule of the villainous King John (George Macready), Robin and his father's loyal band fight countless battles with the king's tax collectors and henchmen, who have corrupted the kingdom, oppressed the common folk, and brought false charges of treason and murder against the disenfranchised. When the tyrant has been deposed, Robin finally returns to the lovely Lady Marianne (Diana Lynn) and just rule is restored.

John Derek plays son of Robin Hood, and soon is following in his footsteps by helping the downtrodden. Derek certainly looks the part, is suitably youthful and nimble on his feet, and though he's doesn't have the same charisma as Errol Flynn, he does a good job, and comes across lively. He ably supported Alan Hale (Little John), and the trio of villains headed by George Macready are a fiendish delight as they plot and plan their diabolical scheme. It's a zesty Sherwood Forest programmer, colourful, brimming with some some good swords fights - the one in the finale is really good.