golden_years

Gordon Douglas's 1950 dip into the Son of Robin Hood formula turns out to be one of the most spirited and lively of all the swashbuckling Columbia pieces of matinée fodder of their 40s/50s heyday. Gordon Douglas is one of Hollywood's dark horses among genre (mostly action) directors: neither as reflective or consistently stylish in his mise-en-scene as Raoul Walsh nor as spectacular using scarce means as William Witney, his track record in this area is by no means slight. He has made several good westerns (The Doolins of Oklahoma, The Nevadan, The Great Missouri Raid, Only the Valiant, The Charge at Feather River, Yellowstone Kelly, Rio Conchos), two very tough James Cagney vehicles (Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Come Fill the Cup), a science-fiction classic (Them!) and an honorable romantic melodrama as a change of pace (the Doris Day/Frank Sinatra remake of Four Daughters, Young at Heart).

Rogues of Sherwood Forest may not have the voltage of the Errol Flynn/ Olivia De Havilland/Claude Rains/Basil Rathbone combo or even the authentic feel and quirky charm of Disney's Richard Todd/Joan Rice/Peter Finch version; but John Derek's energetic acrobatics, Diana Lynn's fetching and proactive Lady Maryanne, and George Macready's really vicious King John make this humble but red-blooded and fast-moving programmer compulsively watchable during its entire 80 minutes.

Though it doesn't match the captivating staging of Vincente Minnelli's Meet Me in St Louis as a nostalgic period musical, both this charmer and its sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon, based on Booth Tarkington's delightful Penrod stories, are very much in the same mold as the Minnelli classic; both films provide ideal vehicles for the multi-talented Doris Day, seen here at her most fetchingly tomboyish with her frequent on-screen partner at the time, Gordon MacRae. Their combined vocal talents bring genuine class to the turn of the (last) century tunes, providing a veritable cornucopia of some of the era's most recognizable standards. The pair create an easy chemistry mercifully free of the self-conscious projection so prevalent in many contemporary "feel-good" movies. Billy Gray, as Day's younger brother in his pre-Father Knows Best days was a likable and unspoiled child performer, who brought terrific comic timing in the delivery of his misplaced energies. Mary Wickes as the no-nonsense maid who acts as a kind of chorus to the action, is another notable scene-stealer, in a film which like so many of the early Doris Day musicals leaves this viewer with a warm glow.