A Challenge For Robin Hood

Straight N’ Arrow

A Challenge For Robin Hood
UK 1967 Directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards
Hammer/Indicator Blu Ray Zone B

A Challenge For Robin Hood is the second of the two films presented in Indicator’s recent boxed edition Robin Hood At Hammer - Two Tales From Sherwood Forest and, unlike the other movie in the box which I thoroughly enjoyed (reviewed here), this one’s a bit of a clunker, it has to be said. This one’s more of a traditional version of the tale than Sword Of Sherwood Forest, for sure but, it also has some interesting deviations from the norm.

For example, it tells of nobleman Robin played by Barrie Ingham (who played a Thal in the Doctor Who and the Daleks movie and appeared in assorted Doctor Who episodes over the years), who on the murder of his father, is framed for the death by his brother Roger de Courtenay (played by Peter Blythe), who is a friend of the Sheriff Of Nottingham (played by John Arnatt). Made a fugitive, he organises the rabble outlaws in the forest, recruiting from his own former staff too... but it’s a very dull affair. There’s also a bizarre slant where Lady Marian, as played by Jenny Till, is an imposter and the real Marian, unbeknownst to said imposter and played as the Maid by Gay Hamilton, is the real romantic lead of the picture... or distraction in this case as she doesn’t get to do much, it has to be said.

There are some good things about the film. We have James Hayter (Mr. Pickwick and no stranger to the odd period romp via movie masterpieces like The Crimson Pirate) playing Friar Tuck and, indeed, this was his second go at the role after also playing Tuck in Walt Disney’s The Story Of Robin Hood And His Merrie Men, fifteen years prior. He’s always fun to watch. And, there’s a brief but pleasing turn from comic actor Alfie Bass as a roving pie salesman.

All in all, though, it’s a fairly dull affair and while there is a quick quarterstaff fight (but not with Little John, who prefers wrestling) and a very slight, blink and you’ll miss it moment to show Robin’s prowess with a bow... not to mention endless action scenes dotted throughout the cumbersome running time... it never really rises up to the point where it gets very exciting or, really, even remotely entertaining, it seems to me.

Point in case, there’s a terrible continuity error which should at least lead to something more lively than what happens. In the scene where Alfie Bass is boasting of the capital quality of his pies... Robin buys the whole cartful plus the cart, to use to gain entrance to the gathering where Will Scarlett is to be executed... he gives one to Friar Tuck and we can see that it’s a giant sized pie fully covered in crust. Bizarrely, at the start of the next sequence, where Tuck is posing as pie salesman, the pies have all strangely transformed into traditional, movie custard pies, mimicking the form of a bakewell tart with no top covering. Oh yes, I thought to myself... that means there’s going to somehow be a classic custard pie fight sometime in the next ten minutes and, sure enough, to help save Scarlet and Robin from death, custard pies are flung effectively against the Sheriff’s fully armoured fighting force. How they are effective is anybody’s guess but, letting that slide... I’d have to say that things must be pretty bad if even a custard pie fight looks quite this dull on film.

As I write these words, I’m trying to think of something which is at least partially interesting or positive to say, by way of leaping to the defence of A Challenge For Robin Hood but... well, it’s well acted by a company of respected work horses but, alas, they are given a fairly dull script and some plodding staging, it seems to me. Even the score is quite dreary, although there is a nice companion extra on this disc (along with numerous other typical Indicator bells and whistles) that breaks down Gary Hughes’ score for the movie. I’d have to say, I enjoyed this extra more than the movie itself and there are some other interesting things for me to explore later, including a look at cinema and TV incarnations of Robin Hood by the great Kim Newman. All in all, I would never recommend this movie to anyone but, I would certainly put many a good word in for this Robin Hood At Hammer - Two Tales From Sherwood Forest set put out by Indicator, which is an excellent package.