New Release: Classic Robin Hood movies on Blu-ray

Sword of Sherwood Forest movie scene

Sword of Sherwood Forest

When Ridley Scott’s new Robin Hood was released in theaters, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment looked to get in on the buzz by releasing four classic Robin Hood movies on DVD for the first time. Bowed on May 11, 2010, each movie was priced at $14.94.

Here are the adventure films, in order of the year they were made:

The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946) with Cornell Wilde playing the son of Robin Hood who joins his father and his reunited band of men to save the young King, who has been imprisoned. Also in the cast are Anita Louise (Wilde’s love interest Lady Catherine), Jill Esmond and Russell Hicks as Robin senior. It was shot by Tony Gaudio, who was the cinematographer on the Errol Flynn version of Robin Hood in 1938.

The Prince of Thieves (1948), starring Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves‘ John Hall as Robin Hood and Broadway star Patricia Morison as Maid Marian. In this version Robin Hood and his Merry Men must save England an Robin’s true love. Behind the movie were producer Sam Katzman and Academy Award-winning writer Charles Schnee.

Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950) stars John Derek (The Ten Commandments) as Robin Hood’s son again, and he must fight to save England from the villainous rule of King John, played by Gilda‘s George Macready. Diana Lynn of The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek plays Lady Marianne. And the movie again has a connection to the Errol Flynn classic, in that Rogues has an appearance by Alan Hale playing Little John, a character he portrayed with Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks.

And Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), in which Richard Greene stars as Robin Hood as he did on TV for five years. Peter Cushing plays the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the cast also features British actors Nigel Green, Niall MacGinnis, Oliver Reed and Desmond Llewelyn (James Bond’s Q). In this version, Robin and his Merry Men go undercover to stop a plot to kill the Archbishop of Canterbury.

About S. Clark

Sam Clark is the former Managing Editor/Online Editor of Video Business magazine. With 19 years experience in journalism, 12 in the home entertainment industry, Sam has been hooked on movies on since she saw E.T. then stared into the sky waiting to meet her own friendly alien. Thanks to her husband’s shared love of movies, Sam reviews Blu-ray discs in a true home theater, with a 118-inch screen, projector and cushy recliners with cup holders.