Good, Clean Family Entertainment - The kids may not care it's in B/W!
After picking up a few three-episode disks it was a relief to find the complete first season of The Adventures of Robin Hood on DVD at a local mega-mart. Usually, the kids just want to watch shows in color. This show is one of the exceptions*. The music, acting, humor and sets are entertaining enough to make it worth watching.This Robin Hood, reminiscent of Errol Flynn or the works of Howard Pyle, leans more heavily toward the "light-hearted, cleaver, archer/swashbuckler, hero" end of the Robin Hood spectrum, as opposed to any real thief the legend may have been originally based.
The opening bard's music, tailored to each episode, sets the stage.
The primary cast Richard Greene (Robin), Archie Duncan (Little John), Alexander Gauge (Tuck) all brilliant actors with good rapport (rarely found in a first season TV show) make the inter-character humorous sparring work.
The sets, OK well nothing's perfect. There are some nice visuals of castles and yes you'll need to "suspend disbelief" as you watch some of the shots of the ramparts move as the outlaws' break in and out of assorted castles. Nonetheless, still withstand the test of time and a 1950's per episode budget.
The secondary castÂ… good actors and actresses all, but again you'll have to suspend disbelief and forget who some of the players were in the last episode in order to follow the next episode as you'll see the same faces with different names, lands and titles. If you think of it as watching a play with a fixed set of cast members, it may help.
All in all, if you like Robin Hood (ala hero) and you suspend disbelief long enough to watch one or two episodes, you might just find that you want to watch one or two more of these short little episodes (apx 24 min) as they keep their momentum to propel you to the conclusion of each tale.
*The other B/W exception is Buccaneers (w/Robert Shaw) ;)
score /10
brucepratt 29 April 2008
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1866149/14479
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