The main selling point of this Sherwood yarn is that the expected arrival of Robin Hood's son from Spain turns into a surprise, as Deering Hood(June Laverick) is actually a young woman, who can shoot an arrow as straight as Robin could, and isn't half bad as a swordswoman. It's suggested that she become the new leader of the middle-aged remnants of Robin's band, as he died 10 years ago. Thus, she would be comparable to the female pirate captains in "Anne of the Indies", and "Against All Flags". But, it was argued that the men of Sherwood would generally be uncomfortable with a woman leader. Then, it was decided to make the young, recently arrived, Jamie (David Hedison) the real leader of the band, he assuming her name. He also had exceptional skills in archery, swordplay, and deception. He is also the brother of the Earl of Chester(Marius Goring): expected to be crowned king of England, but who lays rotting in the dungeon of the evil Duke Des Roches( David Farrar) and his henchmen, the Duke hoping to be crowned instead. Jamie and Deering gain entrance to the Duke's castle by posing as the Marquis Duval and his wife. They hope to release the Earl of Chester. After various adventures in the castle, the men of Sherwood battle the Duke's knights and , incredibly, slaughter them. As expected, Jamie and the Duke, still in the castle, have a sword fight to the death, and , as expected, Jamie and Deering fall in love and finish the picture with a passionate kiss.....Be on the lookout for Robin's old buddies Little John, Alan A Dale, and Will Scarlet.....Think you will much prefer the 1938 version of Robin Hood, but this film better fits feminist sensibilities, demonstrating that some women can be skilled tomboys, often comparable to men......See the film at YouTube.
10 Reviews
Son of a Gun!
sol-kay19 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Things haven't been that merry for the merry-men of Sherwood Forest since their fearless and right on target, with a bow & arrow, leader Robin Hood passed away some 10 years ago. It's when the evil Duke Simon Des Roches tried to make a grab at the English throne that the merry-men started to take matters into their own hands. Getting the Earl of Chester the legal successor to the English throne, out of harms way in a safe house in Sherwood Forest the merry-men plan to install him as the new English King when the time is right. It's later that the Earl is captured, on tip from an inside source inside the merry-mens hideout, by Des Roches' men and taken into his castle's dungeon. It's Des Roache's plan to get the Earl to sign away his right to the English throne and thus give it over to himself.
It's then that the head of the merry-men Little John gets the good news that the late Robin Hood has a son-Deering-who's residing in sunny Spain who's more then willing to take over his dad's place as the leader of the now not so merry merry-men of Sherwood Forest. It's Little John's plan to get Deering Hood to get the now rejuvenated merry-men to organize a guerrilla war against Des Roches and bring the now in chains and incarcerated Earl of Chester back in power as the King of England! The only stumbling block to Little John's plans is that the son of Robin Hood turned out to be his daughter! This made things even more complicated for Little John and his merry-men then they already were!
As things turned the Earl of Chester's younger brother Jamie back from the Crusades showed up in town, or Sherwood Forest, the same time that Deering Hood did. After the sword twirling Jamie dispatched a squad of Des Roches's men who were waiting in ambush to knock off Miss Hood the two changed identities with Jamie taking the part of Deering and Deering becoming his woman companion. Still Des Roches had a ace up his sleeve in having planted a spy among the merry-men who tipped him off on their plans to unseat him from power. That's where Jamie's brother, the Earl of Chester, came in with him knowing just who this undercover operative of Des Roches is. The only trouble here is that the Earl of Chester in being told that Jamie was killed in the Crusades doesn't believe that he's his brother and feels that Jamie is in fact a spy for Des Roches and isn't talking!
Lots of action with the merry-men lead by both Jamie & Deering Hood getting their act together and taking on Des Roches and his men after they finally found out who's slipping him classified information to what their plans are. It was Des Roches' big mistake in underestimating Deering Hood's, whom he thought was Jamie, ability to lead the merry-men with the same skill and courage that her late dad Robin Hood did in the past. It was in fact Deering who prevent the plant, or spy, inside the merry-mens compound to get the news to Des Roches on the merry-men, lead by Jamie & herself, impending assault on his fortified castle complex.
***SPOILERS*** In the end the merry-men made mincemeat out of Duke Simon Des Roches' men in a two prong attack, by land and and under water, on his castle. It was then that Jamie after rescuing the Earl of Chester, the soon to be anointed King of England, put an end to Des Roches' reign of terror by running him through, with his sword, after a long boring and very unconvincing dueling match with him.
It's then that the head of the merry-men Little John gets the good news that the late Robin Hood has a son-Deering-who's residing in sunny Spain who's more then willing to take over his dad's place as the leader of the now not so merry merry-men of Sherwood Forest. It's Little John's plan to get Deering Hood to get the now rejuvenated merry-men to organize a guerrilla war against Des Roches and bring the now in chains and incarcerated Earl of Chester back in power as the King of England! The only stumbling block to Little John's plans is that the son of Robin Hood turned out to be his daughter! This made things even more complicated for Little John and his merry-men then they already were!
As things turned the Earl of Chester's younger brother Jamie back from the Crusades showed up in town, or Sherwood Forest, the same time that Deering Hood did. After the sword twirling Jamie dispatched a squad of Des Roches's men who were waiting in ambush to knock off Miss Hood the two changed identities with Jamie taking the part of Deering and Deering becoming his woman companion. Still Des Roches had a ace up his sleeve in having planted a spy among the merry-men who tipped him off on their plans to unseat him from power. That's where Jamie's brother, the Earl of Chester, came in with him knowing just who this undercover operative of Des Roches is. The only trouble here is that the Earl of Chester in being told that Jamie was killed in the Crusades doesn't believe that he's his brother and feels that Jamie is in fact a spy for Des Roches and isn't talking!
Lots of action with the merry-men lead by both Jamie & Deering Hood getting their act together and taking on Des Roches and his men after they finally found out who's slipping him classified information to what their plans are. It was Des Roches' big mistake in underestimating Deering Hood's, whom he thought was Jamie, ability to lead the merry-men with the same skill and courage that her late dad Robin Hood did in the past. It was in fact Deering who prevent the plant, or spy, inside the merry-mens compound to get the news to Des Roches on the merry-men, lead by Jamie & herself, impending assault on his fortified castle complex.
***SPOILERS*** In the end the merry-men made mincemeat out of Duke Simon Des Roches' men in a two prong attack, by land and and under water, on his castle. It was then that Jamie after rescuing the Earl of Chester, the soon to be anointed King of England, put an end to Des Roches' reign of terror by running him through, with his sword, after a long boring and very unconvincing dueling match with him.
The end it is not good
boblipton3 September 2009
And neither is the beginning or the middle as the story of Robin Hood gets the AT SWORDS' POINT treatment, with a bunch of little-known actors -- except for George Couloris, David Farrar and Marius Goring -- under the direction of George Sherman, who spent most of his career, properly, directing B westerns.
June Laverick, a pretty young blonde, plays the daughter of Robin Hood, who spends most of her time hiding behind David 'Al' Hedison, who pretends to be her -- him -- that is, Robin Hood's son, leading Robin's old and graying Merry Men. The whole thing is directed with little of the silliness that attended AT SWORDS' POINT, but the whole thing is handsomely shot in wide screen. Unhappily, the prints were definitely not Technicolor, but have aged poorly, casting a gloomy and pink sheen over the entire proceedings. The score is also a nice variation on Korngold's score for the Errol Flynn version. You can skip this one.
June Laverick, a pretty young blonde, plays the daughter of Robin Hood, who spends most of her time hiding behind David 'Al' Hedison, who pretends to be her -- him -- that is, Robin Hood's son, leading Robin's old and graying Merry Men. The whole thing is directed with little of the silliness that attended AT SWORDS' POINT, but the whole thing is handsomely shot in wide screen. Unhappily, the prints were definitely not Technicolor, but have aged poorly, casting a gloomy and pink sheen over the entire proceedings. The score is also a nice variation on Korngold's score for the Errol Flynn version. You can skip this one.
The Son of Robin Hood
mhrabovsky69129 August 2009
Absolutely, ridiculous tale of Robin Hood's alleged son who is really a girl....don't get too confused.....it confused me at first....tale concerns Robin Hood's offspring who was expected to be a man, who comes back to England to fight, not the Sheriff of Nottingham, but a bird named "DeRoche"......Al Hedison inherits the role of Robin Hood's son as it appears RH did not have a true son.....ridiculous acting, poorly staged action battles and acting worse than "Plan Nine from Outer Space".....in one instance a group of Deroche's men try to corner the men of Sherwood and Robin Hood's daughter shoots an arrow in a man in a tree who was a spotter for DeRoche.....man falls out of tree and no where are the 25 men of DeRoche after the shooting!!!! Cardboard castle walls among the other ditties....want more - son of Robin Hood gets invited to DeRoche's castle and soon starts bedding DaRoche's girlfriend!!!! Whew!!! No recognizable actors of any renown.....Robin Hood's men (25 years older!!!!) wipe out the bad guys along with Hedison......this total production by 1959 standards could not have cost more than $100,000 to make.....where was Peter Cushing in this film???? Go figure.......
Should have been adopted
Leofwine_draca28 August 2016
SON OF ROBIN HOOD is a cheapjack addition to the Robin Hood franchise which, despite plentiful action sequences, is largely a somewhat laughable viewing experience and more often than not a bore. The film is set some twenty years after the Robin Hood story and sees David Hedison adopting the moniker of the son of Robin Hood, even though he's actually not; Hood's offspring was a daughter, not a son.
Confused yet? It doesn't really matter. There's a girl to romance, some hijinks to be had in Sherwood Forest, and a Sheriff of Nottingham-alike and his men to fight and pierce with arrows. This film looks and feels very cheap with cardboard walls, painted backgrounds, and a general fake feel. I was surprised to see that it was made in England as it has more of a stylised, fantasy Hollywood feel and is no patch on the similar, more grounded efforts that Hammer put out around the same time such as THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST.
Hedison never really convinces as an outlaw hero and it's fair to say that the majority of the cast members simply go through the motions. The only one I really liked was George Woodbridge, who makes a decent stab at the character of Little John. Marius Goring and George Coulouris show up in support too. The direction is very poor with plenty of continuity errors and the like which constantly distract the viewer, although the climactic sword fight isn't bad in a "let's rip off THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD" type way.
Confused yet? It doesn't really matter. There's a girl to romance, some hijinks to be had in Sherwood Forest, and a Sheriff of Nottingham-alike and his men to fight and pierce with arrows. This film looks and feels very cheap with cardboard walls, painted backgrounds, and a general fake feel. I was surprised to see that it was made in England as it has more of a stylised, fantasy Hollywood feel and is no patch on the similar, more grounded efforts that Hammer put out around the same time such as THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST.
Hedison never really convinces as an outlaw hero and it's fair to say that the majority of the cast members simply go through the motions. The only one I really liked was George Woodbridge, who makes a decent stab at the character of Little John. Marius Goring and George Coulouris show up in support too. The direction is very poor with plenty of continuity errors and the like which constantly distract the viewer, although the climactic sword fight isn't bad in a "let's rip off THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD" type way.
Enjoyably bad with distinguished actors
malcolmgsw30 September 2014
The earliest reviewer on this title claims that there are no actors of any reputation in this film.Well what about George Colouris of Mercury Theatre fame,or David Farrar leading man of the 40s and 50s,Marius Goring distinguished stage and screen actor,Jack Lambert and Russell Napier who played countless military types and policemen,not to mention George Woodbridge.They like many actors before and since had to make a living and so appeared in this rubbish.Actors as distinguished as them would end up in sex comedies 10 years later.This film is probably the worst Robin Hood film ever made and as such is rather enjoyable.Just watching June Laverick shooting down all and sundry gave me a huge laugh
Dated and very average Robin Hood yarn
MattyGibbs16 February 2016
Robin Hood is dead but his merry men need a new hero to take on the baton and save England.
This is a nonsensical but nevertheless at times mildly entertaining adventure. It looks low budget and the script is average to say the least. On the plus side the acting is passable and to be honest the cast at least look like they are enjoying themselves. David Hedison makes for a good looking hero as he takes on the mantle of Robin Hoods son.
The fight scenes are a bit clumsy and it all becomes a bit repetitive but it just about manages to hold your attention till the predictable end. This is a film that doesn't take itself seriously which is just as well.
The Son of Robin Hood is a very average adventure but a good natured one. This is a watchable film but you'll forgot it ten minutes after seeing it.
This is a nonsensical but nevertheless at times mildly entertaining adventure. It looks low budget and the script is average to say the least. On the plus side the acting is passable and to be honest the cast at least look like they are enjoying themselves. David Hedison makes for a good looking hero as he takes on the mantle of Robin Hoods son.
The fight scenes are a bit clumsy and it all becomes a bit repetitive but it just about manages to hold your attention till the predictable end. This is a film that doesn't take itself seriously which is just as well.
The Son of Robin Hood is a very average adventure but a good natured one. This is a watchable film but you'll forgot it ten minutes after seeing it.
Quality Will Always Show
hagan_family11 June 2018
This lovely little Saturday full-length feature was filmed during the heyday of Robin Hood spin-offs, and it was apparent that the producers and directors spared almost every expense to maximize what little profit their copy-cat production was likely to make. The acting was wooden and artificial, the stunts (fights, etc.) appeared as though the actors had only received their choreo the day before filming. The casting was obscure, with only David Hedison (who has no command of the English accent whatsoever) and George Coulouris being the only familiar names in the cast. It was difficult to identify the direction, too. Other than those items, the film was a bit like a train wreck -- difficult to tear one's eyes away from. It's very unfortunate that the cast and the director played the entire film straight and took themselves seriously. This could have been a delightful comedy had there been the knowing look, the wink, the nudge, the glance toward the 4th wall from time to time to keep the audience engaged. I rated this one 4 stars b/c of the train-wreck nature of the film ... I just couldn't look away for fear I'd miss something positive.
A gender switch under the hood.
mark.waltz30 July 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Robin Hood movies outside of the Douglas Fairbanks silent, the Errol Flynn remake and one or two modern versions are pretty much forgotten because of how derivative they are and how similar they seem to be. Of course, they are different in plot but it's the same structure and some work better than others with the result being that they're colorful escapist fares and not much else. This one has a phony son of the late bandit, played as a robust fop by David Hedison. In his adventures, medicine comes across a claimant to the name of son of Robin Hood but it turns out to be a she, June Laverick, going around in men's clothing with short hair and fighting men's battles, or as they were nearly 1,000 years ago. It's an interesting twist and done cleverly.
The villain here is David Farrar, a ruthless Duke trying to gain the throne, and he has aide by the calculating Delphi Lawrence. The fake Robin Hood and his band of merry bandits work with Laverick to protect the rightful heir (Marius Goring) which leads to the expected number of sword fights. It appears that Hedison's merry men are the originals, a bit too long in the tooth to still be stealing thrones from the rich to give to the imprisoned rich. The film is colorful and action packed, but at times, the story does indeed seem to be going all over the place. Still, I found it an acceptable minor entry in the Robin Hood family saga, with the sets well done and the film pleasantly paced.
The villain here is David Farrar, a ruthless Duke trying to gain the throne, and he has aide by the calculating Delphi Lawrence. The fake Robin Hood and his band of merry bandits work with Laverick to protect the rightful heir (Marius Goring) which leads to the expected number of sword fights. It appears that Hedison's merry men are the originals, a bit too long in the tooth to still be stealing thrones from the rich to give to the imprisoned rich. The film is colorful and action packed, but at times, the story does indeed seem to be going all over the place. Still, I found it an acceptable minor entry in the Robin Hood family saga, with the sets well done and the film pleasantly paced.
More like the Son-in-law of Robin Hood
bkoganbing5 October 2017
Back when I was a lad the Son Of Robin Hood played as the second feature to some other Fox film on a double bill. Occasionally those second features were something worthwhile even better than the A film they accompanied. This film was definitely not in that category.
It's been some 20 years since the Merry Men got disbanded and they're now middle-aged and somewhat gone to seed. But with the death of King John there's a plot afoot to steal the throne by an evil duke played by David Farrar. The rightful heir Marius Goring has been imprisoned by Farrar, but Goring has a brother in David Hedison who will set things right in the Douglas Fairbanks/Errol Flynn tradition, not.
You have to have a certain elan to do swashbucklers. Either you have it or you don't. David Hedison best known for being the Captain of the Seaview on the TV series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea just ain't got it. Also his American speech pattern with the British cast sounds jarringly out of place. What worked for Clark Gable in Mutiny On The Bounty doesn't work for Hedison. Then again Mutiny On The Bounty was a much better film, like light years better.
Added to that none of the historical characters vying for the throne ever existed. Including Robin Hood or in this case the late Robin Hood. Turns out he died some ten years than the events of this film and he left a daughter June Laverick. She does fill out that Lincoln green suit all right. But she's a girl and those aged Merry Men ain't about to come out of retirement for her.
They do for Hedison though as the faux son of Robin Hood and of course the inevitable does happen.
Maybe the worst Robin Hood film ever done.
It's been some 20 years since the Merry Men got disbanded and they're now middle-aged and somewhat gone to seed. But with the death of King John there's a plot afoot to steal the throne by an evil duke played by David Farrar. The rightful heir Marius Goring has been imprisoned by Farrar, but Goring has a brother in David Hedison who will set things right in the Douglas Fairbanks/Errol Flynn tradition, not.
You have to have a certain elan to do swashbucklers. Either you have it or you don't. David Hedison best known for being the Captain of the Seaview on the TV series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea just ain't got it. Also his American speech pattern with the British cast sounds jarringly out of place. What worked for Clark Gable in Mutiny On The Bounty doesn't work for Hedison. Then again Mutiny On The Bounty was a much better film, like light years better.
Added to that none of the historical characters vying for the throne ever existed. Including Robin Hood or in this case the late Robin Hood. Turns out he died some ten years than the events of this film and he left a daughter June Laverick. She does fill out that Lincoln green suit all right. But she's a girl and those aged Merry Men ain't about to come out of retirement for her.
They do for Hedison though as the faux son of Robin Hood and of course the inevitable does happen.
Maybe the worst Robin Hood film ever done.
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