The Adventures of Robin Hood
Episode 5: Maid Marian
Introductory minstrel song: “Robin Hood bold and free, of every man is unafraid; ’til one day he meets his match, with Marian the maid!”
Regular Cast
Sir Robin of Locksley – Richard Greene
Maid Marian – Bernadette O’Farrell
The Sheriff of Nottingham – Alan Wheatley
Little John – Archie Duncan
Friar Tuck – Alexander Gauge
Joan of the Blue Bull Inn – Simone Lovell
John Drake, who appeared as Harold the Smith in episode four, features here as Ned, an outlaw.
Original air date: 23 October 1955
Screenplay: Anne Rodney (pseudonym of Howard Koch and Anne Koch)
Director: Ralph Smart
Plot: Disguised as a (very shapely) page, Lady Marian Fitzwalter infiltrates the outlaw camp to capture Robin Hood, whom she suspects of stealing her jewels. However, Robin turns the tables and Marian ends up cooking for the outlaws and doing the washing up.
Maybe the subtitle for this episode should have been “Fifty Shades of Lincoln Green”. Read on for an explanation.
Standout scene: bear in mind, this series was broadcast in the 1950s, at teatime.
Robin to Marian: “The years have given you a taste for strange pleasures.”
Marian to Robin. “Quickly, Robin, tie me up and bind me.”
Which he did.
Sword fights – 1. Bow fights/bow skills – 2.
Running total: Sword fights – 5. Bow fights/bow skills – 5.
Bernadette O’Farrell
Born in Ireland, Bernadette O’Farrell broke into film and television in her twenties, after meeting director Carol Reed. Maid Marian became her career-defining role. She left the series in 1957 to avoid type-casting. Ironically, she basically retired from acting shortly after, to live on a Buckinghamshire farm with her husband, film writer, director and producer Frank Launder.
Little John – Fact or Fiction?
Little John aka John Little is one of the regular characters in the Robin Hood legends. A giant, sometimes portrayed as seven feet tall, and a master of the quarterstaff, Little John could be relied upon to provide muscle whenever Robin Hood needed it.
🖼️ Robin Hood and Little John by Louis Rhead
In folklore, Little John met Robin Hood on a tree bridge that spanned a river. They fought for the right to cross, and developed a mutual respect. This is a standard scene in most Robin Hood films.
Little John appears in Robin Hood ballads throughout the fourteenth century. In these ballads he is portrayed as intelligent and cunning, or uneducated and slow-witted. In Thomas Love Peacock’s Maid Marian, published 1822, Little John serves as Robin Hood’s treasurer, distributing the money taken from the rich to give to the poor.
Numerous actors have portrayed Little John in films and on television. This list is far from exhaustive – it merely offers my personal highlights.
James Robinson Justice in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, 1952
Archie Duncan in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1955-59
Nigel Green in Sword of Sherwood Forest, 1960
Leon Greene in A Challenge for Robin Hood, 1967
In the medieval compilation, A Gest of Robyn Hode, Little John takes the alias Reynold Greenleaf, and it’s been suggested that Reynold Greenleaf was a real person. However, Reynold Greenleaf appears in his own right in other ballads. All of which offers thin evidence to support the idea that Little John was based on a real person.
With no solid trail to follow, I think it’s safe to say that Little John is purely fictional.
🏹 🏹 🏹
What to make of this film, a modern German take on the Robin Hood legend seen from Maid Marian’s point of view?
I enjoyed the forest scenes and the medieval buildings (many of these were in ruins, but that was built into the script). Also, good to see a story from Marian’s point of view. The legends were well adapted and made sense in the film’s narrative.
I’m was not so sure about the plot-line and some of the action scenes. The film reminded me of my sons’ video games – lots of running through a landscape, a violent encounter, then a moment of reflection. Repeat, ad infinitum.
Marian was the main protagonist in the violent scenes, some of which I thought were unrealistic. Robin received two injuries where he was basically sliced in half – his role in the film was as an invalid.
If you enjoy modern action-adventures, you will enjoy this film. If you prefer something more traditional, you can give this a miss.
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