Thu 29 Aug 2019
A Movie Review by Dan Stumpf: ROBIN HOOD AND THE PIRATES (1960).
Posted by Steve under Action Adventure movies , Reviews[4] Comments
ROBIN HOOD AND THE PIRATES. Finanziaria Cinematografica Italiana, 1960,as Robin Hood e i pirati; Embassy Pictures, US, 1964. Lex Barker, Jocelyn Lane, Rossanna Rory, Mario Scaccia, Edith Peters, Walter Barnes. Written by Edoardo Anton and Leo Bomba. Directed by Giorgio Simonelli.
My DVD of this seems to be missing the first 10 minutes or so, where Robin is on his way to or from the Crusades, gets kidnapped by pirates and held for ransom. It opens, in obvious homage to The Tempest, with the ship in a violent storm and Robin washed overboard to land on the beach… close to a sign that says SHERWOOD COUNTY (in Italian) and so he’s home.
Well that sure saved a lot of film.
But as usual in these things, Robin Hood’s estate has been taken over by usurpers (Scaccia and Lane) and all his friends are locked up, sending Robin fleeing into the woods. The parallels with King Lear are obvious, but there are no woods here because this was filmed on the Mediterranean coast, which looks as much like Nottinghamshire as Sicily looks like Picadilly Circus.
Fortunately, the Pirates were washed ashore too, along with some Saracen women, led by Edith Peters, who speaks with a southern drawl and sings in her own inimitable style when they form an impromptu singing group —
Edith Peters (April 14, 1926 – October 28, 2000) Con Lino Patruno rievocano il grande “Satchmo” Dai tempi della …
–and Robin Hood and the pirates and the Saracen Supremes all team up to… well write the rest yourself.
The discerning reader has discerned from reading so far that Robin Hood and the Pirates is no ordinary film. It isn’t actually bad enough to be funny, but it offers a cheerful disregard for Reality and Legend I found consistently amusing, as Barker and the baddies chase each other around Sherwood-on-the-Beach and indulge in spirited, if not terribly proficient, swordplay.
And that’s my qualified recommendation: amusing if you’re in the mood. As I watched it though, I got to thinking how many notable heroes Lex Barker’s career encompassed. Besides Tarzan and Robin Hood, he was at various times: Mr. Lana Turner, Old Shatterhand, Mr. Arlene Dahl, Mangas Coloradas, and Natty Bumpo. Sounds like quite a life.
August 29th, 2019 at 1:34 pm
“a sign that says SHERWOOD COUNTY”
The Italians never were too good at the geography of England.
Donizetti wrote an opera, Emilia di Liverpool, set partly in a hermitage in Liverpool and partly in the nearby mountains, and Luigi Ruicci wrote Il birraio di Preston, (The Brewer of Preston) which involves seductions, bigamy and various other things that wouldn’t go down too well in Preston.
August 29th, 2019 at 3:22 pm
Barker is much more interesting off screen than on, born to money and position with a high IQ and speaking half a dozen languages fluently he rejected his well to do background and instead seems to have made it on his own and his well to do wives.
After Tarzan he made a few decent Westerns here then like many stars of the period decamped for Europe where he became a bigger star thanks to playing Old Shatterhand and Kara Ben Nemsi and even one of the Dr. Mabuse series than he had ever been in American films. He did a number of Swashbucklers in Italy like this one and THE EXECUTIONER OF VENICE, and eventually did a number of films with the notorious Harry Alan Towers as that rarity someone who actually got paid.
On screen he was so taciturn as to seem asleep though he was physically adept enough. He did give the impression that it was all a bit of a joke and that he didn’t take himself too seriously, and in the few good roles he got in his career he seemed to step up.
August 29th, 2019 at 8:00 pm
To me Lex Barker was the one and only Tarzan. All of the others, and I mean all of them, were imposters in comparison.
But just between you and me, I think he looks a little silly in that Robin Hood getup.
August 31st, 2019 at 8:34 am
Looks like I did miss an diversion for whenever I am in the mood.