The Bandit of Sherwood Forest

"We can credit the release of The Bandit Of Sherwood Forest to the May 2010 release of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood - someone at Columbia/Tri-Star was obviously awakened to the fact that the studio owned a large handful of second-tier (and third-tier) Robin Hood movies dating from the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s and decided that this was probably the best chance that they might ever have to sell them on DVD. And here they are, with this, the studio's first such post-World War II venture, leading the pack. The Bandit of Sherwood Forest has been amazingly well preserved. Its main virtue, a rich, enveloping Technicolor lushness - the work of three credited cinematographers -- is beautifully captured, even in the night shots, and the day scenes almost leap off the screen. The same can be said for the audio, which gives full (and delightful) play to Hugo Friedhofer's playful and inventive score. The full-screen (1.33-to-1) image is a pleasure to watch, at least on a technical level. The movie's other virtues, or lack thereof, are another matter - in 1946, this kind of picture could divert audiences looking for an escape, but today the film's threadbare budget and creative talent, even with two credited directors (George Sherman, Henry Levin) seem all too obvious. The script is mostly from hunger, and the staging of the action scenes looks no better than early rehearsals for the Warner Bros. Adventures of Robin Hood -- and, indeed, the climactic duel between hero Cornell Wilde and principal villain Henry Daniell is a painful reminder of how much Daniell was not a swordsman; his stunt substitution is so obvious it's almost laughable, especially when seen in high resolution playback. The actors mostly try hard, when they take their work seriously, which is part of the time - Ian Wolfe is particularly good among the actors, and Anita Louise and Jill Esmond cut distinguished figures among the actresses. The disc opens automatically to a very easy-to-use two-layer menu with the ""play"" option in the default position. And the dozen chapters break the movie down more than adequately. There aren't any extras, except for an extended trailer for Columbia's DVD reissue program for its classics - the problem with this is that EVERY movie represented in that trailer is a significantly better film than The Bandit of Sherwood Forest. There's also a trailer for A Knight's Tale, starring Heath Ledger, that is a little closer in spirit to The Bandit of Sherwood Forest. But it doesn't look as sumptuous as The Bandit of Sherwood Forest."