Guy de Gisbourne (Lamar Johnstone) desparately wants to marry Maid Marian (Barbara Tennant), something her father (John G. Adolfi) isn't at all averse to - but Marian prefers young and handsome Robin Hood (Robert Frazer), much to the dismay of Gisbourne ... and also her father, who promises Marian's hand to Gisbourne should he be able to have Robin arrested. Gisbourne's men are quick to lay an ambush for Robin and capture and tie him to a tree - but alarmed by Marian, Robin's men free him. So Gisbourne visits his old friend, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alec B. Francis), to have Robin declared an outlaw, and the Sheriff is too happy to oblige. But when his men come to Sherwood forest, they run into an ambush laid by Robin and his men, and after tieing up the Sheriff's men Robin and company decide to break into the Sheriff's place - but are captured. And not it's up to Marian and her girlfriends to use their charms to lure away the guards and this way help Robin and his merry men escape. Marian however is taken into custody. Meanwhile, in a tavern, Friar Tuck (M.E. Hannefy) befriends a stranger (Arthur Hollingsworth) whom he knows is on Guy de Gisbourne's radar, and when Gisbourne and his men strike, he helps the stranger escape and leads him to Robin's secret lair, where the stranger reveals himself to be Richard the Lion-Hearted, the rightful king. Robin and his men make up a plan to dress up as monks to save Marian, and they succeed, and immediately upon their return, Friar Tuck marries them. But their pursuers pretty much crash the wedding - and are flabberghasted to find the king on Robin's side who ultimately rights all wrongs.

One of the earliest depictions of Robin Hood on the screen, this circa 30 minute short focuses more on the romantic than the political aspects of the source material, making the love story between Robin and Marian the core of things - which really doesn't help the depth of the story much, neither does that there's a certain repetitiveness in the film, even at a mere 30 minutes as it seems to be an endless succession of chases and fights. On the directorial side, there are a few fun ideas, like every now and again superimposing animals over characters to reveal their true nature - nothing big now but quite a feat 110 years ago -, but mostly it's just typical early filmmaking, with unmoving cameras keeping the action in mostly long shots and little in terms of interesting angles. It's really more an interesting curiosity than anything resembling a masterpiece.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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