Sheriff george of nottingham, otherwise better known as the sheriff of nottingham, is the main antagonist in the 1991 adventureaction film robin hood. List of films and television series featuring robin hood. The history of the robin hood legend at the smithsonian. Once a massive ransom had been paid, richard spent several years struggling to reclaim his territory. Either way, robin hood is the sworn enemy of prince john. For the good of all men, and the love of one woman, he fought to uphold justice by breaking the law. Set in england during the reign of king richard the lionheart, the adventures of. As the prince john character is completely absent from this adaptation, this sheriff is more ambitious than most. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive collection ever assembled. Prince of thieves, mary elizabeth mastrantonio stars as marian dubois, the king s cousin and childhood friend of robin hood kevin costner. Sean connerys cameo appearance as king richard the lionheart in robin hood.
Robin having fought in the crusades alongside the lionheart before returning to england to find his lands siezed by the sheriff. When robin first enters mastrontonios castle, he is greeted by marians maidservant who pretends to be marian. Consisting of a series of episodes in the story of the english outlaw robin hood and his band of merry men, the novel compiles traditional material into a coherent narrative in a colorful, invented old english idiom that preserves some flavor of the. That aside, its refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of sherwood forest as a soldier in king richards crusades, coming home to find his people under siege from the cruelties of the sheriff of nottingham alan rickman. Kings, queens and princes a beginners guide to robin hood. Prince of thieves is a 1991 periodish actionadventure movie based on the robin hood myth, directed by kevin reynolds and starring kevin costner in the title role. On this day the hunting had been good, and robin hood and his men were looking forward to a fine dinner. Men in tights, maid marian is played by amy yasbeck. Meanwhile, robin s father, a nobleman loyal to king richard the lionheart, has been murdered by the brutal sheriff of nottingham, who helped install richards treacherous brother, prince john, as king while richard is overseas fighting the crusades. And i know were talking about robin hood, prince of thieves today, but i would be remiss if i didnt mention another big part of this plot that we see in a lot of robin hood movies, and that is prince john himself, who in a lot of those other versions of the story, we get a sense hes doing this in an attempt to overthrow king richard.
When the script was rewritten as robin hood and his mirry mon, recorded on 2 december 1956, the part was played by valentine dyall. In a very early story, the king goes into the greenwood to find robin hood. No archer ever lived that could speed a gray goose shaft with such skill. Nottingham features did robin hood ever meet king richard. In the novel ivanhoe, king richard dons the disguise of the black knight in. The story is enacted by an assortment of cartoon animal characters robin hood and maid marian are foxes, little john is a bear, king richard and prince john are lions, etc. The merry adventures of robin hood of great renown in nottinghamshire is an 1883 novel by the american illustrator and writer howard pyle. The prince of thieves is a 1948 film nominally inspired by alexandre dumas 1872 novel. While marian prudently stays out of the fight for the most part, she still does her best to help robin and hurt the sheriff, like tripping him with a bench or pouring hot wax on his chest. Prince of thieves was one of the best films of 1991, a triumph even over the special effects hype of terminator 2. Robin, a crusader, escapes jerusalem alongside a muslim named azeem morgan freeman, and they return to england. The sobriquet prince of thieves itself, while fitting nicely, only dates back to this film.
So many people witnessed marian and robins romantic. Lord john, who is often in robin hood tales as the villainous prince john, is not even mentioned in this story despite the hurdle he would prove to the sheriffs plan as the kings younger brother and rightful heir. In this actionpacked retelling of the legendary story, robin hood must battle the evil sheriff of nottingham not only to save king richard the lionhearted and england but also to save his love, the noble beauty maid marian. The merry adventures of robin hood how robin hood cane to be an outlaw i n merry england in the time of old, when good king henry the second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of sherwood forest, near nottingham town, a famous outlaw whose name was robin hood. In the days before internet spoilers, the audience reaction when sean connery popped up as king richard at the very end of the film was fantastic. The rightful king of england king richard is a historical king whose younger brother. Prince of thieves kevin costners lousy english accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of the robin hood fable.
In the early ballad a gest of robyn hode robin is said to have gained a pardon from king edward. Prince of thieves is the 1991 blockbuster movie in which kevin costner plays the mythical medieval hero known for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. In some of the traditional robin hood legends the sheriff used this as a way to entrap him, holding contests which robin could not pass up, and which he always won with amazing feats of skill, thus proving his identity. Some chroniclers date his exploits as taking place during the reign of edward ii, but other versions say the king was richard i, the lionheart. Radio newsletter extension books mobile apps amazon smile. Prince of thieves 1991 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Yul brynner and deborah kerr perform shall we dance from the king and i duration. Prince of thieves is a murky, unfocused, violent and depressing version of the classic story, with little of the lightheartedness and romance we expect from robin hood. In robin hood robin became an outlaw while chaffing at the rules set in place by prince john while richard was fighting in the crusades. Next, during the oil price shock economy for kevin costners 1991 robin hood. All versions of the robin hood story give the same account of his death.
Robin hood entertaining king richard the lionheart in sherwood forest. Robin engineers an escape, saving the life of a moor, azeem morgan freeman in the process. Medieval graphic violence dominates this film, and that there are some particularly gory moments. Despite the critics complete and utter distaste for the film, i found it fun, wellacted, and fastpaced. Meanwhile, robins father, a nobleman loyal to king richard the lionheart, has been. How historically accurate is this movie to the time period. Son of a king, a young man named bran is made homeless when his father is killed and the kingdom of elfael becomes a pawn to squabbling norman factions. Stealing from the rich to give to the poor, robin hood and his merry men are a permanent part of popular culture. Some people gripe that prince john should not have been left out, but i disagree. He is a legendary person whom people have told stories about for many years.
Prince of thieves was originally called nasir, until a crew member who had worked on robin of sherwood pointed out that the nasir character was not part of the original legend and was created for the show robin of sherwood. Pen densham story, pen densham screenplay 1 more credit. The sheriff is often depicted as assisting prince john in usurping the rightful but absent king richard, to whom robin hood remains loyal. Robin hood, starring patrick bergin and uma thurman, is a reinvention of the story pitting robin hood against different antagonists. The play is set in the last days of the reign of king richard the lionheart 11571199 and centers around the activities of robin hood and king richard s younger brother, prince john. He was also an extremely skillful swordsman, serving as one of king richards private guard during the war. It is this film that marks the most drastic change in maid marians personality. Its shot mostly at night or in gloomy forests, beneath overcasts or by flickering firelight or in gloomy dungeons, which is all very well for the atmosphere, but makes the action scenes almost. Meanwhile, robins father, a nobleman loyal to king richard the lionheart, has been murdered by the brutal sheriff of nottingham, who helped install richards. If prince john was made an antagonist as he usually is, of course, in the robin hood legends, robin hood cannot defeat him for the sake of historical accuracy that everyone complains about as john did inherit the throne after richard died a few years later. Robin of locksley kevin costner, an english nobleman who joined richard the lionhearts army in the third crusade, is captured and imprisoned in jerusalem along with his comrade peter. His partisanship of the common people and his hostility to the sheriff of nottingham are early recorded features of the legend, but his interest in the rightfulness of the king is not, and neither is his setting in the reign of richard i. In the 2001 disney film princess of thieves, robin hood and maid marian are the parents of a daughter, the eponymous princess played by keira knightley.
Prince of thieves, starring kevin costner, morgan freeman, mary elizabeth mastrantonio and alan rickman, with sean connery appearing as king richard in the finale. In the 1973 disney animated robin hood, friar tuck is a badger, voiced by andy devine. It was directed by kevin reynolds and stars kevin costner as robin hood, morgan freeman as azeem, christian slater as will scarlett, mary elizabeth mastrantonio as marian, and alan rickman as the sheriff of nottingham. King richard himself would not have deprived the foresters of food, but he was away fighting wars overseas. Fictional books robin hood the facts and the fiction. After fighting in the crusades alongside king richard i of england, sir allan claire is returning home to marry his betrothed lady christabel. He and his sister lady marian claire are intercepted by robin hood and his band of merry men. Prince of thieves is a 1991 american actionadventure film based on the english folk tale of robin hood that originated in the 12th century.
Robin and his group of outlaws known as the merry men lived in and operated out of sherwood forest. The rightful king of england king richard is a historical king whose younger brother unsuccessfully tried to usurp his throne while he was away fighting in the third crusade. Prince of thieves is a 1991 american actionadventure film based on the. The name was immediately changed to azeem to avoid any potential. How robin hood defied king john and brought magna carta to.
The prince of thieves tales of robin hood by alexandre. He is taken to be executed at the end of the film in a plot of prince johns to lure robin hood out of hiding. This philip teamed up with robin hoods daughter, gwyn, in the 2001 television movie princess of thieves. Prince of thieves, in which robin fights against a conspiracy led by the sheriff of nottingham. In the rude days of king richard and king john there were many great woods in england. A novel of richard i, king of england by martha rofheart.
A story of robin hood, a short story by james baldwin. Because of the liberties the author takes with the historical events of the time, the exact year the action of the play takes place is hard to pin down. His story has been featured in books, plays, movies and cartoons as well. Quest for the king, maid marian is voiced by jo wyatt. The bishop betrays marian after she confides in him an attempt to contact king richard in france and she is taken prisoner. It even inspired the name of another film, princess of thieves, which focuses on robin and marians daughter gwyn. If robin hood had been working for richard in the years of his absence, then if the opportunity did arise for king richard and robin hood to meet, with regard to their individual characters both. Anyone looking for historical accuracy in a robin hood story might. The central figure in the folklore robin hood is an outlaw and excellent archer known for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Prince of thieves, in which he is the main antagonist, he is played by alan rickman. When robin returns home, he vows to avenge his fathers death and restore richard to the throne. Lancelot falls in love with guinevere, who is due to be married to king arthur. But in the ballad version of this tale, robin grows bored with service to the king called king edward in an early ballad and heads back to the forest to live as an outlaw for another 22 years. Robin hood prince of thieves cast now and then 2017.