Starring: Lex Barker, Jocelyn Lane, Mario Scaccia, Rossana Rory, Walter Barnes, Edith Peters, Giulio Donnini
Director: Giorgio Simonelli
1960 | 88 Minutes
“Well now… if there were some trustworthy men… unscrupulous… good in a free for all… and not too occupied right now, who’d like to help me” – Robin Hood
“Well there aren’t.” – One Eye
“Some men who would be willing to overthrow the powerful usurper.” – Robin Hood
“There aren’t.” – One Eye
“And who, once he’s overthrown, would like to avail themselves of his safes bulging with gold.” – Robin Hood
“There are!” – One Eye
Synopsis:
A group of pirates have captured Robin Hood (Lex Barker) after his time in The Crusades. They plan to ransom him back to his rich father but a storm and subsequent shipwreck ruin their plans. Robin Hood, the pirates and the rest of their slaves are washed ashore in Sherwood. Upon finding that Robin’s father had been killed, they all join together to fight against the unjust rule of Brooks (Mario Scaccia).
Robin Hood and the Pirates is another movie that drew me in simply by its ridiculous sounding title/premise. Traditional pirates were not around at the same time as Robin Hood… but imagine if they were! I couldn’t NOT track this movie down.
Now, the movie is an Italian movie so the version I watched was dubbed into English with less than Oscar worthy voiceovers. I don’t think I missed much though. Considering the rest of the production, the original acting probably wasn’t great.
That’s not to say that the movie is so bad it can’t be enjoyed for what it is. It’s Robin Hood and the Pirates. It’s not going to be a great movie so the best you can hope for is some silly, stupid fun.
Despite the poor voice acting, there are some fun quips and moments between characters. It’s not really laugh out loud funny but it has some entertaining moments.
The action as well, isn’t top notch, even by 1960s standards, but it is good enough. There’s a few clanking swords and a few arrows flying but not a whole lot more. It’s just paint by the numbers 1960s medieval fight choreography. Nothing memorable.
So, while I enjoyed Robin Hood and the Pirates well enough to be happy that I had tracked down this rarely seen Italian movie, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to too many people. It just doesn’t live up to its fun premise enough.
Action Movie Fanatix 