Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood

Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood is an adventure film directed by John Hough and starring David Warbeck, Ciaran Madden, Kathleen Byron, David Butler and Kenneth Gilbert.[1][2] The film was the debut movie of actor David Warbeck as Robin Hood.[2][3] The film was originally a 1969 television series pilot but was released in movie theatres in 1973, as a support feature to the musical Take Me High.[2][4] The film was also released on VHS under the title The Legend of Young Robin Hood.[5]

Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood
Directed byJohn Hough
Written byDavid Butler
Produced byBill Anderson
StarringDavid Warbeck
Ciaran Madden
Kathleen Byron
David Butler
Kenneth Gilbert
CinematographyDavid Holmes
Edited byRobert C. Dearberg
Music byBernie Sharp
Jack Sprague
Production
companies
Distributed byAnglo-EMI Film Distributors
Release date
1973
Running time
56 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The film's title comes from the medieval term Caput lupinum or "Wolfshead", meaning an outlaw.[2]

Plot

The film is set in the year 1190AD. Robert of Loxley, a simple farmer, is working his land when a fellow Saxon runs through their property attempting to escape Sir Jeffrey and the Royal Game Warden. Robert denies seeing the alleged poacher, and the fight, which ensues, is destined to seal his fate.

When Sir Jeffrey's brother, Roger of Doncaster, learns that Robert of Loxley was not killed for his insolence, he determines to use the incident to have him arrested and his lands confiscated. Sir Roger's ulterior motive is that his intended bride Lady Marian Fitzwater has had feelings for Robert from childhood and this stands in the way of his marriage to her. So he enlists the help of the Abbott to have Robert made a Wolfshead: an outlaw whose head is worth that of a wolf's, dead or alive.

Cast

Reception and influence

Howard Maxford, in his book Hammer Complete praised Wolfshead as a "brisk and entertaining variation on an over-familiar tale."[2] Maxford added that "the film's only drawback is its rather abrupt ending."[2]

Writer Richard Carpenter later described Wolfshead as an influence on his own series, Robin of Sherwood. Carpenter stated "What [Wolfshead] did was to have a very realistic look at being an outlaw in the 13th century and I wanted to have that element as well as the occult and humor."[6]

References
  1. "Wolfshead The Legend of Robin Hood (1969)". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  2. Maxford, Howard (2019). Hammer complete : the films, the personnel, the company. McFarland. ISBN 9781476670072.
  3. "David Warbeck - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  4. Hahn, Thomas G. (8 February 2018). Robin Hood in Popular Culture: Violence, Transgression, and Justice. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 9780859915649. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2020 – via Google Books.
  5. Wright, Allen W. "Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood -- Spotlight of the Month". www.boldoutlaw.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  6. Bernstein, Abbie. "Legends of the Hooded Man : Richard Carpenter interview". Starlog Magazine, issue 151, February 1990, (pgs.30-33,64).


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