Cavalcade of Archery (1946) *** (out of 4) Interesting short film from Warner shows archer Howard Hill at the top of his game. After seeing some clips from THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD we then get a spill about Hill being better than that fable character. From here we see Hill doing all sorts of trick shots including through a small hole in a board as well as shooting an apple off a man's head. The most impressive trick shot comes when he manages to tie an apple onto a string and swing it back and forth only to nail it on the first shot. Not only do we get this great footage but it's all in glorious Technicolor, which really jumps off the screen. This here also explains why his assistants are wearing such wild colors. There's one other interesting thing about this short is that it actually contains some footage from THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD that wasn't used in the actual movie. That there just makes this even more entertaining and especially for fans of the Flynn film who want to see the added footage.

My guess would be that Warner Brothers was reissuing The Adventures Of Robin Hood when someone got the idea to make Cavalcade Of Archery. This short subject is a tribute to Howard Hill who was the champion archer of his day. Not coincidentally Hill served as the technical adviser on Robin Hood and on a great many other films when skill with a bow was needed.Outtake footage from Robin Hood was used as a brief description of the history of archery was briefly discussed by narrator Knox Manning. The English longbowman was a feared warrior in his day and English arrows ruled the medieval battlefield until artillery was invented and perfected. Hill gave us several tricks including going William Tell one better when he shoots not just an apple off a stuntman's head, but follows it with a prune. The stuntman declined however to chance a grape.Cavalcade Of Archery is an entertaining short subject about a sport that was once the ultimate weapon of war.

KIDS NO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME (especially the William Tell-inspired stunts)!! This short consists of Howard Hill (who did a lot of the trick archery shots in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD) demonstrating his craft in full color. I think they chose to do this short in color because the beginning incorporated scenes from this Errol Flynn movie, as normally color film stock was prohibitively expensive--and not widely used in most shorts (aside from MGM's travelogue series). While this color isn't especially realistic, it is very nice for the time--though the details on the print are a tad washed out in many of the scenes.Hill's skills are rather amazing and the film is entertaining--and quite exciting towards the end. If you see the Errol Flynn film (and you must), look for Hill in a small role as the Captain of the Archers. If you want to see this short, however, the only way I know it can be see is to get the DVD of THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD--as it's one of the extras on the second DVD included in the set.

A Warner Bros. Short Subject.Master Bowman Howard Hill displays his remarkable skills in a Technicolor CAVALCADE OF ARCHERY.Seven years after using his talents to great advantage in the classic swashbuckler THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), Howard Hill once again steps in front of the cameras in this enjoyable, lighthearted little film. Although the silly narration sometimes intrudes, it never obscures what Mr. Hill is able to do with his arrows to a variety of targets, including bottles, a gourd, an apple & even a prune.Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.