This lovely little Saturday full-length feature was filmed during the heyday of Robin Hood spin-offs, and it was apparent that the producers and directors spared almost every expense to maximize what little profit their copy-cat production was likely to make. The acting was wooden and artificial, the stunts (fights, etc.) appeared as though the actors had only received their choreo the day before filming. The casting was obscure, with only David Hedison (who has no command of the English accent whatsoever) and George Coulouris being the only familiar names in the cast. It was difficult to identify the direction, too. Other than those items, the film was a bit like a train wreck -- difficult to tear one's eyes away from. It's very unfortunate that the cast and the director played the entire film straight and took themselves seriously. This could have been a delightful comedy had there been the knowing look, the wink, the nudge, the glance toward the 4th wall from time to time to keep the audience engaged. I rated this one 4 stars b/c of the train-wreck nature of the film ... I just couldn't look away for fear I'd miss something positive.

The main selling point of this Sherwood yarn is that the expected arrival of Robin Hood's son from Spain turns into a surprise, as Deering Hood(June Laverick) is actually a young woman, who can shoot an arrow as straight as Robin could, and isn't half bad as a swordswoman. It's suggested that she become the new leader of the middle-aged remnants of Robin's band, as he died 10 years ago. Thus, she would be comparable to the female pirate captains in "Anne of the Indies", and "Against All Flags". But, it was argued that the men of Sherwood would generally be uncomfortable with a woman leader. Then, it was decided to make the young, recently arrived, Jamie (David Hedison) the real leader of the band, he assuming her name. He also had exceptional skills in archery, swordplay, and deception. He is also the brother of the Earl of Chester(Marius Goring): expected to be crowned king of England, but who lays rotting in the dungeon of the evil Duke Des Roches( David Farrar) and his henchmen, the Duke hoping to be crowned instead. Jamie and Deering gain entrance to the Duke's castle by posing as the Marquis Duval and his wife. They hope to release the Earl of Chester. After various adventures in the castle, the men of Sherwood battle the Duke's knights and , incredibly, slaughter them. As expected, Jamie and the Duke, still in the castle, have a sword fight to the death, and , as expected, Jamie and Deering fall in love and finish the picture with a passionate kiss.....Be on the lookout for Robin's old buddies Little John, Alan A Dale, and Will Scarlet.....Think you will much prefer the 1938 version of Robin Hood, but this film better fits feminist sensibilities, demonstrating that some women can be skilled tomboys, often comparable to men......See the film at YouTube.

Back when I was a lad the Son Of Robin Hood played as the second feature to some other Fox film on a double bill. Occasionally those second features were something worthwhile even better than the A film they accompanied. This film was definitely not in that category.It's been some 20 years since the Merry Men got disbanded and they're now middle-aged and somewhat gone to seed. But with the death of King John there's a plot afoot to steal the throne by an evil duke played by David Farrar. The rightful heir Marius Goring has been imprisoned by Farrar, but Goring has a brother in David Hedison who will set things right in the Douglas Fairbanks/Errol Flynn tradition, not.You have to have a certain elan to do swashbucklers. Either you have it or you don't. David Hedison best known for being the Captain of the Seaview on the TV series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea just ain't got it. Also his American speech pattern with the British cast sounds jarringly out of place. What worked for Clark Gable in Mutiny On The Bounty doesn't work for Hedison. Then again Mutiny On The Bounty was a much better film, like light years better.Added to that none of the historical characters vying for the throne ever existed. Including Robin Hood or in this case the late Robin Hood. Turns out he died some ten years than the events of this film and he left a daughter June Laverick. She does fill out that Lincoln green suit all right. But she's a girl and those aged Merry Men ain't about to come out of retirement for her.They do for Hedison though as the faux son of Robin Hood and of course the inevitable does happen.Maybe the worst Robin Hood film ever done.

Absolutely, ridiculous tale of Robin Hood's alleged son who is really a girl....don't get too confused.....it confused me at first....tale concerns Robin Hood's offspring who was expected to be a man, who comes back to England to fight, not the Sheriff of Nottingham, but a bird named "DeRoche"......Al Hedison inherits the role of Robin Hood's son as it appears RH did not have a true son.....ridiculous acting, poorly staged action battles and acting worse than "Plan Nine from Outer Space".....in one instance a group of Deroche's men try to corner the men of Sherwood and Robin Hood's daughter shoots an arrow in a man in a tree who was a spotter for DeRoche.....man falls out of tree and no where are the 25 men of DeRoche after the shooting!!!! Cardboard castle walls among the other ditties....want more - son of Robin Hood gets invited to DeRoche's castle and soon starts bedding DaRoche's girlfriend!!!! Whew!!! No recognizable actors of any renown.....Robin Hood's men (25 years older!!!!) wipe out the bad guys along with Hedison......this total production by 1959 standards could not have cost more than $100,000 to make.....where was Peter Cushing in this film???? Go figure.......