The Prince of Thieves
The Prince of Thieves
Main page

The Prince of Thieves

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
The Prince of Thieves

The Prince of Thieves is a 1948 American adventure film nominally inspired by Alexandre Dumas' 1872 novel Le Prince des voleurs. Produced by Sam Katzman for Columbia Pictures and starring Jon Hall as Robin Hood with stuntwork by Jock Mahoney, the film was shot in the Cinecolor process that features an inability to reproduce the colour green. Sequences were shot reusing several of the sets of Columbia's The Bandit of Sherwood Forest and at Corriganville. Patricia Morison and Adele Jergens co-star.

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. Recognising a friend of King Richard, Robin informs them that Lady Christabel is to be married to another against her will in the interest of politics and her father's fortune. The three team up to rescue the fair lady.

Alexander Dumas' 1872 novel was translated into French from an 1836 romance by Pierce Egan.

The idea for making the film came from Charles Schneer who worked for producer Sam Katzman. Katzman enjoyed making films from books in the public domain and Schneer discovered the title listed among the works of Alexander Dumas. Schneer's original intent was to write an original scenario just using the title, but once he had the work translated into English, Katzman wanted an adaptation of the book.

At this stage in his career, Katzman specialised in shooting musicals for Columbia over nine days with a budget of $140,000. He was so enthused by this project that he arranged to secure a budget of $400,000, including $100,000 for cast, and colour photography.

George Plympton was reported as working on the script in January 1947. Jon Hall's casting was announced in March.

At one stage three people were directing the film – Max Nosseckwith the main cast, Derwin Abrahams on the silent sequences, and Howarth Bretheron with the action sequences.

The censor objected to depictions of Friar Tuck being interested in worldly pleasures and the character had to be toned down.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.