Lorna Doone ** (1951, Barbara Hale, Richard Greene, Anne Howard, William Bishop, Carl Benton Reid, Ron Randell) – Classic Movie Review 13,086

Lorna Doone (1951, Barbara Hale).

The sweet young Barbara Hale is lovely and delightful in Phil Karlson’s 1951 American period romantic adventure drama film Lorna Doone.

Director Phil Karlson’s 1951 period romantic adventure drama film Lorna Doone is an American remake of the 1934 British version of R D Blackmore’s classic novel, telling again the saga about lovers from feuding families in 17th-century Exmoor in the English West Country. It stars Barbara Hale as Lorna Doone, Richard Greene, Anne Howard, William Bishop, Carl Benton Reid, and Ron Randell.

Compared with the 1934 British version, it is made on an even cheaper budget, and with less emphasis on the romance between a peasant lad and a criminal’s daughter and more on the social struggles of the time and the adventure aspects of the story.

The sweet young Barbara Hale makes a more than entirely adequate Lorna Doone – she is lovely and delightful – but the rest of the cast are pretty forgettable. Richard Greene broods ineffectually as the vengeful hero John Ridd, seeking vengeance for his father’s death that he has witnessed as a boy. That’s the adventure aspect and the romantic aspect is this. John Ridd falls for Lorna Doone but she is betrothed against her will to Carver Doone (William Bishop). So, naturally, John is determined to defeat the criminal Doone family and win Lorna.

However, though the script may struggle in places (bizarrely Jesse L Lasky Jr’s final script is heavily influenced by Westerns), of course it is still a good, rousing story, and the film is robustly made by director Phil Karlson. Also greatly on the plus side, it is beautifully shot in Technicolor at Iverson Ranch and Yosemite National Park by Charles Van Enger.

The script is heavily influenced by Westerns? Well, yes, and the film is mainly shot in a regular Westerns location at Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles.

Italian poster for Lorna Doone (1951).

Although producer Edward Small originally wanted to make the film in the UK, and in 1946 intended to make the film on location in Scotland, it was decided in 1949 to make the movie in Hollywood instead, at Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, with locations shot at Yosemite National Park. Small had signed with Columbia Pictures a two-picture deal that also included The Brigand.

Lorna Doone is remade for TV as an 11 episode 1963 BBC TV series, with Jane Merrow as Lorna Doone and Bill Travers as John Ridd. All 11 episodes are believed to be lost. And again as a five episode 1976 BBC TV series, with Emily Richard as Lorna Doone and John Sommerville as John Ridd.

Lorna Doone is remade by Thames Television as a TV movie by director Andrew Grieve in 1990 with Clive Owen, Sean Bean, Polly Walker and Billie Whitelaw. And again for TV in 2000, with Amelia Warner as Lorna Doone and Richard Coyle as John Ridd.

Director Basil Dean’s 1934 film Lorna Doone stars Victoria Hopper as Lorna Doone, and is the fourth British feature film version of R D Blackmore’s classic novel (after silents in 1912 [the first British five-reel feature film], 1920 and 1922) but obviously therefore the first with sound.

The cast are Barbara Hale as Lorna Doone, Richard Greene as John Ridd, Carl Benton Reid as Sir Ensor Doone, William Bishop as Carver Doone, Ron Randell as Tom Faggus, Sean McClory as Charleworth Doone, Onslow Stevens as Counsellor Doone, Lester Matthews as King Charles II, John Dehner as Baron de Wichehalse, Gloria Petroff as Lorna Doone as a Child, Anne Howard, Orley Lindgren, Dick Curtis, Katherine Warren, Malcolm Keen, Queenie Leonard, Trevor Bardette, Myron Healey, Harry Lauter, Norman Rainey, Tudor Owen, Trevor Ward, Betty Fairfax, Allen Pinson, Ted Jordan, Glenn Thompson, Bruce Lister, Leonard Mudie, Ray Teal, Fred Graham, Eric Wilton, Paul Collins, Jerry Mickelsen, Sherry Jackson, James Logan, Patrick Aherne, Wheaton Chambers, Gerald Hamer, Bill Hale, and House Peters Jr.

Lorna Doone is directed by Phil Karlson, runs 89 minutes, is made by Edward Small Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Jesse L Lasky Jr (final script draft), Richard Schayer and George Bruce (adaptation), is shot in Technicolor by Charles Van Enger, is produced by Edward Small, is scored by George Duning, and designed by Harold H MacArthur.

George Bruce is credited for adaptation as Edward Small hired him to write a screenplay of the novel in 1946.

Release date: May 31, 1951.

English actor Richard Greene opined: ‘It has been done with considerable loyalty to the novel and I don’t think the British public will find too much fault with the treatment. What may be missed is the Cornish atmosphere.’

Richard Greene may bot be the ideal John Ridd, but he soon found his true metier – and destiny – as Robin Hood.

Richard Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) is best known for the British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1959.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,086

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