SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

just watch it!

Dreadfully Boring

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

BEING A SORT OF Robin Hood of the Continental set; as well as having a sort of World-wide fame in History and Legend, WILLIAM TELL was a natural for the TV producers to bring to the small screen. With the medieval costumes and sets, it was as if it could be made as a carbon copy of Richard Greene's ROBIN HOOD.THERE WOULD BE some fundamental differences, of course. For starters, Will used a Crossbow. Being much more accurate and having a great deal more penetrating power, it was once considered to be the "Ultimate Weapon!" (Well, at least of the hand carried variety.) BUT THAT IS only incidental. Tell's story is set in the 15th Century A.D. and is a Swiss patriot. The series makes him much more like Robin Hood than a military guerrilla leader, which was most likely the truth. Either way, both Robin and William have basis in historical fact, but their exploits and stature have grown considerably in Legend.ONE THING SEEMS to have veracity is that he was locked in a struggle with Austrian Governor, Gessler, whom he eventually killed. The series kicks off with Gessler's forcing William Tell into shooting the apple off of his own son's head. After being successful, Gessler asks why Tell has two arrows; to which William replies, "Because, if my Son had been harmed, the next one was for you!" THEN WILLIAM TELL flees off to the woods and organizes a revolt to establish a new country, which he says will be called, "Switzerland!" (a lot of playing it loose with what History there was on William Tell!) THE SERIES, WHICH lasted but one season had a cast featuring Conrad Phillips (William Tell), Willoughby Goddard (Gessler), Jennifer Jayne (Mrs. Tell) and Richard Rogers (as young Walter Tell, son of Apple on head fame). We are familiar with it during its run in syndication on American TV.IN PERHAPS ONE attempt to add some accuracy in the series, the opening theme song (see Summary above) includes a sort of musical quotation lifted from both the Rossini overture of the same name and from Swiss traditional music. Now that's accuracy for you!

William Tell is well acted with a cast that includes many household names as regulars and guest stars such as Michael Caine, Christopher Lee, Sid James, James Booth and Nigel Green (both in Zulu). For many of the guest stars it was probably one of their first appearances on screen so the series is interesting for that alone. William Tell himself is confidently played (though a bit sternly in my opinion) by Conrad Phillips. His wife Hedda Tell (Jennifer Jayne) is also a strong character even if she does disappear for several episodes at a time, perhaps due to other commitments. The same can be said for Nigel Green who uses his large presence to great effect as the gigantic but rather gullible "Bear." Willoughby Goddard makes a great foil for Tell as the obese and extremely evil Gessler (prepared to behead even children over the slightest offence).William Tell makes for better family viewing than most such attempts now as these are often dumbed down, too politically correct, or use rubbish actors (the recent BBC Robin Hood series for example is guilty of all three). There is no sex, bad language or extreme violence though the story is more brutal than in Robin Hood with Richard Greene, perhaps because it is more about freedom fighters trying to save Switzerland from the Austrians than just trying to stop corruption. If you enjoyed this series I would heartily recommend Robin Hood and Buccaneers, both filmed around the same time in the 50's and very similar in the type of storyline.My favourite episode is probably Manhunt with the ever-villainous Christopher Lee as the Emperors brother who tries to hunt down William Tell and friends like animals. This is probably because it tries to be a bit different from the other episodes which frankly can become a bit repetitive. Having sad that it is no mean feat to write interesting stories that take place in just over 20 minutes and with such an obviously miniscule budget to work with. Overall, undemanding, action-packed adventure yarns that should be able to hold the attention of younger viewers due to the short running time.

The Ralph Smart-produced episode of "William Tell", "The Gauntlet of St Gerhardt", tells the story of the Tell family stalking and tormenting a party of Austrian soldiers who have kidnapped a friar (a character not unlike Tuck from "The Adventures of Robin Hood"). This adventure was scripted, as several of them were, by Doreen Montgomery from Ralph Smart's original story. In several respects, it resembles Ralph's famous Australian film "Bush Christmas" (1947) where a group of children hunt down a band of horse thieves. Ralph obviously drew from scenes in his earlier film, particularly the scene where the Austrians wake up to find their boots have been stolen forcing them to wrap their feet in rags for protection in the bush. While "The Gauntlet of Sir Gerhard" alluded to the past film, the "William Tell" episode "The Prisoner", also directed by Viennese-born Australian Peter Maxwell, pointed to the future. In this episode, a youthful Michael Caine as the title character is referred to as Prisoner No. 6.Now I wonder if Patrick McGoohan, star of another Ralph Smart-produced series "Danger Man", had borrowed this title for his sublime follow-up to "Danger Man" also called "The Prisoner".I would like to think this is more than a coincidence because it adds a certain mystique to these wonderful series. But perhaps I am, like William Tell or Robin Hood, drawing a long bow.

I remember seeing the TV series of William Tell in the late 50s when I was at school, and I thought it was great then, with Conrad Phllips as William, and Willoughby Goddard as the Fat Villain lol. and the real excitement for a 30 minute series was superb for the time and obviously aimed at a child audience. I then saw a re run of the series on sky in the 90s and it was still really good entertainment even for adults. I even saw a very early appearance of Michael Caine in a minor role (Just shows you eh) and quite a few other actors who become better known later in their careers. Well worth a look for anyone who likes a good simple adventure jaunt from a long while ago which I think has kept it's bite through the years.