Walt Disney Treasures: Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 12, 2008, 13:07 GMT

Originally airing in three parts on "Walt Disney\'s Wonderful World of Color," this thrilling adventure stars Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Syn, a kindly country vicar in 18th-century England. Only a few know that Syn is also the masked Scarecrow, notorious leader of a band of smugglers, who defends the villagers from unjust taxes and oppression by King George III\'s men. George Cole, Michael Hordern, Sean Scully also star. Includes all ...more

“Scarecrow, Scarecrow, the soldiers of the King feared his name.”

One of Walt Disney’s most requested titles finally makes it to DVD.  Patrick McGoohan stars as the titular character who is a kindly vicar by day and a gravely voiced crime fighter by night that dresses as a scarecrow.  This set includes both the edited film version and the much sought after three hour miniseries length version.  

Dr. Christopher Syn (Patrick McGoohan) is the vicar of the village of Dimchurch.  He’s well liked and cares for the poor.  What the village doesn’t know is that when the sun goes down his dons a disguise and is known as the mysterious Scarecrow who battles against the rule of King George III (Eric Pohlmann) by smuggling in much needed supplies. 

The villagers see the Scarecrow as a folk hero against the tyranny of the king.  The Scarecrow’s identity are only known to his compatriots Hellspite (George Cole) and Curlew (Sean Scully) who are known in daylight as Mr. Mipps and John Banks, the son of Sir Thomas (Michael Hordern). 

The king tires of the Scarecrow and orders General Pugh (Geoffrey Keen) to rid him of this thorn in his side by any means necessary.  

Following World War II, England decided to freeze the assets of foreign countries to keep it from returning to them and put England into financial hardship.  This meant that any profits from showing of Disney films across the pond would have to stay across the pond until the British government lifted these rules. 

Roy Disney, Walt’s brother, negotiated a deal with the Brits that would allow the company to access the funds and use them to shoot some live action films in England.  Dr. Syn was one of the films that was born because of this embargo. 

Being in jolly olde England, Disney was able to avail himself of the talented stock of actors and the film featured some of the top stars of the day.  We may not know them now, but Geoffrey Keen, George Cole, and Michael Hordern were familiar faces to the English audiences of the day.  Patrick McGoohan had worked on the 1960s UK spy series Danger Man, but it would be his role as the Prisoner on the surrealistic 60s show that would cement his fame. 

He would make two movies for Disney, this one and The Three Lives of Thomasina.  One thing is easy enough to see is that McGoohan is having one hell of a time with the role. 

When playing the vicar he’s the embodiment of a kind soul, but put on the Scarecrow’s mask and he’s a demon.  His cackling voice and demeanor are the exact opposite of the kind vicar.  It’s a fantastic performance.  What’s even more fantastic is that we get both versions of the show. 

A miniseries totaling 150 minutes ran on the Disney program “The Wonderful World of Color” and hasn’t been seen in decades.  More will be familiar with the 98 minute movie version, titled Dr. Syn: Alias the Scarecrow, that was ran through theaters in the U.S. in the 70s.  The miniseries version has never been available on home video to my knowledge and the film version of Dr. Syn was only on VHS (remember those big box Disney tapes?). 

It’s been a most requested title and the Walt Disney Treasures line was happy to deliver.  

Dr. Syn is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Disc one contains the miniseries version and a 3 minute introduction by film critic/Disney historian Leonard Maltin.  There are also 4 minutes of Walt Disney’s introductions that are in widescreen.

Oddly the ones used for the miniseries are in fullscreen and they’ve included the widescreen ones as extras.  I would’ve rather have had that reversed, but they’re good to have all the same.  The best extra is the 16 minute “Dr. Syn: The History of the Legend” that details the character, the production, and has an interview with Dr. Syn himself – Patrick McGoohan. 

Disc two has another introduction by Maltin (3 minutes) and the 11 minute “Walt Disney: From Burbank to London” which details the English productions.  The treat in this short documentary is the interview with director Ken Annakin who helmed several of the films.  

Dr. Syn is truly a treasure from Walt Disney’s vaults.  It’s well worth the wait.  I could’ve stood a more comprehensive interview with McGoohan or a commentary with him, but I’ll not look a gift horse in the mouth.  

Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.