This commendably short adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's stars Louis Hayward in the title role. Returning from duty in the 15th-century War of the Roses, young Richard Shelton (Hayward) learns that his estate has been claimed by his usurping uncle Sir Daniel Brackley (George Macready), who for good measure has also murdered Richard's father. Forced to elude Brackley's minions, Shelton and his followers eventually manage to thwart the villain with all manner of weaponry, from crossbow to fist. Janet Blair co-stars as Joanna Sedley, whom Richard must rescue from a forced marriage to the brackish Brackley. was remade for television in 1985, with Benedict Taylor and sharing the hero chores (in the Stevenson original, Richard Shelton and the Black Arrow were two different characters), and top-billed Oliver Reed as Brackley.