Prismark10 MGM shot Ivanhoe in Britain and gone for that old fashioned Hollywood adventure in the same vein as Errol Flynn's Robin Hood but less successfully.Baddie Prince John is scheming for the throne of England as his brother King Richard is held for ransom.It is an amiable rip roaring adventure, Walter Scott's classic story is distilled, Robert Taylor is too stiff as the Saxon knight who dislikes the Normans. Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Fontaine provide the allure as two women of different faiths that have fallen for him.George Sanders is the hissable villain, the champion knight of King John but his love for Jewish Rebecca is sincere. Guy Rolfe is having a hoot as the despicable King John.The film was made in 1952 and there is some allusion to McCarthyism.

nerdomatic10-937-667230 This film made a HUGE impression on me as a small child while I watched it on the family TV, lying on the floor. So I have a very sentimental attachment to it. At that time I was a big fan of all Sir Walter Scott's novels - well, the Classic Comics versions, actually. Anyway, I was completely in awe of "Ivanhoe" and I enjoyed very second of it. The only thing I couldn't grasp was how Ivanhoe could prefer Rowena over Rebecca! I was only 6 or 7, but the 19-year-old Elizabeth Taylor made a deep, incomprehensible-at-the-time impression on me. She was literally incredible. How could anybody possibly turn her down? But, that's what happened for the sake of the story.I've watched "Ivanhoe" many times since, and my older, cynical self spotted a lot that I missed that first time. Robert Taylor was way too old and too stiff and was a very wooden actor. Put Tyrone Power in there and you'd have an all-time classic epic. But I also noticed the inimitable George Sanders. Wow! What a great villain he was! I thought his Sir Brian was actually far more realistic than Ivanhoe because he fell really hard for Rebecca, which made a lot more sense to me.But anyway, this is a great swashbuckler, very entertaining and colorful. I am now so old that I can just let it carry me along and take me back to my childhood for a couple hours. No matter what though, it's still impossible for me to comprehend someone not taking Liz when he had the chance. After it's over, I picture Ivanhoe in his castle being nagged by Rowena and kicking himself in the butt, over and over and over.

Bill Slocum Hollywood had so much fun with Errol Flynn's "Robin Hood" they tried to do it again, with this big-budget, star-studded adaptation of Walter Scott's famous novel. Yes, "Ivanhoe" is weaker in many departments, yet the good outweighs the bad and there's much to applaud here.Condensing a complex, sprawling novel into an hour-and-three-quarters could have been far worse. As it is, we a presented with the essence of the original story, its characters and contexts reduced to bare nubs. Director Richard Thorpe uses Scott's story lines as an excuse for plush settings and thrilling battle scenes that still pack a punch.Saxon Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe (Robert Taylor) seeks the restoration of Richard to the throne of England, but Richard's brother John and his evil knights conspire to keep Richard in prison abroad. For Ivanhoe to succeed, he must not only rally Saxon support but gain financing from the Jews, one of whom, Rebecca of York (Elizabeth Taylor), has fallen in love with the noble, albeit Christian, knight.To start with the negatives, Robert Taylor is impossibly stiff in the lead role. For a long period, we are burdened not only by him but with the "comic relief" of Emlyn Williams' Wamba, a jester who Ivanhoe promotes to squire. Add to this a dead-on-arrival romance between Ivanhoe and the Lady Rowena (Joan Fontaine), who share only two dialogue scenes for the entire movie, and there's a lot of deadweight for this film to carry.But the good on offer here is stronger. The secondary cast is really exceptional, especially Guy Rolfe as dastardly Prince John and George Sanders as one of his henchmen. Sanders walks a fine line in this film, presenting a character who garners our empathy if not sympathy. He loves Rebecca, and with real heart, too, but he's pretty awful otherwise.The script, by Æneas MacKenzie, Marguerite Roberts, and Noel Langley, makes up for a choppy narrative with memorable dialogue. "Bid them enter in peace and depart in peace, or else depart in pieces," is the warning of Ivanhoe's father Cedric to a pair of imperious knights. Later, the Jew Isaac of York warns Ivanhoe "Money takes flight when might conquers right."Roberts got in trouble around this time with the House Un-American Activities Committee for her communist beliefs, causing her name to be dropped from the credits. While not at all preachy, one can read into "Ivanhoe" messages of both popular hysteria (Rebecca on trial for witchcraft) and the exploitation of the powerless (both Saxon and Jew). Anti-Semitism comes up often."To whose god shall a Jew pray for a Gentile?" Rebecca is asked by her understanding if disapproving father."To the same God who made them both," she answers.When Liz has a good line to deliver, she delivers it well. Fontaine is stronger, though, thoroughly winning as Rebecca's good-hearted but jealous rival and surprisingly holding her own against Liz for cinematic sexiness. I think Fontaine was far prettier in her thirties than in her late teens and early twenties.Add to these virtues Freddie Young's fantastic cinematography that seems to squeeze every inch from Alfred Junge's set design. You can get lost in such details as the purple raven perched on a skull that decorates the helmet of Sanders' knight character, or the Bayeux-style tapestries that cover the walls in many scenes.If only the film had a better lead, and maybe a few more minutes to run. Alas, you can only make a classic like "Robin Hood" once, or it wouldn't be a classic. Still, this is an engaging time-passer with some things about it worth seeing, hearing, and remembering.

robinakaaly The less said about this film as a depiction of life in medieval England the better (since when did Saxon landowners eat turkey? And how did they manage to have such effective lighting in their manorial halls?) However, as a colourful spectacular romp, it had its moments, and the star cast acted well despite the appallingly awful dialogue. The Saxons hate the Normans, and vice versa, and King Richard has been locked up in a castle in Austria as Prince John refuses to pay his ransom. Ivanhoe, also returning from the Crusades, wanders round European castles singing songs (not the sort Minnesingers would have sung) until Richard joins in the chorus. Actually, I thought it was Blondel who found the king. Back in England, the Saxons cannot raise the ransom, so turn to the Jews of Sheffield and York. In the process, Ivanhoe, engaged to Joan Fontaine, catches the eye of Elizabeth Taylor, Isaac's daughter. Then aged 20, she was stunningly beautiful with a figure to die for. Unlike Jessica, she was not close confined, and gives her jewels to Ivanhoe so he can buy armour to enter the tournaments with the Normans, which he does and wins. The tournament scenes are the best thing about the film, with some excellent crafted action shots. The main battle scene involves the Saxons besieging the Normans in a Scottish castle: done without the aid of cgi, there were some quite spectacular stunts. In the end Liz is captured by the Normans and about to be burnt as a witch when Ivanhoe offers to defend her in mortal combat. His Norman adversary is George Sanders who himself has, not surprisingly, fallen for Miss Taylor's ample charms. After a long fight, ball and chain versus throwing axe, Sanders is mortally wounded, just as Richard and a large retinue of knights splendidly rides in from Austria (clearly the Channel ferries were working well) to reclaim the crown, pardon Ivanhoe and release Liz, to general rejoicing. The Technicolor© was superb, and it was great to see Valentine Dyall in a bit part.