Ivanhoe
1952  NR  ADVENTURE  1h 46min
CAST— Robert Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Elizabeth Taylor, Emlyn Williams, George Sanders, Robert Douglas, Finlay Currie, Felix Aylmer, Francis De Wolff, Guy Rolfe, Norman Wooland, Basil Sidney
MUSIC— Miklos Rozsa  DIRECTOR— Richard Thorpe  BASED ON— Ivanhoe (novel), by Sir Walter Scott

     Sir Walter Scott’s tale comes to life in vivid Technicolor, showcasing the beauty of the era’s cinematic experience. The Normans and the Saxons are engaged in a feudal turf war over ruler ship of England. The land is in turmoil and the people have no king; Richard the Lion Heart has not returned from the crusades and is presumed dead. In his place sits his brother, the vile Prince John, an oppressive ruler who revels in the nation’s turmoil. Enter Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, home from the crusades and devastated by the state that the land is in. He begins a campaign to restore peace to the land until his king can return from afar. With many similarities between Ivanhoe and Robin Hood (indeed he and his merry men make a cameo appearance) the filmmakers may have tried to capture the magical presence of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), but fall short by degrees. Still, the photography is beautiful and the action is tense and exciting. Be you Norman or Saxon, we bid you enjoy. Later developed into a television series.
OUR RATING— ** ½
REMADE AS— Ivanhoe (1982), The Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe (1983)