Ivanhoe (1952)

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers (WGA):

Noel Langley (screenplay) and
Æneas MacKenzie (adaptation)

Release Date:

31 July 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Plot:

In the centre of this Walter Scott classic fiction inspired film the chivalrousness and the daring stand...

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Ransom | Austria | Robin Hood | Narration

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Ivanhoe
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Rebecca
Joan Fontaine	...	Rowena
George Sanders	...	De Bois-Guilbert
Emlyn Williams	...	Wamba
Robert Douglas	...	Sir Hugh De Bracy
Finlay Currie	...	Cedric
Felix Aylmer	...	Isaac
Francis De Wolff	...	Front De Boeuf (also as Francis DeWolff)
Norman Wooland	...	King Richard
Basil Sydney	...	Waldemar Fitzurse
Guy Rolfe	...	Prince John
Harold Warrender	...	Locksley
Patrick Holt	...	Philip DeMalvoisin
Roderick Lovell	...	Ralph DeVipont

Also Known As:

Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (#15505) | Finland:K-12 | Norway:11 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:Btl | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Doune Castle, Doune, Stirling, Scotland, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Scriptwriter Marguerite Roberts was a member of the American Communist Party and in 1951 she was ordered to appear before the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Roberts and her husband John Sanford refused to name fellow members of the party and were both blacklisted. M-G-M received permission from the SWG (Screen Writer's Guild) to remove Roberts' name from the film after she refused to testify before HUAC.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The opening credits feature a coat of arms of England supported on the dexter by a lion and an unicorn on the sinister. The unicorn from the arms of Scotland did not appear as a supporter of the arms of England until 1603, when the kingdoms of England and Scotland were united under King James I of England and VI of Scotland.

Quotes:

Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert: Rebecca, you must blame the fates that it was I who loved you, and not Ivanhoe - for you were always mine, and only mine - God keep you.
[dies]
Rebecca: My lady, in death he spoke the truth.
Lady Rowena: Do you still love Ivanhoe?
Rebecca: No, my lady. I may still have a little happiness, perhaps - but not from you - or him - only from my dreams.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "De familie Knots: Enge dingen (#1.6)" (1981)

Thoroughly enjoyable

This film is a respectable adaptation of Scott's Waverley novel, full of passion and pageantry, knights templar and damsels fair. George Sanders makes a delicious villain Bois Gilbert. Robert Taylor's Hollywood accent seems a bit out of place, but the film is primarily visual and succeeds on a cinematographic level. The dramatic Elizabeth Taylor plays a sweet Rebecca.

Icon Joan Fontaine, looking here much like her sister Olivia De Havilland (of "Gone with the Wind" and "Robin Hood" fame), is a stately, refined Rowena. Tournaments, courtly love, and hand to hand combat abound. This is classic 50's epic drama at its best.