Ivanhoe (1952)
Director: Richard Thorpe
Starring: Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine
Synopsis:
A knight returning from the Crusades works to secure the freedom of the captive King Richard and put an end to the ambitions of the treacherous Prince John.
Impressions:
I'm a pretty big fan of the original novel, so I was curious to see adaptations of it. There are some actors I like in the cast, so I was hopeful for this, but I have to say I was sorely disappointed. It isn't all that faithful to the book and while I'm not the adamant purist I once was, this strayed too far from the source material to keep me invested and the changes didn't make for a better story in my eyes. Robert Taylor may take the name of Ivanhoe, but he isn't Ivanhoe. Yes, I realize you'd have a hard time selling a pitch where the hero is bedridden about half the movie (but I like many others would argue that the true hero of the story is Rebecca rather than Wilfred). This much older and more active Ivanhoe takes away a lot of what was special about the character dynamics (a discussion for another day). Perhaps if I wasn't so disconnected to what was going on, I might've at least seen a decent movie, but I couldn't. Someone less attached to the book may find this worth seeing, but I counsel looking elsewhere.
Avoid It