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.
Review of Ivanhoe
