Many moons ago, CBS used to make excellent adaptations of classic novels, before they switched to those endless "Disasters/Diseases of the Week" TV movies. "Ivanhoe" is one of the best they ever made; worlds better than the static 50's version with Robert Taylor.
Sir Walter Scott threw everything he could find into Ivanhoe, from saxon warriors to Richard the Lionheart to Robin Hood to the Knights Templar to anti-semitism, and sometimes it's difficult to see the storyline for the trees, but this version does a good job of plotting everything out and telling a rousing story at the same time.
The joust at the beginning is one of my favorite scenes in any film; John Rhys-Davies, Sam Neill and Stuart Wilson are wonderful as a trio of evil knights who want to see Prince John on the throne and will do anything to get ahead in life, including raping, pillaging and torture. As they gang up on Ivanhoe, whacking away at him with enormous swords while everyone just watches, the entrance of the Black Knight and his rescue of Ivanhoe is perfectly timed and eminently satisfying.
James Mason as Isaac the Jew and Olivia Hussey as his daughter, Rebecca, form the nucleus of the cast. When Mason tears his shirt from his body in despair, just prior to Rhys-Davies roasting Isaac over a bed of coals to worm the whereabouts of his gold coins out of him, I felt despair right along with him. Hussey is quietly radiant throughout, especially fine when threatening to jump out the window to avoid being raped by a man of God. Except for the initial joust, Anthony Andrews spends most of the film laying around trying to heal, moaning effectively about how useless he is, but when he finally rouses himself to defend Rebecca's honor he is great. Lysette Anthony hasn't got many lines, but what screen time she does get is wonderful. Robin Hood and his merry men just ride around and around the forest, sabotaging whatever they can get their hands on; eventually, the Black Knight, played by Julian Glover, joins them. He's a mysterious fellow who won't tell them his real name is King Richard till the end of the film. Prince John and his retinue are merely there to hang the story on and they are hardly seen, and Michael Hordern doesn't get to chew the scenery like James Mason does, which is a shame since he's such a great actor.
This is a fine family film, not available for sale on VHS but shown on cable every once in a while. If you run across it, don't pass it up. The kids will love it.
Sir Walter Scott threw everything he could find into Ivanhoe, from saxon warriors to Richard the Lionheart to Robin Hood to the Knights Templar to anti-semitism, and sometimes it's difficult to see the storyline for the trees, but this version does a good job of plotting everything out and telling a rousing story at the same time.
The joust at the beginning is one of my favorite scenes in any film; John Rhys-Davies, Sam Neill and Stuart Wilson are wonderful as a trio of evil knights who want to see Prince John on the throne and will do anything to get ahead in life, including raping, pillaging and torture. As they gang up on Ivanhoe, whacking away at him with enormous swords while everyone just watches, the entrance of the Black Knight and his rescue of Ivanhoe is perfectly timed and eminently satisfying.
James Mason as Isaac the Jew and Olivia Hussey as his daughter, Rebecca, form the nucleus of the cast. When Mason tears his shirt from his body in despair, just prior to Rhys-Davies roasting Isaac over a bed of coals to worm the whereabouts of his gold coins out of him, I felt despair right along with him. Hussey is quietly radiant throughout, especially fine when threatening to jump out the window to avoid being raped by a man of God. Except for the initial joust, Anthony Andrews spends most of the film laying around trying to heal, moaning effectively about how useless he is, but when he finally rouses himself to defend Rebecca's honor he is great. Lysette Anthony hasn't got many lines, but what screen time she does get is wonderful. Robin Hood and his merry men just ride around and around the forest, sabotaging whatever they can get their hands on; eventually, the Black Knight, played by Julian Glover, joins them. He's a mysterious fellow who won't tell them his real name is King Richard till the end of the film. Prince John and his retinue are merely there to hang the story on and they are hardly seen, and Michael Hordern doesn't get to chew the scenery like James Mason does, which is a shame since he's such a great actor.
This is a fine family film, not available for sale on VHS but shown on cable every once in a while. If you run across it, don't pass it up. The kids will love it.