Ivanhoe

037002 / 12 / GB / 1952 / Thorpe, Richard / romance / adventure
Ivanhoe / Ivanhoe (TV) / Ivanhoe - musta ratsastaja (cinema). PC: MGM British Studios. P: Pandro S. Berman. D: Richard Thorpe. SC: Noel Langley - based on the novel (1819) by Walter Scott. DP: Freddie Young. PD: Alfred Junge, Roger Furse. M: Miklos Rozsa. CAST: Robert Taylor (Ivanhoe), Elizabeth Taylor (Rebecca), Joan Fontaine (Rowena), George Sanders (De Bois-Guilbert). 107’. Technicolor. MPAA Production Code Seal 15505. Yleisradio TV2 PAL transmission. Viewed in Helsinki, Sunday 4 January 1998. **** In the same league with the Curtiz / Flynn The Adventures of Robin Hood. Excellent production with stirring cinematography, design and music. The actors relish their chivalrous / villainous dialogue. The emphasis on the antisemitic persecution and the witch-hunt trial fuels the story with authentic passion. Elizabeth Taylor (the Gentile who converted to Judaism in 1959) is hauntingly beautiful as Rebecca, maybe the all-time greatest Jewish princess. Her eyes burn a trace of profound accusation.