BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
MSRP: $19.97 RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 107 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Tom and Jerry cartoon "The Two Mouseketeers"
• Trailers
Film appreciation is not for the lazy.
Granted, a really great film requires no understanding of the world in which it was originally released. Emotions, the human condition, and filmwork that matches the content are universal and ageless. To truly appreciate a film, however, you must take a look at where and when it was released. Ivanhoe was released in 1952. America was embedded in The Korean War; the last "innocent" war before Viet Nam would change how this country views combat. The Atomic Age was almost old hat by this point with Nagasaki and Hiroshima having been the ultimate field test seven years before. The military was still splitting atoms in Nevada, however, and The Cold War was in full effect.
"Have at you!"
1952 was the year that The Greatest Show on Earth won Best Picture at The Academy Awards. Commonly considered one of the worst films to win that award, director Cecil B. DeMille also took home the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award that year. Which may or may not explain the win. Gene Kelly's brilliant Singin' in the Rain was all but ignored by the Academy this year and High Noon wasn't nearly as invisible as some would have you believe. The best film of 1952 was unequivocally The Quiet Man which featured incredible cinematography and a fist fight that goes on for so long, the two combatants actually take a beer break midway (John Carpenter would attempt something similar thirty-six years later in They Live to the confusion of his fanbase).
In the midst of this, Ivanhoe was released. It was nominated for three Oscars (Best Picture, Best Music, Best Color Cinematography), but won none of them.
"Well, they're kind of dirty. Not ALL of them, just... you know...
Look, I'm only telling you what I've heard, okay?"
The Flick
When your audience is in love with a subject but tired of the narrative commonly associated with it, it's best to focus on another part of the story. There is a history of this in film from The Robe to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Ivanhoe is another instance with the myth of Robin Hood being the central theme and more famous tale from that era. Most are at least familiar with the story: at the end of the Third Crusades, King Richard the Lion-Hearted is away on business and Prince John is making a mess of England. With the Saxons busy forcing their beliefs on other parts of the world, the Normans have infiltrated the Land of Limey. Prince John takes advantage of the poor island dwellers by increasing their taxes and bullying peasants. Robin Hood famously kicks into rob-from-the-rich-and-give-handouts mode but Ivanhoe is a little more proactive with the problem. He works to put together enough money to pay for the ransom on Mr. The Lion-Hearted to bring him back. Really, why does Locksley get all the glory? I suppose the trenches are always more exciting than paperwork. It also helps that both Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks have both previously brought life to the celebrated bowman.
"I'm steady try'na find a motive, why do what i do?
Freedom ain't gettin' no closer, no matter how far i go
They won't let me out, they won't let me out (I'm locked up)"
In the lead as Ivanhoe is Robert Taylor, one of the last hold-outs from the old school style of acting. Before Brando and Dean would create an atmosphere in Hollywood requiring actors to tear their soul out on the screen, all that was required of a leading man was good looks, a booming voice and screen presence. Taylor had all of these in spades and coasted on them for his entire career, mostly as gunfighters. Think of him as the Kevin Costner of his time: wildly popular yet boring for those looking for a performance with any kind of edge. In Ivanhoe, he takes up space and looks good doing it. However, whenever anything else occupies the screen chances are that's what you're looking at. Joan Fontaine as Lady Rowena is likewise stiff as Ivanhoe's childhood love. The only standout in the cast is Liz Taylor (who was on her second marriage at the time). Ms. Taylor was a striking woman. And she had curves. Taylor performs the part of the "other woman" Rebecca, who falls in love with Ivanhoe and his single-minded pursuit to save all of England. Director Richard Thorpe spends quite a bit of the film's runtime focusing tight close-ups on Ms. Taylor and her expressive eyes. These are welcome respites from the rest of the cast's low-key output.
The time-honored plot and unimpressive acting are almost unimportant in Ivanhoe. This is an action movie. And what action! A cast of thousands, as they say! The jousting sequences are just amazing. When the guys get hit, they stay hit. The most recent film with jousting as its primary distinction was A Knight's Tale and it could have taken a few lessons from Ivanhoe. The jousting matches here are done in one shot. The losers fly from their horses and it wouldn't be surprising if quite a few injuries resulted from shooting those scenes. I found myself audibly reacting to the hits. They're that good.
"Orders are nobody can see the Great Oz! Not no-body, not no-how!"
All the other battle sequences are less than impressive. The props used in the sword fights were obviously not made from any kind of metal. Scenes edited a little tighter may have hidden the tell-tale bending of swords and spears. The arrows flew through the air in bunches looking like nothing more than sticks tossed by stagehands. Ivanhoe could have used an on-site stagecraft instructor. Sword fights look like slap-fights and are slow and awkward. At one point, the film was sped up as the creators tried to give the illusion of a more urgent life-and-death combat. Instead, images of Keystone Cops inevitably flash before our eyes. Men take swords by the edge to their necks yet continue to swat their own weapons as though an annoying fly was interrupting their picnic. The final battle between Ivanhoe and a Norman Knight under Prince John (played by George Sanders) couldn't be more laughable. Ivanhoe's shield bends like aluminum foil and the blows traded are shrugged off as though the weapons had no weight. Which they don't. Much of this could be forgiven had any care been taken with the sound effects. We'll discuss this in "The Noise" section later in this review.
There is plenty to love in Ivanhoe. This is a film from another era that definitely has its strengths. It's classy and self-important. It's stagy and pleasantly innocent. It's beautiful to look on. The sets are grandiose and the castles are real. But as entertainment it fails to stand-up to the modern eye.
7.5 out of 10
You might as well. You certainly aren't making any progress with it in your hands, ya doof.
The Look
Black and white film was still a viable choice in the early 50s. Enough so that there were cinematography awards for both it and color films from the Academy. This was an interesting time as the color films tended to overdo the tones for a bigger contrast to their monotone counterparts. Ivanhoe is a fine example of this as every frame explodes with the far reaches of the rainbow. Frankly, it's beautiful. Warner Brothers did an excellent job of cleaning up the color in this restoration. My television had a workout reviewing this film. Ivanhoe was filmed by Technicolor and that company won the Scientific and Engineering Award Oscar that year. Ivanhoe did not win the cinematography for color film award, however.
Unfortunately, there are scratches running the length of the film that they didn't quite remove. In the brighter scenes they're very apparent. Given a choice between removing lines down the center of the frame and restoring the color to its full vibrancy, I would have chosen the same. That is, if it was a choice. Probably not.
Still, all in all a gorgeous film.
8.7 out of 10
"Set still, you empty-headed jay!
When I've invented the vibrating blade we'll live like KINGS!"
The Noise
Lots of horns in the soundtrack. For Medieval movies, this is a requirement and you'd expect no less as a viewer. Periodically, the incidental music will take over a scene and I couldn't be happier with that. Nothing says "Hollywood!" like intrusive music telling you how to feel. Brilliant.
The sound effects, however, are another story. The term "sweetening" (apologies to those who feel I'm speaking down to them) refers to the process of adding sound effects to actions that occur on the screen to give them more weight. Ivanhoe has no sweetening. When swords collide, we hear the "thud" of nonmetallic objects colliding. When a ball and chain hits shield, we are accosted by the sound of tin. This is unforgivable. Even poorly dubbed kung fu flicks had two sound effects used to sweeten fight scenes. How hard could it be?
Scoring for this section has now become a quandary. The kick-ass manipulative music vs. the sound of things that are not metal clashing. If these were scored separately we'd have 9.1 for the former and 2.1 for the latter.
6.1 out of 10
"I have striped lance just itching to puncture the anus
of the next man who calls me 'Martin Lawrence'!"
The Goodies
Warner Brothers has had the outstanding idea to throw in a cartoon to pad out the extras. This should be mandatory for all classic Hollywood film DVD releases from this point forward. How better to recreate the time of the silver screen in your home than watching a cartoon before the main feature begins! The cartoon here is Tom & Jerry in (an MGM cartoon, by the way) "The Two Mouseketeers" (not to be confused with Disney's "Mouseketeers"). In it, Itchy and Scratchy version 1.0 run around poking each other in the ass with swords while that creepy little blue mouse speaks with a French accent. In a scene you'd never see in a cartoon today, the animated short ends with Tom the cat's beheading by guillotine. Classic.
This won an Academy Award.
There are also trailers for Knights of the Round Table, a hilarious one for Scaramouche and the film reviewed here. Before the main menu appears we get a trailer for The Aviator, but I couldn't find a way to access it after the disk shows the pirate warnings. Good job, Warners. But you can still pack more of these things in here.
That's it. No documentaries, no commentaries. Truly, there is no excuse for not having commentaries on these classic early Hollywood films. None whatever. There must be hundreds of professors in universities across the United States and around the world well-versed in classic films. What film instructor wouldn't jump at the chance to give us their view of a particular film? It would be educational for the consumer and the professor could pad their resume giving them extra clout. I doubt you would even have to pay them much as for most it would be considered an honor. If you can't get a professor, why not the president of the Robert Taylor fan club? Or just a plain old film historian? Whatever it takes. You don't need someone who was around during the making of the film, just someone who knows what the hell they're talking about.
The cartoon (again, brilliant idea) and the three trailers lift the score up here. The lack of anything related to this film brings it back down.
5.2 out of 10
"Fine. Just put it on. But I want you to tell him that if it doesn't have the dragon
and the naked chick on it by next week, he's not getting my money."
The Artwork
It's painted! Why is it we don't use paintings for our movie posters and DVD art anymore? It looks great! If this were released today, all of these floating heads would have been pictures photoshopped together. As a painting it's more vibrant and it grabs your eyes.
The montage above the heads has a jousting match and a castle on fire. You couldn't ask for something more cool!
9.0 out of 10
"I don't think people truly appreciate the feel of chain mail against bare skin."
Overall: 6.1 out of 10
