Film Adaptations | Ivanhoe

1952 vs 1982

Photo by Tommaso Curre on Unsplash

“A cow jumped the moon, but a fool he jumps higher, from Wamba the serf, to Wamba the squire.” - Wamba, Ivanhoe 1952

Ivanhoe is the book that broke me¹. Slow pacing and it droned on but the films were a lot more fun. There are two that are well known adaptations of the Ivanhoe story; one is the 1952 Golden Age Hollywood film and the other is a TV movie from 1982. Let’s compare the two adaptations and as always with my articles, spoilers are ahead.

_{(From left) Robert Taylor (Ivanhoe), Joan Fontaine (Rowena), and Elizabeth Taylor (Rebecca) in a scene from the 1952 film version of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe - Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}

1952 Movie

This film holds a soft spot in my and a lot of others hearts because it is the first big film production of Ivanhoe. It is also considered a classic because it came from the Golden Age of Hollywood. We must take into account that this film was a product of it’s time and subject to the Hays Code²; be pretty, nice and not offensive in any way. This adaptation was made to entertain and that’s what it did. The vivid colors of the costumes, grand soundtrack and everyone is gorgeous. The film is filled with fabulous actors like Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe, Joan Fontaine as Rowena and the glamorous Elizabeth Taylor as Rebecca.

This adaptation takes the bones of Ivanhoe to make the swashbuckling feel good movie. The bad guys are the Normans; the good guys are the Saxons and Jews. The layers of real history, politics and religion are missing entirely. This film mentions Normans but not the Knights Templar. The audience is shown the distain between the Normans and Saxons but not the unfair treatment of salves and serfs³. I can only think that these were omitted because it would take brain power to be used and we cannot have that in the Hays Code cinema world. What was also done well for it’s time but not too much for the code is the romance between Ivanhoe and Rebecca. In this film, Rebecca breaks into Ivanhoe’s lodgings to leave her mother’s jewels to secretly support Ivanhoe in the tournament. A lady, of the ‘wrong’ religion at the time, unescorted out at night to go to another man’s house is not a good look. Fun for film but horribly unrealistic.

I can’t really poke too much fun of this adaptation because it was the first big adaptation of the movie and it sparked a lot of people’s interest into the story of Ivanhoe. And not just in it’s time in the 1950’s. This movie inspired George R. R. Martin to write his Song of Ice and Fire Series⁴. Essentially this adaptation is an enjoyable, beautiful swashbuckler but no deeper look into anything else within the Walter-Scott Ivanhoe story.

_{Ivanhoe (1982): Promo shot of Anthony Andrews (Wilfred of Ivanhoe) & Lysette Anthony (Lady Rowena) - Pinterest}

1982 TV Movie

I don’t feel enough people are aware of this TV movie adaptation of Ivanhoe from 1982⁵. This film stars Anthony Andrews as Ivanhoe, Lysette Anthony as Rowena and Juliette herself, Olivia Hussey as Rebecca. This film had a lower budget⁶ but the storyline and acting made up for it.

In this rendition they don’t shy away from the racial and religious and racial divides in the book. This adaptation explores more of the forbidden-romance between Ivanhoe and Rebecca; a Saxon and a Jew. The time given between Ivanhoe’s injury at the tournament, the travel, capture and imprisonment at castle Torquilstone is massively expanded on and we can see their romance develop in a more natural way. In the 1952 film where Rebecca does a very unladylike thing, this film reflects the restrains that women had and is more time and book accurate.

I really enjoyed the conflict that Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, played by a baby faced Sam Neil⁷, goes through being smitten by Rebecca’s beauty and faith yet cannot be with her because of his faith and loyalty to the Templar Knights. Adding this layer of conflict enhances the final fight between Ivanhoe and Brian de Bois-Guilbert. We see Ivanhoe defending an innocent woman while Brian de Bois-Guilbert chooses to defend the faith but in the end, chose to save Rebecca.

This adaptation is low budget but more loyal to the story overall while delving more into the culture and characters.

Notable Mentions

There are many more Ivanhoe movies that are out there but these didn’t do it for me. Maybe it’ll tickle your fancy so I’ve got the list below of other Ivanhoe adaptations.

• 1965 Italian Movie - La rivincita di Ivanhoe⁸ (The Revenge of Ivanhoe)

• 1970 TV Series - BBC 10 episode adaptation that is on YouTube⁹

• 1975 Animated Movie - The Legend of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe¹⁰

• 1997 TV Series - Joint BBC and A&E production with Christopher Lee¹¹

“I have sought but a kindred spirit to share it, and I have found such in thee.”
― Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

Fin

I feel that the 1982 version, in my opinion, is the better of the two adaptations. The 1982 movie was bold enough to expand on the imbalance of society; class, religion and money. The 1952 adaptation is a feel good, safe entertaining movie, but that is it. Which, if you’re looking for that, go for it. But I feel since the 1982 movie delves more into the source material, it tugs at the heartstrings more, makes me feel for de Bois-Guilbert’s struggle between his faith, duty and beauty. Because of the deeper dive into the source material, the 1982 film gives us a more satisfying adaptation of Ivanhoe

1.

2. https://www.britannica.com/art/Hays-Code

3. https://www.medievalists.net/2019/12/medieval-reads-ivanhoe-by-walter-scott/

4. https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/features/song-of-ice-and-fire-author-george-rr-martin-on-success-chess-and-the-wrath-of-superfans-9652448.html

5. https://cha-maeri.livejournal.com/17272.html

6. https://frockflicks.com/snark-week-top-5-things-i-learned-watching-ivanhoe-1982/

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Neill

8. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_revenge_of_ivanhoe

9. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi0trpC1MPbisLOclW19MBhdYQuoIk60e

10. https://theliteraryomnivore.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/page-to-screen-ivanhoe/

11.