Ivanhoe (1952)

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers (WGA):

Noel Langley (screenplay) and
Æneas MacKenzie (adaptation)

Release Date:

31 July 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Plot:

In the centre of this Walter Scott classic fiction inspired film the chivalrousness and the daring stand...

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Ransom | Austria | Robin Hood | Narration

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Ivanhoe
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Rebecca
Joan Fontaine	...	Rowena
George Sanders	...	De Bois-Guilbert
Emlyn Williams	...	Wamba
Robert Douglas	...	Sir Hugh De Bracy
Finlay Currie	...	Cedric
Felix Aylmer	...	Isaac
Francis De Wolff	...	Front De Boeuf (also as Francis DeWolff)
Norman Wooland	...	King Richard
Basil Sydney	...	Waldemar Fitzurse
Guy Rolfe	...	Prince John
Harold Warrender	...	Locksley
Patrick Holt	...	Philip DeMalvoisin
Roderick Lovell	...	Ralph DeVipont

Also Known As:

Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (#15505) | Finland:K-12 | Norway:11 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:Btl | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Doune Castle, Doune, Stirling, Scotland, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Elizabeth Taylor considered herself to be miscast as Rebecca, and during filming there was talk of replacing her with Deborah Kerr, Robert Taylor's co-star from Quo Vadis (1951).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When he asks for an axe, Ivanhoe is handed a throwing axe, not a fighting axe. Fighting axes had long handles and very large blades; these were the weapons that real knights used when in very close combat. Throwing axes were for distance fighting and were carefully balanced for that very purpose.

Quotes:

Sir Cedric: Delayed? How so?
Wamba: Well, when I heard Normans were approaching I ran to lock up my wife. But, she'd also heard they were approaching, and locked me up instead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "De familie Knots: Enge dingen (#1.6)" (1981)

A short anecdote on the making of this film

It was in this film that the legendary stuntman, Paddy Ryan, did a spectacular fall into an amazingly small amount of water. I started working in the UK in 1960 and there was still talk among casts and crews of Paddy's famous fall. I met Paddy a few times and asked him about the stunt dive. He said it was no big deal. He remembered being asked by some publicist why he did such dangerous things. He replied that he looked down from the great height, imagined he saw his pay check lying there, and took off! I suggested that he should write his memoirs. He said he had started and had spent a long time writing it all out by hand and had almost finished when his manuscript was stolen from, if I remember correctly, his car. He said he was too fed up to sit down and do it all again. What a loss!