Ivanhoe 

After returning from the Third Crusade in the Holy Land, Ivanhoe discovers that England is under the rule of the corrupt Prince John.

Stars:

David Barrass, Ralph Brown, Jimmy Chisholm

1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Barrass	...	Hubert 6 episodes, 1997
Ralph Brown	...	Prince John 6 episodes, 1997
Jimmy Chisholm	...	Wamba 6 episodes, 1997
Trevor Cooper	...	Gurth 6 episodes, 1997
Ciarán Hinds	...	Brian de Bois-Guilbert 6 episodes, 1997
David Horovitch	...	Isaac 6 episodes, 1997
Susan Lynch	...	Rebecca 6 episodes, 1997
Victoria Smurfit	...	Lady Rowena 6 episodes, 1997
Steven Waddington	...	Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe 6 episodes, 1997
James Cosmo	...	Cedric 5 episodes, 1997
Simon Donald	...	Louis Winkelbrand 5 episodes, 1997
Rory Edwards	...	King Richard 5 episodes, 1997
Aden Gillett	...	Robin of Locksley 5 episodes, 1997
Jack Klaff	...	Malvoisin 5 episodes, 1997
David J. Nicholls	...	Little John 5 episodes, 1997
Ronald Pickup	...	Waldemar Fitzurse 5 episodes, 1997
Chris Walker	...	Athelstane 5 episodes, 1997
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Prior Aymer 4 episodes, 1997
Peter Guinness	...	Montfitchet 4 episodes, 1997
Christopher Lee	...	Lucas de Beaumanoir 4 episodes, 1997
Valentine Pelka	...	Maurice de Bracy 4 episodes, 1997
Niven Boyd	...	Oswald 3 episodes, 1997
Nick Brimble	...	Reginald Front de Boeuf 3 episodes, 1997
Ron Donachie	...	Friar Tuck 3 episodes, 1997
Dermot Keaney	...	Brother Ambrose 3 episodes, 1997
Renny Krupinski	...	Bardon 3 episodes, 1997
Peter Needham	...	Abbot 3 episodes, 1997
Chris Barnes	...	Priest 2 episodes, 1997
Cynthia Grenville	...	Elgitha 2 episodes, 1997
Ciaran Madden	...	Urfried 2 episodes, 1997
Siân Phillips	...	Queen Eleanor 2 episodes, 1997
Martin Walsh	...	Young guard 2 episodes, 1997

Storyline

After returning from the Third Crusade in the Holy Land, Ivanhoe discovers that England is under the rule of the corrupt Prince John.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as series title | king richard i character | ivanhoe character | prince john | england | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 1997 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ivanhoe

Filming Locations:

Bamburgh Beach, Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

A+E Networks, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

270 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the second "Ivanhoe" television production in which Ronald Pickup (Waldemar Fitzurse) appeared. The first was Ivanhoe (1982), in which he played Prince John.

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Goofs

In the second joust at Ashby, they joust with blunted lances. During the charge, the templar's lance clearly lacks the metal end-cap. In the next shot, when he makes contact, the cap is in place.

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Quotes

Brian de Bois-Guilbert: [lying defeated on the ground, whispering to Ivanhoe] In Austria, I was not brave enough to die for Richard... but for her...
[turning his face to look at Rebecca]
Brian de Bois-Guilbert: [to Ivanhoe] Do it!

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Connections

Version of Ivanhoe (1913)

User Reviews

Poorly shot, decent art direction, and not enough money.

There was an effort here to put forth a more rugged, more down to earth, more gritty and earnest version of Sir Walter Scott's tale, than previous incarnations. The co-venture between A&E and the BBC is successful on this point, and seems to stick closer to the book than say the version with Elizabeth Taylor. There's a lot of positive aspects here, including the acting.

The downside is that it's just not very well shot. There're a lot of camera tricks used here to give an epic feel to what is undoubtedly a moderately budgeted mini series. I applaud the effort, but there just aren't the number of bodies needed to really make this production shine.

Portions of it are kind of neat and endearing, but the lack of exposition, and the occasional over the top performance (particularly by a couple of the female leads), in my opinion, makes this production some what lacking.

The camera is simply not used to its fullest, and there's little in the way of dressing the sets, though there seems to have been a lot of effort gone into costuming.

I like the production for what it is, but it's not my favorite, and could've been so much more had the funds been there to see through the production. One of the highlights was the jousting sequence, but even here we're treated to confined views, and are not given the full scope of the tournament. The nail in the coffin is the use of a swish pan to show the number of spectators at the event. It's somewhat jarring to see this, and is visually unsettling.

I can understand why people rate this so highly. It's striving for a kind of authenticity that would've been heresy in Hollywood's golden age, where sets, actors and story were sanitized and given a bright color gloss, but for all the effort that went into making this version more "definitive" and supposedly authentic, visually, it's just very narrow. This visual confinement and lack of scope brings down what could've been a much more sterling production.

Minor quibble; the actor who plays Friar Tuck wears a skull-cap prosthetic that looks like a bad hat. Fortunately his character has limited exposure, and the makeup isn't too distracting because of that. It's nearly the final nail in the coffin of a borderline production.

To the BBC and A&E both, the next time they launch another such joint venture make sure the money is there to do visual justice to the piece, or don't embark on the project at all. Adequate acting and art direction can only hide so many sins, especially for a project that's shot on a made for TV movie schedule.

In the meantime I'd recommend the 1952 version over this mini series. For all its Hollywood gloss it's actually more appealing than this version on a number of levels.

RESCREENED, Sept 2005

I'm sorry some folks didn't appreciate or like my comments, but after re-screening this two disk set I can firmly stand by my convictions and observations regarding this title. The acting for the supporting cast is hit or miss, the "action" sequences look very staged, and it appears this film was shot in the low season to cut down on costs of renting locations (namely the castles). That, and as I stated earlier, the cinematography is very confining. I like the story, but this presentation, however thorough, misses a few marks.