April 24 movie: Ivanhoe. Is it Robert Taylor day or something? Just for me actually. TCM wasn't showing this today, I had recorded it while I was away.
What a treat this movie is. A huge MGM spectacle with big sets, big locations (real English castles), big action set pieces, a big story, big acting, big costumes, big everything. Stars Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, and George Sanders. All of whom I adore. The movie is a historical drama about the rescue of Richard the Lionhearted, and there's a big love quadrangle, also a subplot about the persecution of the Jews in medieval Europe. (It's pretty mild in the movie compared to reality, but still, it's not the "clerks saying "Happy Holidays" in a store" nonsense that passes for religious persecution these days.)
This was a great way to spend a lazy afternoon. One of these days I should read the book and find out how close an adaptation it is.
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