Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott

It's difficult to understand now how Sir Walter Scott achieved the success he did. His books are longwinded and dull and though there is often an interesting and exciting story buried in them, it only reveals itself properly when it is extracted for use in a film or television program. Ivanhoe is a good example of this. Buried in a longwinded and dull book is an interesting and exciting story: in the reign of wicked King John a beautiful Jewess is imprisoned with her father and threatened alternately with rape and execution for witchcraft before the mysterious Black Knight Ivanhoe fights for her honor and saves her life. In the two hours of a film or weekly hour of a ...  Read the complete review

If Sir Walter Scott was the Spielberg of his era, Ivanhoe would have been his "Raiders of the Lost Ark." A simple story about a disinherited knight returning home from the crusades to win permission to marry his old love, Scott spices it up with jousting tournaments, Robin Hood and his band of outlaws (hoorah!), the evil Prince John (boo hiss!), some corrupt Templars, and a strangely poignant family of Jews who are caught between the Norman/Saxon rivalries of the period. The characters are vibrant and brilliantly drawn, & both male and female get their chance for wild heroics and evil scheming. There is plenty of room for drama, and passion, ...  Read the complete review