Once upon a time in the early 1980's, back when he was still young and dashing and riding high on the success of Brideshead Revisited, Anthony Andrews starred in a TV movie of Ivanhoe as, well, Ivanhoe. It also featured James Mason as Isaac, a very young Sam Neill as Brian de Bois-Guilbert and Olivia Hussey as Rebecca (who isn't a patch on Elizabeth Taylor, IMO). I was quite young and impressionable when first saw it all those years ago and I was absolutely enraptured (although like most people I was very disappointed that Ivanhoe chose the wishy-washy Rowena over the more interesting Rebecca). I thought it was the ultimate in romantic adventure and whenever it appeared in the TV guide I deftly muscled the rest of the family out of the way so I could watch it.

Until recently I hadn't seen it for many, many years, but out of curiosity I looked it up om IMDB the other night and was delighted to discover that it had finally been released on DVD. Out came the credit card and before I knew it I had ordered both it and AA's telemovie of The Scarlet Pimpernel, featuring Jane Seymour and a youngish Ian McKellan. It arrived today and once I got home from gym and made dinner, I popped it in the DVD player and...

...oh dear, I do not remember it being this cheesy. Well, not cheesy per-se, but definitely slightly corny, with a pantomimish air about it that is very reminiscent of the knights in shining armour movies of the 50's. It has a very theatrical quality about it that I'm wondering how I missed back then. Of course when you're twelve and smitten everything is wonderful, no matter how camp it really is.

Once upon a time in the early 1980's, back when he was still young and dashing and riding high on the success of Brideshead Revisited, Anthony Andrews starred in a TV movie of Ivanhoe as, well, Ivanhoe. It also featured James Mason as Isaac, a very young Sam Neill as Brian de Bois-Guilbert and Olivia Hussey as Rebecca (who isn't a patch on Elizabeth Taylor, IMO). I was quite young and impressionable when first saw it all those years ago and I was absolutely enraptured (although like most people I was very disappointed that Ivanhoe chose the wishy-washy Rowena over the more interesting Rebecca). I thought it was the ultimate in romantic adventure and whenever it appeared in the TV guide I deftly muscled the rest of the family out of the way so I could watch it.

Until recently I hadn't seen it for many, many years, but out of curiosity I looked it up om IMDB the other night and was delighted to discover that it had finally been released on DVD. Out came the credit card and before I knew it I had ordered both it and AA's telemovie of The Scarlet Pimpernel, featuring Jane Seymour and a youngish Ian McKellan. It arrived today and once I got home from gym and made dinner, I popped it in the DVD player and...

...oh dear, I do not remember it being this cheesy. Well, not cheesy per-se, but definitely slightly corny, with a pantomimish air about it that is very reminiscent of the knights in shining armour movies of the 50's. It has a very theatrical quality about it that I'm wondering how I missed back then. Of course when you're twelve and smitten everything is wonderful, no matter how camp it really is.