Classic Films in Focus: IVANHOE (1952)

Adapted from the novel by Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe (1952) makes a perfect companion to The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Both are rousing Technicolor adventures set during the days of King Richard the Lionheart, and Robin even plays a critical part in the later story. Robert Taylor might lack the insouciance of Errol Flynn's roguish Robin, but his Saxon knight is a bold hero, nonetheless, and Joan Fontaine matches her sister, Olivia de Havilland, as an alluring lady love. Director Richard Thorpe oversees the lavish production, which earned three Oscar nominations, and the film benefits from memorable performances by Elizabeth Taylor, George Sanders, and Finlay Currie.

Robert Taylor leads the cast as the heroic knight, who returns from the Crusades determined to free King Richard from imprisonment and restore him to his throne. Rejected by his Saxon father, Cedric (Finlay Currie), for his loyalty to the Norman king, Ivanhoe must contend with the treachery of Prince John and his supporters, especially the knights Sir Hugh De Bracy (Robert Douglas) and De Bois-Guilbert (George Sanders). Ivanhoe's adventures introduce him to the beautiful young Jewess, Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor), who falls in love with him in spite of his long-standing romance with Rowena (Joan Fontaine). All of Ivanhoe's friends, however, are threatened by the schemes of Prince John's allies, who hope to ensure that King Richard never returns to England alive.

Location shooting heightens the atmosphere and appeal of the picture, especially in the climactic sequence at Torquilstone Castle, where Ivanhoe and his companions are held prisoner by the Norman knights. Luckily for Ivanhoe, Robin Hood leads an army of Saxon men to lay siege to the castle, although in this film Robin is called only by the less familiar name of Locksley (played by Harold Warrender). The tournament scenes are also highlights; they exude pomp and excitement but also provide opportunities for each of the key characters to reveal themselves. Ivanhoe's first tournament, where he fights in disguise as the black knight, sets the stage for later conflicts between the Saxon hero and his Norman nemesis, De Bois-Guilbert, while their final battle brings their long rivalry to its destined end. The pageantry, shot in gorgeous Technicolor, rivals that of The Adventures of Robin Hood, although the mood of the later picture is more somber.

Taylor makes for a serious and mature Ivanhoe, but his performance sells the hero's commitment to his cause. The movie downplays the love triangle between him and the two women; Taylor and Fontaine are too well matched for any real doubt that Ivanhoe will stay with Rowena, but Elizabeth Taylor is so compelling as Rebecca that she makes us wish the story could end differently. She handles her scenes with emotion and skill, especially those that address the plight of Jews in Medieval England, and Felix Aylmer is also very good as her father, Isaac. Finlay Currie provides a different model of paternity as the stubborn Cedric, and he threatens to steal his scenes with his blustering resentment and underlying affection. George Sanders, an adept at playing the heavy, adds humanity to De Bois-Guilbert with the sincerity of his passion for Rebecca, but he's most in his element as the haughty foe. The rest of the Norman knights run together, particularly when they're dressed for battle, although Guy Rolfe makes the best of his few scenes as the despicable Prince John. Be sure to appreciate Welsh actor Emlyn Williams as Womba, the lowly serf whom Ivanhoe promotes as his squire; it's a shame that he disappears without much fanfare before the picture ends.

Ivanhoe picked up Oscar nominations for Best Picture as well as cinematography and score, but it had to compete with the likes of High Noon (1952), The Quiet Man (1952), and The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Director Richard Thorpe returned to the same territory the following year with Knights of the Round Table (1953), in which Robert Taylor plays Lancelot and Felix Aylmer turns up again as Merlin. For more from Thorpe and Taylor, try All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) and The House of the Seven Hawks (1959). See Joan Fontaine and George Sanders in Rebecca (1940), and don't miss Finlay Currie in Great Expectations (1946) and People Will Talk (1951). If you want to catch Fontaine and Elizabeth Taylor in different roles, see them both in Jane Eyre (1943), in which Fontaine plays the lead and Taylor appears in an important but uncredited role as Jane's friend, Helen Burns.

Classic Films in Focus: BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936 (1935)

The second in a series of movies that began with The Broadway Melody (1929), The Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) depends on a familiar combination of thin show business plot and upbeat musical numbers, both elements that reliably appealed to Depression Era audiences. For many modern viewers, these lightweight entertainments might seem unbearably corny and naive, but their cheerful reliance on pluck and stardust makes them great antidotes to the rainy day blues. The Broadway Melody of 1936 has particular appeal for fans of the very talented Eleanor Powell, a favorite among musical devotees, but it also offers fun performances from beloved stars like Robert Taylor, Jack Benny, and Una Merkel, as well as the screen debut of a strikingly young - and limber - Buddy Ebsen.

Jack Benny plays gossip columnist Bert Keeler, whose boss orders him to give up blessed event stories for juicier celebrity tattle. Keeler goes after Broadway producer Bob Gordon (Robert Taylor) and his wealthy socialite investor, Lillian Brent (June Knight), which starts a feud between the two men. Meanwhile, Bob’s hometown high school sweetheart, Irene (Eleanor Powell), arrives in New York hoping to break into show business. Bob refuses to support Irene’s aspirations, but Keeler’s wild scheme to make a mockery of Bob gives Irene an unexpected chance to change his mind.

The story begins with two seemingly distinct elements, connected by their relationship to Taylor’s character, with Jack Benny running a slapstick comedy and Eleanor Powell doing a Ruby Keeler new kid in town routine with heavy romantic undertones. The surprise comes when Powell jumps enthusiastically into Benny’s territory and turns the last third of the narrative into a screwball comedy; her scenes as the fictitious Mademoiselle Arlette, complete with outrageous French accent, are really very funny, and she certainly looks better in the blonde wig than Benny’s long-suffering sidekick, Sid Silvers. Adding to the picture’s comedic bent are Una Merkel as Gordon’s sharp-witted secretary and Buddy Ebsen as a young hoofer who becomes one of Irene’s new friends. Ebsen’s real life sister, Vilma, makes her one and only screen appearance as the sister of his character.

The musical numbers, written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, are the movie’s highlights, especially when Eleanor Powell’s fantastic tap dancing accompanies them. Fans of Singin’ in the Rain (1952) will recognize “You Are My Lucky Star” and “Broadway Rhythm,” both of which are prominently featured in this earlier film. Buddy and Vilma Ebsen perform the charming “Sing Before Breakfast” number as well as a later song that is part of Bob Gordon’s show, and in both segments Ebsen gets to demonstrate the distinctively comic style of his dancing technique. Ebsen was 27 when he made the movie, but he looks like such a kid in his Mickey Mouse sweater that it’s hard to recognize him as the future Jed Clampett and Barnaby Jones. Popular singer and actress Frances Langford appears in the movie as herself and performs “I’ve Got a Feelin’ You’re Foolin’” as well as several other songs.

Broadway Melody of 1936 won an Oscar for Best Dance Direction and scored additional nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Story. Its director, Roy Del Ruth, also worked with Eleanor Powell and Buddy Ebsen on Born to Dance (1936) and Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937). For more of the glorious Eleanor Powell, see Honolulu (1939), Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), and Lady Be Good (1941). You’ll find Robert Taylor in A Yank at Oxford (1938), Waterloo Bridge (1940), and Ivanhoe (1952). Jack Benny provides more laughs in Charley’s Aunt (1941) and To Be or Not to Be (1942), while Una Merkel, a veteran of the Pre-Code Era and a terrific comedienne, gives an especially hilarious performance in Destry Rides Again (1939). For more of Buddy Ebsen’s varied career, check out his movies with cowboy star Rex Allen, including Silver City Bonanza (1951) and Utah Wagon Train (1951).

Broadway Melody of 1936 is currently available for streaming on Warner Archive Instant, along with several other Eleanor Powell pictures.

Westerns on Sale at Warner Archive

Warner Archive is running a sale on its classic Westerns this week, and all I can really say in response to that news is "Yeehaw!" Oaters are at the top of my list this spring, especially after a recent trip out West to see the haunts of legendary cowboys and lawmen, both real and Hollywood-made. I'll be talking about some of those places here and over at Examiner, in the National Classic Movies column, over the next few weeks.

Denise Darcel and Robert Taylor - Warner Archive

In the meantime, let me encourage you to pop on over to Warner Archive and check out the sale-priced Westerns now available (with free shipping, too!). The Archive sent me some publicity stills from one of the selected Westerns, Westward the Women (1951), quite a while back, and I'm thrilled to see the picture included in the current sale. If you think Westerns are a masculine domain, Westward the Women will change your mind in a hurry. I'm sharing one of the stills here in the hopes that it will encourage you to look up this fantastic women's Western, which is absolutely worth the current sale price of $12.95, especially because it's so hard to get anywhere else (you won't even find it on DVD from Netflix).

You can also read my full review of Westward the Women on Examiner, as well as reviews of plenty of other classic Westerns. Also included in the Warner Archive sale is the Clark Gable picture, Across the Wide Missouri (1951), which is worth watching not only for its star but for narration by Howard Keel and the spectacle of Ricardo Montalban as a half-naked Native American.

I think I'll mosey on over to the Archive and browse the sale one more time before I saddle up with Rex Allen for an afternoon of cowboys and KoKo on Netflix Instant!

Classic Films in Focus: UNDERCURRENT (1946)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli, Undercurrent (1946) plays with the same thematic elements as other feminine thrillers like Suspicion (1941), Gaslight (1944), and Dial M for Murder (1954), but in spite of a very attractive cast the picture falls short of its genre peers. It’s an interesting and very unusual foray into noir territory for star Katharine Hepburn, with Robert Taylor and noir stalwart Robert Mitchum along for the ride, but Undercurrent never quite comes together as a picture, and it doesn’t use its impressive cast to the best effect.

Hepburn plays Ann Hamilton, the awkward spinster daughter of a scientist (Edmund Gwenn) whose latest work attracts the attention of a suave industrialist named Alan Garroway (Robert Taylor). Alan acquires more than he came for when he meets and marries Ann, taking her with him to Washington, D.C., California, and his family’s estate in Virginia. In every place, Ann learns more confusing clues about Alan’s history with his missing brother, Michael (Robert Mitchum), while Alan begins to seem less and less like the man Ann believed him to be.

The plot reworks the motifs of Gothic romance and film noir, with Ann hiding behind doors, peering into forbidden spaces, and playing detective in the mystery of her brother-in-law’s disappearance. Hepburn might make a better Ann if the heroine possessed more nerve, but she seems miscast as the coltish, self-doubting victim, if only because she has too much inherent strength of character herself. She gives as good a performance as possible considering the stark contrast between performer and part, but even Hepburn has her limits. Robert Taylor also does his best with Alan, but he needs more scenes in which to work the character’s darker side, and Robert Mitchum has so little screen time that he barely gets to do anything at all with Michael.

The supporting cast fare no better than the top-billed stars. Both Edmund Gwenn and Marjorie Main appear only briefly. Both were glorious character actors capable of breathing life into almost any picture, which leaves us to wonder why they were cast in the parts if they weren’t going to be put to good use. Leigh Whipper has better luck and more scenes as the Garroway estate’s caretaker, and he does a good job adding to the home’s Gothic ambience.

None of the actors can really be faulted for the movie’s failure to deliver, but Undercurrent is best appreciated by hardcore fans looking to see all of Hepburn’s minor films or survey the lesser entries in the noir canon. For a better pairing of Hepburn and Gwenn as father and daughter, try Sylvia Scarlett (1935). See Robert Mitchum’s signature performances in Out of the Past (1947), The Night of the Hunter (1955), and Cape Fear (1962). For different takes on Robert Taylor, try Westward the Women (1951) and Ivanhoe (1952).

This review was originally posted on Examiner.com. The author retains all rights to this content.