vampyrate
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Ivanhoe
This topic is for discussing his role as Wamba, the jester, in 1952's Ivanhoe, also starring Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Taylor, as well as other aspects of the film.
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"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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10/15/2006, 11:01 pm
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vampyrate
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Re: Ivanhoe
Spoiler alert:
As the witty Wamba, I thought Emlyn gave a really charming performance (perfect character for him to play, don't you think, with his clever quips?), so I've always wondered why he "disappears" from the movie about two-thirds through. (I kept hoping he'd miraculously turn up again unharmed.) Wamba is really a composite of two or three different characters from the book, but all of them survive till the end, and I can't think of any purpose for it in terms of the revised storyline either. Did Emlyn have some other pressing engagement to run off to? I've never been able to find an explanation for or even a mention of the change in any of his biographies. Was anybody else as disappointed as I was by the differences between this film version and the book? (Of course, I'm sure any Emlyn fans are, but how about any Ivanhoe scholars out there??  )
BTW, I just have to add, I love the way his curly hair is allowed to go totally wild in this movie--I don't think you see that anywhere else. It's also interesting that his hair was still dark brown in this film, while it's almost completely white in "Another Man's Poison," which came out a year earlier. I wonder if he dyed it (doesn't look like it to me) or whether (more likely) this was actually filmed earlier and not released for a while. Although I did read that his hair went white very suddenly.
Also, he makes a very valiant attempt at right-handed swordfighting, but if you pay attention, you can see he's really letting the other guy do all the work. (I wonder if this is the only movie where he did any swordfighting. I love a good swashbuckling scene!) And his exit looked very dangerous to say the least; if those are special effects, they're very convincing, especially for the early '50s!
I'd sure love to know more about the making of this movie!
Last edited by vampyrate, 1/27/2007, 5:13 pm
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"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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1/27/2007, 5:03 pm
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htrm
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Re: Ivanhoe
I have vague memories of this movie from when I was a kid. The character Wamba always stayed in the back of my mind.
I bought the movie about a month ago, but haven't had time to sit and watch it while not distracted by other things. I did see the exit scene, and it was very disappointing--well done but not wanted. It must have been a scary/dangerous scene to make. I like the scene where the elder Ivanhoe uses Wamba's hair as a napkin, although it's very degrading. Back then, hands would probably get more dirty from touching a person's hair.
Wamba was kind of like a loyal pet dog, happy to follow his owner around and thrilled by the slightest recognition. I wonder if that was what Emlyn pictured to help with the character. I don't think he was too keen on pets, since he didn't grow up with them, so maybe not. The book's characters might give better clues.
The movie is a good reminder for those people who think white people are all one "race" unlike Hispanics and Asians etc., which isn't true.
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10/25/2007, 10:25 am
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htrm
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Re: Ivanhoe
I would choose Wamba over Ivanhoe any day.
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10/25/2007, 10:26 am
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vampyrate
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Re: Ivanhoe
quote:
htrm wrote:
I did see the exit scene, and it was very disappointing--well done but not wanted. It must have been a scary/dangerous scene to make.
Did you notice he throws a basket into the fire, but it totally misses? I wonder if the mishaps from the making of The Wizard of Oz was on some of their minds. If only he'd written more memoirs, I bet he had some really interesting stories to tell about the making of that movie!
quote:
I like the scene where the elder Ivanhoe uses Wamba's hair as a napkin, although it's very degrading. Back then, hands would probably get more dirty from touching a person's hair.
Wamba was kind of like a loyal pet dog, happy to follow his owner around and thrilled by the slightest recognition.
And then did you notice him wiping his own hands on the dog's fur in turn? Poor doggie, who'd he get to wipe his paws on?? I thought it was kind of cute though. Shows you why he's so excited to be re-dubbed "Squire Wamba." He's a much more interesting character than Ivanhoe; I wish he had been in more of the movie (like he is in the book). Maybe they felt he was upstaging Robert Taylor? (Not a difficult task for anyone in that role, but scene stealing is Emlyn's forté ... pairing him with someone as wooden as Taylor is like taking candy from a baby.)
quote:
I wonder if that was what Emlyn pictured to help with the character. I don't think he was too keen on pets, since he didn't grow up with them, so maybe not. The book's characters might give better clues.
Alas, we may never know.  Did he never mention anything about having pets later on? I thought I read somewhere that he and Molly had dogs or something--I really should read those biographies!
quote:
The movie is a good reminder for those people who think white people are all one "race" unlike Hispanics and Asians etc., which isn't true.
Yeah, kinda reminds you that the whole Robin Hood thing was really all about the native Anglo-Saxons versus the conquering Normans.
quote:
I would choose Wamba over Ivanhoe any day.
lol ... Is there any of us who wouldn't? He's just adorable. And Robert Taylor is so, well, American, isn't he? (His accent really stands out in that movie! Kind of like Kevin Costner in Robin Hood.)
---
"It's all rather stylish and pretty and rather worrying" --Timothy Spall on his costume in Sweeney Todd
"He must have been fun." --Emlyn Williams (liner notes from "Emlyn Williams as Dylan Thomas in 'A Boy Growing Up'")
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10/27/2007, 6:26 pm
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