Portrait of Sir Walter Scott by Sir Henry Raeburn.
Sir Walter Scott left this world and became immortal on September 21, 1832. Possibly the best known and most famous Scottish novelist of all time, creator of the historical novel and, without a doubt, an emblematic figure of the Romanticism Anglo-Saxon XNUMXth century. His prolific and inspiring work has been the subject of numerous film adaptations that have made it even more attractive and attractive. And for all types of public. Ivanhoe, The Adventures of Quentin Duward o Rob Roy they are already versions as classic as their originals.
Ivanhoe
The history of the knight Wilfredo of Ivanhoe that returns from Cruzadas to his Scottish home to meet the intrigues of a court usurped by John Without Land, the brother of Richard the Lionheart, is one of the best known in literature and cinema.
Those of us who are already a certain age grew up watching the movies of the Hollywood more golden that they put on Saturday afternoon. And if there was one that we could see without getting tired it was Ivanhoe, the version starring Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan fontaine y George Sanders and directed by Richard Thorpe en 1952. And for those of us who are already left with the cinema of those years, we will continue to see it as many times as necessary. For being the most classic.
My story with Ivanhoe continued over the years. Because, being a bit older, I fell in love with that actor's very British languor anthony andrews, who played it in the version of 1982Directed by Douglas Camfield for television, where they were also james mason, Olivia Hussey and Sam neill. And I continued my relationship with him in college, where I dedicated him one of those jobs for the subject of History of England in the career of English Philology. And until now.
There are many more adaptations, especially of cartoon aimed at children. As a curiosity is a first ITV series British in 1958, also for children, and which had as its protagonist Roger Moore. And of course, the with the BBC could not leave a classic like this and in 1997 he made one 6-episode miniseries. It is starred by the greatest of the British scene as Steven Waddington, Ciaràn Hinds or James Cosmo (these last two so fashionable especially for lovers of Game of Thrones).
The talisman
Following in the classic cinema, this much less known version of another work by Scott, also less famous, was signed by the director David butler en 1954. It is also very entertaining and we meet again with King Richard the Lionheart who, during the Crusades, is dedicated to looking for the Holy Grail. Again we have George Sander, that from the (not so) evil Norman Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe, here is King Richard. The cast is completed Rex harrison, Virginia Mayo and Laurence harvey.
The Adventures of Quentin Duward
We do not move from the Hollywood of the 50s and a year after The talisman, riding a 1955Richard Thorpe, undoubtedly a specialist in adventure and action films, is returning to direct another version of a Scott play. It also has again Robert Taylor as the protagonist, who they accompany Kay Kendall, Robert Morley and George Cole. So it's almost to see Ivanhoe again.
Quentin Durward is a young Scottish man whose family is murdered and his castle destroyed. So he goes to France to start a new life. There his uncle is captain of the Scottish archers guard who are in charge of protecting King Louis XI.
Rob Roy
Walter Scott could not leave without touching with his pen the story of one of those scottish heroes that follow in the wake of William Wallace. That is rob roy macgregor, the so-called Scottish Robin Hood who tried to improve the living conditions of his compatriots. And although there are several adaptations that go back even to silent movies, the best known is the one he made in 1995 director Michael Caton Jones.
They starred in it Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, Eric stoltz, John Hurt y Tim Roth. The latter embroidered one of those peerless villain roles that are so grateful for an actor.
So…
Have we seen them all? Do we keep any in particular?