IVANHOE

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were the Karloff and Lugosi of the British horror film revival of the '60s. Cushing went on to better things, but Lee's breakout never quite. . .broke out. Here, narrating an abridged version of Scott's classic chivalric romance, he demonstrates one possible reason. Despite his sonorous voice, elegant accent, and spot-on characterizations, he never fully engages with the material or the listener. The abridger could have helped him also by less drastically emasculating the derring-do. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]