Movies - The Prisoner of Zenda

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	Movies - The Prisoner of Zenda

The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, first published in 1894. It tells the story of a man who has to impersonate a king, whom he happens to closely resemble, when the king is abducted by enemies on the eve of his coronation.

The villainous Rupert of Hentzau gives his name to its 1898 sequel.

The Ruritania books were extremely popular at the time they were published and inspired a host of imitations, including the Graustark novels by George Barr McCutcheon.

Plot synopsis

The protagonist is the Hon. Rudolf Rassendyll, younger brother of the Earl of Burlesdon and (through an ancestor's indiscretion) a distant cousin of Rudolf V, the new King of Ruritania (a fictional Germanic kingdom situated between the German and Austrian Empires). King Rudolf is a hard-drinking, feckless playboy, unpopular with the common people, but supported by the aristocracy, the Church, the army, and the wealthier classes in general. His political rival is his younger half-brother, Michael, Duke and Governor of Strelsau, the capital city. Michael has no legal claim to the throne because he is the son of their father's second, morganatic marriage: there are hints, regarding his swarthy appearance and Rassendyll's use of the word 'mongrel' to taunt him, that he may be part-Jewish. He is regarded as the champion of Strelsau's impoverished working-class, and is also popular in the countryside. (The morality of the novel - that propping up a dissolute despot is a 'good thing' - is disconcerting. It is possible that the author, something of an ironist, is playing with his readers, or perhaps wishes us to see Rassendyll as a not-entirely reliable narrator.)

When Rudolf is abducted and imprisoned on Michael's orders, Rassendyll has to impersonate the King at his coronation. There are various complications, plots and counter-plots, with the schemings of Michael's mistress Antoinette de Mauban, and of the villainous henchman Rupert of Hentzau, and Rassendyll falling in love with Princess Flavia, the King's betrothed. The King is finally restored to the throne - but the lovers must part.

Adaptations

The novel has been adapted many times for film and television, the best-known screen version being the 1937 film. It stars Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor, David Niven and Douglas Fairbanks Jr..

The movie was adapted by Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue) Ben Hecht (uncredited) and Sidney Howard (uncredited) from the novel and the adapted play by Edward E. Rose. It was directed by John Cromwell.

The script's basis in the 1895 stage-version is readily apparent: there is little attempt to open up the story. The emphasis is very much on romance and adventure, rather than on the political thriller aspects of the story.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Music, Score. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The Prisoner of Zenda has been made several other times:

1913 - Starring James K. Hackett, Beatrice Beckley, David Torrence, Fraser Coalter, William R. Randall and Walter Hale. Adapted by Hugh Ford and directed by Ford and Edwin S. Porter
, it was produced by Adolph Zukor and was the first production of the Famous Players Film Company
.
1915 - Starring Henry Ainley
, Gerald Ames, George Bellamy, Marie Anita Bozzi, Jane Gail, Arthur Holmes-Gore, Charles Rock and Norman Yates. It was adapted by W. Courtney Rowden and directed by George Loane Tucker
1922 - Starring Ramon Novarro, Lewis Stone
, Alice Terry
, Robert Edeson, Stuart Holmes, Malcolm McGregor and Barbara La Marr
. It was adapted by Mary O'Hara and directed by Rex Ingram.
1952 - Starring Stewart Granger
, Deborah Kerr
, Louis Calhern
, Jane Greer
, Lewis Stone
, Robert Douglas, James Mason
and Robert Coote
. It was adapted by Edward E. Rose, (dramatization) Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Noel Langley
and Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue) (originally uncredited). It was directed by Richard Thorpe.
1979 - A comic version, starring Peter Sellers
, Lynne Frederick
, Lionel Jeffries
, Elke Sommer
, Gregory Sierra
, Jeremy Kemp, Catherine Schell
, Simon Williams
and Stuart Wilson. It was adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and directed by Richard Quine
.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Prisoner of Zenda ]

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