The Prisoner Of Zenda!

I spent a lovely afternoon last weekend enjoying two classic flicks, both using pretty much the very same script.

The first was the classic The Prisoner of Zenda from 1937 starring Ronald Coleman and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. If ever a movie were perfectly cast this is the one. Ronald Coleman absolutely owns the screen as Rudloph Rassendyll the man called upon to pretend to be the kidnapped King and save the nation from ruin. The only time that isn't the case is when Fairbanks is on screen as Duke Hentzau a dastardly villain of epic dimension. This is the most magnetic I've ever seen Fairbanks, as he crafts a classic screen badguy. Others in the cast include Raymond Massey as Michael the grim brother of the King, and C.Aubrey Smith (who many decades before played Rassendyll for goodness sakes) as the King's right-hand man Zapt, that chiseled face an absolute wonder for the screen. The faces in this movie are sterling examples of classic cinema. The action sequences are bristling and exciting.


Less impressive is the 1952 remake with Stewart Granger as Rassendyl, with Deborah Kerr as the love interest. Granger has always struck me as a bit of an oaf in his movies, a good-looking lunk. That's about what's going on here as this movie only adds color to a virtual scene-by-scene remake of the original. No one in the remake is as good as anyone in the original with the possible exception of Kerr who emotes a tiny bit more than Madeleine Carrol as the Princess Flavia. Even James Mason, a great actor falls short of the heights Fairbanks brought to the Hentzau role. The action is a bit broader, but not as exciting.

Get those movies. I heartily recommend the Coleman version, a classic of adventure and romance!

Rip Off