The Prisoner of Zenda

CinemaSerfJun 2022

3.5

Ronald Colman probably wishes he'd chosen another fishing venue as his "Maj. Rassendyll" arrives in the tiny kingdom of Ruritania just as it's king is about to be crowned. He might have suspected something when his border greeting seemed a bit formal, but a wander in the woods puts him face to face with the King - his doppelgänger if ever there was one. He is invited back to the hunting lodge for a glass or two and next thing he is rudely woken in the morning by the king's aide "Zapt" (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) and informed that the wine was drugged and nothing is going to wake the king anytime soon. Unless they are to allow his evil half-brother "Michael" (Raymond Massey) to ascend in his place then "Rudolph" is going to have to be a body double for the ceremony. With nerves wracking, he manages to get through the day but then they discover that the real king has now been kidnapped by his sibling and his own ruthless henchman "Rupert of Henzau" (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and the race is on to extricate the prisoner of Zenda and restore him to his throne. Just to add to the complications, the imposter is expected to court his soon-to-be bride the "Princess Flavia" (Madeleine Carroll) who has previously had little but disdain for her regal cousin. Once they've met, she doesn't have quite the same indifferent feelings about his stunt-double, nor he her, so with a bit of unwanted romance creeping into the plot poor old "Zapt" and his sidekick "Von Tarlenheim" (David Niven) have to walk quite a tightrope as they try to sort out this mess. Colman is on good form here as the honourable soldier and the rakish king and Fairbanks works well too as the devious baddie adept at the swordplay and some entertaining acrobatics. The last ten minutes concludes this enjoyable adventure quite excitingly with a bit of mischief and a deadly trap door... Great fun.