The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)

the audience applauded

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Apart some few Sellers's movies where he was really funny,all remains is hard to watch,this one is palatable and has funny moments really,on triple acting this movie is a spoof of so good movie made previously by Stewart Granger,quite often Sellers didn't make me laugh,but this turn is quite acceptable acting,having a valuable supporting casting as the funiest Lionel Jeffries,an already older Elke Sommer and the gorgeous newcomer Lynne Frederick!!Resume:First watch: 1991 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7

If you can manage to sit through the tedious intro with Peter Sellers as the aged king, the movie itself is not half as bad as we might expect. In fact, some of the sequences are genuinely amusing. And whilst it's true that Sellers is far too indulgently treated by the writer, the cameraman and the director, it must be admitted that the film has been produced with rare pomp and splendor on actual Austrian locations. The scenery is great and a lot of money has been spent on both location and studio filming. A fair amount of the action sequences are played fairly straight, and some of them even build up a modicum of suspense. True, the Elke Sommer sub-plot is often a bit of a bore, but the special effects are so outstanding, they thoroughly eclipse anything Whitlock has done before. Director Quine makes the most of his budget and puts the production money where it belongs, namely up there on the screen!

I really wanted to like this. How could it go wrong with Peter Sellers and Lionel Jeffries on board as well as composer Henry Mancini and script-writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais? Sadly, something did go wrong, and I am still puzzled as what the biggest problem was with this film. Not all is bad though, the film has gorgeous sets and costumes and is beautifully shot, and Henry Mancini's score is great as you would expect from the composer of the Pink Panther movies, Great Mouse Detective and Breakfast at Tiffanys. However, the writing had all the ingredients to be funny but instead came across as forced(which is bad news for a spoof remake, which considering the source material was something I felt wasn't going to work in the first place), while the story as well as being sluggishly paced just lacks wit and thrills and the characters are rather cartoony(especially George Sierra). The acting fares little better, with Peter Sellers, who I consider a comic genius, coming across as both exaggerated and uninterested, while George Sierra even with bulging eyes makes little of his admittedly cartoony character and everyone else, especially John Laurie, have little to do and are dull as a result. In conclusion, not a complete disaster but just didn't work for me. 3/10 Bethany Cox

This is a very lavish looking, picturesque romp that should have been a sure fire hit. "Porridge" scriptwriters Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais were the men responsible for turning the classic Anthony Hope into a comedy, which shouldn't have been too difficult bearing in mind the ridiculous scenario linked to the main story. However, this scenario is all they went for, and any characterisation or satirical touches are abandoned and a lot of cartoonish setups such as Gregory Sierra's role and also other segments such as the explosive bowls game and the early scene in the restaurant replace any serious comedy. Therefore, in his dwindling health and sorrowful state, Sellers looks a bit out of place amongst the diving into the water routines and the jumping of a tall castle stints. It is very similar to his Fu Manchu experience two years later (when he also played two roles) in that he's still putting the work in but to little effect. The film is a reminder of his earlier years and really backfires as a poor man's Pink Panther. However, he still proves that he can act (which is a lot more than most actors these days) despite the poor material and backed by a host of regular artists such as Catherine Schell, Elke Sommer (both stars of Pink Pantherfs), Graham Stark, John Laurie, Jeremy Kemp (who had starred in Sellers' The Blockhouse in 1972) - it should have been better considering the quality of Sellers' other films at the time, but it does fall very flat.