The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Boring

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This movie is everything one wants in a movie action, romance, intrigue and this production hits it one the nose. The story is set in a kingdom where their is intrigue behind the proclamation of the new king. The story involves the man who would be king, his evil half brother and an interloper who is related distantly. Well the movie moves with speed and elan the princess is gorgeous and beguiling. The fight scenes are ripe with flare and bravado. The acting superb by the leads and the supporting cast superb. This movie is in the grandest stage of classic movie making as it takes good story material and makes it alive. To me as an avid movie watcher this is why sometimes older movies are great as the story and production are memorable unlike too many movies of this generation which seem to much copy and paste and generic.

The 1937 version of The Prisoner of Zenda ranks up there with the best swashbucklers of Old Hollywood, even The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). It has everything: action and romance, humor and poignancy, all of which combine beautifully. It has a sense of glamor and soft-focus fantasy which modern cinema finds unfashionable; such a shame, because when it's done well, as it is in Zenda, the results are unforgettable.The cast is perfection: Ronald Colman, Mary Astor, Madeline Caroll, and of course, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., one of the best and most charming screen villains ever. The action scenes are shot with great verve and the romance, while a bit cheesy at times, comes off splendidly. Though they know one another for only about a day, you really believe Colman and Caroll are soul mates.Fifteen years later, this classic was remade shot for shot and in color, but wouldn't you know it, it was not nearly as fun or memorable. Instead of being unique, it tried too hard to copy a nearly perfect movie. Out of all the many Zenda adaptations that have ever been, the 1937 film is the one to watch.

In the end of the Nineteenth Century, the Englishman Major Rudolf Rassendyll (Ronald Colman) travels to the Province of Zenda to spend a couple of days fishing at the Royal Game Preserve. He meets King Rudolf V (Ronald Colman), whose coronation will happen on the next day, riding with his loyal Colonel Zapt (C. Aubrey Smith) and Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim (David Niven) and they all become astonished with the resemblance of Rassendyll and Rudolf V. They conclude that they might be distant cousins and the King invites the newcomer to drink wine in his castle. King Rudolf is an alcoholic and drinks too much; however, he is drugged by his brother Michael (Raymond Massey) and Rudolf V is no able to participate at the ceremony of coronation. Colonel Zapt and Captain Fritz asks Rassendyll to impersonate Rudolf V, otherwise his greedy brother would take his place and be crowned king. Rassendyll accepts to participate in the fraud but when he meets King's Rudolf V fiancée, the Princess Flavia (Madeleine Carroll) of the Royal House Court of Strelsau, the immediately fall in love for each other. Meanwhile, the evil and ambitious Rupert of Hentzau (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) abducts Rudolf V and brings him to the dungeons of his castle. However, Michael's mistress Antoinette de Mauban (Mary Astor) secretly summons Rassendyll to her Boulevard Elsberg and proposes to help him to rescue the King. In return, Michael would be exiled without any other additional punishment. Rassendyll accepts to risk his life trying to save Rudolf V, even knowing that his love with Princess Flavia would be affected by his action."The Prisoner of Zenda" is one of the most delightful classic adventures of cinema industry. The performances and the ironic and witty dialogs are awesome and unfortunately this type of film is innocent film that is hardly made by the studios. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "O Prisioneiro de Zenda" ("The Prisoner of Zenda")

Anthony Hopes's classic tale turned into a classic adventure film with Ronald Coleman as the King and his commoner cousin who must masquerade as the king when he's first drugged into unconsciousness so he can't be crowned and later when the king is kidnapped. Its a rousing tale with a dynamite romance. It's been filmed numerous times and this one is probably the best. I put the Stewart Granger one a half step behind this one because James Mason isn't as evil as Douglas Fairbanks Jr as Rupert of Hentzau. You don't get casts better than this since it has Coleman, Madeline Carol, Fairbanks, David Niven, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor and C Aubrey Smith. You also don't get scripts better than this, the Granger version essentially used the same script so that as it ran I was quoting dialog and making my dad go "I thought you never saw this before". Possibly one of the best adventure films Hollywood ever made, I can't recommend it enough...