The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers (WGA):

John L. Balderston (screenplay) and
Noel Langley (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 November 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

An Englishman vacationing in a Ruritarian kingdom is recruited to impersonate his cousin, the soon-to-be-crowned king when the monarch is drugged and kidnapped.

Plot Keywords:

Half Brother | Cousin | Coronation | Ruritarian Kingdom | Tourist

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 15

4:15 PM

TCM

Cast

Stewart Granger	...	Rudolf Rassendyll / King Rudolf V
Deborah Kerr	...	Princess Flavia
Louis Calhern	...	Col. Zapt
Jane Greer	...	Antoinette de Mauban
Lewis Stone	...	The Cardinal
Robert Douglas	...	Michael, Duke of Strelsau
Robert Coote	...	Fritz von Tarlenheim
Peter Brocco	...	Johann
Francis Pierlot	...	Josef
James Mason	...	Rupert of Hentzau
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jay Adler	...	Customs officer (uncredited)
Eric Alden	...	Prison guard (uncredited)
Guy Bellis	...	Chamberlain (uncredited)
Emilie Cabanne	...	Lady with the Cardinal (uncredited)
Mary Carroll	...	German wife (uncredited)
Kathleen Freeman	...	Gertrud Holf (uncredited)
John Goldsworthy	...	Archbishop (uncredited)
William Hazel	...	Aide (uncredited)
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Detchard (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Uhlan guard at hunting lodge (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Lady Topham (uncredited)
Stanley Logan	...	Lord Topham (uncredited)
Peter Mamakos	...	De Gautet (conspirator) (uncredited)
Paul Marion	...	Uhlan guard at hunting lodge (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Joseph Mell	...	Railroad guard (uncredited)
Forbes Murray	...	Dignitary (uncredited)
Manuel París	...	Nobleman (uncredited)
Bruce Payne	...	Chamberlain (uncredited)
Alex Pope	...	German husband (uncredited)
Hugh Prosser	...	Uhlan guard at hunting lodge (uncredited)
Gordon Richards	...	Dignitary (uncredited)
Stephen Roberts	...	Albert von Lauengram (uncredited)
Victor Romito	...	Aide (uncredited)
Elizabeth Slifer	...	Woman (uncredited)
George Slocum	...	Vendor (uncredited)
Michael Vallon	...	Passport official (uncredited)
Peter J. Votrian	...	Newsboy (uncredited)
Charles Watts	...	The porter (uncredited)
Bud Wolfe	...	Bersonin (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Thorpe

Writing credits (WGA)
John L. Balderston		(screenplay) and
Noel Langley		(screenplay)
Wells Root		(adaptation)
Anthony Hope		(novel "The Prisoner of Zenda")
Edward E. Rose		(dramatization) (as Edward Rose)
Donald Ogden Stewart		(additional dialogue) originally uncredited

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer

Original Music by
Alfred Newman

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg

Film Editing by
George Boemler

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons
Hans Peters

Set Decoration by
Richard Pefferle
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup creator

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sid Sidman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects
Richard Newcombe	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Jean Heremans	....	fencing master (uncredited)

Music Department
Conrad Salinger	....	music adaptor: Alfred Newman's 1937 score
Albert Sendrey	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Brower	....	technicolor color consultant
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #15979) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The film used the same basic script that was written for the 1937 David O. Selznick film version, The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), with Ronald Colman and Madeleine Carroll. Although many scenes and camera set-ups are exactly the same, there are notable differences.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the opening shot of the movie, showing a train labeled "The Orient Express," there are a couple of very, very tall, California-type palm trees in the background.

Quotes:

Rudolf Rassendyll: But surely, no woman in her right senses would prefer the duke to you.
Rupert of Hentzau: Women are never in their right senses, thank goodness!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Royal Flash (1975)

Extravagant Remake of 1937 Classic Nice, but...

Hollywood has always had a philosophy, that if a film makes money, either do a sequel, or remake it! While sequels are most common (offering original cast members, older and less believable in their roles, performing variations of the same plot that made the original film popular...usually less successfully...), remakes have a long history, as well, with some remakes an improvement over the original (John Huston's THE MALTESE FALCON far outshines both of the earlier sound versions), some just as good (1939's BEAU GESTE, with Gary Cooper, has as loyal an audience as Ronald Colman's silent version), and some truly disastrous (why anyone would even CONSIDER remaking Frank Capra's LOST HORIZON, much less turning it into a 70s MUSICAL, defies comprehension!)

MGM, in their 1952 remake of 1937's classic THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, tried to surpass the earlier version by creating a 'scene-for-scene' duplicate of the film, while utilizing some of their biggest stars in each role, reworking Alfred Newman's original score, and shooting it all in glorious Technicolor. The end result, however, was a mixed bag...

Stewart Granger, MGM's resident 50s swashbuckler, certainly was more athletic than Ronald Colman in the lead, but lacked the older actor's panache, and more importantly, 'The Voice', that distinctive, oft-imitated but never duplicated speaking voice that made Colman so unique. It still wins hearts, nearly 50 years after his death, and was the reason Colman made the transition from a star of silent pictures to sound so effortlessly. While Deborah Kerr was as regally beautiful as Madeleine Carroll, she lacked the fragile quality that made Carroll's doomed love of the commoner Colman so heartbreaking. Louis Calhern, in C. Aubrey Smith's role, as Col. Zapt? No way! Robert Coote replacing David Niven as Fritz had some novelty value, as both would costar, twelve years later, in the television series, THE ROGUES, but the younger Niven was far more appropriate in the role of a young but loyal assistant to Zapt. While Robert Douglas was every bit as sinister as Raymond Massey as Black Michael, the most disastrous miscasting came with the film's other major villain, Rupert of Hentzau. While James Mason was a truly gifted actor, he was too old, and actually too villainous in the role! While the character has to be truly jaded and unscrupulous, he also has to be such a young, likable scoundrel that his escape, after the climactic duel, disappoints no one, not even the hero he nearly defeats. The role ideally suited Douglas Fairbanks Jr., whose prowess with a sword was unmatched, and whose scenes with Colman were instant classics of sophisticated wit. When Granger and Mason repeated the same lines, their exchanges came across as typical 'good guy vs. bad guy' dialog, lacking the unique chemistry Colman and Fairbanks brought to the roles.

As for shooting the film in Technicolor...While the regal color photography certainly made the Palace scenes more impressive (don't forget, Great Britain was crowning Elizabeth as Queen when the remake was released, and American audiences were rabid Anglophiles, totally enthralled by all the Pomp and Circumstance), it also 'dated' the story, making the adventure seem quaint and old-fashioned in the Cold War era. The black-and-white photography of 1937, with it's masterful use of light and shadow, gave the earlier version a timeless quality it still carries to this day.

David Niven, in his autobiography ('The Moon's a Balloon'), said he thought MGM's remake was a ridiculous idea, and that he was pleased that the newer production, even as a scene-for-scene copy, failed. While I think he was, perhaps, too hard on the Granger film, I have to agree that no other version has ever even come close to the magic of Ronald Colman's 1937 classic!