Royal Flash (1975)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

George MacDonald Fraser (novel)
George MacDonald Fraser (screenplay)

Release Date:

October 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

See Capt. Harry Flashman surrender his way to victory!

Plot:

Ne'er-do-well Harry Flashman is coerced by Otto von Bismark into impersonating a prince. |

Plot Keywords:

British Soldier | Royal Impersonator | 1800s | Beautiful Woman | 19th Century

Cast

Malcolm McDowell	...	Captain Harry Flashman
Alan Bates	...	Rudi Von Sternberg
Florinda Bolkan	...	Lola Montez
Oliver Reed	...	Otto von Bismarck
Tom Bell	...	De Gautet
Joss Ackland	...	Sapten
Christopher Cazenove	...	Eric Hansen
Henry Cooper	...	John Gully MP
Lionel Jeffries	...	Kraftstein
Alastair Sim	...	Mr. Greig
Michael Hordern	...	Headmaster
Britt Ekland	...	Dutchess Irma
Richard Pearson
Alan Howland
Bob Hoskins	...	Police Constable

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Bedford School, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Arthur Lowe was cast in this film but was replaced.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Harry Flashman: So, the last thing I have to tell you young fellows is this: play up and play the game, honor your queen and country, mind what your masters tell you, say your prayers each night, keep your minds and your bodies clean, take a cold bath each day, and you'll find you can always look the world in the eye like an English gentleman...

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Captures the spirit of the most underrated novel series ever.

This is a fun flick. I've always liked the humorous fighting style that director Richard Lester brings to his films (The Three Musketeers/Superman I and II/Robin and Marion). This rollicking tale has a dash of that as well as the comic timing of Malcolm McDowell and the grandiose aspirations to rip off "The Prisoner of Zenda" in roundabout fashion.

Royal Flash is an adaptation of the second novel of George MacDonald Frasier's hilarious historical fiction series about the 19th century British officer Harry Flashman, an admitted rogue and coward who always seems to end up smelling like roses. By placing Flashman in settings right out of history and populating his stories with real historical figures Mr Frasier has found the perfect way to inform as he entertains.

The film follows Flashman from a torrid affair with the sadistic Lola Montez to a chance meeting with Otto von Bismark before sending him on a wild journey to a small European province where he's forced to imitate a prince and marry a princess and...

Royal Flash is a good movie and I wish it had reached a wider audience so that I could have seen more of Harry Flashman on the screen. It is one of the weaker novels in the series, but plays well on film. McDowell is a perfect fit and the great Oliver Reed makes a convincing and intimidating Bismark.

8.5 out of 10, but I'm admittedly biased. Seek out the movie, then read the books. Or vice-versa. You won't be disappointed.