The Prisoner of Zenda

An amusing parody about the commoner forced to impersonate a beleaguered and weak king . This The prisoner of Zenda¨ (1979) by Richard Quine boasts a good cast with Peter Sellers , Lionel Jeffries , Elke Sommer , Lynn Frederick , among others . This is a story of royal romance , humor with tongue-in-cheek , as well as breathless and flashing sword play . This is a fun swashbuckler concerning an innocent cabbie , Rudolf V's identical double , in a small European country , as he results to be the exact doppleganger of its king and gets involved in a murder plot . In order to save King Rudolph of Ruritania from assassins and murderous usurpers , the kingdom aristocrats hire a look-a-like London man to impersonate the Monarch . Sellers stars in the double role of Prince Rudolph of Ruritania and a cockney cab driver named Syd (Peter Sellers) when the Prince is jailed by his nasty brother (Jeremy Kemp) to take the throne .Is the cabbie the King or is the King the cabbie ? Confusion reigns in Ruritania.

His is a slight and budgeted enough retelling about the durable Anthony Hope's novel with all-star-cast . Stars Sellers who plays the nobleman forced to impersonate a king in a mythical European country , as he's asked to risk his life and impersonate the would-be king when his relative is kidnapped before his impending coronation , a situation that rises to some moments from which filmmaker Richard Quine manages to extract intrigue , humor and tension enough . A warm and comical movie despite the lack of critical acclaim , it is packed with derring-do , suspense , a sensitive love story , action , drama and thrilling as well as dazzling swordplay . And , of course, lots of gags and sketches , some of them funny but in the movie lacks a real freshness , including grotesque situations and above all , it especially contains catching touches of humor and irony . Resulting to be an entertaining and zany swashbuckling with lavish production financed by Walter Mirish , glamorous gowns , lively musical score by Henry Mancini , brilliant photography by Arthur Ibbetson and luxurious settings . Sellers is not too fun as the foppish king , but nice as the London cabby who steps into his shoes . In spite of it , Sellers gives a hilarious acting , but inferior than other previous classic roles by playing a look-alike communer who stands in for the endagered king of Ruritania . The fifth of six movie versions of Anthony Hope's famous adventure that failed at box office at its day . This is a flashy Technicolor remake of the notorious and better 1937 Ronald Colman and 1952 Stewart Granger retellings . As the tale carries its excitement with thrills , noisy action , swashbuckling , hilarious scenes , an attractive romance and anything else . Cast and support cast are frankly excellent , such as Jeremy Kemp who's stylishly over-the-top as the main villain, the jealous brother , Stuart Wilson whose Rupert of Hentzau is a well-modulated spoof of Douglas Fairbanks Jr , as well as Lionel Jeffries ; furthermore , three gorgeous actresses as Elke Sommer , Catherine Schell and the early deceased Lynne Frederick who in real-life married Peter Sellers .

There are several versions about this classy story , these are the following ones : ¨The prisoner of Zenda¨(1922) by Rex Ingram with Lewis Stone , Alice Terry , Robert Edeson , Stuart Holmes , Ramon Novarro . ¨The Prisoner of Zenda¨ (1937) by John Cromwell with Ronald Colman as Major Rudolf Rassendyll / The Prisoner of Zenda , Madeleine Carroll as Princess Flavia , C. Aubrey Smith , Raymond Massey . ¨Prisoner of Zenda ¨(1952) with Stewart Granger , James Mason, Louis Calhern, Robert Coote , Janet Leigh.

Peter Sellers made a career mining humor and whimsy from weakish scripts; problem is you have to look hard to find those lesser-if-worthy vehicles where his performances make a major difference, and when you do, you may feel disappointed anyway. But give something like "The Prisoner Of Zenda" a chance, and you may be entertained, albeit fitfully.

With the sudden death of Ruritania's ruler Rudolf IV, the crown falls to his clueless, lascivious twit of a son. Already being hunted by a cuckolded count (Gregory Sierra), Rudy (Sellers) now must also escape the murderous attentions of his half-brother Michael (Jeremy Kemp) and his confederates. But help arrives from an unlikely place, a hansom cab driver named Sidney (also Sellers) who is the spitting image of Rudy. Sidney goes along for the sake of a comfortable sinecure for his aging horse, but soon wonders if "this king game" is worth the risk.

The clock was running out on poor Sellers, and you can see it. The old manic energy that once drove him visibly flickers as you watch him here. Making his life's dream "Being There" was just around the corner, but being Sellers, he couldn't resist another trip to the light- comedy well first for some quick cash.

"You might have noticed the king has trouble with his R's," Sidney is told, referencing the speech impediment which Sellers employs when playing "Wudy."

"Yeah, I had that once," Sidney replies. "You get it from sitting on damp grass."

That's about the apogee for the one-liners offered in "Zenda," which coasts along more on ambiance, colorful supporting characters, a glittery Henry Mancini score, and Sellers impressing by working the corners effectively in his two starring roles. He plays Sidney especially with the same lighter touch he would employ more effectively as Chance the Gardener in "Being There," this time channeling Michael Caine rather than Stan Laurel.

I like this film, sometimes a lot, but it's not an easy one to defend. It starts out painfully slow, opening on the soon-to-be-departed Rudolf IV (Sellers again, in what amounts to a cameo in his own movie) taking a balloon ride to celebrate his 80th birthday, a sequence that involves him cackling a lot and playing with a telescope and a champagne bottle before literally ending with a wet splat when the doddering monarch does a full header into a well.

Scriptwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais don't offer much in the way of comic setpieces; for the most part they are content simply replaying the familiar "Zenda" storyline and sneaking in light humor where they can. After a while, a long while, it sort of works, as when Sidney finds himself caught in bed with Rudy's mistress and her very angry husband.

Sierra is very much over-the-top, but solidly so, as the avenging count, setting up various silly traps that end up hurting only him. Meanwhile, Lionel Jeffries and Simon Williams as a pair of Rudy's loyal aides enjoyably try to keep a reluctant Sidney working for them. Stuart Wilson makes a strong impression as the wicked but sporting Rupert, working against Rudy but playing his own side. His maniacal laugh is one of the movie's more amusing recurring bits.

Director Richard Quine supplies his twin Peters with the affectionate attentions of three leading ladies. Elke Sommer and Catherine Schell starred with Sellers in other films, while the third, Lynne Frederick, was at the time Sellers fourth wife, and would become his widow the following year. All add to the general merriment without standing out too much; Schell does so the most when she leads Sidney in an exchange of chicken imitations.

By this time, the movie finally kicks in as something worthwhile, but it may be too late for all but Sellers' faithful fans. As I count "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" as my all-time favorite film, I enjoyed the way "Zenda" works in the same spirit, Mancini music and pratfalls involving Sellers doubles abounding. There's even a scene between Sidney and regular Sellers cohort Graham Stark involving a growling dog that brings to mind one of "Strikes Again's" most remembered scenes, even getting its own agreeable payoff.

But if you aren't a Sellers fan going in, "Zenda" may not only fail to pull you in but leave you wondering what the fuss with him was all about. It's the subtle stuff that clicks for me, the little moments of grace and dignity from Sidney, and Rudy making randy with Sommer's stately torso ("We have mowtains to cwimb!") The real problem with "Zenda" is not its own fault, but the fact it was about all Sellers would have left to give in the way of silly comedy. I liked what I got, but wished it had been more.

This movie is only saved by the brilliant performance by Peter Sellers, the rest of the film are bad and repetitive jokes. Its a good film to see the genius of Sellers, but you'll have to suffer the movie.

This is pretty fun, there is a lot of things going on that become garbled especially toward the latter from the plot like badguys switching to be good guys suddenly? This is cancelled by the nonstop narrative that just becomes action of people battling and all that stuff and it is here there is a vortex of hypnotism as you just follow this narrative without thought but just action. As I check this I keep thinking this must be a mid-60s movie and am surprised to check the release here. If you like candlelit castle locales at night well this movie is for you.

The 1979 remake of Hope's Zenda story is a prime example of the sort of poor judgement Peter Sellers was so often subject to in his choice of films. The whole thing is roundly dispiriting to watch, and "palpably uneasy" as Halliwell's Film Guide comments. The script lacks any sense of the comic or adventurous that one would expect of a Zenda filming with Sellers. So often, exaggeration and chatter take the place of any sort of acting. Even Sellers, often impressive in such bad films, creates two very uninteresting characters, based it seems, solely on the rather stereotypical voices he creates for them. Other performances pass by, indistinguishable from each other and unwanted. John Laurie has nothing to do whatsoever, the token females are particularly dull... the whole thing is completely pointless and all too far from being enjoyable... Most certainly as bad, if not worse than the more derided "The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu". Rating:- */*****