Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 10-February-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)

The 1952 version of "The Prisoner of Zenda" is a spanking good time, although not quite as good as its 1937 predecessor. The shared virtues of these swashbucklers can be attributed to Anthony Hope's slim novel (first published in the 1890s) about an Englishman whose fishing trip to the fictional land of Ruritania takes a strange turn. This fellow, Rudolph Rassendyll, is not merely a subject of the British queen but the quintessential English gentleman, willing and able to assist a worthy cause at a moment's notice. Rassendyll's cause is nothing less than the future of Ruritania. He happens to be the spitting image of the country's crown prince, who is also named Rudolph yet much less of a gentleman. The look-alikes meet by chance and dine together the evening before the coronation, and after the prince is drugged by his evil half-brother Michael, Rassendyll steps in to accept the crown until the prince is recovered. But the one-day ruse becomes a prolonged and dangerous impersonation when Michael's even more evil henchman, Rupert of Hentzau, uncovers the switch and takes the real prince hostage. This sets up a cat-and-mouse game between the loyalists and those plotting the coup, while Rassendyll further imperils himself by falling in love with the king's intended bride.

The brisk plot offers a zesty stew of sniveling villains and brave noblemen (and women), which explains why it has been made into a movie several times. The 1952 version's individual strength lies in star Stewart Granger, a fine specimen of manhood who brings more bravado to the role of Rassendyll than Ronald Coleman did 15 years before (although Coleman better suits the story's claim that an English gentleman may be more fit to rule than royals of other blood). Granger is ably supported by Deborah Kerr as the rose he loves but is not meant to have, Louis Calhern as Colonel Zapt, right-hand man to kings, and James Mason as Hentzau, the true villain of the tale and a truly wicked one at that. Mason does not look Stewart's match in build, yet one can believe he is driven by pure bile during their very physical swordfight at the end. The only character one has trouble embracing is Michael's mistress, here played by Jane Greer. She represents the tragic devotion of a woman who loves unwisely, but Michael is such a loser that she suggests an improbable degree of lunacy rather than a touching feminine softness.

Still, immersing oneself in Ruritanian adventure is always a good way to pass a couple of hours. If you must have color film and a hero with a marvelous bod, the 1957 flick is the way to go.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.