The Prisoner of Zenda

The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, first published in 1894. It tells the story of a man who has to impersonate a king, who he happens to closely resemble, when the king is abducted by enemies on the eve of his coronation.

Adaptations

The novel has been adapted many times for film and television, the best-known screen version being the 1937 film. It stars Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor, David Niven and Douglas Fairbanks Jr..

Related Topics:
1937 - Ronald Colman - Madeleine Carroll - C. Aubrey Smith - Raymond Massey - Mary Astor - David Niven - Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

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The movie was adapted by Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue) Ben Hecht (uncredited) and Sidney Howard (uncredited) from the novel and the adapted play by Edward E. Rose. It was directed by John Cromwell.

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Wells Root - John L. Balderston - Donald Ogden Stewart - Ben Hecht - Sidney Howard - Edward E. Rose - John Cromwell

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The script's basis in the 1895 stage-version is readily apparent: there is little attempt to open up the story. The emphasis is very much on romance and adventure, rather than on the political thriller aspects of the story.

Related Topics:
Romance - Adventure

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It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Music, Score. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

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Academy Awards - Best Art Direction - Best Music, Score - Library of Congress - National Film Registry

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The Prisoner of Zenda has been made several other times:

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• 1913 - Starring James K. Hackett, Beatrice Beckley, David Torrence, Fraser Coalter, William R. Randall and Walter Hale. Adapted by Hugh Ford and directed by Ford and Edwin S. Porter.
• 1915 - Starring Henry Ainley, Gerald Ames, George Bellamy, Marie Anita Bozzi, Jane Gail, Arthur Holmes-Gore, Charles Rock and Norman Yates. It was adapted by W. Courtney Rowden and directed by George Loane Tucker
• 1922 - Starring Ramon Novarro, Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, Robert Edeson, Stuart Holmes, Malcolm McGregor and Barbara La Marr. It was adapted by Mary O'Hara and directed by Rex Ingram.
• 1952 - Starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Louis Calhern, Jane Greer, Lewis Stone, Robert Douglas, James Mason and Robert Coote. It was adapted by Edward E. Rose, (dramatization) Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Noel Langley and Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue) (originally uncredited). It was directed by Richard Thorpe.
• 1979 - A comic version, starring Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick, Lionel Jeffries, Elke Sommer, Gregory Sierra, Jeremy Kemp, Catherine Schell, Simon Williams and Stuart Wilson. It was adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and directed by Richard Quine.

Looser adaptations

The 1965 comedy film The Great Race included an extended Zenda-like subplot, including a climactic fencing scene between Tony Curtis and Ross Martin that surpasses any in the serious film adaptations of the novel.

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1965 - The Great Race - Tony Curtis - Ross Martin

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The 1970 Flashman book Royal Flash, by George MacDonald Fraser, is a pastiche of The Prisoner of Zenda which purports to explain the real story behind the novel. Otto von Bismarck and other historical characters such as Lola Montez are involved in the plot. Royal Flash was released as a movie in 1975. It was directed by Richard Lester and starred Malcolm McDowell as Flashman, Oliver Reed as Otto von Bismarck.

Related Topics:
1970 - Flashman - Royal Flash - George MacDonald Fraser - Otto von Bismarck - Lola Montez - 1975 - Richard Lester - Malcolm McDowell - Oliver Reed

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The 1978 Doctor Who serial The Androids of Tara was consciously based on Zenda. It used a similar plot and setting, with the added complication of android doubles of several key characters.

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1978 - Doctor Who - The Androids of Tara - Android

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The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc., a 1996 made-for-television version, is set in the modern-day United States and revolves around a high school age boy who is the heir to a large corporation. It stars Jonathan Jackson, Richard Lee Jackson, William Shatner, Don S. Davis, Jay Brazeau and Katharine Isabelle.

Related Topics:
1996 - Television - High school - Jonathan Jackson - Richard Lee Jackson - William Shatner - Don S. Davis - Jay Brazeau - Katharine Isabelle

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Dave, a 1993 movie, is also set in the modern day United States. It tells the story of a double for the President (Kevin Kline) who is convinced to impersonate him when he has a stroke. The imposter discovers and helps take down corrupt officials in the government -- including the President that he is pretending to be. Sigourney Weaver plays the first lady, whose role echoes that of the Princess in the original. Other stars include Frank Langella, Ving Rhames, Ben Kingsley, and Laura Linney. It was written by Gary Ross and directed by Ivan Reitman.

Related Topics:
1993 - Kevin Kline - Sigourney Weaver - Frank Langella - Ving Rhames - Ben Kingsley - Laura Linney - Gary Ross - Ivan Reitman

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The anime series ' borrows much from the Hope novel. In this series, a boy and his friends are transported to another world where he bears a strong resemblance to a missing princess and reluctantly agrees to impersonate her.

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In fiction, The Zenda Vendetta (Time Wars Book 4) by Simon Hawke (1985) is another science fiction version, part of a series which pits 27C terrorists the Timekeepers against the Time Commandos of the US Army Temporal Corps. One of the Commandos fills the hero's role, while Antoinette's rôle is filled (after a fashion) by a Timekeeper dominatrix. However, the author seems to have been unaware of the existence of a sequel to the original, which is made impossible by some of his interpolations in the canon. He also changes the political and social divisions within Ruritania, and - like some of the previous film versions - relocates it to the Balkans.

Related Topics:
Simon Hawke - 1985 - Science fiction - Ruritania - Balkans

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After Zenda by John Spurling (1995) is a modern adventure, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, in which Karl, the secret great-grandson of Rudolf Rassendyll and Queen Flavia, goes to post-Communist Ruritania, where he gets mixed up with various rebels and religious sects before ending up as constitutional monarch. However, this could have easily been made to stand on its own feet without relying the Ruritania mythos: again, the geographical setting and time-period of the events in the original Anthony Hope canon have been changed.

Related Topics:
John Spurling - 1995 - Ruritania - Anthony Hope

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