The only ingredient missing in THE PRISONER OF ZENDA ('37) is Technicolor, but it's masterfully photographed by James Wong Howe in glorious B&W and the cast is exceptionally fine.
The story is the familiar one about a man forced to masquerade as a King of a fictional country (Ruritania) while all sorts of intrigue and cunning schemes are going on at the palace. RONALD COLMAN has the central role and MADELEINE CARROLL is the gorgeous aristocratic Princess Flavia that he falls in love with.
Produced in lavish style by David O. Selznick, with stirring music by Alfred Newman and directed by John Cromwell, it's the sort of escapist entertainment audiences needed then--and now.
DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR. plays the wicked Rupert of Hentzau with devilish charm, the man who is in on an audacious plan to hold the real King Rupert hostage for ransom, and RAYMOND MASSEY does his usual villainous turn as Michael, the prisoner of Zenda's brother, the man who wants the throne for himself. In a small role as Massey's wife, MARY ASTOR makes almost no impression at all.
On the debit side, there's a strictly 1930's storybook flavor to the way the story is told, particularly the love scenes between Colman and Carroll. Their histrionics get a little too over-heated during that final scene during which her nobility in willing to forget "a moment of madness" seems more like a story contrivance. True love never does run smooth, not here and not in Shakespeare.
The duel between Colman and Fairbanks is well staged and makes an exciting finale for a slow-paced tale that becomes a bit too talky at times. Still, despite obvious drawbacks, it's an entertaining story told with a dashing amount of romance and intrigue. Madeleine Carroll was never more beautiful.
The story is the familiar one about a man forced to masquerade as a King of a fictional country (Ruritania) while all sorts of intrigue and cunning schemes are going on at the palace. RONALD COLMAN has the central role and MADELEINE CARROLL is the gorgeous aristocratic Princess Flavia that he falls in love with.
Produced in lavish style by David O. Selznick, with stirring music by Alfred Newman and directed by John Cromwell, it's the sort of escapist entertainment audiences needed then--and now.
DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, JR. plays the wicked Rupert of Hentzau with devilish charm, the man who is in on an audacious plan to hold the real King Rupert hostage for ransom, and RAYMOND MASSEY does his usual villainous turn as Michael, the prisoner of Zenda's brother, the man who wants the throne for himself. In a small role as Massey's wife, MARY ASTOR makes almost no impression at all.
On the debit side, there's a strictly 1930's storybook flavor to the way the story is told, particularly the love scenes between Colman and Carroll. Their histrionics get a little too over-heated during that final scene during which her nobility in willing to forget "a moment of madness" seems more like a story contrivance. True love never does run smooth, not here and not in Shakespeare.
The duel between Colman and Fairbanks is well staged and makes an exciting finale for a slow-paced tale that becomes a bit too talky at times. Still, despite obvious drawbacks, it's an entertaining story told with a dashing amount of romance and intrigue. Madeleine Carroll was never more beautiful.