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Just perfect...

A different way of telling a story

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Ronald Colman displays oodles of charm and carries this rousing swashbuckler about a man who must impersonate a king when the real king is kidnapped by a bunch of nefarious ne'er do wells. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is also quite good as Colman's chief rival, and uses his own good looks and charm to effect. Raymond Massey is the villain in this one, while David Niven shows why he went on to become a major star. Madeline Carroll and Mary Astor are the damsels in distress."The Prisoner of Zenda" received two Oscar nominations in 1937, one for Lyle Wheeler's art direction and the other for Alfred Newman's score.Grade: A-

Of course so many versions have been made, like 10 Little Indians" that everyone knows the story, now, but a fairly original idea when it first appeared.I don't know how anyone can not like Coleman. He was outstanding in everything he did.Fairbanks is great as well, I wish he would have done the sequel, Rupert of Henslau!I can imagine seeing this film in the theater as a boy, what an impact it would have made. I wish Hollywood would give up some of the special effects, and frenetic pacing of so many films today, that never take time to develop the storyline or the characters, but jump from scene to scene every 30 seconds. Anyway, Stewart Granger is no match for Coleman, see this version if you never have. It should be on anyone's top 100 films list!

This is a great book brought to the screen. Ronald Colman is good in dual roles. He is a visiting Englishman who bears a striking resemblance to the soon to be crowned king. When the King's half brother drugs him, the Brit becomes the only option. If the king is not crowned, the crown reverts to the evil brother. Colman's character is now in command of the country and is to marry his cousins, played by Madeline Carrol. Because the substitute is better than the original, she is taken with him because he "has changed." Of course, Michael, the half brother, knows something is fishy, but he can't blow the whistle without implicating himself. For all who know this story, we can't have thing as they should be because of courtly law. It's a great book.

This movie is everything one wants in a movie action, romance, intrigue and this production hits it one the nose. The story is set in a kingdom where their is intrigue behind the proclamation of the new king. The story involves the man who would be king, his evil half brother and an interloper who is related distantly. Well the movie moves with speed and elan the princess is gorgeous and beguiling. The fight scenes are ripe with flare and bravado. The acting superb by the leads and the supporting cast superb. This movie is in the grandest stage of classic movie making as it takes good story material and makes it alive. To me as an avid movie watcher this is why sometimes older movies are great as the story and production are memorable unlike too many movies of this generation which seem to much copy and paste and generic.