The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

King Rudolf IV (Peter Sellers) crashes his balloon and dies falling into a well. General Sapt (Lionel Jeffries) and his nephew Fritz travel to London to retrieve the playboy son Rudolf V (Sellers) from a gambling house. The King's half-brother Michael sends an assassin to kill him. He's having an affair with the married Countess Montparnasse (Elke Sommer). Cab driver Frewin (Sellers) rescues him from an assassin. General Sapt hires Frewin as a coachman but really he's being used as a decoy without his knowledge. Frewin is attacked by Michael's men and the new King meets him. Rudolf is captured and imprisoned in Michael's castle of Zenda. Frewin is coronated instead but Rudolf's fiancée Princess Flavia (Lynne Frederick) notices the ruse.Peter Sellers is playing multiple roles once again. There is nothing wrong with the plot. It's functional as a drama except it has no intention of being one. As a comedy, there are very few laughs. It's late in director Richard Quine's career and maybe the laughs weren't in him anymore. The slapstick is lazy. The jokes aren't there.

I should probably begin this review by mentioning my familiarity of the source material - or rather, the lack of it. I have never read the novel, nor have I seen any of the previous film versions. Pretty much all I knew about "Zenda" before watching this movie was the basic premise. I also knew the story was originally serious in tone. But I was open to it being done in a comic fashion, because with stuff like mistaken identity, the premise did indeed have comic possibilities.Sadly, everyone involved with this movie drops the ball. I'll start with Sellers. I have found him funny in other movies, but he simply isn't funny here. His performance here simply lacks energy and seems sluggish. I do know he was having health problems at this point in his life, and this may explain his lack of enthusiasm.But even if Sellers was in top form here, it's unlikely he could have saved the movie. The movie is terribly directed - the slow-moving story feels as sluggish as Sellers. And when it comes to delivering the (very sporadic) comedy, there is a curious feel to it. The comedy feels like it's being directed by someone intentionally trying to make it as serious as possible. Though many of the gags would still be dead on arrival even with a top comedy director, since they are predictable and very familiar.Judging by the ragged look of the old print Universal is currently using for the movie's television appearances, they are in no hurry to restore this movie. No wonder.

This must be one of his best movies. The movie was made on location in Austria. The Castle in Vienna is the real Schoenbrunn castle where the empire of the Habsburg monarchy ruled for almost a 1000 years. The sets are original and outstanding. Peter Sellers played a double role where he plays a London cab driver (coachman) Sydney Frewin who is a look a like of the crown prince Rudolf of Rurotania who's brother wants to get rid of him and take on the crown himself after the death of their father. The movie starts when the King dies celebrating his 80tiest birthday in a balloon. When he accidentally punctures his balloon with a cork from his Champaign bottle, plummets to the ground, his balloon gets tangled up onto a tree in a village square and then he finally falls into the well below while giving a speech to the locals from the tree in the balloon. Crown prince Rudolf's spends most of his time in the London Saloons but he must return to Rurtania where his life is in danger. The London cab driver, Sydney Freud is accidentally discovered as look a like by the crown princes assistant and send ahead to Rurotania as a decoy. Sydney Freud is unaware of the real reason why he was offered a good position in Rurotania till he arrives there. Prince Rudolf has an affair with a beautiful countess. When her husband the count discovers this he is also after the crown prince. As the real prince gets kidnapped, Sydney takes his place till the real prince can be recovered. Sydney can not understand at first why the count is always after him wanting to slit his throat.. There is too much to tell but the movie has a happy ending where Sydney Frewin becomes the King and the princess gets the man she really loves. The real crown prince Rudolf goes back to London this time as Sydney Freud where he does what he loves best. Visiting the London gambling clubs and maintaining his affair with the countess. Great family entertainment! The only bad thing about this movie is that it's not available.

The new king is a fop, and a London cabbie, who is a gem, looks just like him (the old king used to come to London for recreation) so the cabbie is hired to stand in for the king. While assassins try to kill him, the pretty lady sees him for what he is - and falls in love with him. I cannot give away the ending, it's too amazing.This movie is full of jokes of all kinds, from subtle funny looks, to hilarious switcheroos; I think Peter Seller's very best movie. He's very funny, from the slapstick to the dumb looks in strange situations, etc. He was abused in the Pink Panther movies - having to do the same jokes over and over. Here we see some different ones, and quite good too. "She did an owl!!!" "He did a chicken!!" "What are you doing?" "That's my secret chicken signal." "You can't do that; that's my secret chicken!!!" "Whooo whooo!!!" "Bok bok bok!!!" The principle actors do their parts very well. I find myself cheering for the valiant cabbie, what a dude! and disgusted by the foppy prince - and have to stop and realize, it's the same actor! The actresses are one thing they certainly should be: gorgeous. And some of the minor parts are really nicely played, too. "Take this." "What is it?" "It's a ring, stolen from the Hapsburgs. It's priceless." Jailer squints at it trying to decide if it's worth risking his life over, and drops it in the sewer. "Ow... got anything else?" The look on his face is perfect.And there are themes of vast import behind the story. We are all fops and gems, rolled into one; the gem part of us is a prisoner inside, and the fop is what the world has cultivated.I haven't seen much of the other movies based on this same book, but this one does the story justice, and adds the funny element. I'd say it well improves the book, which was a little too baroque for my tastes.This movie has the one flaw that it looks like it was made in the 40's or 50's: the special effects are cheap, like the king falling down the well - these people could have gotten those effects looking better, but they chose not to for some reason. Let's assume that it was because they loved the old time movies with those fake-looking special effects. I just think of it as quaint and relax and enjoy the show. Maybe they spent their budget on sets and costumes - a lot of them look pretty elaborate. My copy is a VHS I taped off of WKRP or somewhere one night - the music sounds like it's been thru the grinder - and I still watch it occasionally and enjoy it for its immense merit as a story, and the acting and the jokes. Actually the fights aren't all that bad. I actually like the one on top of the carriage. Pretty amusing... "We're driverless!!!" "Not while I'm here you're not!"