I wonder about the purpose behind this remake. His evil charms usually come from being intelligent and sarcastically witty, and not from physical confrontations with knife and swordplay. One of the greatest, most under-rated, fear-inducing screen villains of his day, and here heвЂ™s just laughable. (He always is though, right?) Likewise, Deborah Kerr is one of the most delightful women to ever grace the screen, but she doesnвЂ™t bring enough to this film to pull it out of the depths of despair. Stewart Granger is perfectly suited for this type of role, and it doesnвЂ™t really matter that he doesnвЂ™t live up to Ronald ColmanвЂ™s performance because even copy-cat Granger is entertaining in this type of adventure film. Of course in all fairness, I have to speak of the acting in glowing terms. (Except for Deborah KerrвЂ™s dresses, but they donвЂ™t get much screen time anyway.) One thing that wasnвЂ™t copied exactly was the costumes, and they should have been, as the 1937 version excelled in this aspect and the 1952 filmвЂ™s costumes look like they were rented the night before shooting. WhatвЂ™s even worse is that it looks like a copy of an original, so the sharpness is lost, leaving nothing but a faded, dull film behind. Selznick for the rights to use his 1937 picture, the new filmmakers proceeded to use the same script, the same music score, and even many of the same camera angles, making вЂњThe Prisoner of ZendaвЂќ one of the most unoriginal films ever. What is interesting to note between the 1937 film and the 1952 film is that they really are the same movie. Also adding trouble to the already plagued situation is Princess Flavia (Deborah Kerr), who is betrothed to the future king, but now finds herself in love with the disguised Rassendyl. Rassendyl, along with the kingвЂ™s trusted friends (Louis Calhern & Robert Coote), put up a charade for the coronation, but things go wrong when the real king is kidnapped by one of MichaelвЂ™s cohorts, Rupert (James Mason). Enter his вЂњtwinвЂќ Rassendyl, who nobly takes the soon-to-be kingвЂ™s place until he awakes. (Actually, I suppose I should say completely identical.) After a night of heavy drinking and camaraderieВ together, the future king is drugged by his half-brother, Michael (Robert Douglas), leaving him unconscious for his coronation.

The plot remains a combination of coincidence and convenience as the soon to be king of a made-up country (Stewart Granger) meets his distant English cousin, Rassendyl (also Granger), who happens to look almost identical. In the case of Richard ThorpeвЂ™s вЂњThe Prisoner of ZendaвЂќ (1952), itвЂ™s definitely a matter of comparing the similarities to the 1937 version of Anthony HopeвЂ™s novel, as it is virtually the same movie, updated for a 1950вЂ™s audience. When a story has been filmed several times itвЂ™s interesting to examine the different versions to see how similar or different they ended up appearing.

The prisoner of zenda film