The Prisoner of Zenda

"The most thrilling swordfight ever filmed..."

1937 1h 41m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

★7.5TMDB · 62

RomanceAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.

“The most thrilling swordfight ever filmed...”

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Cast

Ronald Colman
Major Rudolf Rassendyll / The Prisoner of Zenda
Madeleine Carroll
Princess Flavia
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Rupert of Hentzau
Mary Astor
Antoinette de Mauban
C. Aubrey Smith
Colonel Zapt
David Niven
Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim
Raymond Massey
Black Michael
Montagu Love
Detchard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Cromwell
Writers: John L. Balderston, Edward E. Rose, Sidney Howard
Languages: French, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.0× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

89 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

AWARDS

Did you know

Directed by John Cromwell, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor James E. Newcom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ronald Colman and Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Cromwell directs. James Wong Howe behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. James E. Newcom cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 4.0× over at the box office.
389 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
5Directed by John Cromwell, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor James E. Newcom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Ronald Colman and Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The most thrilling swordfight ever filmed...".
10IMDB entry: tt0029442 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 62 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
12Classified under 26 themes, including "based on novel or book", "kingdom", "kidnapping", "coronation".

The technical file

Cinematography: James Wong Howe
Original score: Alfred Newman
Editing: James E. Newcom
Costume design: Ernest Dryden
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Status: Released
Budget: $1,250,000
Box office: $5,000,000
Return: 400% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Also by

John Cromwell

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-06-20
★ 7/10
Ronald Colman probably wishes he'd chosen another fishing venue as his "Maj. Rassendyll" arrives in the tiny kingdom of Ruritania just as it's king is about to be crowned. He might have suspected something when his border greeting seemed a bit formal, but a wander in the woods puts him face to face with the King - his doppelgänger if ever there was one. He is invited back to the hunting lodge for a glass or two and next thing he is rudely woken in the morning by the king's aide "Zapt" (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) and informed that the wine was drugged and nothing is going to wake the king anytime soon. Unless they are to allow his evil half-brother "Michael" (Raymond Massey) to ascend in his place then "Rudolph" is going to have to be a body double for the ceremony. With nerves wracking, he manages to get through the day but then they discover that the real king has now been kidnapped by his sibling and his own ruthless henchman "Rupert of Henzau" (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and the race is on to extricate the prisoner of Zenda and restore him to his throne. Just to add to the complications, the imposter is expected to court his soon-to-be bride the "Princess Flavia" (Madeleine Carroll) who has previously had little but disdain for her regal cousin. Once they've met, she doesn't have quite the same indifferent feelings about his stunt-double, nor he her, so with a bit of unwanted romance creeping into the plot poor old "Zapt" and his sidekick "Von Tarlenheim" (David Niven) have to walk quite a tightrope as they try to sort out this mess. Colman is on good form here as the honourable soldier and the rakish king and Fairbanks works well too as the devious baddie adept at the swordplay and some entertaining acrobatics. The last ten minutes concludes this enjoyable adventure quite excitingly with a bit of mischief and a deadly trap door... Great fun.

Production companies