The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) First Time Watching Reaction & Review
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2024
- First time reaction and brief review of the movie "The Prisoner of Zenda". Future Reaction Polls + Early Access + Exclusive Content. Available on Patreon: / alexachipman
CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
0:20 Reaction
16:05 Review
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This has to be one of the first roles of David Niven, who was at the time living as room mates with Errol Flynn.
I watched all these old films as a kid with my Dad in the '60s. Love them, great memories. You produce the best commentaries. You have no clue really what a special, unique person you are, do you? That's part of it though haha. God bless you, you make this old man feel like the human race has a future. I am mostly disappointed you see.
And the BEST version. .. although any Ronald Colman film nears auto-masterpiece.
Oh no! The wrong sleeves? I might have known, lol. But seriously I do enjoy your authoritative fashion comments. I've never seen the whole film but I recall a little from David Niven's engaging memoirs, especially his giggling fits with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. This was Niven's first featured role, I believe. Ronald Coleman made a very successful transition to talkies thanks to his resonant voice while other big stars fell by the wayside. And yes, Mary is well cast, and C. Aubrey Smith was a distinctive character actor who owned every scene he was in. Nice one again, Alexa. You're never afraid to tackle material some would find antiquated or eccentric..
Noticed you didn't react to David Niven's name in the credits - which makes me suspect you may not have seen a lot of his movies too. In which case, you may want to check out A Matter of Life and Death - one of the best movies made during WW2 - it's quite magical. Of course, I could be completely wrong, and you've seen it - in which case - Life and Death of Colonel Blimp!
Great reaction, Alexa!!! You’re deep in the mix now, watching a film of this caliber, with a cast, headed by Ronald Coleman. I love this movie. It’s in my yearly movie rotation schedule. The first time that an audience watched Gone With The Wind at a preview in a theater in Riverside, CA in Sept. 1939, the music for the soundtrack hadn’t been composed yet, so they laid in the music from this film. Ronald Coleman's voice is legendary. He won the Oscar for Best Actor, portraying an actor, in A Double Life (1948).
Actually there ist a name vor this kind of stories, it's called "Ruritanian Adventures", named after this very story by Anthony Hope. He even wrote a sequel to his novel called "Rupert of Hentzau". Not as succesful as the first part but it brings the whole story to a conclusion.
The Anthony Hope novel, as well as its sequel, is in public domain and available online for free. One thing I like about the novel is it tries to make the identical cousins conceit credible. It is pointed out that you could tell the difference between the King and Rassendyll if they stood next to each other. Also, the King had up till recently worn a heavy beard so most people didn't know what he looked like clean-shaven. Also, both of them had inherited red hair and a sharp nose from their common ancestor.
One element from the novel not used in either this version or the 1952 remake is the fact that Rassendyll was a young man in his twenties. The trip was one last adventure before settling down to a respectable profession.
One swashbuckler I think you'd like that often gets overlooked is Scaramouche (1952). It stars Stewart Granger who starred in the Zenda remake and to my mind it has one of the greatest sword fights in movie history. It also centers around a commedia dell'arte troupe and I have a feeling you'd have a lot of interesting comments about that.
Love that film - one of the best sword duels I’ve seen!
It is a very witty and playful film, with an excellent cast. The dialogue is very memorable: "You'll never get providence interested in this enterprise!" But it is more an adventure film than the typical swashbuckler of the 1930's. I'm more a fan of the Warner Brothers' Errol Flynn/Michael Curtiz swashbucklers. The difference is that there are a number of elements that George Lucas took inspiration from in the Flynn films for 'Star Wars'. 'Prisoner of Zenda' is something quite different. That's not meant as a criticism. The 1950's re-make, with Granger and Mason, is almost a shot for shot duplication, only in colour.
So, my mother's favorite actor was Ronald Colman. Before I was born, when my parents were deciding on a name for a boy, my mother asked my dad to name the boys in his 5th grade class. When he got to Ronald, my mother said, "That's it!" (Or words to that effect.)
I love grand old swashbuckling adventure films. They always have this sense of "We are going to entertain you with charming heroes, vile villains, sword fights, treachery, sneaking, secrets, etc". I think the genre name could be called Old Fashioned, Costumed Adventure?
I would say that’s the overarching genre - which is awesome - but the romance subplot ends in all sorts of ways. For example in Robin Hood, he ends up happily with Maid Marian. This is a more specific sub-genre where one or both the protagonists chooses duty over love, and they are separated forever.
@@alexachipman Yeah that fits.
@@alexachipman cool 😎
The genre has sometimes been called "Ruritanian romance" after the country in the film. Especially romance mixed with intrigue in a historical type setting.
If you want a version where they switch places for ever, I would recommend the prisoner of Zenda 1979. it streis from the book quite a bit, but is definitely an entertaining watch
There is indeed a name for this genre of romantic adventure. The publication of The Prisoner of Zenda sparked a whole spate of similar adventure stories, set in fictional central European kingdoms. These were known as "Ruritanian Romances" after the fictional country in TPoZ. A year after its publication, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote an operetta set in the fictional Grand Duchy of Pfenig-Halbpfenig; in Hungary, Ferenc Molnar wrote a number of plays with a Ruritanian setting, the most famous of which is The Swan, which was filmed in the 1950s with Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness and Louis Jourdan - you might enjoy giving it a watch. If you enjoyed The Prisoner of Zenda, I'd recommend reading the sequel, 'Rupert of Hentzau' which Anthony Hope wrote a few years after 'The Prisoner of Zenda'. it very much picks up the idea of "Fate doesn't always make the right man king" and centres around the return or Rupert (as played by Douglas Fairbanks), with Rudolph Rassendyll again called upon to save the day. But be warned: if you think TPoZ had a weepy ending, you'll need boxes of klennex for the end of Rupert of Hentzau!
Good review, loved your’The Time Machine’ review too. After UFO, you ought to watch ‘Doppelgänger’ when you do 🤞 you’ll understand, it’ll finish UFO really well!
Enjoy!
I would coronate Miss Alexa as Her Royal Highness, Princess of RUclips!
I LOVE your response to this - it's one of my favourite films
Can I suggest you watch Ronald Colman in "A Tale of Two Cities " 1935
This is one of those plots that has been done by absolutely everybody, from _Hancock’s Half Hour_ to _Xena._
even Dr Who(The Androids of Tara,1978)
I wish you were my sister, so we could sit together on the couch and watch these movies, and throw popcorn at one another. great review
I love this movie. It is one that I have saved on my DVR. BTW weren't puffed sleeves all the rage in the 1900'/10's?. I was thinking her sleeves were too modern for the timeframe. But I don't follow fashion trends like you do, so I will defer to you.
Different bodice and skirt shape for early 1900s. 1890s were the big sleeve rage. By 1910 they were entirely flat.
Someone at work told me I have to watch a film called The Prisoner on Netflix. I don't have Netflix but I found this... I'm 99.9% sure they didn't mean the 1937 film called The Prisoner of Zenda, but I watched it anyway and it was surprisingly enjoyable. Which brings me to your channel.
Edit: Right, I'm pretty sure they meant "Prisoners", as in the 2013 Jake Gylenhall movie. Well there ya go.
I would say watch the tv series “The Prisoner” which is absolutely iconic!
❤🎉😮 Um it stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr, don't really need another reason to watch and appreciate this film. 😍🤩😋
you should watch"Broken Blossoms" by DW Griffith
Good movie 😊
12:00...Not very good at knife throwing? I thought that was a pretty decent attempt considering it was done on the fly. Mind you, you do seem to have a dislike for poor old Rupert (not sure why, I think he's a great villain/anti-hero) 😊
It's an excellent knife throw. Done at the spur of the moment. Fairbanks Jr has another knife throw in Gunga Din, also well done. A standout cast but for me the reason to rewatch is Douglas Fairbanks Jr. who is a spellbinding Rupert. He also did all his own stunts, including that leap into the moat. Years later, with his typical modesty, he said it was stunning because of the cameraman, James Wong Howe.
thank you for this rteaction .. ! have you ever considered doing the Hornblower series with Ioan Gruffudd
I could probably sit and recite it (including humming the music) without needing any footage 😂
@@alexachipman - so it would be a review, and not a reaction .. 8)
Please do a video reaction watching the boys season 3 episode 1🤯😂😂😂😂
Unfortunately "The Boys" is not really my cup of tea, but I respect people who enjoy it :)
Roman Holiday is another great old movie. 🥲 Dave, too (which is The Prisoner of Zenda set in 1990s America). There's even a Bollywood version called Prem Ratan Dhan Payo that I thought was fun.