The Prisoner of Zenda (1979)

Directed by

Richard Quine

Genre

comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 48m

Rated

12

Rating

5.7 of 10 from 39 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A London cab driver who looks exactly like a king is recruited to take the king's place after the king is kidnapped. The cabbie gets caught up in a royal plot full of disguises and mistaken identity.

lightheartedsillyfast-pacedwhimsicalslapstickgiddyfarcemischievous

What happens

The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Richard Quine that stars Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick, Lionel Jeffries, Elke Sommer, Gregory Sierra, Jeremy Kemp, and Catherine Schell. It is adapted from the 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope. The novel tells the story of a man (Peter Sellers) who has to impersonate a king, whom he closely resembles, when the king is abducted by enemies on the eve of his coronation. The comedy was loosely adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. It has echoes of Hope's book and several other well-known novels, especially Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask. Sellers plays three roles: that of the Ruritanian King Rudolph V and the London cab driver Sydney Frewin who is brought in to portray the missing King with whom he shares an uncanny resemblance. Sellers also portrayed the aged King Rudoph IV at the start of the film, before he is killed in a hot air balloon accident. The score by Henry Mancini was a highlight of the film and gained some critical acclaim. It was also Quine's final film as a director and John Laurie’s final film performance before his death. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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