The Prisoner of Zenda

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steve d @RT35616104 01/07/2023 Two Peter Sellers is two too many. See more 08/04/2018 Great looking film but you can see Sellers is ill and mad which scuppers a lot if good work from the other actors See more 03/08/2018 Inoffensive but dull retelling of the classic tale. Good cast. See more s r @ScottR 02/25/2017 Wasn't the best direction. See more 04/24/2012 Loosely based upon the adventure classic from 1894 by Anthony Hope, this comedy take on it was adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Richard Quine (How to Murder Your Wife (1965)), this is a routine comedy which is just an excuse for it's star to put on silly voices and do sub-Pink Panther slapstick all over again. Set in the European kingdom of Ruritania, the elderly Kind Rudolf IV (Peter Sellers) is killed in a hot air balloon accident, and the heir to the throne is his son Rudolf V (Sellers again), is currently residing in London, so General Sapt (Lionel Jeffries) and his nephew Fritz (Simon Williams) go to London to bring Rudolf home, however, Rudolf finds himself being targeted by an unseen assassin, and they're saved by London cab driver Syd Frewin (Sellers again), who bears an uncanny resemblance to Rudolf. Sapt has an idea, he convinces Sid to come with them to Ruritania, to act as a decoy for Rudolf. But, when Rudolf ends up being kidnapped by his evil half-brother Prince Michael (Jeremy Kemp), Sid ends up reluctantly taking on the role of king. It's a very silly and even for 1979, quite dated comedy-adventure, it's just a Pink Panther film disguised as a historical epic, and even Sellers is on auto-pilot thoughout, despite a cast including Norman Rossington, Elke Sommer, Graham Stark and John Laurie. When it comes to comedy versions of historical novels, Marty Feldman did it better with The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977) See more 04/15/2012 Resolved: The only thing more sublime than one Peter Sellers character in a film is two. See more Read all reviews

The Prisoner of Zenda

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