In the shadow of the crown

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Movie
German title In the shadow of the crown
Original title The Prisoner of Zenda
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1952
length 90 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Richard Thorpe
script John L. Balderston and Noel Langley
production Pandro S. Berman / MGM
music Alfred Newman
camera Joseph Ruttenberg
cut George Boemler
occupation

In the Shadow of the Crown is an American feature film from 1952 . It is based on the novel The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope . The film was later shown on television under this title.

action

It is on the eve of the coronation of Rudolf V of Ruritania . On the hunt, the designated king meets Rassendyll, a young Englishman who is like one egg to another. They drink in competition. Rudolf wins, but is found unconscious the next morning. Somebody must have put something in the wine for him.

As it turns out, that was Rudolf's stepbrother Michael, who himself is striving for the crown and the future Queen Flavia.

Rudolf's followers only see one way out: as long as the rightful heir to the throne is not in his right mind, Rassendyll should play his role. He can be persuaded to do so, becomes king and has Flavia as his wife. Apart from the few initiated, nobody knows the true identity of the new ruler, even Flavia notices anything. So far she had only known Rudolf, her future husband, very briefly.

Rudolf's stepbrother Michael, however, who is unscrupulously supported in his intrigues by Count Hentzau (James Mason), sees through the game. He kidnaps the real king, who is still unconscious, as a prisoner to Zenda Castle.

Rassendyll is forced to continue the game. He falls in love with Flavia, who in turn wonders how approachable and friendly her husband has become. So far she only remembered her fiancé as an unpleasant contemporary. But now she is beginning to love her husband.

The supposed king and his men initially search in vain for the disappeared, until Michael's lover Antoinette (Jane Greer), who jealously observes his efforts to get Flavia, avenges herself and betrays the dungeon. While Rudolf's liberators secretly enter the castle, Count Hentzau engages them in a love scene in order to distract him. Michael surprises the two of them, a fight ensues and he is killed.

The fighting has broken out in the castle. Rudolf is in danger of death, but Rassendyll can save him at the last moment. And in a rousing degenduell, Hentzau and Rassendyll follow each other across the rooms of the castle. When reinforcements arrive for Rassendyll, Hentzau jumps out of the window into the moat.

Rudolf - now visibly matured into a real king - takes over his office. For Rassendyll and Flavia it is time to say goodbye, because she renounces her personal happiness for the crown and country.

Cross references

  • The film is an exact copy of the 1937 film adaptation by producer David O. Selznick and directed by John Cromwell , with Ronald Colman in the lead role. According to Selznick, a Moviola with the 1937 version is said to have been placed in the studio of the remake director Richard Thorpe and shot exactly scene by scene.
  • Deborah Kerr and Stewart Granger played together in two other films: King Solomon's Diamonds and The Heir apparent .
  • Louis Calhern (Zapf) and James Mason (Hentzau) also played with Deborah Kerr in Julius Caesar . Calhern was Caesar, Mason was Brutus, Caesar's murderer, and Kerr - in a minor supporting role - the portia.
  • Lewis Stone starred in the 1922 version of the film. In this version from 1952 he embodied the cardinal.
  • Alfred Newman was the most successful film composer and arranger of his time. He won the Oscar nine times.

Reviews

"The history of an operetta, sometimes told with mocking pleasure in European courtly ceremonies."

- Lexicon of international film

“Humorous and lively entertainment like an operetta. Partly too bloody for younger people. "

- 6000 films

“Remake of the classic from 1937 (...); Played respectably, nice show values. (Rating: 2½ out of 4 possible stars - above average) "

- Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz : Lexicon "Films on TV"

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lexicon of International Films . CD-ROM edition. Systhema, Munich 1997
  2. ↑ 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 209
  3. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier, Berndt Schulz: Lexicon "Films on TV" . Extended new edition. Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 280