The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) DVD9
on August 4th, 2015 at 08:43
By 1937, The Prisoner of Zenda was already an old warhorse of a property. The 1894 novel by Anthony Hope was adapted for the Broadway stage by playwright Edward Rose in 1895, and that was quickly followed by a West End production. Over the next 15 years, it was revived on stage at least four times. The first film version, a 4-reeler, was produced in 1913; Metro remade it with Lewis Stone in 1922. More stage revivals, including a musical version, followed, until producer David O. Selznick decided in the 1930s that the time was right for a sound version.
The story is set in a fictional Balkan nation, in the province of Zenda. When the country's King Rudolf V is drugged and kidnapped by his jealous brother, Rudolf's English cousin - who happens to be vacationing in Zenda and also happens to be an exact double of the King - is found and substituted for the real thing. But when he learns what's really going on, he fights to restore the proper King to the throne.
DVD9 | NTSC 4:3 | 01:40:42 | 4.85 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Director: John Cromwell, W.S. Van Dyke
Cast: Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith
Country: USA
Extras:
• Pete Smith Specialty Short: "Penny Wisdom"
• Cartoon: "The Wayward Pups"
• Radio Adaptation Starring Ronald Colman