The Prisoner of Zenda

Author	Anthony Hope
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Publisher	Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (January 1, 2000)
Released	1894
Media Type	Print
Pages	400 (paperback)
ISBN	ISBN 014043755X

The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, first published in 1894. It tells the story of a man who has to impersonate a king, whom he happens to closely resemble, when the king is abducted by enemies on the eve of his coronation. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (490x800, 52 KB) Licensing This image is of a book cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned either by the artist who drew the cover or the publisher of the book. ... Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (February 9, 1863 _ July 8, 1933), better known as Anthony Hope was a British novelist, best remembered today for his short novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894, set in the fictional kingdom of Ruritania, a prequel The Heart of Princess Osra (a collection of short... Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (February 9, 1863 _ July 8, 1933), better known as Anthony Hope was a British novelist, best remembered today for his short novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894, set in the fictional kingdom of Ruritania, a prequel The Heart of Princess Osra (a collection of short...

The villainous Rupert of Hentzau gives his name to its 1898 sequel, included in some editions of the book. Rupert of Hentzau is a sequel by Anthony Hope to The Prisoner of Zenda, written in 1895 but not published until 1898. ...

The Ruritania books were extremely popular at the time they were published and inspired a host of imitations, including the Graustark novels by George Barr McCutcheon. Ruritania is a fictional kingdom in Central Europe which forms the setting for three novels by the writer Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894), The Heart of Princess Osra (1896), and Rupert of Hentzau (1898). ... A Ruritanian Romance is a story set in a imaginary Middle European or East European country, such as the Ruritania that gave the genre its name, in a time contemporary to the author. ... Graustark is a fictional country in Eastern Europe used as a setting for several novels by George Barr McCutcheon. ... George Barr McCutcheon (1866–1928) was an American novelist and playwright. ...

Plot synopsis

The protagonist is the Hon. Rudolf Rassendyll, younger brother of the Earl of Burlesdon and (through an ancestor's indiscretion) a distant cousin of Rudolf V, the new King of Ruritania (a fictional Germanic kingdom situated between the German and Austrian Empires). King Rudolf is a hard-drinking, feckless playboy, unpopular with the common people, but supported by the aristocracy, the Church, the army, and the wealthier classes in general. His political rival is his younger half-brother, Michael, Duke and Governor of Strelsau, the capital city. Michael has no legal claim to the throne because he is the son of their father's second, morganatic marriage: there are hints, regarding his swarthy appearance and Rassendyll's use of the word 'mongrel' to taunt him, that he may be part-Jewish. He is regarded as the champion of Strelsau's impoverished working-class, and is also popular in the countryside. (The morality of the novel - that propping up a dissolute despot is a 'good thing' - is disconcerting. It is possible that the author, something of an ironist, is playing with his readers, or perhaps wishes us to see Rassendyll as a not-entirely reliable narrator.) The protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. ... Ruritania is a fictional kingdom in Central Europe which forms the setting for three novels by the writer Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894), The Heart of Princess Osra (1896), and Rupert of Hentzau (1898). ... A morganatic marriage is a type of marriage which can be contracted in certain countries, usually between persons of unequal social rank (unebenbürtig in German), which prevents the passage of the husbands titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Irony is best known as a figure of speech (more precisely called verbal irony) in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is understood. ...

When Rudolf is abducted and imprisoned on Michael's orders, Rassendyll has to impersonate the King at his coronation. There are various complications, plots and counter-plots, with the schemings of Michael's mistress Antoinette de Mauban, and of the villainous henchman Rupert of Hentzau, and Rassendyll falling in love with Princess Flavia, the King's betrothed. The King is finally restored to the throne - but the lovers must part. Rupert of Hentzau is a sequel by Anthony Hope to The Prisoner of Zenda, written in 1895 but not published until 1898. ...

Adaptations

The novel has been adapted many times for film and television, the best-known screen version being the 1937 film.

1937 film

The black-and-white classic adaptation starred Ronald Colman (Rassendyll and King Rudolph), Madeleine Carroll (Princess Flavia), Raymond Massey (Duke Michael), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Rupert), Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith and David Niven. Black-and-white (or variations including Black and White) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media (see black-and-white). ... Ronald Colman (February 9, 1891 – May 19, 1958) was an English actor. ... Madeleine Carroll (February 26, 1906 - October 2, 1987) was a British actress, who was popular in the 1930s and 1940s. ... Raymond Massey photographed by Carl Van Vechten Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor. ... Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. ... Mary Astor (May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (known as Sir Aubrey Smith) (21 July 1863-20 December 1948) was an English cricketer and actor. ... David Niven was the second unofficial James Bond. ...

The movie was adapted by Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue) Ben Hecht (uncredited) and Sidney Howard (uncredited) from the novel and the adapted play by Edward E. Rose. It was directed by John Cromwell. W.S. Dyke re-shot the fencing scenes. American screenwriter John L. Balderston (1889 - 1954) specialised in writing plays and horror and fantasy scripts for movies. ... Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980) an American author and screenwriter, member of the Algonquin Round Table. ... Ben Hecht (February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was one of the most prolific of all Hollywood screenwriters, even though he professed disdain for the motion picture industry, and a human rights and Zionism activist. ... Sidney Coe Howard, born June 26, 1891 in Oakland, California, United States – died August 23, 1939 in Tyringham, Massachusetts, was a playwright and screenwriter who became the first person to win both a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award. ... John Cromwell (December 23, 1887 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor, producer and director. ... Russian Ivan Tourchine and American Weston Kelsey fence in the second round of the Olympic Mens Individual Épée event at the Helliniko Fencing Hall on Aug. ...

The script's basis in the 1895 stage version is readily apparent: there is little attempt to open up the story. The emphasis is very much on romance and adventure, rather than on the political thriller aspects of the story. Romantic love is a form of love that is often regarded as different from mere needs driven by sexual desire, or lust. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Music, Score. The score was composed by Alfred Newman. The rousing music was used for the sneak preview of Gone With The Wind in 1939. Academy Awards The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... From Rule Sixteen of the Special Rules for The Music Awards Original Score: An original score is a substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was a major American composer of music for films. ... Gone with the Wind is a 1939 film adapted from Margaret Mitchells 1936 novel of the same name. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Taglines:

• The most thrilling swordfight ever filmed...
• Romance and adventure to thrill you!''

Trivia

• The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

• Co-stars Raymond Massey and David Niven died on the same day: July 29, 1983

The Great Hall interior. ... The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other adaptations

The Prisoner of Zenda has been filmed several other times:

• 1913 - Starring James K. Hackett, Beatrice Beckley, David Torrence, Fraser Coalter, William R. Randall and Walter Hale. Adapted by Hugh Ford and directed by Ford and Edwin S. Porter, it was produced by Adolph Zukor and was the first production of the Famous Players Film Company.
• 1915 - Starring Henry Ainley, Gerald Ames, George Bellamy, Marie Anita Bozzi, Jane Gail, Arthur Holmes-Gore, Charles Rock and Norman Yates. It was adapted by W. Courtney Rowden and directed by George Loane Tucker
• 1922 - Starring Ramon Novarro, Lewis Stone, Alice Terry, Robert Edeson, Stuart Holmes, Malcolm McGregor and Barbara La Marr. It was adapted by Mary O'Hara and directed by Rex Ingram.
• 1952 - Starring Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Louis Calhern, Jane Greer, Lewis Stone, Robert Douglas, James Mason and Robert Coote. Stone, who played the lead in the 1922 version, has a minor role in this remake. It was adapted by Edward E. Rose, (dramatization) Wells Root, John L. Balderston, Noel Langley and Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue, originally uncredited). It was directed by Richard Thorpe. It is a shameless copy (identical shot for shot) of the 1937 film, the only difference being that it was made in Technicolor.
• 1979 - A comic version, starring Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick, Lionel Jeffries, Elke Sommer, Gregory Sierra, Jeremy Kemp, Catherine Schell, Simon Williams and Stuart Wilson. It was adapted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and directed by Richard Quine.

Edwin Stanton Porter (April 21, 1870 - April 30, 1941) was an influential early film pioneer. ... Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (January 7, 1873–June 10, 1976) was the founder of Paramount Pictures Studios, and one of the greatest film moguls of all time. ... Toronto ON-based Famous Players is a Canadian company which owns many movie theatres across Canada. ... Henry Hinchliffe Ainley (21 August 1879 - 31 Oct 1945) was an English Shakespearean stage and screen actor, and father of actors Richard Ainley and Anthony Ainley. ... George Bellamy was the rhythm guitarist from The Tornados and father of Matt Bellamy, from the successful British rock band, Muse. ... Ramón Novarro (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968) was a Mexican actor who achieved fame as a Latin lover in silent films. ... Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 - September 12, 1953) was an American actor. ... Alice Terry (July 29, 1899 - December 22, 1987) Born in Vincennes, Indiana, USA was an American actress who appeared in thirty-nine films between 1916-1933. ... Barbara La Marr Barbara La Marr (July 28, 1896 - January 30, 1926) was an American film actress. ... Rex Ingram (January 12, 1893 – July 21, 1950) was a film director, producer, writer and actor. ... Stewart Granger (May 6, 1913 – August 16, 1993) was an English film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. ... Deborah Kerr Deborah Kerr CBE (born 30 September 1921) is a Scottish actress and a recipient of an Academy Honorary Award for a motion picture career that has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance. ... Calhern in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Louis Calhern (born February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York; died May 12, 1956 in Japan) was an American actor. ... Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947). ... Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 - September 12, 1953) was an American actor. ... Image: eur. ... James Mason in North by Northwest. ... Robert Coote (with Robert Ryan) in Berlin Express Robert Coote (February 4, 1909 - November 26, 1982) was a London-born film actor. ... American screenwriter John L. Balderston (1889 - 1954) specialised in writing plays and horror and fantasy scripts for movies. ... Noel Langley (December 25, 1911 – November 4, 1980) was a motion picture screenwriter probably best known for being one of the screenwriters for The Wizard of Oz. ... Donald Ogden Stewart (1894-1980) an American author and screenwriter, member of the Algonquin Round Table. ... Richard Thorpe (February 24, 1896 - May 1, 1991) was an American film director. ... Logo celebrating Technicolors 90th Anniversary. ... Peter Sellers on The Muppet Show This is about the British actor; for the American director, see Peter Sellars. ... Lynne Frederick (July 25, 1954 – April 27, 1994) was a British actress. ... Lioniel Jeffries (born 10 June 1926 in London) is a British character actor and film director. ... Elke Sommer (born 5 November 1940) is a German born actor, entertainer, and artist. ... Latino actor Gregory Sierra was born January 25, 1941 in New York City. ... Jeremy Kemp (born 3 January 1935 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England is an actor. ... Catherine Schell as Nancy in On Her Majestys Secret Service Catherina Schell von Bauschlott (born July 17, 1944 in Budapest) is a Hungarian-born actress who rose to fame in various British film and television productions in the 1960s and 1970s. ... Simon Williams (born 16 June 1946 in Windsor Berkshire) is a British actor with many television and film roles. ... Stuart Wilson (born 25 December 1946, Guildford, England) is a British actor, who has appeared extensively on UK television and made the transition to Hollywood. ... Dick Clement (born September 5, 1937) is an English writer. ... Ian La Frenais, born 7 January 1937 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, is, in partnership with Dick Clement, one of the most influential television writers in Britain. ... Richard Quine (November 12, 1920 - June 10, 1989) was an American stage, film, and radio actor and film director. ...

Looser adaptations

Double Star (1956), a novel by Robert Heinlein, follows the efforts of actor Lorenzo Smythe, who is hired to act the part of kidnapped statesman John J. Bonforte. He travels to Mars to take part in a crucial ceremony that cannot be postponed (an echo of Rudolph's coronation) and prevents an interplanetary war. The real Bonforte is eventually found, but dies soon afterwards from a drug overdose administered by his kidnappers. Smythe then faces an agonizing choice: either stage Bonforte's death in public and slip back into his old life, or sacrifice his own identity and become the Bonforte he has come to admire greatly. Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most influential authors in the science fiction genre. ...

The 1965 comedy film The Great Race included an extended Zenda-like subplot, including a climactic fencing scene between Tony Curtis and Ross Martin that surpasses any in the serious film adaptations of the novel. Cover of the 2004 DVD release of The Great Race The Great Race is a 1965 semi-comical, semi-dramatic film directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. ... Roger Moore and Tony Curtis in The Persuaders! Tony Curtis (born June 3, 1925) is an American film actor. ... Ross Martin (March 22, 1920 - July 3, 1981) is an American actor most known for playing Artemus Gordon in the western TV series The Wild Wild West. ...

The 1970 Flashman book Royal Flash, by George MacDonald Fraser, is a pastiche of The Prisoner of Zenda which purports to explain the real story behind the novel. Otto von Bismarck and other historical characters such as Lola Montez are involved in the plot. Royal Flash was released as a movie in 1975. It was directed by Richard Lester and starred Malcolm McDowell as Flashman, Oliver Reed as Otto von Bismarck. Cover of Flashman Book Cover: Flash For Freedom ! Brigadier-General Sir Harry Paget Flashman V.C. K.C.B. is a fictional character originally created by the author Thomas Hughes in his semi-autobiographical work Tom Browns Schooldays, first published in 1857. ... Royal Flash is a 1975 movie based on George MacDonald Frasers second Flashman novel, Royal Flash. ... George MacDonald Fraser (born 1926 in Carlisle, England) is a writer of Scottish descent. ... For alternative meanings: See Bismarck (disambiguation). ... Eliza Rosanna Gilbert [1] (February 17, 1821 – January 17, 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez, was an Irish-born dancer and actress who became famous as an exotic dancer, courtesan and the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. ... Richard Lester (born January 19, 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a UK based film director famous for his work with The Beatles. ... Malcolm McDowell, circa 1974 Malcolm McDowell (born June 13, 1943) is an English actor. ... Oliver Reed (February 13, 1938 – May 2, 1999) was an English actor known for his macho image on and off screen. ...

The 1978 Doctor Who serial The Androids of Tara was consciously based on Zenda. It used a similar plot and setting, with the added complication of android doubles of several key characters. Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known only as The Doctor, who explores time and space with his companions, fighting evil. ... The Androids of Tara is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from November 25 to December 16, 1978. ... The android Data, portrayed by Brent Spiner, from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation An android is a robot made to resemble a human, usually both in appearance and behaviour. ...

The Zenda Vendetta (Time Wars Book 4) by Simon Hawke (1985) is another science fiction version, part of a series which pits 27th century terrorists the Timekeepers against the Time Commandos of the US Army Temporal Corps. One of the Commandos fills the hero's role, while Antoinette's rôle is filled (after a fashion) by a Timekeeper dominatrix. However, the author seems to have been unaware of the existence of a sequel to the original, which is made impossible by some of his interpolations in the canon. He also changes the political and social divisions within Ruritania, and - like some of the previous film versions - relocates it to the Balkans. Simon Hawke (born September 30, 1951) is an American author of mainly science fiction and fantasy novels. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Ruritania is a fictional kingdom in Central Europe which forms the setting for three novels by the writer Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894), The Heart of Princess Osra (1896), and Rupert of Hentzau (1898). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Dave, a 1993 movie, is also set in the modern day United States. It tells the story of a double for the President (Kevin Kline) who is convinced to impersonate him when he has a stroke. The imposter discovers and helps take down corrupt officials in the government -- including the President that he is pretending to be. Sigourney Weaver plays the first lady, whose role echoes that of the Princess in the original. Other stars include Frank Langella, Ving Rhames, Ben Kingsley, and Laura Linney. It was written by Gary Ross and directed by Ivan Reitman. Kevin Delaney Kline (born October 24, 1947 in St. ... Sigourney Weaver Sigourney Weaver (born Susan Alexandra Weaver on October 8, 1949 in New York City) is an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of Ripley in Alien (1979) and its sequels. ... Frank Langella (born January 1, 1940 in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American stage and film actor. ... Ving Rhames, seen here as computer hacker Luther Stickell from the film Mission: Impossible. ... Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943) is an English actor. ... Laura Linney (born February 5, 1964 in New York City) is an American actress. ... Gary Ross (born November 3, 1956 in Los Angeles, California is an American writer, director and actor. ... Ivan Reitman (born October 27, 1946 in Komárno in the former Czechoslovakia) is a Slovakia-born, Canadian-raised Jewish film actor, producer, and director. ...

After Zenda by John Spurling (1995) is a modern adventure, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, in which Karl, the secret great-grandson of Rudolf Rassendyll and Queen Flavia, goes to post-Communist Ruritania, where he gets mixed up with various rebels and religious sects before ending up as constitutional monarch. However, this could have easily been made to stand on its own feet without relying the Ruritania mythos: again, the geographical setting and time-period of the events in the original Anthony Hope canon have been changed. Ruritania is a fictional kingdom in Central Europe which forms the setting for three novels by the writer Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894), The Heart of Princess Osra (1896), and Rupert of Hentzau (1898). ... Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (February 9, 1863 _ July 8, 1933), better known as Anthony Hope was a British novelist, best remembered today for his short novel The Prisoner of Zenda (1894, set in the fictional kingdom of Ruritania, a prequel The Heart of Princess Osra (a collection of short...

The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc., a 1996 made-for-television version, is set in the modern-day United States and revolves around a high school age boy who is the heir to a large corporation. It stars Jonathan Jackson, Richard Lee Jackson, William Shatner, Don S. Davis, Jay Brazeau and Katharine Isabelle. High school - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Jonathan Stevens Jackson (born May 11, 1982 in Orlando, Florida, USA) is an American actor. ... William Shatners 2004 Has Been Album cover William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor, author, singer-songwriter and musical performer who gained fame for his starring role as Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise in the television show Star Trek from 1966 to 1969... Don Sinclair Davis (born August 4, 1942) in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, is an American actor. ... Image:Katharine is my name Isabelle is my sisters name1. ...

The anime series El Hazard: The Magnificent World borrows much from the Hope novel. In this series, a boy and his friends are transported to another world where he bears a strong resemblance to a missing princess and reluctantly agrees to impersonate her. Atom, star of the long-running science fiction series Mighty Atom (also known as Astro Boy to Western audiences). ... El-Hazard is an anime franchise by the anime studio AIC, and more specifically Hiroki Hayashi of Tenchi Muyo! fame. ...

External links

• The Prisoner of Zenda, available for free via Project Gutenberg
• Rupert of Hentzau, available for free via Project Gutenberg
• The Ruritanian Resistance - fan site