The Prisoner of Zenda

6/6/2022

This is one of my favourite swashbuckling stories - and this silent version is as good as they get. Lewis Stone is the travelling English baron "Rassendyll" who, through damned ill-luck happens to be in the tiny kingdom of Ruritania on the day before their new king "Rudolf" is to be crowned. Whilst walking in the woods, he is approached by two soldiers - "Sapt" (Robert Edeson) and "Fritz" (Malcolm McGregor) who happen to work closely with the king - and who are astounded to discover the Englishman is the spitting image of their sovereign. They adjourn to his hunting lodge where, equally astonished, the king and his distant cousin have a few drinks. Next morning, all is not well - the king has been drugged and there is no way he will make his coronation. "Sapt" explains that the crown would