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The villainous '' Rupert Of Hentzau '' gives his name to its 1898 sequel. 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 . PLOT SYNOPSIS The . 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.) 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. ADAPTATIONS The novel has been adapted many times for film and television, the best-known screen version being the 1937 film, which 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 . 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 . 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. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Music, Score . The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library Of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry . ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' has been made several other times:
Looser adaptations 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. 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. 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. ''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 . ''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 . The '' 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. ''The Zenda Vendetta (Time Wars Book 4)'' by Simon Hawke ( 1985 ) is another Science Fiction version, part of a series which pits 27C 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 . "Double Star" (1956), a novel by 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. ''After Zenda'' by canon have been changed. EXTERNAL LINKS
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