While on holiday an Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue and royal romance when his royal doppelgänger is kidnapped.
A Technicolor remake of Anthony Hope's much filmed story sees Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr and James Mason star, while directing is Richard Thorpe, composing the score is Alfred Newman and cinematography is by Joseph Ruttenberg.
Lush and at times lavish, this MGM production is however rather ponderous at times. The first hour positively crawls and while Granger is just fine in the dual roles of Rudolf Rassendyl/King Rudolf V, the dynamism and breezy pace of the Ronald Colman starring 1937 version is sadly lacking. A better director than Richard "One Take Only" Thorpe could have made better use of the budget. There's also a distinct lack originality in the piece since it's practically the same film as the 37 movie. Even using the same Newman score. You have to wonder what was the point really?
Still, there are some enjoyable moments in here to not make it a complete waste of time. James Mason, in spite of it being a rare occasion where he's miscast, is worth a watch for his line in campy villainy. While Ruttenberg's camera-work doesn't waste the chance to swash that buckle in a Technicolor sheen. The duelling sequence, that sadly seems to take forever to arrive, is well choreographed (better than anything in the 37 movie actually), and the costumes by Walter Plunkett are very pleasing on the eye. 5/10
A Technicolor remake of Anthony Hope's much filmed story sees Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr and James Mason star, while directing is Richard Thorpe, composing the score is Alfred Newman and cinematography is by Joseph Ruttenberg.
Lush and at times lavish, this MGM production is however rather ponderous at times. The first hour positively crawls and while Granger is just fine in the dual roles of Rudolf Rassendyl/King Rudolf V, the dynamism and breezy pace of the Ronald Colman starring 1937 version is sadly lacking. A better director than Richard "One Take Only" Thorpe could have made better use of the budget. There's also a distinct lack originality in the piece since it's practically the same film as the 37 movie. Even using the same Newman score. You have to wonder what was the point really?
Still, there are some enjoyable moments in here to not make it a complete waste of time. James Mason, in spite of it being a rare occasion where he's miscast, is worth a watch for his line in campy villainy. While Ruttenberg's camera-work doesn't waste the chance to swash that buckle in a Technicolor sheen. The duelling sequence, that sadly seems to take forever to arrive, is well choreographed (better than anything in the 37 movie actually), and the costumes by Walter Plunkett are very pleasing on the eye. 5/10