High budgeted MGM film of fantasy and another time is typical of the work the studio was doing in the early 1950s. Although they were as usual doing some great work around this time, there were some pretty forsaken awful films getting a release at this time, and this was a film which could have been more, but wasn't.
Remake of the 1937 Ronald Colman classic, the latter is a disastrous film, probably an ill advised adventure. Probably inspired and riding high by the big biblical hit "Quo Vadis" made the year before, art decorative sets of mammoth proportion formed a Zenda which is noticeably studio bound and lacking magic. In bold technicolour, these sets stick out annoyingly like a sore thumb. However, the costumes were a nice touch.
Stewart Granger was laughably miscast. His performance in the dual role, I found, was dull and almost unbearable. Deborah Kerr is actually better as the beautiful Princess Flavia, but on the whole she too is disappointing. The supporting cast even worse, but with the mediocre script, the actors cannot be entirely blamed themselves.
This is a classic example of a good story ruined for Hollywood overpriced grandeur. I found the remote control to press onwards more easily than a laugh or even a good stretch of a scene. Only the Deborah Kerr sections were watchable, and its a wonder that after this would-be junk that the film spawned a gem that year, "Singin' in the Rain".
Rating: 5.5/10
Remake of the 1937 Ronald Colman classic, the latter is a disastrous film, probably an ill advised adventure. Probably inspired and riding high by the big biblical hit "Quo Vadis" made the year before, art decorative sets of mammoth proportion formed a Zenda which is noticeably studio bound and lacking magic. In bold technicolour, these sets stick out annoyingly like a sore thumb. However, the costumes were a nice touch.
Stewart Granger was laughably miscast. His performance in the dual role, I found, was dull and almost unbearable. Deborah Kerr is actually better as the beautiful Princess Flavia, but on the whole she too is disappointing. The supporting cast even worse, but with the mediocre script, the actors cannot be entirely blamed themselves.
This is a classic example of a good story ruined for Hollywood overpriced grandeur. I found the remote control to press onwards more easily than a laugh or even a good stretch of a scene. Only the Deborah Kerr sections were watchable, and its a wonder that after this would-be junk that the film spawned a gem that year, "Singin' in the Rain".
Rating: 5.5/10