This film is a tremendous parody. To enjoy it in the way it was meant, you have to watch either the 1937 version or the 1952 remake first. Both are exciting, entertaining, and full of the things we love about movies. But then, when you see the Sellers version, and hear some of the same dialog in its new context, you get how hysterically the later film plays with the genre. It was obviously a labor of love, and in no way does a disservice to the earlier films. Sellers' Rudolf must have been modelled on Terry-Thomas, and his cabbie Syd is pretty close to his Michael Caine impressions. Both work splendidly. Jeremy Kemp does the Doug Fairbanks Jr. laugh to the manner born. Production values are topnotch. A gem!
Review of The Prisoner of Zenda
