The Prisoner of Zenda

An English gentleman named Rudolf Rassendyll, travelling through Europe, encounters the man about to be crowned king of the small country of Ruritania. The two are distant relatives and, more strikingly, look exactly alike. When the king is drugged on the eve of his coronation through the scheming of a rival for the throne, those loyal to him persuade the visiting Englishman to take the monarch's place at the ceremony so the crown is not lost. The deception soon grows dangerous: the real king is taken captive, and his stand-in must keep up the role while a rescue is attempted. He also finds himself drawn to the king's betrothed, Princess Flavia, who had regarded her dynastic marriage as a duty.

John Cromwell directed this 1937 adaptation, which followed his Of Human Bondage (1934) and preceded Algiers (1938), Dead Reckoning (1946), Caged (1950) and The Company She Keeps (1951). David O. Selznick produced for Selznick International Pictures, with a screenplay credited to John L. Balderston, Edward E. Rose and Ben Hecht. Ronald Colman plays both Rassendyll and the king, and Madeleine Carroll appears as Flavia. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Mary Astor, C. Aubrey Smith and David Niven fill out the principal roles.

Made for about one million dollars, the film returned roughly five million worldwide, a strong result for its time. On IMDb it holds 7.6 out of 10 across some 5,400 votes, while TMDB users give it 7.5 from a much smaller group. A critics' rating of 8.4 from 11 reviews places professional assessment slightly above the audience scores.