Do children read The Prisoner of Zenda any more? If not, why not? It's GREAT!
A year or so ago I decided that I didn't want to read (or re-read) any of the books at the beach, so I took myself to the little bookshop in Whitstable for a peruse. And there, sitting on a shelf, with a rather natty red livery, was The Prisoner of Zenda. My original copy is a paperback Puffin Classic, well thumbed and covered in food and hot chocolate stains. I am a neater reader now, if nothing else.
This is the basic story. Rudolf Rassendyll, rich young layabout, takes himself off to Ruritania for a holiday. While there, he happens upon the man who is about to be crowned King (as you do) and AMAZING! they could be twins. They have a great meal and lots of wine and in the morning the King is gone! Shock, horror, but he's meant to be crowned today and if he's not his evil half-brother Black Michael will usurp the throne and darkness will descend.
So Rudolf shaves off his beard and is crowned in the King's place. Michael, who has of course kidnapped the King, is not happy. Chuck in a beautiful Princess, a dastardly blackguard, two faithful helpers, lots of gun and sword battles and an utterly FANTABULOUS denouement and you have one of the best action stories ever ever ever.
This is probably why there have been two movies - with Douglas Fairbanks in one, and Stewart Granger in the other. It's hard to say which is the better, but Deborah Kerr plays the Princess in the latter and my feelings for Deborah Kerr are well known, so...
Anthony Hope (Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins to you) was a bit of a Stella Gibbons - he wrote lots of books but is most famous for one overwhelming stroke of genius.
Don't sit about this Christmas waiting for the tellybox to provide entertainment and excitement, pick up a copy of The Prisoner of Zenda and immerse yourself in the most buckling swash of all time.
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it is a great swashbuckle - i saw it about seven hundred times when i worked at grenwich theatre when it was the xmas romp and loads of kids were in the audience - good family fun. best night was when rudolf (david haig) put a sword through his hand and had to be rushed to a and e and the director read his part. also, i discovered that actresses didn't eat anything and always wanted their corsets pulled as tight as possible despite being rake thin!
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