Overrated

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Apart some few Sellers's movies where he was really funny,all remains is hard to watch,this one is palatable and has funny moments really,on triple acting this movie is a spoof of so good movie made previously by Stewart Granger,quite often Sellers didn't make me laugh,but this turn is quite acceptable acting,having a valuable supporting casting as the funiest Lionel Jeffries,an already older Elke Sommer and the gorgeous newcomer Lynne Frederick!!Resume:First watch: 1991 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7

This must be one of his best movies. The movie was made on location in Austria. The Castle in Vienna is the real Schoenbrunn castle where the empire of the Habsburg monarchy ruled for almost a 1000 years. The sets are original and outstanding. Peter Sellers played a double role where he plays a London cab driver (coachman) Sydney Frewin who is a look a like of the crown prince Rudolf of Rurotania who's brother wants to get rid of him and take on the crown himself after the death of their father. The movie starts when the King dies celebrating his 80tiest birthday in a balloon. When he accidentally punctures his balloon with a cork from his Champaign bottle, plummets to the ground, his balloon gets tangled up onto a tree in a village square and then he finally falls into the well below while giving a speech to the locals from the tree in the balloon. Crown prince Rudolf's spends most of his time in the London Saloons but he must return to Rurtania where his life is in danger. The London cab driver, Sydney Freud is accidentally discovered as look a like by the crown princes assistant and send ahead to Rurotania as a decoy. Sydney Freud is unaware of the real reason why he was offered a good position in Rurotania till he arrives there. Prince Rudolf has an affair with a beautiful countess. When her husband the count discovers this he is also after the crown prince. As the real prince gets kidnapped, Sydney takes his place till the real prince can be recovered. Sydney can not understand at first why the count is always after him wanting to slit his throat.. There is too much to tell but the movie has a happy ending where Sydney Frewin becomes the King and the princess gets the man she really loves. The real crown prince Rudolf goes back to London this time as Sydney Freud where he does what he loves best. Visiting the London gambling clubs and maintaining his affair with the countess. Great family entertainment! The only bad thing about this movie is that it's not available.

Anthony Hope's swashbuckling 19th Century novel has been filmed numerous times, perhaps the most successful occasion being the 1937 Ronald Colman version. It's a fabulous story – one of my all-time favourite novels, in fact – and really lends itself well to movie adaptations. Alas, this 1979 remake is a pretty weak affair which is played primarily as a spoof, thereby giving star Peter Sellars the chance to indulge in some risqué double entendres and slapstick swashbuckling. Various rumours abound that Sellars was difficult on set, sabotaging the entire production with his outlandish behaviour. Despite this he still has some priceless scenes along the way, but between the infrequent highlights it emerges a leaden and largely ineffective film that does justice neither to its marvellous source material nor its amazing cast.Victorian cabbie Sidney Frewin (Peter Sellars) inadvertently saves the life of a soon-to-be-crowned European prince named Rudolph (Sellars again). Since there are many in Rudolph's home nation of Ruritania who plot to see the prince assassinated, Sidney is hoodwinked into travelling to Ruritania as a "decoy" target. Along the way, the real prince is kidnapped by the agents of Black Michael (Jeremy Kemp). Michael plans to seize the throne himself when the prince fails to turn up at his coronation…. but his plan is thwarted when the prince's loyal sidekicks Fritz (Simon Williams) and Sapt (Lionel Jeffries) persuade Sidney to attend the coronation posing as the prince. Reluctantly, Sidney carries out the charade but is unable to convince the prince's future wife, the gorgeous Princess Flavia (Lynne Frederick), that he is who he claims to be. Gradually, others begin to figure out the deception – including Black Michael himself – and Sidney's game of switched identity escalates into a desperate struggle to protect the throne and rescue the real prince.A few things about the film really jar with me. Firstly, as much as I like Sellars - and as funny as I find him in many of his comedy films - The Prisoner Of Zenda simply isn't the right choice of story for a spoof movie. Secondly, the book concludes with one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever written – a scene that would make for deeply moving cinema if handled in the right fashion – but this film completely neglects the original ending and opts for something unsuitably light and fluffy. Thirdly, the film is punctuated with some absurd slapstick violence that would fit better in a Road Runner cartoon – especially the ludicrous scenes featuring Gregory Sierra as a jealous Count trying to kill Sidney (a la Wile E. Coyote). There are a handful of compensations to be found – Sellars is enjoyable, especially in his "Sidney-scenes" (has anyone noticed how remarkably like Michael Caine he sounds from time to time?) Also, the film has a sprightly score by the dependable Henry Mancini, and some attractive sets and cinematography. It's just a shame that the occasional bright spots are far outweighed by the misfiring elements, making this version of The Prisoner Of Zenda perhaps the weakest of them all.

The 1979 remake of Hope's Zenda story is a prime example of the sort of poor judgement Peter Sellers was so often subject to in his choice of films. The whole thing is roundly dispiriting to watch, and "palpably uneasy" as Halliwell's Film Guide comments. The script lacks any sense of the comic or adventurous that one would expect of a Zenda filming with Sellers. So often, exaggeration and chatter take the place of any sort of acting. Even Sellers, often impressive in such bad films, creates two very uninteresting characters, based it seems, solely on the rather stereotypical voices he creates for them. Other performances pass by, indistinguishable from each other and unwanted. John Laurie has nothing to do whatsoever, the token females are particularly dull... the whole thing is completely pointless and all too far from being enjoyable... Most certainly as bad, if not worse than the more derided "The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu". Rating:- */*****