FAQ

When King-to-be Rudolf V (Ronald Colman) of Strelsau, a small province somewhere in southeastern Europe between Vienna, Austria and Bucharest, Romania, is drugged on the night before his coronation, his two most loyal attendants—Colonel Zapt (C. Aubrey Smith) and Fritz von Tarlenheim (David Niven)—hide him in the cellar and request that Rudolf Rassendyll (Ronald Colman), a distant British lookalike traveling through the area, impersonate the king at the coronation exercises so that the realm doesn't fall into the hands of the king's evil half-brother, Black Michael (Raymond Massey). However, when Rudolf V is subsequently kidnapped from the cellar, Rassendyll is forced to continue the masquerade, not an altogether unpleasant duty since it puts him in close contact with the king's intended bride, Princess Flavia (Madeleine Carroll).

The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1894 novel by English novelist and playwright Anthony Hope. The novel was adapted for the film by American playwright/screenwriter John L. Balderston with additional adaptations by Edward Rose, Wells Root, Donald Ogden Stewart, Ben Hecht, and Sidney Howard.

They are distant cousins. Rudolf V's great-great-great-grandfather apparently had a tryst with Rudolf Rassendyll's great-great-great-grandmother Amelia.

Zenda is the name of Michael's hunting lodge (actually a castle on a river) where King Rudolf is being held prisoner.

As prearranged with Antoinette de Mauban (Mary Astor), Rassendyll swims the moat and climbs to her chamber in the castle at Zenda. From there, he descends into the dungeon where King Rudolf is being held in chains. When Antoinette's servant opens the gate to the bridge, however, he makes a noise, alerting Michael, who hears laughter coming from Antoinette's room and finds Rupert of Hentzau (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) attempting to seduce her. Michael rushes in, but Rupert stabs him. Heartbroken over the death of her beloved, Antoinette cries out, 'Why did I let them in?' alerting Rupert to the fact that there are intruders in the castle. He stops the servant from lowering the drawbridge, then engages Rassendyll in a prolonged duel, during which Rassendyll succeeds in lowering the drawbridge. As Colonel Zapt and his men enter the castle, Rupert jumps into the moat and swims away. Although very weak, the king is restored to the throne, and Rassendyll implores Flavia to return to England with him. However, Flavia refuses, knowing that her duty is to her country. In the final scene, Rassendyll bids farewell to Zapt and Fritz, looking back just once to wave his cap.