THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (US 1913)
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
No less a judge than Virginia Woolf remarked that Anthony Hope “knows his craft” (Times Literary Supplement, 20.09.1907), and while it’s fashionable these days to devalue his not insubstantial output, it’s worth remembering that, indeed, he knew his craft and public very well. The Prisoner of Zenda, first published in 1894, was a relatively early work and became a sensation, quickly translated into a flurry of languages and generally serialized before appearing in book form – for example, its initial French appearance, as Le Prisonnier de Zenda, was serialized beginning 04.09.1895 in the Journal des Débats Politiques et Littéraires. Curiously, that’s the same date as the premiere of the first stage adaptation, by Edward Rose, described in The Critic (14.09.1895) as “one of the most satisfactory stage versions of a novel…that has ever been made.” The American impresario Daniel Frohman first tried to buy the rights directly from Hope but learned the author had already signed with Rose, who, however, accepted Frohman’s offer of $75 to take it over. This may have been the best deal of Frohman’s career: the play was a huge hit and toured America for decades, most notably with star James K. Hackett, who also appeared in the stage adaptation of Hope’s 1898 follow-up novel, Rupert of Hentzau. In Britain, Zenda became a goldmine for actor-manager George Alexander following its London premiere (07.01.1896), with Alexander indulging himself by way of triple billing. The production was revived in 1900 in repertory with Rupert of Hentzau, and again in 1909, and the play toured the provinces repeatedly over the years, always to great acclaim.
When Adolph Zukor and Famous Players were seeking prestige vehicles, The Prisoner of Zenda was an obvious choice: by 1912 the story had entered popular culture, and with Frohman as managing director of the company (and $5,000), Hackett was convinced to appear before the cameras. Edwin S. Porter began shooting in December 1912 in a studio constructed in Manhattan’s old Ninth Regiment Armory on 26th Street (by then the home of the 69th Regiment); outdoor scenes were filmed at industrialist Joseph Leiter’s country estate The Palisades, on the Potomac (per the Washington Times, 03.01.1913). Articles of the time claimed the troupe went to Florida for remaining exteriors (New York Times, 22.12.1912), but there’s little evidence in the surviving film material that would have necessitated the expense of a Florida shoot, and neither Zukor nor Frohman mention it in their memoirs. Given the hyperbolic publicity, such misleading information isn’t surprising: it was reported that anywhere from 84 to 110 scenes were taken, which is certainly an embellishment. The magazine The Theatre (05.1913) claimed each scene was rehearsed between 7 and 25 times, and the Coronation parade contained 300 extras, when it’s unlikely there are more than 40 in any of the crowd scenes.
The filmmakers expected their audience to know the source material, and while intertitles set up each scene, they rely on some foreknowledge. Bored with London club life, Rudolf Rassendyll journeys to Ruritania for the coronation of his very distant relative, the dissolute Rudolf V. “Black Michael,” the king’s cousin, covets the throne and Rudolf’s fiancée Princess Flavia, so schemes to kidnap him; Colonel Sapt and Fritz von Tarlenheim, loyal to the Elphberg dynasty, discover that Rassendyll and the king look exactly alike, and convince the sporting Englishman to pretend to be the monarch until the real ruler can be restored to his rightful place.
The 1913 film doesn’t feel especially Balkan in character, and although Hope himself isn’t clear on this, and the language of Ruritania is German, the association in the public mind between Zenda and all things Balkan was inescapable. Vesna Goldsworthy’s cogent exploration of this key point in Inventing Ruritania (2013) is essential reading, and her geographical linking of Ruritania with the Gothic is worth quoting: “In spite of its obvious differences from the Ruritanian romance, the Balkan Gothic ultimately relies on the existence of the same pre-industrial, feudal world for its settings. Hope’s … Ruritanian yarns depend on the continuance of the monarchic principle, even as they infiltrate royal circles with a variety of British commoners.” The presence of doppelgängers also finds resonance in Gothic fiction, yet Hope and his brand of Romantics used the device in the service of adventure-love stories. Key to the Zenda tales, and to the present film, is an understanding of what an English gentleman does and does not do: he does not betray confidences, and if he lies, as he does to Princess Flavia when claiming to be the King, he does so only because it would be caddish to do otherwise. Chivalry, though an old-fashioned concept, remains a crucial part of the DNA of a very modern English gentleman, especially in the face of his “less civilized” neighbours. Hackett’s theatrical performance style (slightly more restrained than David Torrence’s) is precisely designed to convey these concepts: no moat is too perilous to dissuade Rassendyll from his duties not only to Flavia and his friends, but to the notion of British superiority.
Porter’s mise-en-scène deserves more analysis than can be accorded here, and research into Joseph Carl Breil’s score is ongoing, but Charles Musser and James Quinn have explored the film’s importance for Famous Players and the prominence it played in the States Rights distribution battles of the era. The present restoration by the George Eastman Museum is not complete, as additional elements exist at the Library of Congress; it is known, for example, that the film ends back in Rassendyll’s London club following his adventures. Variety (04.04.1913) reported that a screening at New York’s American Roof lasted 85 minutes, although this seems exaggerated.
Amy Sargeant, Jay Weissberg
THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (US 1913)
regia/dir: Edwin S. Porter.
scen: Hugh Ford, dal romanzo di/from the novel by Anthony Hope e sulla pièce di/and the play adaptation by Edward Rose (NY première 04.09.1895, Lyceum Theatre).
asst dir: Albert W. Hale.
scg/des: Richard Murphy.
mus: Joseph Carl Breil.
studio mgr: Albert A. Kaufman.
publicity: Ben P. Schulberg, Fred Jordan.
cast: James K. Hackett (Rudolf V/Rudolf Rassendyll), Beatrice Beckley (principessa/Princess Flavia), David Torrence (“Black Michael”, il duca di/Duke of Strelsau), Frazer Coulter (Colonel Sapt), C.R. Randall (Fritz Von Tarlenheim), Walter Hale (Rupert of Hentzau), Frank Shannon (Detchard), Minna Gale Haynes (Antoinette de Mauban), Charles Green (Johann), Tom Callahan (Josef), Sidney Barrington (Marshall Strakenez), Walter Claton (cancelliere/Chancellor), H.G. Hebert [Henry G. Herbert] (ministro/Minister), Wilmer Dame (secondo ministro/Second Minister), George Neville (Lorenz Teppich), William H. Cone (Franz Teppich), A. Rudolph, Frank Stone, H. Hammill (cospiratori/Black Michael’s conspirators), Frank Young (Lord Topham), John E. Trevor (Cardinal), Irving Williams (maggiordomo francese/French butler), [Evart Jansen Wendell, Frank E. Richards (comparse/extras)].
prod: Adolph Zukor, Daniel Frohman, Famous Players Film Co.
dist: States Rights.
uscita/rel: 18.02.1913 (Lyceum Theatre, New York).
copia/copy: DCP, 53′ (da/from 35mm, ?? ft., orig. l: 4,000 ft.); did./titles: ENG.
fonte/source: George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY.