

Her dark looks and large, brooding eyes provided a AlmostĪs adept at scene stealing was Barbara La Marr, cast as Black Michael'sĭevoted mistress. Novarro wasn't the only star created by the success of The Prisoner of Zenda. Although originally billed fourth, Novarro would rise to top billing for later reissues of the movie. (Other successors who come to mind are Basil Rathbone, James Mason and Alan Rickman).
#THE PRISONER OF ZENDA MOVIE MOVIE#
Tongue-in-cheek playing, making him one of the first in a long line of charismatic movie villains who would make evil dangerously seductive. It's fair to say that Novarro pretty much stole the film with his Samaniego's eyes, he knew he'd found his man, though the actor would soon change his But once he saw the devilish humor in Ramon He set out toįind a tall, Germanic blond in his mid-thirties, and wound up with a short The henchman who does all of Black Michael's dirty work. Picture's success would depend on the proper casting of Rupert of Hentzau, Slated for the film's starring roles, Ingram realized that much of the Although Terry and Lewis Stone (as the identical cousins) were Roles, into Alice Terry, the icy blonde star of his greatest pictures (and He had turned Alice Taaffe, a perky redhead usually cast in supporting To keep large-scale productions moving as for his genius at creating stars.įor Horsemen, he had discovered Rudolph Valentino. Metro entrusted the production to Rex Ingram, an Irish-bornĪctor-turned-director who had scored a huge hit the year before with Theįour Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). Michael who wants to steal the throne and the king's beautiful fiancée. In this perennial favorite, the look-alike cousin ofĪ kidnapped king takes his place to thwart the plans of the evil Black Named after the novel's setting the Ruritanian Romance combines the glamour of the European aristocracy with swashbuckling adventure and tales of doomed love between royalty and commoners. Hope's book had created a whole sub-genre when it became a best seller inġ894 - the Ruritanian Romance. Seven adaptations of Anthony Hope's popular adventure novel. Time the studio was born, thanks to films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), the third of The MGM tradition was firmly in place by the Goldwyn Pictures to become MGM in 1924, it was building a reputation forĬlassy, lavish productions. Even before Metro Pictures merged with Louis B.
