MovieChat Forums > The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) Discussion > The Obvious Question About This Version ...

The Obvious Question About This Version Of TPOZ:

posted 9 years ago by HijodelCid
3 replies | jump to latest

why is this movie an exact copy of the John Cromwell version, the only differences being the director, the cast, and the color photography? Why didn't its makers work from a fresh script, BASED DIRECTLY ON THE ORIGINAL NOVEL? Can you imagine a ,,new'' version of GONE WITH THE WIND that uses the exact same screenplay as Fleming's movie, which would mean that the only new elements would be the director and cast?

God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

[–] pontevedro 9 years ago

The key new element is Technicolor. In his intro to the movie on TCM, Ben Mankiewicz notes that many films were remade in the fifties, solely to take advantage of color. Here they had a successful screenplay, so there was no need to tinker with something that worked. (Or to spend additional money and time on having a new screenplay). If you haven't noticed by now, fidelity to original novels has never been much of a consideration for Hollywood. It wasn't then and it isn't now.

[–] Rheli 8 years ago

Yes, agree, but ...

This scene for scene and line for line copying does have its interesting aspects. For students of film, for example. You can place a given scene side by side and analyze, who did it better? Which is the more effective presentation? What did each actor bring that the other didn't? etc.

[–] pontevedro 7 years ago

I agree with this - it does make it fun to compare.