The likeness is explained by the fact that the two Rudolfs are distant cousins and both have the long, sharp, straight nose and dark-red hair that appear every few generations.
Soon after arriving there, Rassendyll meets his exact double – the man who is about to be crowned King of Ruritania, whose name also happens to be Rudolf. You won’t find it on a map – it’s a fictitious kingdom located somewhere in central Europe – and although there are no magical creatures, wizards, monsters or dragons, it is still a place where strange and unexpected things can and do happen. Ruritania is almost, but not quite, a fantasy world.
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To keep her happy, Rudolf agrees to accept a position working for the ambassador Sir Jacob Borrodaile, but finding himself with some free time before he starts his new job, he decides to visit the small European country of Ruritania to see the coronation of their new King. They remained married until the director's death in 1950.At the beginning of The Prisoner of Zenda, twenty-nine-year-old English gentleman Rudolf Rassendyll is leading a quiet, comfortable life in London, not working or doing anything at all, to the annoyance of his sister-in-law, Rose. Shortly following the completion of filming, Rex Ingram eloped with lead actress Alice Terry.
Afterwards MGM heavily promoted him as a "Latin Lover" and sex symbol in movies such as The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), Mata Hari (1931) and The Barbarian (1933). Even though he already had small parts in almost 100 films, The Prisoner of Zenda was considered Novarro's "big break." (Indeed, he would be top-billed in re-release prints.) Navarro would later cause a sensation with his revealing costumes in the original Ben-Hur (1925). The actor who makes the biggest impression is Ramon Novarro, playing a supporting villain. Leading man Lewis Stone is best known as Mickey Rooney's stately father in the Andy Hardy film series, but at the time he more resembled Ronald Coleman, who would later play Rudolf in the 1937 remake. Twenty-six costume designers labored four months to make the costumes, assisted by 540 tailors and dressmakers. 10,000 extras were employed during the coronation scene. Massive construction crews built 72 buildings, eventually making up six city blocks worth of dwellings, to create the fictional kingdom of Ruritania. Owing to his prior film's success, the director was granted an enormous budget for The Prisoner of Zenda. Rex Ingram followed up his box-office smash The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) with this adaptation of the classic 1894 novel by Anthony Hope. Rassendyll leads a rescue party to free the King, but realizes that giving up his royal duties may not be as easy as he thought. Realizing his scheme has been foiled, Michael kidnaps the real King and holds him captive in the Castle of Zenda. Using him as substitute, the coronation proceeds as planned.
Rudolf Rassendyll, a visiting Englishman and distant relative of the royal family, bears a startling resemblance to the King. Unwilling to let Michael seize power, the King's subordinates hit upon a daring plan. He has been poisoned by his evil half-brother, Grand Duke Michael. On the eve of his coronation as king, Rudolph V of Ruritania falls ill.
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