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The Prisoner of Zenda (1913 film)

The Prisoner of Zenda
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
Hugh Ford
Produced by Albert W. Hale
Adolph Zukor
Written by Hugh Ford
Based on The Prisoner of Zenda
1894 novel
by Edward E. Rice
Anthony Hope
Starring James K. Hackett
Beatrice Beckley
David Torrence
Music by Joseph Carl Breil (accompaniment)
Production
company
Distributed by State Rights
Release date
  • February 18, 1913 (1913-02-18)
Running time
Four (five?) reels
Country United States
Language Silent

The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1913 silent film adaptation of a play by Edward E. Rice, which was in turn based on the 1894 Anthony Hope novel of the same name. It was directed by Edwin S. Porter and Hugh Ford, and starred stage actor James K. Hackett, Beatrice Beckley and David Torrence.

In 1913, Adolph Zukor lured Hackett from the stage to star in a role which Hackett had played in the theater numerous times. Since feature films were in their infancy, Hackett was at first reluctant to take the part, so Zukor tried to convince Hackett in person; as Neal Gabler writes, "When Hackett came to visit Zukor, he was the very picture of the faded matinee idol. He wore a fur-collared coat with frayed sleeves and carried a gold-headed cane".

According to silentera.com, though the film was thought to have been lost, the Library of Congress possesses two paper positive prints and the International Museum of Photography and Film at George Eastman House also has a partial positive print.


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