Tag: cinema

REVIEW: Rupert of Hentzau

Episodes and broadcast dates:

  • The Queen’s Goodbye: Sunday 19 April 1964
  • Return to Zenda: Sunday 26 April 1964
  • Audience with the King: Sunday 3 May 1964
  • The Wheel of Chance: Sunday 10 May 1964
  • A Perilous Reunion: Sunday 17 May 1964
  • The Decision of Fate: Sunday 24 May 1964

Character: Rupert

Above: Peter as Rupert of Hentzau

Some Background

Rupert of Hentzau is a sequel by Anthony Hope to ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’, written in 1895 but not published in book form until 1898. The novel was serialized in The Pall Mall Magazine and McClure’s Magazine from December 1897 through June 1898.

The story is set within a framing narrative  told by a minor character from ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’. The frame implies that the events related in both books took place in the late 1870s and early 1880s. This story commences three years after the conclusion of Zenda, and deals with the same fictional country  somewhere in Germanic Middle Europe, the kingdom of Ruritania. 

Above left: Peter, Barbara Shelly and George Baker during rehearsals.

Most of the same characters recur: Rudolf Elphberg, the dissolute absolute monarch of Ruritania; Rudolf Rassendyll, the English gentleman who had acted as his political decoy, being his distant cousin and lookalike; Flavia, the princess, now queen; Rupert of Hentzau, the dashing well-born villain; Fritz von Tarlenheim , the loyal courtier; Colonel Zapt , the King’s bodyguard; Lieutenant von Bernenstein, a loyal soldier.

The1964 British television series ran for six half-hour episodes and successive Sunday afternoon’s at 5.30pm. The series was recorded at BBC Television Centre, London, but all six episodes are listed as “lost”, having been wiped by the BBC themselves after broadcast.

The Character of Rupert

The character of Count Rupert of Hentzau is an allegory for the corrupting influence of power. Rupert is a charismatic and charming man who uses his power to manipulate and control others. He is a symbol of the dangers of unchecked ambition and the corrupting influence of power. Rupert’s character is marked by his sly ambition, leaving a trail of deception and intrigue in his wake.

Story Synopsis

The story is set three years after the events of the ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’. The dutiful but desperately unhappy Queen Flavia (Barbara Shelley) is married to her cousin, the Ruritanian King, Rudolf V (George Baker). She writes to her true love Rudolf Rassendyll (also played by George Baker). The letter is to be delivered by hand by von Tarlenheim (Tristram Jellinek), but von Tarlenheim is betrayed by Bauer (Anthony poole) and his servant, James, and it falls into he hands of exiled Rupert of Hentzau (Peter Wyngarde) and his loyal cousin the Count of Luzau-Rischenheim (Derek Blomfeld). Hentzau sees in it a chance to return to favour by presenting the leter to the pathologically jealous and paranoid King.

Rassendyll returns to Ruritania to aid the Queen, but is forced to impersonate the King after Rupert fatally shoots Rudolf V in a remote hunting lodge. After tracing Bauer to the house of Mother Holf (Nora Gordon), Rassendyll and Rupert engage in an epic duel. Hentzau is mortally wounded, and Rassendyll burns the letter. However, he is assassinated in his hour of triumph by Bauer and thus is spared a crisis of conscience over whether or not to continue the royal deception for years.

Rassendyll is buried as the King in a state funeral, while Colonal Zapt* (John Phillips) and Rassendyll’s servant, James, stage a fire at the hunting lodge that burns the King’s body beyond recognition. Rudolf V is buried as Rudolf Rassendyll, while Flavia reigns on alone, the last of the Elphberg dynasty.

*In the book, the Colonel’s name was was Sapt.

Breakdown of the episodes As they appeared in the Radio Times

‘The Queen’s Goodbye’ – Sun, Apr 19, 1964
Exiled from Ruritanta for treason, Rupert of Hentzau returns secretly, determined to discover what takes Fritz von Tarlenheim to Wintenberg.

‘Return to Zenda’ – Sun, Apr 26, 1964
Rudolf Rassendyll is again forced to imitate his cousin Rudolf V after Rupert of Hentzau fatally shoots the King in a remote hunting lodge.

‘Audience With The King’ – Sun, May 3, 1964
Rudolf Rassendyll sets a trap and Rupert of Hentzau receives an eagerly-awaited summons.

The Wheel of Change – Sun, May 10, 1964
Rudolf Rassendyll goes on a journey with surprising results, and the King receives an unexpected visitor.

‘A Perilous Reunion’ – Sun, May 17, 1964
Queen Flavia is reunited with her true love Rudolf Rassendyll but the circumstances are less than ideal.

‘The Decision of Fate’ – Sun, May 24, 1964
Rupert of Hentzau meets the play-actor face to face and the future of the kingdom is resolved.

A bit of Trivia

For the part of Rupert in the series, Peter was required to wear some tight riding breeches which the director, Gerald Blake, felt were a bit too revealing in the crotch area. In the absence of anything with which to disguise the offending bulge, Peter had stuffed cotton wool down the front of the breeches.

It was Sally Home who was played Helga von Tarlenheim in the series , and who had previously worked with Peter in ‘Duel of Angels‘ and ‘Night Conspirators‘, who first noticed the newly padded area when Peter walked on set at BBC TV Centre, exclaiming: “Oh, Peter, do take it out, it looked much better before!”