The Masquerader

The Masquerader (1933)

Genres - Drama  |   Release Date - Sep 3, 1933 (USA - Unknown), Sep 3, 1933 (USA)  |   Run Time - 84 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

In an interesting precursor to his later vehicle The Prisoner of Zenda, Ronald Colman essays a dual role in Goldwyn's The Masquerader. Colman is cast as Member of Parliament Sir John Chilcote and his identical cousin, a newspaper journalist also named John. A mean-spirited alcoholic and drug addict, Sir John needs time to try to recover from his multitude vices. Thus with the help of the MP's faithful butler Brock (Haliwell Hobbes), the "good" John agrees to take his cousin's place -- doing the job so well that he even convinces and wins Sir John's estranged wife Eve (Elissa Landi). Based on a novel by Katherine Cecil Thurston (previously adapted as a play by John Hunter Booth), The Masquerader proved to be a box-office disappointment, a fact that made Ronald Colman hesitant to star in A Tale of Two Cities until he was assured that he wouldn't have to play both Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay.

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Keywords

aristocracy, addiction, cousin, death, deception, drugs, impersonation, investigation, journalism, lookalike, marriage, masquerade, politician, reporter, man, Parliament, party, speech, time, wife