The Masquerader

1933

1h 20m

IMDb RATING

4.8/10

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Drama

A drug-addicted member of Parliament needs to take time off and secretly pull his life together, so he gets his lookalike cousin to agree to temporarily assume his identity.

Directors

Richard Wallace

Writers

John Hunter Booth(theatre play by)

Howard Estabrook(screenplay by)

Moss Hart(dialogue by)

Stars

Ronald Colman

Elissa Landi

Juliette Compton

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Top cast

Sir John Chilcote …

Eve Chilcote

Lady Diana Joyce

Brock

Fraser

Lakely

Robbins

Bobby Blessington

Alston

Doctor

Directors

Richard Wallace

Writers

John Hunter Booth(theatre play by)

Howard Estabrook(screenplay by)

Moss Hart(dialogue by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

I'm a fan of Ronald Colman so was prepared to set aside the rather preposterous nature of the plot and enjoy his "Jekyll and Hyde" style performance as British parliamentarian "Sir John Chilcote". The man is a bit of a boor - constantly drunk, on drugs - a selfish oaf really. Luckily he has a loyal butler in "Brock" (Halliwell Hobbes) and a doppelgänger - his identical cousin ("Loder") - to take his place when the public arena calls for it. Sadly, the plot now descends into melodrama as his wife "Eve" (Elissa Landi) and his erstwhile mistress "Diana" (Juliette Compton) both continue to vie for his love, whilst in true "Prisoner of Zenda" style - the double falls for the girl (or maybe girls?)! It is an OK watch this, the writing is sufficient to keep the thing moving and "Loder" has a few fun near misses. Colman plays both parts efficiently (especially the drunken sot), but the story is just a bit far-fetched and neither woman really set the romance afire either. Make sure you stick around for the ending, though - it's not quite what you expect.

Geronimo196713 Jun, 2022