ROYAL FLASH is another enjoyable historical romp from writer/director George McDonald Fraser and Richard Lester following on from their earlier in the decade outing in the form of THE THREE MUSKETEERS. This one's made in the same lively spirit, with lots of intrigue and humorous heroics as our ne'er-do-well hero Flashman gets involved in a European plot that sees him masquerading as a prince due to the machinations of the scheming Otto von Bismarck. Malcolm McDowell proves a fitting choice for lead, even enjoying himself in a dual role later on in the proceedings, while Oliver Reed's Bismarck is a real scene-stealer.

No film with a cast that includes Oliver Reed as Bismark, Florinda Bolkan as Lola Montes and Henry Cooper as John Gully can be entirely without interest to the scholar. And directing this elaborately mounted adaptation from his own novel by George MacDonald Fraser, Dick Lester had at his disposal expensive locations photographed by Oscar-winning cameraman Geoffrey Unsworth and an amazing cast both old (Alistair Sim) and up & coming (Bob Hoskins, David Jason).

Unfortunately Lester seems overwhelmed by the lavishness of the production, which goes on for far too long and has a noisy score by Ken Thorne that makes the frantic shenanigans less rather than more amusing. Presumably it was Fraser's original novel that returned once more to the plot of 'The Prisoner of Zenda', but that was hardly an original idea, since the story had already been pastiched only ten years earlier in 'The Great Race'; only to be soon followed by yet another mirthless parody starring Peter Sellars, also featuring, as here, Lionel Jeffries.

If you haven't read any of the Flashman series, go out and find one. Rollicking good read, with the protagonist being an absolutely selfish, cowardly, mean-spirited ass of a man who nonetheless finds himself considered a dashing hero by the public at large. Fraser does a good job of converting his book to the screen (writing Three Musketeers was probably good practice),re-teaming with Richard Lester. MacDowall is good as ol' Flashy, glossing over the fact that Harry is supposed to a large, strapping Brit, and not a skinny little guy like Malcolm. :)

Enjoyable on its own merit, but I'd say read one of the other Flashy books and then see this.