The Prince and the Pauper (1977)

June 3, 1977 (GB) • Drama, Adventure • 113m

Overview

Tom Canty is a poor English boy who bears a remarkable resemblance to Edward, Prince of Wales and son of King Henry VIII. The two boys meet and decide to play a joke on the court by dressing in each other's clothes, but the plan goes awry when they're separated and each must live the other's life.

Director

Richard Fleischer

Writers

Mark Twain, Berta Domínguez D., George MacDonald Fraser, Pierre Spengler

Top Billed

Mark Lester

Keywords

based on novel or book sword fight identity swap henry viii 16th century children's adventure pauper

Where to watch

Check streaming options on TMDB

Top Billed Cast

Mark Lester

Prince Edward / Tom Canty

Oliver Reed

Miles Hendon

Charlton Heston

Henry VIII

David Hemmings

Hugh Hendon

Ernest Borgnine

John Canty

George C. Scott

The Ruffler

Harry Andrews

Hertford

Raquel Welch

Lady Edith

Rex Harrison

The Duke of Norfolk

Sybil Danning

Mother Canty

Julian Orchard

. St.John

Murray Melvin

Prince's Dresser

Lalla Ward

Princess Elizabeth

Felicity Dean

Lady Jane

Graham Stark

Jester

Preston Lockwood

Father Andrew

Arthur Hewlett

Fat Man

Tommy Wright

Constable

Harry Fowler

Nipper

Richard Hurndall

Archbishop Cranmer

Dan Meaden

1st Guard

Tyrone Cassidy

2nd Guard

Don Henderson

Burly Ruffian

Sydney Bromley

Peasant

Ruth Madoc

Moll

Dudley Sutton

Hodge

Roy Evans

Night Owl

William Lawford

Mandrake

Peter O'Farrell

Linklight

Anthony Sharp

Dr. Buttes

Peter Cellier

Mean Man

Andrew Lodge

Captain of the Guard

Igor de Savitch

Master of Music

Dervis Ward

Forester

Michael Ripper

Edith's Servant

Jacques Le Carpentier

The Mute

Esme Smythe

Courtier (uncredited)

Crew

Ernest Walter

Editor

Jack Cardiff

Director of Photography

Richard Fleischer

Director

Ilya Salkind

Producer

Pierre Spengler

Producer

Mark Twain

Novel

Michael Walter

Key Grip

Berta Domínguez D.

Screenplay

George MacDonald Fraser

Screenplay

Maurice Jarre

Original Music Composer

Pierre Spengler

Screenplay

Maude Spector

Casting Director

Anthony Pratt

Production Designer

Maurice Fowler

Art Direction

John Hoesli

Art Direction

Jack Stephens

Art Direction

Judy Moorcroft

Costume Designer

José Antonio Sánchez

Makeup Artist

Ottó Elek

Production Supervisor

Basil Keys

Production Supervisor

Helena Toth

Unit Manager

Sándor Tóth

Production Manager

Olivier Assayas

Third Assistant Director

Michael Green

Second Assistant Director

Vilmos Kolba

First Assistant Director

Laurent Perrin

Third Assistant Director

Zsuzsa Szemes

Second Assistant Director

Nigel Wooll

Assistant Director

Roy Charman

Sound Mixer

Colin Miller

Sound Editor

Eddie Fowlie

Special Effects

Wally Veevers

Visual Effects

Alec Mills

Camera Operator

Betty Adamson

Wardrobe Supervisor

Andrés Fernández

Wardrobe Master

Sally Gilpin

Choreographer

Alexander Salkind

Presenter

Reviews

Filipe Manuel Neto

⭐ 3/10

September 19, 2022

**A very weak and uninteresting film, despite the constellation of great actors.**

I am not a connoisseur of Mark Twain's work, so I was curious to read some things about the original story he wrote after a trip he made to the European continent. From what I've read on the internet about the story, I believe the movie does justice to the source material, but as I didn't get the story to read it, I want to make it clear that I could be wrong.

Summing up in a few words the whole plot, what we have is a story in which a poor teenager, whom his father taught to steal, penetrates the palace of King Henry VIII and comes across the heir to the crown, Prince Edward. The two quickly realize that they are identical lookalikes and the prince decides to change clothes with the beggar so they both go to a masked ball. It turns out that the disguise turns out to be too good, and the real prince ends up expelled from the palace. After some misadventures, he enlists the help of a nobleman who returns to the kingdom after a long journey, making it imperative to undo the mistake before the coronation of the new king, since, in the meantime, Henry VIII dies.

The story has its appeal, but I have to confess that it sounded so far-fetched and hard to believe that I couldn't really like it. Forgive me, Twain fans. In addition, I was not pleased with the work of the director, Richard Fleischer. I felt he didn't give the film the most appropriate pacing and dynamics. Technically, the film is not very brilliant: I really liked the costumes, although it is not believable that all that gold and silk apparatus was routine and every day, even for the royalty of the time. And I also liked the scenarios used, which put us in the atmosphere of the time very quickly, both in the courtrooms and in the environments where the poor and the marginalized live. The soundtrack, sometimes a little raucous, works reasonably. Unfortunately, the cinematography has a lot of light and I didn't like it very much, overall.

I left the cast for the end because I felt, throughout the film, that there was a huge dissonance between the various actors, something that, associated with bad direction, can help to understand why the film was a failure. There are a lot of solid and well-known names to the public at the time, but even that didn't help to convince people to pay the ticket and see it. We have, however, good interpretations that, ironically or because of the bad conception of the script, fall into the most indigestible characters in the film. Oliver Reed is the most impressive actor and leaves us very impressed, but the character is superb and boastful. Ernest Borgnine also does a good job and is very convincing, but it's impossible to like John Canty and the actor doesn't have much to do other than being obnoxious. Rex Harrison has an interesting role and is good at what he does, but appears very little. The rest of the actors can't enjoy what they get: Charlton Heston almost erases himself, Raquel Welch has absolutely nothing to do and never behaves like a lady, Mark Lester is a weak protagonist and is unable to convince.

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Status

Released

Original Language

Budget

$8,000,000

Revenue

—

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The Prince and the Pauper (1977)

Mark Twain, Berta Domínguez D., George MacDonald Fraser, Pierre Spengler

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

Filipe Manuel Neto

Recommended Movies

The Sheep Detectives

The Devil Wears Prada 2

Your Heart Will Be Broken

Project Hail Mary

Status

Original Language

Budget

Revenue

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