DramaAdventure

The Prince and the Pauper

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 are separated and each must live the other's life.

Release Date : 1977-06-03

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : International Film Productions

Production Country : United KingdomUnited States of America

Alternative Titles : Crossed Swords

Cast

Character Name : Prince Edward / Tom Canty

Original Name : Mark Lester

Gender : Male

Character Name : Miles Hendon

Original Name : Oliver Reed

Gender : Male

Character Name : Henry VIII

Original Name : Charlton Heston

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hugh Hendon

Original Name : David Hemmings

Gender : Male

Character Name : John Canty

Original Name : Ernest Borgnine

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Ruffler

Original Name : George C. Scott

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hertford

Original Name : Harry Andrews

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lady Edith

Original Name : Raquel Welch

Gender : Female

Character Name : The Duke of Norfolk

Original Name : Rex Harrison

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mother Canty

Original Name : Sybil Danning

Gender : Female

Character Name : . St.John

Original Name : Julian Orchard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Prince's Dresser

Original Name : Murray Melvin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Princess Elizabeth

Original Name : Lalla Ward

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lady Jane

Original Name : Felicity Dean

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jester

Original Name : Graham Stark

Gender : Male

Character Name : Father Andrew

Original Name : Preston Lockwood

Gender : Male

Character Name : Fat Man

Original Name : Arthur Hewlett

Gender : Male

Character Name : Constable

Original Name : Tommy Wright

Gender : Male

Character Name : Nipper

Original Name : Harry Fowler

Gender : Male

Character Name : Archbishop Cranmer

Original Name : Richard Hurndall

Gender : Male

Character Name : 1st Guard

Original Name : Dan Meaden

Gender : Male

Character Name : 2nd Guard

Original Name : Tyrone Cassidy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Burly Ruffian

Original Name : Don Henderson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Peasant

Original Name : Sydney Bromley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Moll

Original Name : Ruth Madoc

Gender : Female

Character Name : Hodge

Original Name : Dudley Sutton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Night Owl

Original Name : Roy Evans

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mandrake

Original Name : William Lawford

Gender : Male

Character Name : Linklight

Original Name : Peter O'Farrell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Buttes

Original Name : Anthony Sharp

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mean Man

Original Name : Peter Cellier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Captain of the Guard

Original Name : Andrew Lodge

Gender : Male

Character Name : Master of Music

Original Name : Igor de Savitch

Gender : Male

Character Name : Forester

Original Name : Dervis Ward

Gender : Male

Character Name : Edith's Servant

Original Name : Michael Ripper

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Mute

Original Name : Jacques Le Carpentier

Gender : Male

Reviews

Filipe Manuel Neto

@FilipeManuelNeto

2022-09-19

**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.