Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 11-February-07
Spoiler Rating: Medium

The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

Having never read "The Prince and the Pauper" (or developed a taste for Twain), I spent most of the first act of William Keighley's movie wondering how Errol Flynn, the billed star, was going to fit into the story. After all, the plot revolves around two 10-year-old boys, one a beggar from the streets of London and the other son of King Henry VIII, who happen to meet and look exactly alike. Inevitably (did Twain originate this theme?), their game of trading clothes leads to the serious outcome of trading lives. Haughty Prince Edward (Bobby Mauch) gets booted off the palace grounds as a vagrant, leaving innocent Tom Canty (Billy Mauch) to assume the throne when the cantankerous old king kicks off.

The setup suffices. The twin actors are stiff but they grow on you, and I enjoyed the early court scenes like Tom's wake-up call, which Sofia Coppola borrowed for "Marie Antoinette." (How many nobles does it take to rouse a royal? Apparently a couple dozen.) Yet the movie doesn't hit its stride until Flynn arrives with his typically delicious panache. While poor Tom falls under the sway of the scheming Earl of Hertford (Claude Rains), Edward is taken in by a dashing soldier of fortune named Miles Hendon. This proves to be the salvation of the Tudor line, for when Hertford learns that he's regent to an impostor he sends a henchman to kill the true prince. Ha! With a bemused and paternal affection (which probably wouldn't fly in our debauched age), Hendon tolerates what he believes to be the boy's delusions of royalty and launches a rescue mission when Edward is abducted first by Tom's drunken father and then by Hertford's assassin. This allows Flynn to engage in a heroic swordfight and advance the action to its down-to-the-wire finale.

Beyond the adventure (and Flynn's dimple), "The Prince and the Pauper" profits from a dark, Dickensian feel that belies its goofy soundtrack. There's heavy stuff here, thinly glossed, involving child abuse, murder, social injustice, and the malevolent lust for power. The notion that Prince Edward is enlightened by his foray into the real world plays rather weakly, but the incidents of that world strike a grim note of truth. I don't know whether credit goes to Twain, screenwriter Laird Doyle, or director Keighley, but this telling of the tale successfully blends exhilaration with interpretation.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.