The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

A poor boy named Tom Canty and the Prince of Wales exchange identities but events force the pair to experience each other's lives as well.

Directors:

William Keighley, William Dieterle (uncredited)

Writers:

Mark Twain (novel), Laird Doyle (screenplay)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Henry Stephenson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Errol Flynn	...	Miles Hendon
Claude Rains	...	Earl of Hertford
Henry Stephenson	...	Duke of Norfolk
Barton MacLane	...	John Canty
Billy Mauch	...	Tom Canty (as The Mauch Twins)
Robert J. Mauch	...	Prince Edward (as The Mauch Twins)
Alan Hale	...	Captain of the Guard
Eric Portman	...	First Lord
Lionel Pape	...	Second Lord
Leonard Willey	...	Third Lord
Murray Kinnell	...	Hugo
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Archbishop
Phyllis Barry	...	Barmaid
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Clemens (as Ivan Simpson)
Montagu Love	...	Henry VIII

Storyline

On the same day two boys are born: the pauper Tom and prince Edward. As a kid, Tom sneaks into the palace garden and meets the prince. They change clothes with each other but the guards discover them and throw out the prince, since they are almost identical. Nobody believe them when they try to tell the truth. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne. The evil earl of Hertford attempts to murder the prince to gain power for himself.

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Plot Keywords:

king henry viii | identity swap | based on novel | biscuit | murder of a priest | 

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Taglines:

SEE the CORONATION in the MOST EXCITING ADVENTURE EVER LIVED or DREAMED! (Print Ad-Buffalo Courier-Express, ((Buffalo, NY)) 10 May 1937)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's 08 May 1937 release was coordinated to the 12 May 1937 Coronation of King George VI of the United Kingdom.

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Goofs

Henry V111's death scene seated in the throne room is invented as he actually died in bed on the 28th January 1547.

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Quotes

[John and Hugo have brought the prince - thinking he's Tom - to help them steal from the inn]
John Canty: Now, remember: if ya don't do like you've been told, we'll put climes on ya! Twenty of 'em! Ya know what climes are?
[the prince shakes his head, 'no']
John Canty: Tell him, Hugo.
Hugo: They're little bandages, with a bit o' paste on 'em, made o' soap and quicklime and rust off old iron. And when ya takes 'em off there's the nastiest looking sore that ever made a citizen sick. Sores that don't get well, but spread like a ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

This is not a history, but a tale of once upon a time. It may have happened. It may not have happened. But it could have happened.

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Alternate Versions

An advanced search on the British Board of Film Classification site www.bbfc.co.uk for 'The Prince and the Pauper' lists three times that the 1937 movie was submitted. On 29 Apr 1937 a version on film with 121m 44s run-time submitted for classification by Warner Bros Pictures Ltd was classified U with no cuts. On 17 Apr 2009 a video version (probably on DVD) with 117m 30s run-time submitted for classification by Orbit Media Ltd was classified U with no cuts.

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Connections

Version of Proof of Love (2005)

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Soundtracks

The Roost Song
(uncredited)
Written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and M.K. Jerome

User Reviews

Sam Clemens Looks At King Eddie VI

Mark Twain was a man who sometimes could not get a notion out of his head. He loved the issue of twins and switching births. It pervades much of his fiction, and few seem to comment on it. In one of his early sketches he tells an inquisitive reporter that the tragedy of his life was the strange death of his twin - the boy had one only one mark on his body that differs him from his brother - Twain shows it to the reporter on his own person, and says that was the boy who supposedly died mysteriously and was buried. The reporter leaves after that tidbit.

Of course the novel (which became the subject of this film and several others) is the one that people think of as Twain's "twins switching" story. It isn't. He would write (in the 1880s) a piece called "Those Amazing Twins" about a pair of Italian Siamese twins. The piece (which is not one of his best) became part of the germination that led to his last great Mississippi novel "Pudd'nhead Wilson". He separates the twin Italians into two twin brother Italian counts who turn up in the Mississippi town where the action goes. He also takes the "switched at birth" motif and uses it in the main story of Chambers the slave switched by his mother Roxey with young Tom Driscoll the wealthy heir.

Twins pop up too in "Tom Sawyer Detective" - which was based on an old 17th Century Danish murder case involving twins.

But it's "The Prince And The Pauper" (1876) that is recalled as Twain's "twin story". I think it's because the other pieces are minor or (like Wilson) full of other interesting small matters - like the business of the use of fingerprints to settle the mysteries of the plot (a first in 1894). Here it is central to Twain's looking at an appalling, inequitable social system in Tudor England.

Henry VIII is dying and his son Edward, Prince of Wales is aware that he is going to soon lose his wise father and take over the reins of government. Of course the truth is he is still too young (in 1547 he is only 11) and he really can only rule in his own right when he reaches adult age (presumably 21). He will need a "Protector" and the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Herford are the leading contenders.

In the film wise old Henry Stephenson is Norfolk and crafty, power-seeking Claude Rains is Hertford. Henry (Montague Love) appoints both to the governing counsel, but does not name Norfolk over Hertford (or the reverse). So Rains starts jockeying for position in a confrontation with England's premier Duke.

In reality it was more complicated. Norfolk was on the outs with Henry in 1547 (he was facing execution - his son the Earl of Surrey was executed the year before - but Henry's own death saved Norfolk). The two contenders were the Duke of Somerset (Edward Seymour), blood uncle to Edward VI through his mother, and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who dreamed of placing the Dudley family and the Tudors permanently together by marrying the three Tudor heiresses, Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, and Lady Jane Grey, to his sons. One day this plan would blow up in his face (see TUDOR ROSE). Somerset's doom was tied to a similar hair-brained scheme of his brother Admiral Sir Thomas Seymour regarding marrying Princess Elizabeth (see YOUNG BESS).

Edward, in Twain's story, while waiting for the sad news, meets Tom Canty, a boy who looks almost exactly like him (here played - for a change - by the Mauch Twins). As a lark they change clothes so each can see how the other half live. Tom is soon over his head, causing his cousin Jane to question his sanity, and revealing enough to Hertford to realize that the false-King is his own key to power. Edward is unfortunately forced to endure the poverty of Tom's social class, but also the brutality of Tom's father John Canty (Barton McLaine) who is a professional thief. But Edward is soon helped by a young squire, Miles Herndon (Errol Flynn) who is trying to return to his ancestral home to regain his possessions from a greedy brother.

The twisty plot did show much of the underside of English Tudor living that many of the other early Tudor history films barely touched on (except to show the intrigues at court). It also had plenty of humor - look at the business about the usefulness of "the Great Seal of England", which is typical Twain humor. I feel this version of the story is quite good - possibly the best of the different versions of the novel that have reached the screen.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Prince and the Pauper

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Pictures, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1