Tom Canty (Mark Lester) is a poor English boy who bears a remarkable resemblance to Edward, Prince of Wales (Mark Lester) and son of King Henry VIII (Charlton Heston). 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.Written by
Eric Sorensen <Eric_Sorensen@fc.mcps.k12.md.us>
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Knight of the Garter, and Earl Marshal of England (1473 - 1554), portrayed by Sir Rex Harrison, was a real-life Tudor period politician. He was also the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the six wives of King Henry VIII. Norfolk had a major role in the drama and arrangements behind both marriages. Norfolk fell out of favor with King Henry VIII in 1546, when he was stripped of his titles and imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, soon after his imprisonment, Henry VIII died, and Norfolk was able to cheat trial and execution, being finally released on the accession of Edward VI's oldest sister, Queen Mary I. He was of assistance to Catholic Mary succeeding to the throne, thereby setting the stage for alienation between his Catholic family and the successive Protestant monarchs beginning with his great niece, Queen Elizabeth I. In 1546-1547, Norfolk would have been aged about seventy-three, slightly older than Harrison (born 1908), who was sixty-eight at the time of production in 1976. See more »
Goofs
After Miles Hendon fights with John Canty & his neighbours, Hendon lies apparently dead on the ground. One of Canty's neighbours warns Canty: "...The police'll beat on ye, even if no one else does..."
The term "police" did not exist in England until the eighteenth century. See more »
Quotes
Tom Canty:
If you think the food may be poisoned, why not feed it to a dog, or a plumber?
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I haven't seen this movie in 20 years, but I remember going to it mostly because of the impressive cast. The lead, playing the dual roles of the prince and the pauper, was Mark Lester, lately of "Oliver". It was too "lately". By the time this movie came out, Lester was FAR too old for the part(s) of street urchin and child king. Charlton Heston (he's Henry VIII here) seems attracted to this phenomenon. He also did Treasure Island with a too old Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins. Anyway, Heston and the rest of the cast did fine jobs, and the picture is good fun if you can fully suspend disbelief in deep voiced Lester as an innocent child.
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I haven't seen this movie in 20 years, but I remember going to it mostly because of the impressive cast. The lead, playing the dual roles of the prince and the pauper, was Mark Lester, lately of "Oliver". It was too "lately". By the time this movie came out, Lester was FAR too old for the part(s) of street urchin and child king. Charlton Heston (he's Henry VIII here) seems attracted to this phenomenon. He also did Treasure Island with a too old Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins. Anyway, Heston and the rest of the cast did fine jobs, and the picture is good fun if you can fully suspend disbelief in deep voiced Lester as an innocent child.