Answer: When Flynn does not appear on the screen until the movie is about half over. And when Flynn is asked to essentially play "second fiddle" to Billy Mauch of the famed 1930s Mauch Twins juvenile performing team. And when the story gives Flynn only a limited opportunity to demonstrate his proven romantic prowess with the fair sex. And when his popular swashbuckling scenes are relatively few and far between. And when his frequent co-star Alan Hale plays an unsympathetic role in their first film (of 12) together, and accordingly must be dispatched by Flynn for the sake of reinforcing the narrative. And when Flynn must perform what is essentially a supporting role after having already achieved major fame and stardom in such earlier hits as Captain Blood and The Charge of the Light Brigade.
However, The Prince and the Pauper (TPATP) was a genuine Errol Flynn movie, which did do its several principal participants some real good. It served as a useful warmup for the efforts one year later of director William Keighley, , cinemaphotographer Sol Polito, composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and actors Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Alan Hale and Montagu Love in the more successful costume epic The Adventures Of Robin Hood (TAORH). TPATP also revealed Flynn to be an unselfish actor who could be quite attractive even when the movie may have seemed a little static at times, somewhat short of the usual expected action scenes, and heavily dependent upon the work of precocious child actors. It should be pointed out that the Mauch Twins did present interesting and entertaining opportunities for Flynn to shine and charm us just the same, and he successfully did so without any apparent difficulty.
Many reviewers have commented on the extended and elaborate coronation scene at the climax of TPATP, and its similarity to Ronald Colman's classic The Prisoner of Zenda released around the same time. Obviously both films capitalized on the worldwide hype that accompanied the celebrated recent coronation of King George VI of England after the sudden abdication of King Edward VIII. There is no question that Hollywood was obsessed with these events at the time, and seemingly could not get enough of such costume dramas.
TPATP had a running time of 120 minutes, while TAORH clocked in at only 102 minutes. The former is certainly a worthy film, but the latter is a bona fide classic. What is true of both films is that Flynn perfected a screen image in them that proved to be very attractive to contemporary screen audiences---which insured him a highly successful career as a action hero for many years to come. And deservedly so!
However, The Prince and the Pauper (TPATP) was a genuine Errol Flynn movie, which did do its several principal participants some real good. It served as a useful warmup for the efforts one year later of director William Keighley, , cinemaphotographer Sol Polito, composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and actors Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Alan Hale and Montagu Love in the more successful costume epic The Adventures Of Robin Hood (TAORH). TPATP also revealed Flynn to be an unselfish actor who could be quite attractive even when the movie may have seemed a little static at times, somewhat short of the usual expected action scenes, and heavily dependent upon the work of precocious child actors. It should be pointed out that the Mauch Twins did present interesting and entertaining opportunities for Flynn to shine and charm us just the same, and he successfully did so without any apparent difficulty.
Many reviewers have commented on the extended and elaborate coronation scene at the climax of TPATP, and its similarity to Ronald Colman's classic The Prisoner of Zenda released around the same time. Obviously both films capitalized on the worldwide hype that accompanied the celebrated recent coronation of King George VI of England after the sudden abdication of King Edward VIII. There is no question that Hollywood was obsessed with these events at the time, and seemingly could not get enough of such costume dramas.
TPATP had a running time of 120 minutes, while TAORH clocked in at only 102 minutes. The former is certainly a worthy film, but the latter is a bona fide classic. What is true of both films is that Flynn perfected a screen image in them that proved to be very attractive to contemporary screen audiences---which insured him a highly successful career as a action hero for many years to come. And deservedly so!