weezeralfalfa Review of The Whipping Boy

The Whipping Boy (1994 TV Movie)

Prince of Ragamuffins: blend of "The Prince and the Pauper", "Oliver Twist",and "Home Alone"

[10/10 · 9 August 2018]

Excellent adaptation of the book of the same title. Actually, the screen writer and the book author are the same person with different names. The story is set sometime in the late middle ages. Judging by the common use of the 3 cornered hat, I would judge it to be in the 17th or 18th century. It takes place in the tiny fictional kingdom of Bratenberg. The main characters are Jemmy(Truan Munro), also known as the whipping boy, and Prince Horace or Brat(Nic Knight).They are supposed to be around 12 years old, although the actors were a bit older. Fortunately, they look quite different otherwise, so that they are easily distinguished. Jemmy has a slightly younger sister: Annyrose(Karen Salt). They are street orphans. To survive, Jemmy catches sewer rats, puts them in a wicker cage, and sells them to Blind George(George Scott) or someone else.......Prince Horace is a chronically mischievous brat, bored with his confined life, with no children to play with, little attention by the king, and no interest in his studies. In fact, he is functionally illiterate: most embarrassing for a future king. This fact will become relevant when he and Jemmy, who have escaped from the castle, are kidnapped by two thieves(Kevin Conway, as Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Vincent Schiavelli as Cutwater.) Jemmy is Horace's whipping boy. That is , when Horace has been bad, Jemmy is whipped instead, since young princes are not supposed to be subject to corporal punishment. Now, a former street urchin wasn't expected to read and write. But, Jemmy was inquisitive and had picked up these skills while in the castle. So, when the thieves asked Horace, who claimed to be the prince, to write a ransom letter, he couldn't, whereas Jemmy did. Naturally, the thieves surmised that the boys had switched identities to confuse them. Sometime later, after the boys had escaped several times, the thieves held Horace upside down, and whipped him until the pet bear of Gypsy teen Betsy(Mathilda May) chased them away.......A potato transporter gave them a ride on his wagon to near to where they wanted to go. Forgetting about her bear, Betsy also came along, as she seemed to have a thing going with the potato man. They soon arrived at Waldbach prison, where they believed Annyrose was being held, for a trumped charge of theft. At the prison gate, Horace claims he is the crown prince, so should be let in. The receptionist scoffs at this claim, dubbing him Prince of the Ragamuffins. ......After another eventful chase by the thieves, they arrived back at the castle. The king was relieved that Horace hadn't been kidnapped by order of the ambassador to the neighboring nation ruled by King Phillip. The ambassador had left smarting from the several tricks played upon him by Horace.......The king noticed an improvement in Horace's behavior which he ascribed to his experience in the real world, and the friendship of Jemmy. Thus, the king declared Jemmy and Annyrose to be members of the royal household. He declared a pardon for Annyrose, who piped up that she didn't need a pardon, since she hadn't done anything wrong. The king understood. .....One thing I didn't understand: Why was the sewer tunnel the boys and thieves were running through apparently dry, when there was water running into it? .....Like the book, this film is especially appropriate for children and teens, but adults, such as me, will probably enjoy it too. The attention to detail in dress and surroundings is commendable......I didn't detail some of Horace's tricks. One of them will give you quite a jolt. See the film to find out what it is. It's currently available on YouTube