The Prince and the Pauper (1937)

Director:

William Keighley
(more)

Writers:

Mark Twain (novel)
Laird Doyle (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

8 May 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Mark Twain's Immortal Classic !

Plot:

Two lookalike boys, one a poor street kid and the other a prince, exchange places to see what the other's life is like.

Plot Keywords:

Leitmotif | Symphonic Music Score | Orchestral Music Score | Role Reversal | Attempted Murder

Cast

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
Fritz Leiber	...	Father Andrew
Elspeth Dudgeon	...	Grandmother Canty
Mary Field	...	Mrs. Canty
Forrester Harvey	...	Meaty Man
Joan Valerie	...	Lady Jane Seymour (as Helen Valkis)
Lester Matthews	...	St. John
Robert Adair	...	First Guard
Harry Cording	...	Second Guard
Robert Warwick	...	Lord Warwick
Rex Evans	...	Rich Man
Holmes Herbert	...	First Doctor
Ian Maclaren	...	Second Doctor (as Ian MacLaren)
Anne Howard	...	Lady Jane Grey (as Ann Howard)
Gwendolyn Jones	...	Lady Elizabeth
Lionel Braham	...	Ruffler
Harry Beresford	...	The Watch
Lionel Belmore	...	Innkeeper
Ian Wolfe	...	Proprietor (as Ian Wolf)
St. Luke's Episcopal Church Choristers	...	Choir (as St. Luke's Choristers)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jimmy Aubrey	...	Tramp (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
Daisy Belmore	...	Cockney (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
Frank Benson	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Jack Best	...	(uncredited)
Ted Billings	...	Tinker (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	Man in window (uncredited)
Peter Bronte	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
George Broughton	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
George Bunny	...	Cockney (uncredited)
Rita Carlyle	...	(uncredited)
Charles Coleman	...	Watchman (uncredited)
Edward Cooper	...	Presbyter (uncredited)
Robert Cory	...	(uncredited)
Kay Deslys	...	(uncredited)
Larry Dods	...	Horseman (uncredited)
Harry Duff	...	Urchin (uncredited)
Fred Ellis	...	Urchin (uncredited)
Peter Ellis	...	Urchin (uncredited)
Harold Entwistle	...	Old man (uncredited)
Leslie Francis	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
Douglas Gordon	...	(uncredited)
Hubert F. Greenwood	...	Archbishop (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Edward Harvey	...	Lord (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Watchman #1 (uncredited)
Noel Kennedy	...	Urchin #1 (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Watchman #2 (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Proprietor of inn (uncredited)
Raymond Lawrence	...	Lord (uncredited)
Connie Leon	...	(uncredited)
Billy Maguire	...	Urchin #2 (uncredited)
Charles McNaughton	...	Ugly man (uncredited)
Doreen Munroe	...	(uncredited)
Ottola Nesmith	...	Lady in Waiting (uncredited)
Mrs. Wilfrid North	...	Lady in Waiting (uncredited)
Elsie Prescott	...	Woman in window (uncredited)
Jack Richardson	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Tom Ricketts	...	Sexton ringing bell (uncredited)
Clifford Severn	...	Urchin #3 (uncredited)
Yorke Sherwood	...	Innkeeper (uncredited)
Charlie Simpson	...	Cockney (uncredited)
Eric Snowden	...	Cockney (uncredited)
John Graham Spacey	...	Petty Officer (uncredited)
Ernie Stanton	...	Guard (uncredited)
Will Stanton	...	Man in crowd (uncredited)
Spencer Teakle	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
Lotus Thompson	...	Lady in Waiting (uncredited)
Cyril Thornton	...	Man at inn (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Jester (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	...	One-eyed beggar (uncredited)
Claude Wisberg	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
William Keighley
William Dieterle		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Mark Twain		(novel "The Prince and the Pauper")
Laird Doyle		(screenplay)
Catherine Chisholm Cushing		(dramatic version)

Produced by
Robert Lord	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Cinematography by
Sol Polito		(photography by)
George Barnes		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas		(as Robert Haas)

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chuck Hansen	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Oliver S. Garretson	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
James Gibbons	....	special effects (uncredited)
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Milan Roder	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• First National Pictures
• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1937) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.)
• Turner Home Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (193?) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Western Costume Company  costumes (uncredited)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #2932) | Australia:G

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The coronation scene was on a set that duplicated Westminster Abbey and took seven days to shoot.

Goofs:

Continuity: After the boys exchange roles, as the Prince (as Tom) goes out to get his dog at the stable he picks up a large candle, but when he comes out the door he no longer has it.

Quotes:

[Tom - as the prince - is signing documents]
Tom Canty: Please, sir, how much longer must I do this?
Earl of Hertford: This is the last, sire.
Tom Canty: [starts to read the document] "Authorizes an increased tax on windows..." Do you mean to say we have a tax on windows?
Earl of Hertford: May I suggest that your majesty cease troubling himself about...
Tom Canty: But I'm head of the government. It's my job to be troubled about these things. And I think a tax on windows is cruel... unjust.
Earl of Hertford: The royal treasury is empty, sire. Every means of replenishing it must be taken.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: The Principal and the Pauper (#9.2)" (1997)

It's Awful in Offal Court

The reign of Edward VI of England would be little remembered if it not were for the writing of this story by an American of all people, Mark Twain. In point of fact Edward Tudor ascended the English throne in 1547, the son of Henry VIII and died six years later, not even reaching his maturity. His reign, such as it was, was marked by a struggle for power by several factions of nobles. That story can be seen in the films Young Bess and also in Lady Jane. There was no happily ever after endings for young Tudor.

At first glance it wouldn't seem possible that Samuel Langhorne Clemens of Hannibal, Missouri could write a classic tale about medieval England. But thinking about it, is the poverty and young Tom Canty's dealing with it in Offal Court all that different from Huckleberry Finn? Is his father, a coarse and brutal man beautifully played by Barton MacLane, all that different from Huck Finn's pap?

Twain knew his characters well and it he had any trouble with getting the idiom just right he need only have looked to Charles Dickens who was writing about just such people a generation before.

The story is simply that Tom Canty, a beggar boy from Offal Court in London gets into the palace of the king and meets up with young Prince Edward. They look alike enough to be twins and in fact they are played by twin brothers Billy and Bobby Mauch. They exchange places and the switch works only too well.

Top billed in the film is Errol Flynn who plays the fictional Miles Hendon, soldier of fortune just returned from the continent. Flynn was the biggest name in the cast, but the film is half over before he makes his appearance. In point of fact, he's really in support of the Mauch twins. It's Flynn's third appearance with sword in hand for Warner Brothers after Captain Blood and Charge of the Light Brigade.

This film also marks Flynn's first film with Alan Hale who appeared in eleven films with Errol. A film wasn't official at Warner Brothers unless either Alan Hale or Frank McHugh was in it. Jack Warner kept both those guys real busy.

Also in the film are Henry Stephenson and Claude Rains who play competing nobles vying to be top man in their minority monarch's reign. As I said unfortunately that marked Edward VI's entire time on England's throne.

But we have Mark Twain in his classic story and the brothers Warner to thank for bringing Edward VI's story to life for generations to come. I wonder if during his short life, young Edward might really have wished to escape what he had, even if it meant a place like Offal Court.