The Prince and the Pauper (Keighley, 1937) DVD

In the 1930s and 1940s, no-one made historical adventures quite like Warner Bros.

For a start, they had cinema’s finest swashbuckler, Errol Flynn. Then there was the sense of danger and rebellion in their films, the seemingly endless supply of fine, familiar character actors, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whose rousing scores instantly transport the viewer to the high seas, Sherwood Forest or, as here, the palaces, slums and drinking dens of 16th-century London.

This flavourful take on Mark Twain’s novel is one of the studio’s best: a mix of political intrigue, social comment and derring-do that’s raucously entertaining from start to finish. Billy Mauch plays Tom Canty, a 10-year-old beggar brutalised by his father (Barton MacLane) and by life in general. He has aspirations to make something of himself, but little hope of doing so. Evidently social mobility wasn’t so great back then. Billy’s twin, Robert J. Mauch, is the pampered heir Edward, possessing a firm grasp of his own importance as he readies himself to replace ailing father Henry VIII (Montagu Love). After a chance meeting, the youngsters inadvertently take on one another’s identities, and one another’s battles.

Tom has to contend with arch conniver Claude Rains, who has seized the, erm, reins of power and plans to kill titled rival Henry Stephenson. The prince, meanwhile, is cast into slum life, witnessing poverty, injustice and murder. Unbeknown to him, he’s also being stalked by the captain of the guard (Alan Hale), who has murder in mind. Thank goodness then that Edward has a protector in the slender shape of Errol Flynn, whose jaunty, irreverent persona is one of the greatest pleasures cinema has to offer. He and Robert J. play off each other wonderfully as their characters’ unexpected friendship develops.

Both exhilarating and moving, the film is ideally cast. The young twins are appealing as the heir and the slumdog, MacLane, makes an eminently hissable baddie, Love grandstands majestically and Rains provides a crash course in being quite delightfully wicked. And when top-billed Flynn bounces in around halfway through, the excitement level hits fever pitch.

on 4th May 2009
Author of 42 reviews