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Tom Canty is a poor English boy who bears a remarkable resemblance to Edward, Prince of Wales and son of King Henry VIII. 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're separated and each must live the other's life.
Filipe Manuel Neto
Sep 19, 2022 · via TMDB
**A very weak and uninteresting film, despite the constellation of great actors.** I am not a connoisseur of Mark Twain's work, so I was curious to read some things about the original story he wrote after a trip he made to the European continent. From what I've read on the internet about the story, I believe the movie does justice to the source material, but as I didn't get the story to read it, I want to make it clear that I could be wrong. Summing up in a few words the whole plot, what we have is a story in which a poor teenager, whom his father taught to steal, penetrates the palace of King Henry VIII and comes across the heir to the crown, Prince Edward. The two quickly realize that they are identical lookalikes and the prince decides to change clothes with the beggar so they both go to a masked ball. It turns out that the disguise turns out to be too good, and the real prince ends up expelled from the palace. After some misadventures, he enlists the help of a nobleman who returns to the kingdom after a long journey, making it imperative to undo the mistake before the coronation of the new king, since, in the meantime, Henry VIII dies. The story has its appeal, but I have to confess that it sounded so far-fetched and hard to believe that I couldn't really like it. Forgive me, Twain fans. In addition, I was not pleased with the work of the director, Richard Fleischer. I felt he didn't give the film the most appropriate pacing and dynamics. Technically, the film is not very brilliant: I really liked the costumes, although it is not believable that all that gold and silk apparatus was routine and every day, even for the royalty of the time. And I also liked the scenarios used, which put us in the atmosphere of the time very quickly, both in the courtrooms and in the environments where the poor and the marginalized live. The soundtrack, sometimes a little raucous, works reasonably. Unfortunately, the cinematography has a lot of light and I didn't like it very much, overall. I left the cast for the end because I felt, throughout the film, that there was a huge dissonance between the various actors, something that, associated with bad direction, can help to understand why the film was a failure. There are a lot of solid and well-known names to the public at the time, but even that didn't help to convince people to pay the ticket and see it. We have, however, good interpretations that, ironically or because of the bad conception of the script, fall into the most indigestible characters in the film. Oliver Reed is the most impressive actor and leaves us very impressed, but the character is superb and boastful. Ernest Borgnine also does a good job and is very convincing, but it's impossible to like John Canty and the actor doesn't have much to do other than being obnoxious. Rex Harrison has an interesting role and is good at what he does, but appears very little. The rest of the actors can't enjoy what they get: Charlton Heston almost erases himself, Raquel Welch has absolutely nothing to do and never behaves like a lady, Mark Lester is a weak protagonist and is unable to convince.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Mark Lester
Prince Edward / Tom Canty
Oliver Reed
Miles Hendon
Charlton Heston
Henry VIII
David Hemmings
Hugh Hendon
Ernest Borgnine
John Canty
George C. Scott
The Ruffler
Harry Andrews
Hertford
Raquel Welch
Lady Edith
Rex Harrison
The Duke of Norfolk
Sybil Danning
Mother Canty
Murray Melvin
Prince's Dresser
Lalla Ward
Princess Elizabeth
Felicity Dean
Lady Jane
Graham Stark
Jester
Arthur Hewlett
Fat Man
Harry Fowler
Nipper
Richard Hurndall
Archbishop Cranmer
Don Henderson
Burly Ruffian
Ruth Madoc
Moll
Dudley Sutton
Hodge
Peter O'Farrell
Linklight
Anthony Sharp
Dr. Buttes
Peter Cellier
Mean Man
Dervis Ward
Forester
Michael Ripper
Edith's Servant
Alec Mills
Camera Operator
Jack Cardiff
Director of Photography
Alexander Salkind
Presenter
Richard Fleischer
Director
Olivier Assayas
Third Assistant Director
Pierre Spengler
Producer
Maurice Jarre
Original Music Composer
Mark Twain
Novel
Pierre Spengler
Screenplay
Paths of Glory
The Prestige
Stalker
Downfall
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Cool Hand Luke
Jaws
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Doctor Zhivago
Letters from Iwo Jima
The Call of the Wild
The Experiment
American Psycho
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Murder She Said
25th Hour
Hour of the Star
Night Train to Munich
300
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Notes on a Scandal
This Is I
Starship Troopers
From Russia with Love
Věra Lukášová
The Tin Drum
Don't Look Now
Life on a String
The Three Musketeers
Chilly Scenes of Winter
The Fortress
The Hobbit
The Taking of Tiger Mountain
To Die For
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Foma Gordeyev
Fifteen Boys Adrift
Despair
Wise Blood
Sleepless
Three Brothers
Date Masamune the One-Eyed Dragon
Moonraker
As in Heaven
The Slingshot
Cutthroat Island
Party Monster
Mother's Boys
Easy Sex
Rasmus and the Tramp
The Romantics
The Horse That Cried
Tropical Gothic
Jakub Oberva
Jennie Gerhardtová
Starý včelár
The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone
Counting Miracles
7 Miles Out
Mistr a Markétka
Hornblower: Mutiny
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
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The Duellists
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SlugTerra: Return of the Elementals
The Vikings
Damsel
Dragonheart: Vengeance
The Count of Monte-Cristo
The Man in the Iron Mask
Strings
The Forbidden Kingdom
DragonHeart
Dark of the Sun
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Robin Hood
Last Knights
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Thor: Tales of Asgard
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny
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The Call of the Wild
Pinocchio
Mio in the Land of Faraway
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Mar 17, 1978
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Wasting, sinking, dazzling, floating
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1926
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Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
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2008 · 14 wins
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1978 · 13 wins
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2000 · 12 wins
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1981 · 11 wins
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Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
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