The Prince and the Pauper


Figure 1.--Twins Billy and Bobby Mauch are seen here in their roles as the prince and the pauper.

Mark Twain's classic tale is set around the decision of a mistreated orphan and British prince Edward Tudor to trade places. Afterwards they are mistaken for each other and throw the kingdom into turmoil. Both boys learn valuable lessons from each other's lives. The pauper Tom, and the King trade clothes. Costuming varies with each production. The pauper Tom generally appears in rags with bare legs. In court clothes the boys wear tights, including white tights that the newly corinated King wears at the end of the movie. The costming seems reasonably accurate for time period, but HBC does not have a lot of information on these early periods.

Mark Twain

These films are of course based on the popular 1881 novel by Mark Twain or Samuel Clemens. Twain is perhaps best known for his humor, but he is was in fact a serious writer and among the most important American authors in the 19th century. His most famous novels are of course The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The books are based on the authors observations growing up as a boy on the Mississippi River. Many believe that Huck's and Jim's saga is te greatest American novel. Tragically some schools ban it because of the use of the "n" word. Twain of course has to be the most influential voice for racial tolerance in the 19th century. Influential of course because many read the books, especially Huckleberry Finn, wihout realizing what Twain was doing. (If they had many would not have read the books or allowed their wives and children to read them.)

Casts

The curly headed Mauch twins (Billy and Bobby) play the boys in the 1937 production of this his Mark Twain classic. They seem to be about 13 or so. They play their parts competently. The most famous boy to play the parts was Mark Lester. (He played both parts.)

Plot

The story is set around the decision of a mistreated orphan and British prince Edward Tudor to trade places. Afterwards they are mistaken for each other and throw the kingdom into turmoil. Both boys learn valuable lessons from each other's lives.

Costuming

Costuming varies with each production. The pauper Tom, and the King after they trade clothes, appear in rags with bare legs. In court clothes the boys wear tights, including white tights that the newly corinated King wears at the end of the movie. The costming seems reasonably accurate for time period, but HBC does not have a lot of information on the 16th century and other early periods early periods.

Versions

The first production that we know about was made in 1937, although there may have been a silent film made. There have been several subsequent remakes of this timeless Twain story, both British and American.

(The) Prince and the Pauper - (US, 1937)

The curly headed Mauch twins (Billy and Bobby) play the boys in this Mark Twain classic. They seem to be about 13 or so. They play their parts competently. The story is set around the decision of a mistreated orphan and British prince Edward Tudor to trade places. Afterwards they are mistaken for each other and throw the kingdom into turmoil. Both boys learn valuable lessons from each other's lives. The pauper Tom, and the King after they trade clothes, appear in rags with bare legs. In court clothes the boys wear tights, including white tights that the newly corinated King wears at the end of the movie. The costming seems reasonably accurate for time period, but HBC does not have a lot of information on these early periods. A reader writes, "I always thought the Mauch twins were very effective in this version."

(The) Prince and the Pauper - (US, 1962)

Donald Huston, Laurence Naismith, and Sean and Guy Scully. There may have been the Disney version from the 1960s.

(The) Prince and the Pauper

There was another colour version by the BBC in the 1970s or 80s featuring Nicholas Lyndhurst who is now a very successful TV actor. He actually looked quite a lot like Edward VI in that series, although like all the boys who have played the part he was a few years older than Edward actually was at the time of the story.

Crossed Swords - (US, 1978)

Despite the title, Crossed Swords is based on the Mark Twain classic about a pronce and begger boy chanfing places. I'm not sure why they changed the title, perhaps because they though emphasizing sword fightening would make for a better deraw. It was the Mark Lester remake of the story. This version was notable for Charlton Heston playing the part of the dying Henry VIII--the Prince's father. Oliver Reed also played in this version. This was one of Mark Lester's last acting parts, and he was a bit too old for the part.

(The) Prince and the Pauper - (UK, 1999)

The BBC redid the story about 1999, a Sunday Teatime Serial.

(The) Prince and the Pauper - (US, 2002)

The The Prince and the Pauper appears to have been redone again in 2002 and run on Hallmark Channel. The Twain classic again is about a boy of meager means and a prince of exuberant wealth eagerly switch places, each envious of the other. The boys soon discover that each other's lives were not what they seemed. This production stars Aidan Quinn, Alan Bates, Jonathan Hyde, Robert Timmins and Jonathan Timmins. It is one of the most lavisly costumed productions of the Twain tale.

American Version

Twain of course loved story lines designed that class and caste boundaries errected by society were utter nonsence. Here these two boys are shownnas equals despite the fact that one os king and the other a begger boy. This is of course at the heart of Huckleberry Finn. A lesser known Twain tale addressing the question of race is The Tradegy of Puddenn'head Wilson about two boys born at the same time and raised together, one a wealthy planter's son and the other a slave.

Edward VI

Twain's fictional account uses the boy king Edward VI as the English monarch that the story is about. There is no indication, however, that any such events actually took place. Edward as king was not well served by his advisers, but for the most part they were genuinely interested in his wellfare. Some were relatives. All were protestants and were aware that the next claimant to the throne was his Catholic half sister Mary--unless Edward fathered a successor which of course he never did.








Christopher Wagner






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Created: March 22, 2002
Last updated: March 24, 2002