Everyone knows the story of the spoiled prince who is bored with his life. When he meets his identical twin, a common boy who seems to have some freedom to be a kid, he talks him into trading places. The problem is that when it comes time to trade back, it's not possible, so they need to continue in their new identities. There are complications like a plot to kill the Prince. Also, the true Prince would have known about making government decisions. Meanwhile, the disguised Prince isn't faring much better as he encounters the rowdies that the other kid would be comfortable with. This is a really fun Mark Twain story that boys would have loved to read, and this an adequate,though not outstanding, version.

I've always thought of Mark Twain (nee, Samuel Clemens) as America's Charles Dickens. The two men lived barely a generation apart. Their lifespans actually overlapped some 35 years, from Twain's birth in 1835 to Dickens' death in 1870. Dickens's books were published from 1836 to his death in 1870. Most were printed initially as magazine serials in England. Twain no doubt read some of them, either in follow-up American serials or books. But, it's very unlikely that Dickens would have read any of Twain's work. Twain's first book, "The Innocents Abroad," was published in 1869 – the year before Dickens died. It was based on Twain's first trip to Europe – a Mediterranean sojourn in 1867. I like to fantasize what it would have been like had the two literary giants met – say toward the end of Dickens' life. The elder Dickens, an accomplished beloved English author, and a young American adventurer and journalist who was just beginning to write novels. The two would be among the most masterful, most read and most beloved storytellers of all time. Why all this comparison of Twain and Dickens? Because I think Dickens would have enjoyed thoroughly Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." The two men wrote with obviously different references – cultures, times, people. And, with somewhat different phases of the cultural language. Yet their knack for and approach to story telling was very similar. Twain's Prince and Pauper was published in 1882. Twain and Dickens share one other distinction. I don't know the numbers, but the two authors have had more movies made on their works than any other two authors in history. Some of their books have had multiple renditions put on film. And that brings me now to this first sound production of "The Prince and the Pauper." It's a wonderful rendition of this classic tale that I think has become a classic in itself. It has a stellar cast for the period in Errol Flynn, Claude Rains, Henry Stephenson, Barton MacLane, Alan Hale and Eric Portman. And the twin brothers, Billy and Robert Mauch give top performances as the prince and the pauper. This is a delightful fictional story with just a little bit of an historical look at the times and place. It's a nice family film that educates on literature and history while it entertains.

This version of The Prince and the Pauper had all the ingredients to be good, and it was, great even. Maybe some of the first half of the film takes a little too much time to get going, but everything else really shines. The sets and costumes are very handsome and colourful and the film is sumptuously photographed too. Korngold's score is superb, very sweeping and bombastic, I would go as far to say that it is almost as good as his score for The Adventures of Robin Hood which I have long considered one of the all-time greats in that regard. The dialogue is suitably witty, the swash-buckling itself is energetically and never clumsily choreographed and the story is as timeless as ever. Billy and Bobby Mauch are very endearing as the twins and although he doesn't appear until halfway through Errol Flynn is a gallant charismatic presence. Montagnu Love is a characterful and moving King Henry, but faring best are Claude Rains, doing urbane in a way not many other actors could do, and Alan Hale as a suitably villainous Captain. All in all, a great film, worth noting for Korngold's score, the production values and Rains. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In 1937, the WB, capitalizing on Errol Flynn's spectacular performances in CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, cast him in four films, with varying degrees of success. The best, by far, was William Keighley and William Dieterle's production of the Mark Twain classic, THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, where he supported new WB 'discoveries' Billy and Bobby Mauch, portraying London urchin Tom Canty and his look-alike, Prince Edward Tudor. The twins were gifted, young (12 at the time of the filming) actors, with a Freddie Bartholomew-like quality of engaging innocence, and they gave this version of the oft-filmed tale a sense of reality that split-screen performances by a single actor could never achieve.The story is an engaging one, as young Canty, inspired by his mother and a local priest to dream of a finer life than his father, an ill-tempered beggar (Barton MacLane) could provide, sneaks onto the grounds of Buckingham Palace. There, he meets young Prince Edward, who is thrilled to meet a boy his own age...and, after cleaning him up a bit, is astonished to discover that the pair could pass as twins. Edward decides this is a golden opportunity to see what life outside the Palace is really like, so, against Canty's misgivings, the two exchange clothing, and the Prince leaves...creating far more of an uproar than either boy could ever imagine!Canty is soon considered 'mad', as he insists he is not Edward, and the Prince, abused and ridiculed by Tom's father, is unceremoniously thrown off the Palace grounds when he attempts to return, by a disbelieving Captain of the Guards (Alan Hale, in the first of 11 films he'd make with his friend, Errol Flynn). The ambitious Earl of Hertford (the always brilliant Claude Rains) investigates Canty's claim, and realizes, after interviewing the Captain, that the boy is telling the truth, giving him a golden opportunity to seize power. Ordering the Captain to find and kill the Prince, the Earl then threatens to kill Canty if he doesn't obey his commands.Things grow desperate for the young Prince, as he attempts to evade his murderous 'father' on the streets, until Miles Hendon (Flynn), a roguish but good-natured 'soldier-for-hire' comes to his aid. Offering his protection to the lad, Hendon thinks him a bit balmy, as well...until events (the child's obvious despair over the death of Henry VIII, the Palace search party, and a sword duel with the Captain, where Flynn KILLS Alan Hale!!!) convince him otherwise. Then it becomes a race against time to smuggle the real King into the Coronation, before Canty is crowned, and the Earl assumes "the Power behind the Throne".Blessed with a gifted cast, including wonderful character actor Montagu Love as the dying Henry VIII, the film offers a truly exceptional film score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who would eventually expand the theme into a symphonic work). Audiences have always been surprised that Errol Flynn's role is not larger, but as a faithful Twain adaptation, the focus had to be on the two boys, and not on the impoverished soldier. Flynn had fun playing Hendon, and the Mauch twins were nothing less than superb as the leads.With THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD less than a year away, and Errol Flynn's star continuing to ascend, the WB had every reason to celebrate, and THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER is a pleasure to watch, to this day!