The Prince and the Pauper [Crossed Swords] *** (1977, Mark Lester, Oliver Reed, Charlton Heston, Harry Andrews) – Classic Movie Review 3590

In his last major film to date before he gave up acting, a grown-up Mark Lester (from Oliver!) plays both title roles, Henry VIII’s son Prince Edward and the lookalike urchin, Tom Canty, with whom he changes places, in director Richard Fleischer’s handsome, decently played 1977 remake of the Mark Twain classic swashbuckling adventure.

Fleischer whips up a jovial entertainment in the jokey style of The Three Musketeers (1973), though, despite boasting many of that movie’s same stars and the same producers, Ilya Salkind and Alexander Salkind, it is not as well done. Nevertheless, a lavish production, Jack Cardiff’s cinematography, Anthony Pratt’s production designs, Maurice Jarre’s score and the very nice, hard-working cast make it attractive and make it work.

Oliver Reed takes over from Errol Flynn in the 1937 The Prince and the Pauper and Guy Williams the 1962 The Prince and the Pauper as a dashing Miles Hendon, Charlton Heston is entertaining as Henry VIII and Harry Andrews enjoys himself in Claude Rains’s old role as the horrible Earl of Hertford.

It also stars Raquel Welch, Ernest Borgnine, George C Scott, Rex Harrison, David Hemmings

Also in the cast are Murray Melvin, Julian Orchard, Lalla Ward, Felicity Dean, Sybil Danning, Graham Stark, Preston Lockwood, Arthur Hewlett, Tommy Wright, Harry Fowler, Richard Hurndall, Dan Meaden, Tyrone Cassidy, Don Henderson, Sydney Bromley, Ruth Madoc, Dudley Sutton, Roy Evans, William Lawford, Peter O’Farrell, Anthony Sharp, Peter Cellier, Andrew Lodge, Dervis Ward and Michael Ripper.

Another version is the 2002 TV movie The Prince and the Pauper with Aidan Quinn, Alan Bates and Jonathan Hyde.

Oliver Reed brought a prostitute as a gift for Mark Lester to celebrate his 18th birthday on 11 July 1976. At 18, Lester was nine years older than King Edward VI at the time of his accession to the throne.

Heston, Welch, Reed and Danning also appeared in the Salkind productions, The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers: Milady’s Revenge (1974). All three films were written by George MacDonald Fraser and produced by Pierre Spengler.

In 2016 Mark Lester was coaxed back to acting, for the first time in over 30 years, as King Harold II in a historical drama, 1066, about the Norman conquest of England in 1066. He is filming Fighting Talk and another film, Dweeb Squad, is announced.

Lester was a long-time friend of Michael Jackson, and they were godfathers to each other’s children. Godfather to Jackson’s three children Prince Michael, Paris and Prince Michael II, Lester defended Jackson throughout his trial on child molestation charges in 2005. In 2009 Lester surprised the world by announcing he could be Paris’s biological father after gifting sperm to Jackson. Lester now lives with his wife (both osteopaths) and two children in Cheltenham, England.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3590

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/